Audax 400

draft
Audax 400
Subic to Alaminos and Back
April 18, 2015

400 kilometers is a long, long ride. But to put it in perspective, two things: 1. This is not a race, 2. I have a personal SAG. If it weren't for these I wouldn't have done this ride and miss the joys of long distance cycling.

David's Salon Van In Front of Mango Valley Hotel

Coming into the event, I prepared for three weeks. First I called my friend Byron of bisikletaadventures.com to discuss our entry, I thought it was a done deal but still he needed some convincing because as I learned he wasn't riding much at that point and already posted in FB about his non participation due to lack of training. But it was an easy sell as he is an addict of cycling and a tiny amount of reason would easily convince him ;) Second, since I wasn't running since March 8, I have a well rested body and could concentrate on riding and not worry how sore it could get when it's time to run.

United Folding Bikers during Registration

We registered at Mango Valley Hotel lobby at exactly 5:00 P.M. the day before the big day. Shy told us there were only 20 medals available so we availed of it outright. It appeared that there were 75 participants/hardcore/addicts who will go on to enjoy the ride and only 20 finishers could get the finisher's medal which was brought in from France.

From Paris With Love

The ride started at exactly 3:00 A.M. It was dark but it wasn't cold. I was wearing my usual running shirt, the reason: I don't have a cycling jersey... EVER. We all had our fancy lights and blinkers, all 75 strong of us I guess.

The Bridges Of Zambales

The first 50 kilometers were pretty much easy. I arrived at the 51.7 kilometer checkpoint at 4:57 A.M., got my card stamped and took off. On my way to the second checkpoint I heard Carmela's voice yelling my name to join their peloton, I am not good with pelotons but it was a chance to save energy and make the most mileage before the sun would torch us up. I joined and stayed at the back up to 150K mark. As I was at the back of the paceline I couldn't help but ask the guys near me if it's ok that we weren't taking our turn to pull. The ride was actually too easy at the back that I felt guilty and I couldn't enjoy the view as I was locked in on the tires in front of me.

Paris-Brest-Paris Contingent

We arrived at the 150K point at 8:46 A.M., and guess what, my legs were still miraculously fresh. Since I am the weakest biker in the triathlon world :) this is clearly a miracle work of Carmela's Awesome Double Paceline locomotive. 

The Awesome Double Paceline of Carmela's Group

The checkpoint was at Banana Beach Resort in Dasol, Pangasinan where I took a shower before heading to Alaminos City for the turnaround point. The sun was already at its peak and the road was unusually harder than the flats of Zambales. When the peloton passed me I was on the side of the road taking a break and by the time I could mount the bike they were gone. I went inside the city of Alaminos which was a mistake after ignoring the by pass road going to Sual.

Checkpoint at Kilometer 150

At the turnaround point I was kind of hoping to have a good long rest and use the toilet, turned out there were none. I had the card stamped and rested for approximately 45 minutes hoping the clouds to come and cover the sun. The clouds never came, I decided to start rolling back to Subic.

Banana Beach Resort

It took me a lot of time to go back to Banana Beach Resort, the next checkpoint. There I hit the shower again and changed clothes before I ride once again. The ride back to Subic was full of stops, I mean I rested a lot on the side of the road, on sari sari stores, on top of a hill, everywhere. When the sun was about to set I prayed to reach the top of the Masinloc climb before the sun go down. 

Toothbrush at 240K

Then darkness fell... the one thing I dread the most. My legs and body were holding up well but the blackness of the night was the one thing I couldn't stand. I called the Masinloc climb the Silent Hill as in the horror video game I used to play. 

Team UFB

Before the ride I left my daughter alone in Subic, turned out she enjoyed her day being alone and actually had parasailing into the sunset but she got stuck at Yellowcab Pizza House and couldn't go back to the hotel by herself so I had to hurry up and be there before midnight. I pushed hard with only 20 kilometers left and finished at exactly 11:41 P.M. I was 24th at the 350K checkpoint and finished 20th, I overtook 4 guys along the last 50K but only saw 2 of them. 

F I N I S H (photo by Shy)

The cyclocomputer had logged 409 kilometers, I got my Audax medal, I was in one piece and my daughter enjoyed her day, so you'd guess I'm booked for Audax 600? Well, you're wrong, although the physical endurance came as a surprisingly positive experience it also revealed that I won't stand the night time ride. My mind was playing tricks on me, even the flat roads looked realistically uphill for the longest time. The darkness of the night made me doubt myself and made sure I wouldn't have the courage to join the 600K ride. I'll miss out on the fun of the Audax 600 but I had lots of memories to cherish from this one single ride called Audax 400. Congratulations to all the finishers/participants and organizers. Mabuhay!

Taking A Time Off

When I started training for my first 10K run, it marked the start of my interest in all things endurance. I researched on endurance sports training, I structured my workouts, I did it safely short but consistent, and most of all, I trained with a purpose to get a little bit fitter time after time.

On my first year of training, not once did I stopped to abandon my 6 hour per week regimen. Sometimes the hours would go up and at times I would rest for a couple of days. But the consistency and devotion was there and luckily enough, progress showed on a lot of my races.

From a guy who can only jog for twelve minutes straight back in November 2011, I went on to clock 2:36 in a standard distance race in about a year. I don't know if this is a typical result but undeniably, consistent training made me a fitter person (... I think) and the good news is that you can easily be fitter than me if you have the time to allot to endurance training.

As time went on, I guess it's just ordinary to take some time off from what you're used to do and in this case, I found myself laying low from training just three times since I started my 10k training and the latest lull is happening now.

Since March 8 I only had casual rides, no swim and definitely no runs. As ridiculous as it sound, I'm liking this new change in my lifestyle. Actually I have to revise my goals for the whole year as I embrace my new found love for slacking off :P 

I would imagine that running is the hardest thing to do right now. I have tons of reason to neither run nor jog. Swimming would be easier as I am always near a pool and it's low on the pain meter. Cycling ain't going anywhere, it's just so much fun to stop doing it but the rides don't resemble the ones I usually do when training for a triathlon.

But there is a good thing that came out of the free time I have and it's an offshoot of this blog. You see, I don't normally post race schedules on this blog but continually update my FB page to share race updates available in the Philippines. Now I am setting up a site where anyone can easily find races and results in the world of multi sports in the Philippines. The site is called Miles and Pages for a reason, there you can find race schedules and blog posts from this site. The site address is www.milesandpages.com and it still is a work in progress and could take weeks to finish but it's up and running already. Hope you like it and find it useful in planning your races.

So what do you do when you're taking a time off? You do crazy things like planning to ride an Audax 400 - damn straight. :P

Bisikleta Iglesia 2015

Bisikleta Iglesia

Maundy Thursday

Days before our annual Visita Iglesia ride we weren't yet sure with the route. The choice is between a ride on the mountains and a roll in the flats going to Batangas. We decided to go up but a few kilometers later we ended up going the other way. Yep we changed our minds a few minutes away from our first church.

It was still dark when we met up at the first church

The ride was a successful century ride/birthday ride/Visita Iglesia. We visited 7 churches, ate twice courtesy of the celebrant and ended with a mileage a tad above 100 kilometers. 

At the farthest distance from where we came from

This is a traditional ride which we used to call penitence ride but the degree of difficulty became easier as we progressed in fitness throughout the years so an exercise like this doesn't call for a name synonymous to suffering. 

Breakfast at a Filipiniana styled restaurant

Halo halo stop before heading home

In the evening I brought my son to this place

Jogging 101 - Let's Make A Revolution

It seems to me that we are now populated by runners, and real joggers are becoming extinct. With a variety of races and fun runs that abound, each giving away race numbers and medals, the running community continues to grow attracting weight watchers, fitness buffs and certified joggers. But as a jogger hear me out before you jump to that other fence. 

Jogging is definitely easier than running. It is also easier to maintain good fitness based on jogging because it doesn't need structure. Running requires dedication, progression, hard and long workouts. Jogging, on the other hand, demands nothing but a fraction of your time at an easy pace which wouldn't break knees or back.

So how do you jog? Just jog for 20 to 40 minutes 3 times a week. It can be done every other day or on 3 consecutive days and you won't feel guilty that they are all bunched up or you've been short on mileage, you just do it and that's it. I think the health benefits of jogging is just just as good as any endurance sport and it's bottled in less than 2 hours per week. But then there's also walking which is a good exercise but definitely not as good as jogging and it doesn't make you as awesome as a jogger.

Let's start a revolution a la 70s. Just JOG!

Ironman 70.3 Subic Bay

March 8, 2015

1.9K-90K-21.1K

When the race date for Century Tuna Ironman 70.3 Subic Bay was announced I was already registered at Challenge Philippines and they were just 2 weeks apart so I was hesitant to secure a spot for this March 8 event. But I just thought it was too good to pass up and ended up using my credit card. 

The Training

Last year I was busy training for Bohol 226, an event that didn't push through, so it goes without saying that I had a fair amount of base fitness in me. I stopped doing workouts as soon as it was canceled though. I was about to start training in January but I had a minor accident and felt it would be foolish to risk the injuries that were sustained so the workouts didn't come until the first week of February, 2015. I had three weeks for Challenge and two more weeks for Ironman 70.3 Subic to condition myself.

The Swim

I was on the third wave out of four. Five minutes separated from the second wave, the horn or gun (didn't remember what they used) sounded for us. I tried a bit harder than usual to vie for a good position so I wouldn't get caught up in a frantic washing machine start. I guess I did well but right after the first turn I saw some red swim caps, o oh the caps worn by the previous wave, and decided to swim further from the buoy line to avoid congestion. My shoulders were fatigued early on because I was trying too hard. The swim course layout was an 'L' shape but I didn't see it that way during the swim. I got out of the water in 34 minutes. Yehey!

Transition 1

This is an interesting run towards transition area for the sheer distance between Dungaree Beach and the airport tarmac where T1 was located. It's definitely the longest I've experienced. As usual I put on my cycling shorts, a not so tight muscle shirt, race belt, cellphone and off I went.

The Bike

Now that the easy part was through I was hoping for a better bike leg than what I went trough in  Challenge PH. The plan was to count the number of riders who will pass me along the bike course and that number would be the target number of runners I intended to overtake during the run. But there was just too many people passing me since kilometer 1 that I despised counting and stopped altogether. The hydration stations offered Gatorade and water and they're handing it over to moving and non-moving riders. I almost had a bump in with a participant as someone in front of me totally stopped. It was windy in the tollway, where the beauty of the race course was at its finest. I saw the mountains on my left side smoking... yeah people were burning some trees out there. It was over in 3 hours 9 minutes with my legs still intact but barely. 

Transition 2

It was coincidence that the numbers 532 and 534 (me=533) were also in T2 so I was sandwiched while prepping for the run. I was hurrying for no reason at all, I guess it's the nature of the race where one tries to get a better time even if you're far out of the field. I didn't forget to change to my running shirt this time... hmmm I'm getting good at transitions. On to the heated pavement: The run course.

The Run

I was weighing my two options, to jog or to run. If I chose the latter I run the risk of not finishing the race so I went for option number 1, I jogged and it was the right call. After a few kilometers I could feel my left ITB acting up, it was my concern when I was just starting triathlon a couple of years ago. It wouldn't shut up and as the kilometers piled up the pain worsened. It was really, really HOT out there good thing that ice chips were all over the hydration stations even on the way back there were no limit as to how much ice they're willing to give. I've put those ice chips everywhere, in my shirt, on my hair, my mini towel, in my mouth, heck even in my Speedo. The run split was 2:16 and finishing time was 6:07, and I don't remember if I smiled for the camera at the moment. I got my finisher's medal and went for an outdoor shower. Ahh.. LIFE is good.

The Good: the route is an easy course in the familiar triathlon ground that is Subic

The Bad: my legs couldn't stand the test of a 70.3 for a nice run 

The Ugly: nothing went ugly even when my ITBS struck it wasn't ugly ugly.. but the porta-potties in Dungaree Beach were too few i think

The Race: Century Tuna brought Ironman 70.3 nearer to me, the expo looked like an EXPO

The Time: 6 hours 35 minutes = the average time of Age Group 45-49 Male

The Best: this is the only race where no one cut the course - said the head timer

The Lesson: just keep on moving

All In A Day Before Race Day - Ironman 70.3 Subic

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Pre Race Day in Pictures.

clockwise: 

1- Depart from house at exactly 5:38 a.m.

2- North Luzon Expressway

3- Restaurant at NLEX

4- Arrival at Subic via this tunnel

1- Arrived at SBECC to claim race pack

2- Body marking

3- Race pack and goodies

4- Photo wall picture taking

race expo

clockwise:

1- Transition area 1

2- Longest transition area runway

3- Bike check in tents

4- Swim start venue

clockwise:

1- Craig 'Crowie' Alexander book signing

2- Transition Area 2

3- Race Briefing

4- Dinner at Meat Plus

Some things not in the photos:

1- I lost my T2 bag so I had to ask for a replacement

2- I had a massage before going to sleep

3- The body marking came with Age Group marking

4- The bag of loots was the HEAVIEST I've seen 

5- I bought my race nutrition at Bread Talk

You only do what you can Do

After struggling in Challenge PH last week I spent the post race week without a single run to rest my frail body but obviously I have to prepare for Subic IM70.3 in two week's time so I just did what I could - hit the pool, rode the bike and played some classic PS4 games. ;)

I also replaced the mtb crankset on my road bike with the old 105 double compact. I found that the mtb cranks were harder to tune with the road cogs (the chains would sometimes get caught between the plates and I always found myself riding with cross chain.

I didn't get my usual long rides, long runs and long swims ten days prior to an event but I'm pretty much confident that the half distance race last February 21 helped me to prepare for IM70.3. With less than a week before the next race I can only hope that I could run three times before the race weekend.

Last Saturday I wasn't able to do key workouts because I had to go to the open house of the School of Humanities and see if my daughter would like it. After hearing from and talking to the professors of the Department of Philosophy and Department of Fine Arts my lady decided to enroll in Ateneo (Creative Writing and Information Design) and not in my green Alma Mater (LIA-COM, Literature and Advertisement), and also not in UST (BS- Pharmacy to pursue Medicine - something that I kept suggesting her). I am so proud that she gets to choose to pursue her passion in a good school even if it means she'll be cheering for the Eagles and me for the Archers come UAAP basketball season. ANIMO!

the cat inspires me to do some time on the trainer

the flat bar has to go away... back with the drop bar

School Of Humanities - PROCEED WITH PASSION

I love art and this one just looks awesome 

playing some classic games

the dress that got the netizens talking - the blue and black in the middle ... NO gold and white, right?

All In A Day Before Race Day - Challenge PH 2015

February 20, 2015

A look at how the day before race day unfolds.

1- Pick up of race pack at Harbor Point Mall, 2- Pepper Lunch, 3- Buma Hotel, 4- Buma Hotel lobby deco 5- Philippine Sports Arena during travel

1- Ocean Adventure, 2- Puro Tri Team during race briefing, 3- Stage performance after briefing, 4- Transition area during bike check in, 5- Panorama shot of race briefing at the finish line

1- Bike check in, 2- 2nd dinner at Meat Plus (1st was at the carbo party at Ocean Adventure), 3- Late night massage at Ritz Spa, 4- Challenge Expo at Harbor Point Mall, 5- Welcome speech from Challenge Family

Oh Challenge, I Fade - Challenge PH Race Report

Expectation: 6 hours 50 minutes, Reality: 7:12. 

By the numbers

I only knew about the exact date of the event last Thursday. I was still hammering on my bike route, swam a 2.2K time trial, and jogged for about 40 minutes with less than two days until the race not knowing that Saturday would be race day. It was luck that I got to check the event schedule and found out that it's not a Sunday race. Miracle number 1: I didn't DNS.

My pre race routine included a visit to the rest room when the race was about to start. I was in the line for a major necessity but it was getting too late so at around 6 minutes before the horn I proceeded to the starting line and prayed for the best. Miracle number 2: my stomach was not looking for the restroom throughout the race.

Maybe I should have sticked this tri tats somewhere else  

Swim 1.9K

It was a very clean start at the Camayan Beach Resort. I was on the fourth wave (M18-29, Male 40-49) and my first tri swim without the feeling of a washing machine start. The middle part was shallow and I think I saw a ship wreck on the last turn. It was over in less than 37 minutes. Miracle number 3: no washing machine start.

Transition 1

I wore my loose cycling shorts, loose muscle shirt (yes, I hate tight fitting clothes), my cycling shoes, sunglasses and race number; then I was off.

Transition Area

Bike 90K

From kilometer 1 to 89 people were passing me. It felt like everybody in my wave just overtook me. Even the athletes from the last wave overtook me on the hills of Bataan. The view was a typical mountain view, unpopulated with dense forestation. The road was endlessly winding and undulating. And the weather was HOT! The first 30 kilometers was OK by my standard but the last 60K was terrible. I had a better ride last year when Reggie was pacing. But still... Miracle number 4: I only had one stop and it was a brief one, I neither got a flat tire nor a mechanical problem considering that I used an MTB crankset on a Shimano 105.

You'll definitely run faster once you see this ;)

Run 21K

Just like Tri United 3 last year, I was already spent at that point. I was so 'laspag' that I forgot to change to my running attire. I didn't forget the cellphone though. I saw my teammate Lloyd on my entry to the forest, he was already on the way out to the finish line. The difference between last year and this time around was that I knew what to expect. I felt I couldn't run so I just jogged and tried to minimize the time I spend on hydration breaks. I was jogging much slower than Tri United 3 but I had a better run split. The run course took us to the forest reserve where PNP Special Action Forces were training specifically the Viper commandos. On short distance triathlons I usually overtake a lot on the run course but it wasn't short and on that day I couldn't seem to overtake anyone. Miracle number 5: I finished. 

Medal of Laspag 

So here goes...

The Good: the difficulty of the bike route added to the challenge that is Challenge PH

The Bad: my performance needs a little bit / LOT of improvement

The Ugly: I could have gotten this race for a much cheaper price as part of the Bohol 226 appeasement program hehe

The Race: Challenge PH Subic is very well organized unlike last year, the events within the event are all above average.

The Time: more than 4 hours on the bike, period.

The Best: the hydration stations and kilometer markers were big big upgrades.

The Lesson: be prepared even if it's not your main priority race