Filled up with Christmas lunches and parties?

Yeah so the year is almost at an end and it is function upon function until then. We are storming the end of the year and the new year by filling up our systems - I mean EATING and indulging in all the fine cuisine that the Philippines can offer. Guess what, come next year we are upset when we look at ourselves in the mirror. Now it is back to basics and back to the treadmill, oval track or wherever we were in order to loose weight.

I would like to focus on another area we can join which is once a week and it also helps us in loosing weight..... RACES.....

Races in the Philippines is fast in catching up with the world standards. The only way we (Philippines) can get there is if us as runners support these events and our race organisers. We are quick to complain that we get water out of a tub and therefore we carry our own water for a race or the reused the water cups at the water stations during this and that race. We were actually joking about it last night at ROX but in all honesty, the only way we can get to the Singapore or US standards is by supporting our local races.

When I came to the Philippines and joined my first race the Runnex race, there were not as many runners but lately it is different. We all share this passion of running so let's support it in all the ways we can. If it is to loose weight, meet friends, be competitive as Baldrunner puts it or whatever reason we are running, let's put our hearts into it and help the growth of the sport here in the Philippines. While we are supporting the sport why not do it also for a good cause. I have been given a list of races from family runs or fun days out to full on races and it is all for a good cause. I am not saying let's only support these but this is a good start. Below is a list of races for the new year so let's block it on our agendas and start to sign up for these right away and get rid of those extra pounds and do it for something good..... Killing two flyes with one hit.... I hope to see you all at these races.

January 25, 2009 THE HAPPY RUN 3km, 5km and 15km. NBC tent The Fort

March 1, 2009 2nd DOCFIT RUN 5km and 10km (MD and Non MD category) UP theater UP Diliman QC- poster to follow

March 8, 2009 RUNew (ASIAN Hospital) 5km, 10km and 15km Bonifacio taguig

For more info on these races please go to Rio's site.

Milo marathon recap - ouch ouch ouch and in an unofficial time of 3:37

I am typing this post in so much pain, I can not begin to explain. I must add it is better today than yesterday.... Here it goes....

A week ago I never thought I will be able to run the milo marathon and was not in the mood for the 10km again as it was one of the worst experiences I had in August when I did the 10km milo as there were too many people in front that completed the 5km walking that we struggled to get through the crowds. So I wanted to do the milo 42km. There was just one problem, me being a foreigner and not a lot of explaining how the milo works, I thought I will do the 10km in August and then the 42km in November, never did I know you have to qualify to do the November 42km. I don't have a problem with cutting down but why not let the elite runners or the qualifiers start earlier and then the rest of the field? Or just explain properly on the milo site how it works. Enough complaining as I ended up running the 42km as a BANDIT.

It was about a week ago when I was approached by someone (don't want to mention who) to run the milo 42km with them. I voiced my unhappiness and this is when they told me they will run it as bandits. I was quite keen on the idea and decided to do it. I did not want to be a complete bandit so I registered for the 10km run. We were a few that were going to run this race and here we are in the photo (thanks for the pics Jonel):



This is the bandit group together




Or the photo of Jonel as per his blog "The Bandits"



The only legitimate runner Sir Jovie aka Baldrunner

We met up early at Roxas Boulevard. We also met up with Baldrunner and posed for a few photos. The reason why Sir Jovie is the only one facing the camera well, he is the only legitimate one to run the marathon as the rest are all bandit bloggers.

We walked up to the road as the race was about to start. Once the gun went off we joined the back of the pack. We decided to start together and see what happen. I knew Jerrie and I would run at the same pace as well as Lester but Lester told me he will only do a half. As faith had it, I started running with Jerrie. I guess we just cant help ourselves but before we knew it, we were on a 5min/km pace. We saw Jovie and caught up with him and then we were off. We started to overtake runners and it all went well. It was after about km 15 and a few hello Joe from the crowd where I have learned to either not respond or just say kumusta and usually they keep quiet then at that point. Sometimes if I say mabuti po, it will keep them even quieter and then the giggles will start. Well it was at this point where Jerrie told me he has a slight problem with his knee. He told me we can still continue but it is a concern for him.

I kept my pace and slowly Jerrie started falling behind. I kept looking back but he waved at me to go ahead. So I kept my pace and I felt good. At Bayani road and the turnaround point I saw Jerrie coming past not too far behind and then Jovie. We encouraged each other with a few words and off we went again. I was amazed at the speed of the first runner that passed me on his way back just before I went down McKinley hill. I shouted a few words of encouragement to him and concentrated again on my own run. It was so nice to pass the runners after the turn around point as everyone was in good spirits.

As I reached the top of Fort again I thought it must be around the 30km marker as I saw the 25km marker close to Heritage Park. I still felt good at this point. Usually in my training runs I would start to feel discomfort at km 32 so I had this in the back of my head. I was so upset with myself as I forgot once again my garmin forerunner at home so I could not see the distance I covered. There were also not a lot of markers on the route. As we went over the C5 flyover I thought we should be at the 32 km mark but I still felt great. I passed more and more runners that started walking at this point.

I was pushing forward when I saw Joms passing. I asked him how far to go and he said he is not sure but he thinks 7km. At this point a female runner was running with me as she stopped and walked and I caught up with her. She told me it is still 10km. So I knew it was not that far, it must be between 7 and 10km. I could at this point feel my legs getting heavy and felt some discomfort but I kept on pushing. I heard my name from a passing vehicle and I was wondering who that could be. It was the support team of team baldrunner with Coach Ferdie Espejo and the rest of the team. Thanks guys for giving me that water at that point, you were send for me as I needed it so much. Thanks for the words of encouragement as well and the pic taken.



After about 37 km, still 5 to go!!!

I had in my mind the idea there is still just one km left and then I saw the 40km sign and knew still 2km left and this is where my hope died. Two km's can be so far after 40km of running. I was really tired at this point as my legs started to struggle to keep my body going forward. I met up with another guy that started to push me and I took his pace and even had a sprint to the finish line. Yipeeeeee I made it, 42km!!! I went into the 10km finish line as this is the number I had. They must have thought this is the slowest 10km runner ever as the 10km clock was over 2 hours at this point.

Thank you milo for accommodating us bandits even though we did not give you any choice. I am sorry my fellow bandits for not staying to long after the race but I needed a CR desperately and the tender loving care of the wife. So I hopped on my bike and off I went into the traffic of Manila with legs that were wasted. Thanks to all the bandits for the support and inviting me along and remember our goal in three years time.... the comrades in South Africa....

To all that will do the Singapore, good luck and all the best for the race. I am off to gym, yes, you read it right, to gym as I was instructed by coach Ferdie to do a 30min 80% run today and tomorrow so I will see how that goes. To team Baldrunner, see you at Ultra on Wednesday and to all that read this blog... Keep fit and Keep healthy. God bless.

Hats off to coaches in the Philippines

I made my way to Ultra again yesterday afternoon for a second training session. While warming up I was sitting across a man who was busy with the same warm up stretches. The coach was sitting in front giving instruction and helped where we got the stretches wrong. I was keeping an eye on the man across from me and thought by myself. Here is a man most probably in his fifties who is well known in the Philippines and is giving so much to the running community. This entry is about these guys whom I noticed coming from another country who will offer up their own in order for the sport to succeed and go forward in this country.

The man I am referring to is Sir Jovie, aka baldrunner. At the previous training session a week ago, my first session I went to I asked him about running in the Philippines and I was amazed by the efforts he makes in order to promote running here in the Philippines. He is involved in donating running attire, getting coaches to coach runners and so many more that we don't even know of and then he is even asked to help in the promoting of Olympics for the Philippines and also the endurance running in the Philippines. I could not believe that one person can put so much effort in for the gain of others. He is certainly one person to look up to and then he is such a humble person as well.

The trainig I am talking about is the clinic he offers free of charge to runners. Thanks baldrunner for your effort and also a huge thanks to the trainers. If you want to know more about the trainers as they are highly qualified you can read more on Baldrunner's site.

This is our training group with Team Baldrunner.

Another person which I would like to mention that also started a clinic for runners is no other than the future president sana Mr. Rio. Here is a man that knows a lot about all aspects of running. I can seriously call him any time of the day for any advice in running and he is willing to help me. He even helps me with my Tagalog. I was caught once in a nike shop between a few choices and the staff was not able to help me due to a lack of product knowledge so who are you going to call??? Not Ghostbusters but the running buster Rio. He was able to give me sound advice and 5 minutes later I left the store with the correct attire. Then coming to knowledge on how to organize a race successfully, one can ask Rio with confidence to do it or to give advice. I can only speak highly of him. Then there is the running clinic aid that he started. This is another sign of where he wants to offer up his own by giving and donating to the world of running for the sport to be a success in the Philippines. From feedback of other bloggers, his workshop is just like his races a huge success.

This is what I am getting at. I would like to make a hand of suggestion. Can we as bloggers bring ourselves to the table by helping with this effort of promoting running. I know you all are already by blogging but do an extra effort. Even if it is just by joining at least one fo the two running clinics of Rio or team baldrunner. They won't mind which one as this does not seem to be competition but more giving back to running and helping others. I wished I could divide myself in two and send one to the one group and one to the other as I am sure they are both brilliant and we can lear a lot. Can we also promote their running clubs to new runners as it will help them a lot with technique to learn from the beginning of their running career. Let's join and get people to join these running clinics or even pay them by joining their clubs permanently. We can also help by promoting things like the donate a shoe as so many of you have done on your blogs. And then lastly, I would like to organize with the help of Rio and Sir Jovie a bloggers run where we as bloggers can also give back to the community. It will be only way after the Singapore but any ideas would be helpful as well as any sponsors. Let's put the money and resources where our mouths are and make this one a success as well. We can then be introduced to the Philippines as the world of blogging. I also think that we should maybe go as far as start a body for bloggers whereby the blogs can be quite controlled or a list be if someone wants to know about blogging in the running world in the Philippines. I will speak to Jaymie about this as she is the one and only blog celebrity in the Philippines.

So bring the advice, ideas and brainstorming to the table and let's put on a run never to forget in the history to come of running in the Philippines. Please raise your glasses in a salute to the two icons I have mentioned and to all that are doing their part to promote running locally.

KEEP FIT!!!

Unicef - Frustrating but yet fulfilling and worth every second or hour or so

So here we are, the whole family at Mckinley Hill and for once I am not feeling battered because of McKinley!!! Yep, I am going to do my very first 2km walk... I think the biggest struggle was to get the kids into bed early hte night before. And as the case with Jaymie, the kids was excited and the youngest (Philip jnr) told me:"Daddy I am going to win tomorrow, right" So if I would have the answer... But being encouraging parents we did not talk it down nor did I encourage speech like that, it was just we shall see Boeta (which means little brother in Afrikaans - his nickname), we shall see.

We arrived with the complete family and saw the end of the tail of the 10km runners starting and then the 5km runners. It was once we saw the first runners come in when my heart went out to them and longing for the open road seeing that I did not train since Wednesday due to taking our kids with their school class to the zoo on Friday (my birthday woowoo).

The feeling quickly changed when I saw the face of my little boy change when the robots of star wars and the jeti fighters came to the starting line. We took some pics and he has to look at the pic every night before he goes to bed. I think it is his coolest pic ever. It made the going and do the 2km walk all worth it. One of the coolest pics for me ever is Levy in his spiderman outfit. Great brother you looked excellent. Pogi na pogi!!! Sobre.

The new famous picture for Boeta

And here is my newest hero Spiderlevy

Well after some pic taking and thanks to all that came for picture taking with us as a family and our little ones, I can show a lot of photos to friends and family in South Africa so dont be surprised if someone phone you from South Africa and ask you to play in a movie ... :) After the photos we started our 2km walk. The kids could not understand why we started walking if it is a race. I think they were content by the fact to just dress up for the occasion so it did not take much to satisfy them.

The le Roux family

The le Roux's in action (I think my wife Vina is pointing to a short cut???)

The men of the family

It was when Jaymie aka bullrunner came running past with her girl (such a sweety and thanks for the pic) that Boeta said :"Dad why are we not running, they just want to beat us". I wonder where he got his competitiveness from? After the water station we decided to make a sprint for it and it was then when I saw the speed of my oldest daughter and now I have new plans for her... hmmm wonder what that might be, girls be carefull in a few years time...

The kids on stage after the race but got beaten by the new found hero of the foreignrunner which deserves the pize for the best dressed person, Mr. Levy and his spidergirl.

Met a lot of freinds (bloggers) as I call them friends by now as they are becoming like family and sometimes even better as they share the same love with me. (I must add we in SA is not as family orientated as the Philippino people).

All in all what a wonderfull organised race as ussual. This just makes me want to promote Rio more and more for president. I think he is able and I believe the elections is close. Is there anyone that can help me print his banner so we can put it up at the next races he organise?

The kids realy enjoyed it so much and it was a great family outing. thanks Rio and I hope there are many to come as my great friend Levy has put it. It was also nice and easy to put the kids in bed the same day as they had a lot of excitement for one day. I also had a bit of a problem and that was to answer my little boy where his prize was after I answered that he won. I will still work on that one as he did not ask me again so maybe I got of this time.

I want to close by asking you bloggers what you think of the idea to all come together one Saturday or so and do a nice easy run somewhere quiet and then go for a nice breakfast afterwards to close the year of? This was motioned by Nora the golden girl and I would like to second the motion? Any ideas?

Let me in the spirit of running end by "Stay fit and keep healthy!!!"

NB... What a horrible and unenjoyable race

I am sure I have your attention now. You see, everytime I opened a blog, I read how wonderfull the race was. I thought if I do the same I stand a chance of people just scanning through my blog as well. So, there you go, I cought you and now that you read this far no need to stop as I am not going to blog this time on how wonderfull the race was as we all know by now it was more than great, instead I will compliment some and thank others:

Firstly to two guys that helped me set up a good time -

Jerry, thanks for the pacing, it was bad luck though that you struggle to run and drink water as I am sure you would have overtaken me at the finnish.

I dont know how many bloggers know him and I am not sure how to spell his name and maybe someone can correct me in the comments and I will change it but it was Boyet, the training mngr at Gold's gym in Greenhills. Sinabi ko sa inyo kaya ko iyan sa tulong ninyo. He met me after app. 10km's and ran with me and sometimes in front of me the whole time. It is clear he know a lot about running as he knew when I will need encouragement.

Baldrunner for always giving me at least one tip when I see him.

Jaymie, for your enthusiasm in the sport of running and promoting it the way you do in the Philippines - keep that smile girl, it can take you far.

Ben for your photos and for your, Joms and Rio's friendship. After meeting you I understood the context of the Tagalog word "pare" the first time they tried to explain it to me.

Tanya from happy feet to keep inviting me to functions and being hospitible even though I could not make it the last time.

Jun C for all the photos you take of me and encouraging me during each run.

For great informative web pages about running and races here in the Philippines eg. takbo.ph etc.

Happy feet peeps that just put that extra umph in the running world and make the socials even so much better - Thanks Mon

Felipe for the encouraging words all the times.

Annie for keeping me pushing forward as I think you are on my heals all the time and boy you get closer every time.

As Jerry said, the guy at 8km of the NB race that gave such nice remarks other than "Hi Joe" as we white people are know here in the Philippines (glad my name is not realy Joe as I would thought I was a celebrity). I saw a white guy once with a shirt that had on the back "Hindi Joe ang pangalan ko" maybe it will be worth it to get a running shirt like that?!?

Thanks New Balance

Everyone that made an effort to speak to me or to make me feel welcome in your country, I solute you all, also the new runners at each race and people breaking their PR's - great stuff. I see it a privelage to be in this wonderfull country of all of you and share races with you guys. Keep fit and keep up the running. So if I did not mention your name, believe me your impact is noted and appreciated. If you ever just spoke to me and I did not mention yur name, please forgive me as it is hard if you are standing out in a country to remember all the new people introduced to you.

Lastly I would like to mention, if going to Clark and looking for a hotel, we stayed at the maharajah. It is a great hotel if you decide to stay in the new rooms. Opt for them as they dont offer them to the families. We were able to get a double occupance room (two double beds) for our family as we have three small kids and they easily fit on a double bed but they did not want us to stay there. The family room they offered us is more expensive but not the same quality, the new rooms are much better. They allowed us to stay in the new room with the two double beds after we told them we are willing to give up the extra money we paid for the family room as we thought the new room is better value for money anyway. So if you stay there, ask for the new rooms. Other than that it was great staying there as the staff is super friendly.

I found these great pics on other blogs and thanks for all of yu that took them and send them to me. Here they are - salute to all of you and God bless.

Before the start with Bullrunner and my running partner Jerrie and some others.

I thought she was going to sing the national anthem.. I could not believe it that I won third place in my age group.

With my new found running friend Jerrie

After about 10km I was told, Jerrie and Boyet, the fitness manager at our gym, Gold's gym in Greenhils.

Rio for President

Since my arriving in Manila in January, I was extremely impressed with the races that Rio put together. From the first runex at UP through to today with the VSO Bahaginan’s Kabahagi Ako FUNdraising race. The race results out on the same day, is this possible? Yes with Rio it is. You can get your results here.



It was perfectly organised. So many water stations and at good placed areas. Also the different distance categories was placed evenly and for once they were not a problem to us. I dont know how he did it but it worked. I think to my opinion, other race organisers can realy get him to give advice and together all the organisers can make it such a great experience. I am not saying this because I think the others was a wreck, it was all enjoyable on the cotrary, I just feel that Rio has the correct passion and talents for races and running.



Well done Rio, you out did yourself again. The race was great. I paced with Joemar from teh start to finnish and we had a great pace. We knew the route so we knew not to start to strong and what a difference that made to the latter stages of the races and MCKINLEY!!! I did not want to go to fast today as I wanted to train for the NB next weekend so today should have been a slow longish run. Looking at my time, it was great and I did not even feel I was going this fast. It is always great to pace with someone and that is why I decided to grab the opportunity with both hands when Taki suggested that we must run together. Thanks Taki and I will definately take you up on that offer.



Thanks for a wonderful run today, it was great and a great experience. I also met so many people and I think one of the highlights was to eventually meet Nora. I hope you had a great run Nora as I could not chat for to long, had other things to attend to. It was great seeing so many bloggers like Jaymie, baldrunner, highaltitude, Levy, Ben, Wayne,Vimz (for the first time) and so many others. If I did not mention your name, I did not forget you but there are to many to mention. You guys are great and thanks for making us foreigners feel at home.



Due to this once again excellent race, I wonder if anyone will second the motion to vote Rio for President? I made his first banner and we need someone to print it so we can start his campaign. Who is with me?

It is a plane, no it is a dinosaur, no it is an elephant, no it is Philip, the foreign runner!!!

As a result of some comments received I felt obliged in posting some of my before Photos. I dont have so many after photos but on the top of my blog is enough of what I look like now and most of you has seen me with my new body. Well here it goes...

This was when I was in the police force in South Africa when I was still thin.

This is when I started picking up weight, after the birth of our first child.

This was at a function where I am with my wife at a work function.

This just after we arrived in the UK.

During my bible training in the UK. Notice how I am the biggest in our class.

The above two photos is the shocking fotos I was refering to that made me decide to do something about my weight. I am still no Ben 10 but I feel like Spiderman everytime I look at these photos.

So, if I could do it then anyone can. Kaya mo iyan!!!

Keep fit!!!!

Garmin oh garmin, which one should be my garmin?!?

Reading so many posts about GPS watches and the not so sure which one to purchase I decided to share my experiences between three garmins with you...

My beginning with Garmin started not long after I started running. This was in the beginning of 2006 in the beautifull village of Grimsby England. I noticed myself on a photo that was taken at a Christmas function. It came to me as a shock. What happened to me over the last few years? How did I not realise what happened to my body? I could hardly see my chin! I decided that is it! No more Barney, from now on it will be Ben 10!!!

This is the old me next to Don King.

So I took up running. I started with 200m and wanted to vommit. I was so unfit. The 200m quickly developed into 1km which after a month was a slow but steady 3km. I ran every day except for Sundays. The day came when I decided to do a 5km route. I was so scared and thought, what will I do if I can't make it as it is far to walk back if I break down... I completed it and it was great. Although at a slow pace I did it without walking once.

After about two months I did my first 10km race. At this point I was serious about running so I decided I need a monitor or something which will log my runs. I went online and read that some people have a log which they write down their runs in a log book. The lazy me quickly turned away that option. One afternoon a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to use his Polar watch. He told me it has a heart rate monitor and it can give you a graph afterwards explaining the effort of your run. WOW WOW WOW. I ran with it and was quite impressive. I can't remember the details but the information I printed after the run was amazing. Then I started my line of research in watches and without a lot of information, I stumbled on the Garmin forerunner 301. The following is my experiences:

Garmin forerunner 301:

I bought this forerunner just before the 305 was launched and I bought it from ebay for a mere 140GBP. I also received a 1 year warranty. I used it for approximately 2 months when the socket which connects the watch to the PC did not want to recognise the watch. I phoned Garmin UK and they asked me to send it back to them. I was quite happy with the watch as it registered not only the distance but also my heart rate, pace and on a lazy software program could even see on a poor map where my run was. It took a while to find satelite and the strap looked like a thing you can use when yuor parachute does not want to open. But at that time when GPS just came out with watches, it was a great gadget. I phoned Garmin after a week and asked the lady what the problem with my watch is and she informed me she will exchange it for me. I did some more research by then and realised the new forerunner 305 was just launched. After some negotiations I was allowed to pay in 20GBP and she send me the new forerunner 305.

Garmin forerunner 305:

This was an exciting watch. It also had the heart rate monitor as well as so many features. The screen can be devided into either 1 screen or 4 viewable screens. You can also select manually which information you would like to view on the screen. It contains fields as pace, time, lap speed, distance etc. The software was also much better than the 301 software. It had a better updated map and the training centre (name of the software) was also easy to read and follow. You can also select a specific user profile which has different speed zones. You can even download from runnersorld training programs directly to your garmin and it will appear on your software under a calender of your specific exercise for each day. You can also create your own workouts and by the press of a button to start the workout and pressing only again once you are done with your workout. You can also select auto lap whereby you set a specific distance for the watch to select a lap. On the software it will then point out all data for that specific lap. It also has a multi sport for instance doing a duathlon, by pressing start, you do the first sport, then press lap and it automatically start the second sport. You can also select a transition between the sports and it will record just that. The time to find satelites once switch on is also much quicker than the 301. All in all a great watch for training.

There are a few cons as well:

It is quite a big watch on the wrist but one get use to it quite quickly.

It is only splash proof so one can not swim with it.

The battery life is quite short but long enough for at least a 4 hour workout.

The lap sounds at the end of a specific split to notify you is quite soft.

The cons is realy not merely as much as the pro's and this is an excellent watch for the beginner, intermediate and pro runner. It can now even be oploaded to google earth and will automatically show you on google earth where you ran and it is quite accurate. It has a footpod optional but good to have for those treadmill runs.

I had the watch for at least a year and a half when I saw the garmin forerunner 405. It got my attention and again because it was new I had to be the guinea pig. So I bought it with only a few reviews on youtube but all was positive.

Garmin forerunner 405:

This watch is sleek and pretty. It is compact and has the same features as the 305 with the virtual runner and multisports. There are only a few differences that is better than the 305 and here they are:

It is much smaller and lighter.

You can wear it as a normal watch and nobody will realise the power you have on your wrist.

It downloads the data automatically via a bluetooth stick to your computer once in a radius of approximately 30m from your pc. It also has a docking station as the 305 but you don't need it anymore, only for charging it.

The battery life is much longer due to a auto power safe function but more of this in the cons.

I thought that the program garmin connect was only for the 405 but I could download even the data from my 305 to this program. So there are two software programs you can use.

The cons:

On my first run with the watch, I struggled to switch between the different data on the screen. It has a toggle function whereby you slide your finger accross the face of the watch and it scrolls through the menu. It loks quite impressive. You need to do the same when viewing through the different data screens. After 10km, I struggled to scroll with this feature as it jumped sometimes to fast or did not want to scroll. I still prefer the buttons, it is much easier to push while running.

After approximately 15kms I wanted to stop my workout and in the meantime it went automatically to auto battery safe function and to exit this function you have to touch the outside of the watch and hold it there for a while before the actual workout appears. By this time it was already an extra minute of standing still before stopping my workout.

I came home and changed some of the settings. I changed the sensitivity and stopped the virtual runner as it was automatically selected as a default and kept on switching to it while I was running. My next run I eperienced the same problems.

The screen is much smaller than the 305 and makes it a bit harder to read.

It is also just splash proof and not water proof. So again no swimming.

The above is a reflection of my experiences with this watch. I hope that some of this information can help you in deciding which one to purchase. My 405 stay at home as I am just using my 305 and will most probably continue to use it until a waterproof garmin watch comes to the market. If there are any ideas of what I should do with it, please give me ideas. There you have it. If you look at all the pros and cons and prices of the different watches, I still think the 405 is a better buy. For more information go to http://www.garmin.com/. Here are some average prices in US dollars for both the watches:

Forerunner 305 from 210 to 230 dollars

Forerunner 405 from 300 to 320 dollars

Looking at the price difference, it is quite a big difference. For any questions please feel free to comment and I will answer as detailed as possible. Enjoy your new Garmin as it will be the start of a great relationship with you and your wrist watch.

KEEP FIT and GOD BLESS.

Clark duathlon update - as flat as my bycicle tyre

Went to bed early last night as I was told that this upcoming duathlon is more my type of event. Believing them, I thought I will need all the rest I can get. I bought a triathlon book last week called "Triathlon 101" and thought I will follow some of the tips in there. I decided to taper last week and did fewer mileage, I ate right, I did the carbo loading and so all that was needed according to the book was to pack the correct gear the night before and have a good sleep.

I did it all to the t. Got up early this morning, at 2:30 to be exact as Levy and I was going to drive in convoy to Clark. I am a new to the area so need someone to always show me around, who better to ask than Levy? Bless his good heart! I met him at the people power monument on Edsa drive at 3:30. We had such a good drive and I quite enjoyed driving on the northern expressway. Before we knew it, we were in Clark and collecting our start packs.

I prepared my kit, attached my numbers to the helmet and bike, I even got my new water and gel bottle from Levy. Yeah, it is a water and gel bottle. It is so cool. If the pop button is in and you squeeze it, the energy gel comes out and when you open the pop button, the gatorade comes out. So I filled my new bottle and went to the transition area. I was quite amazed to find out there are hardly anything to pack out in the transition area. We all went to the race briefing, listened to the course and did our last minute adjustments. Off to the start.......

This is where it all went bad. I turned on my garmin 305 on the way to the start and it could not get signal?!? After a few minutes, the gun shot sounded and we were off. Instead of fighting with my garmin I switched it off. I turned it on again and thought I will leave it until it starts up and then record the details from there. I was off with a great pace. Others were zooming off and I could not even confirm my pace on my garmin to see if I am slow or if they are crazy. I caught up with most of them on the first lap. The first 10 km consisted of four 2.5 km laps. There was a slight uphill in the beginning but then downhill all the way. It felt like I was flying through the run and it all went well again.

Just before entering the bike area, I saw my watch is up and running so I grabbed my bike and started my exercise recording. I was flying out with the bike. I read in the triathlon book all about drafting because it did not make sense to me before. How can you not draft if someone is in front of you and drive the same speed than you. Then you even have to compete with oncoming traffic and Jeepney's and then there are even pedestrians??? I tried to keep my distance behind a driver in front of me and as I thought I have enough in the legs to overtake, I went through a pot hole. Once I hit the pot hole I thought, oops, something must have given away. About 1 km further my thoughts came true. My rear tyre was flat. I cruised all the way back leaning on the front tyre to not damage the rim. Back at the bike area, I dismounted and pumped up the rear tyre to maybe just be lucky once but to no avail. The tyre was finished. There goes my great start. Just 10 km on the bike. I placed the bike on the rack and put on my running shoes. I thought I drove out all the way to Clark so I might as well finish with the last 5 km run. I put my head down and had a run of 20 min and some seconds to spare even though it was not a full 5 km. I am still happy with my running times.

So there you have it. My first tri I got disqualified by taking the incorrect bike route. My first duathlon I did not finish due to a flat tyre. I dont know what new things I want to start after this. I only know one thing - I am excited for the first duathlon next year just to make up for today!

I at least had a great time after my 5 km run. I took some gatorade and Biccardi sweat from my cooler box and decided to help the runners come in and to just help Levy to the finish with his last 5 km run. Some people must have thought what is this crazy white guy doing shouting to everyone passing in the middle of the road. Sorry if I distracted you but it was meant with good intentions.

Congratulations on all the finishers and all the participants. I saw so many familiar faces and it was great chatting to you all. God bless, have a great off time from tri's and duathlon's until next year. I will see you all at the "normal" races as I am preparing for the New Balance race next and will have a few shorter races fit in between. Glad to be back to my first love RUNNING!!!

Alabang tri recap

Hi all,

let me first congratulate not only those that manage PB's (personal bests, like we know it in the western world) but also to those just finishing their respective races, whether it be your first 21k, 10k or just the 5k. Any race completed is a bonus as it is only a positive thing for the body. I missed all of you at the KOTR as running is still my first love but having to do a tri the next day, I gave the KOTR a skip. I am still not so fit or should I say crazy :) as some people (Joms) to do both. I am not worthy to speak to you yet.... :).

I am not going to lay out my different splits but will give an overview on my experience of the complete race all together:

Arriving early for my third but second official tri as I got DQ the first tri :( , I already noticed so many changes from the last. The registering and the claiming area for the packets was much more organised. It took me no longer than 2 min to be from claiming my packet than to hanging my bike. As Levy mentioned, the numbers in the transition area was even laminated and the spaces between the bikes was much more. All in all, a great start to the race.

The race briefing was done on time and explained propperly in the transition area. Great job Rick on the complete race. There was enough time for questions as well, and so it was all clear.

At the pool it lived up to the great start of the morning. It all went smoothly. There were also adequate helpers at the pool that knew their jobs respectively. Great job guys.

The cycle route was great. I would have loved to see a bit more water points (maybe just one more) for the bike leg. The reason for this is, it is a hard course as there are quite a few good uphills. For a less than average guy on the bike, I was tiring quite quickly so I used up my gatorade much quicker. Still not complaining as the marshals were great and they knew what they were doing especially in organising the traffic. Thumbs up to all of them. There was a discussuion about changing the route once mass starts at the church which got me a bit jittery but I obviously did not pass in that time frame so it was the normal route.

The run was terrible or should I say MY run was terrible. I was dehydrated halfway through. I started great and felt good untill the 3rd last km. My legs felt heavy and I felt drained. I missed the water point as I saw a guy standing in the distance. I started to prepare myself for the water and started to push it a bit more so I can make up for the time I will decrease in speed to be able to drink water. When it was time for me to be more or less close to the "water guy", I was totally shocked. It was a water boy right, just the wrong type of water boy. It was a male standing with a trolley and garbage bags, busy "watering" the plants :). I did not know whether I should laugh or cry.

I then joined up with three runners next to me once I eventually reached the correct water boy but was on the outside of the other runners and they took the water cups that was being held out. I just had to push through. Another runner joined up with me from behind and started encouraging me and that helped me a lot. It is funny how nice runners can be to each other, it is as if we are a family. I experienced real pakikisama (not sure of the spelling).

All in all, a great experience. If I had any doubts into continuing with triathlons, Rick and his crew keep on putting up great triathlons and so I get more hooked. Thank you guys for making it a great experience to us all. You definately have my thumbs up. I must also just mention the shirts is great. It is of great quality and fits great. I will definately see you all at the duo in Clark next Sunday, at least there is no swim ha ha ha...

Untill then, KEEP FIT.

My first official completed triathlon. UPLB recap

What a beautiful area indeed. I am talking about Los Banos. It is green and clean even though there are a lot of traffic, it is just different in its own way than Manila. I would like someone to explain however, where are all those private pools that the guys are advertising next to the road and if it is advertised, is it still then so private?

Levy and I arrived at UP quite early as we did'nt want to test the faith of the weather and of traffic. After receiving a text from Marga that the traffic is bad on the motorway, we decided to leave early. The race did start a bit later however but I much prefer this. My reasons are as follow:

• One is able to wake up later in the morning and have a good night sleep before the race.
• One can have a good meal in advance before the race to build up extra energy.
• It is easier to remember all your gear as you have the whole morning to prepare.
• Lastly and the most important reason, I would like to share these events with my wife and children and when it is early in the mornings, it is just impossible to take them along. With this tri, it was great as everyone could enjoy the day with me. It was great!!!
  

PLEASE THINK ABOUT CHANGING THE TIMES OF THE TRI's IN FUTURE!!!!

My kids could go with and they enjoyed the day

Let me recap on my experience:

Swim 21:11

I must say the TI lessons is helping, and I will recomend it to anyone. Although I was not able to swim the complete distance without stopping, was it in a way much easier when I swam freestyle. It is definately all about the technique. I felt more refresh when I came out of the water. It was a bit crowded at some times but for me being in the back, I found it much easier. I had to fight for a spot only more so often. It was also to my advantage as it was only 800m and we could dive upon reentering the pool which save some distance. After completing the swim, I had at least 5 minutes disadvantge on Levy (not that we had a bet and not because we are competitive (Yeah right) but just for the fun). My wife also counted the laps for me as I would have gotten confused should I have remembered. She aslo kindly shouted to me (in afrikaans of course so that Levy and his wife would not know she is keeping me up to speed of where he is) my time behind him.

I almost have the technique

Levy before plunging into the water

After this dive my goggles was on the back of my head.

Distances are all according to my garmin 305.

Bike 1:01:09 30.5km

I dont know what happened but I thought I was going at a steady pace but I obviously was mistaken. He is much faster than what I thought, I wont be misled again by his speed on the bike... :) . The bike route was not to bad. It was only the two ends of the lap that was a gradual incline which made it hard in a sense. Overall a relative easy bike route. There were quite a few accidents especially at the turn around point at the start of the loop. Kawawa naman sila.

This is the turning point where there were a few crashes

Run 25:27 5.34km

As I came out of transition, I heard this voice behind me... "Come on Philip, I am going to catch you". As I turned aorund, it was no one other than Mr. Levy Ang. Wow I thought, there goes my chances of beating him. He was a complete 1.5km lap ahead of me and it will cost a lot for me to make that up in 6km. I also knew he had me in the back of his head even though he say he is not competitive where I like to differ, so I knew he will not slow down. I am quite disapointed with my run though as it is a 4:46/km. I know I can go faster but for one or other reason, I gave up quite early. Dont get me wrong, it is still a good time especially after a bike and a swim but I know I can do better as I have better times in my training. So yes, Levy was just to fast for me and I could not catch him. I have still 6 swimming lessons left so be afraid, be very afraid Levy for this foreignrunner is on your heels and ready to overtake you..... Bwah bwah bwah..... No more Mr. nice guy.... :)

Second loop of the run

This is the "I know you won" look but be afraid for next time!!!

Levy on his fast run, and wow did he go!!!! I think it was even a PR for him.

Overall, it was a great triathlon. I did loose out on third in my age group by one place as I was fourth but thirteenth overall is not bad at all. I am happy with that and also the fact that I was not disqualified, so this makes it my first official triathlon....

Even though he beat me, we are still great friends (I hope so) :)

Note the photos as my wife was with me and she could take some pictures......

The route on google earth

So untill the next triathlon at Ayala Alabang, greetings from the foreignrunner and remember to KEEP FIT!!!

I am hooked!!!

I love this new found sport. Thanks to people like Levy, Marga and others for introducing this sport to me. I even gave up the long awaited Adidas race for triathlon??? I must be hooked. I enjoy the cross training tremendously and it is something different with more challenges.

I went to Alabang with Levy and Marga today to try the bike route and familiarise ourselfs with it. I must say, even after doing the loops four times (total of 40km) I still will have to concentrate come race day next month. The laps works like this.

• Once leaving the transition area, follow the road. At the first junction, turn left and follow the road. It will make a big loop passing the golf course on the right with quite a steap hill.



• At the top you get another junction. At this junction, turn left to start the small loop. Follow the road. The road will get to a junction. Turn left. Once you turned left the golf course is again on the right side and you will be on the same steap uphill. At this point you just completed the small lap.



• Upon arriving at the top of the hill where you will turn left to start the small lap, turn tight to start over. You will start now the second figure eight loop. Note that after turning right at the junction, not far you have to make a right turn (there is a field on the right side). One figure eight loop is a total of 10km and therefore you have to do three of these figure eight loops. In summary, it is three large loops and three small loops. After one large, do a small which makes up one figure eight loop.



• After doing three figure eight loops, it is off to the finnish. This can be tricky. After you finnished the last small lap and you get to the top of the hill where the golf course is on your right, turn right. Continue with the big lap. Your next turn after the last junction is to the right. Just after you truned right there should be an arrow (there was one at the last race) that will point left stating finnish. Turn left and not right. If you turn right you will continue with the large lap again. After turning left, park your bike and enjoy your run...

I hope this will help those that struggled with the route like I did. I also attached a google pic of the route. The instructions will make more sense if you read it with the map of google earth. (Click on the image to enlarge)

I also signed up for the Los Banos tri and can't wait as I have a bet with another athlete. Don't want to mention names because should I win the challenge, it will be much sweeter to mention this person's name. We did a total of 40km bike and 7km run today at Alabang. I also managed to see Patrick, Jaymie and Anni today. It was a pity I could not chat to them as I would still like to appoligise to Anni for our last nike run. Levy and Marga, thanks for the company, you guys are great!!!

Untill next time... KEEP FIT!!!

I am disappointed!!!

I received the results ogf the animo tri today from my good friend Levy. I am disqualified. What a track record, my first tri and I am disqualified.

It is due to my own neglegence. I should have studied the route beforehand. I don't however know where they got my bike time and distance as I did do 30km according to my garmin but just a different route. I did the small circle two times more and the big eight one time less, so I think that is where my time was not registered. Whatever the reason, I will take full responsibility. That is why we will go on Saturday and familiarize ourselves with the route for next month..... Yeah I am hooked, I already registered for the next tri on 12 October!!!! I want to do the correct route as my running time was quite good. I am planning on taking at least a few classes of total immersion lessons before the next tri to help me with the swimming.

I have a challenge with someone else so I need to improve on my swimming time. 31minutes was just to long for swimming. I must have looked like something between a frightened cat and a hungry chicken in the water. I was the only one that did the backstroke and then it wasn't even done propperly, it looked more like a holiday swim. My garmin regeistered a distance of 29.6 km for my bike at a time of 53 minuntes so I am happy with my bike as well. JUST THE SWIMMING...

So who is coming with next month?!? Don't be scared to do a triathlon if you don't know the techinique of swimming because if I could do it, then so can you.....

Animo tri At last my first tri

I still cant believe I did it even though it was just the sprint. I always watch the triathlon's on tv some mornings and it was a dream to one day participate in one myself and thanks to the blogging comunity here and people like Levy, Marga Jaymie and others, I got to TRI my first tri. I trained a while before but not the swimming leg. I always train every Monday a brick fo 1 hour bike and 10km run so I had confidence in those two legs but my fear was the swim..

I went swimming a few times before the race. Every time I was more frightened as I never managed to improve from the previous swim. I tried almost everything. I went on youtube and watched videos, went to our swimming pool tried it but to no avail. I tried all things except the one I should have a while ago and that is a swimming coach. Jaymie told me about this total emerge training and I even met the coach but it was to close to the race and believe me I will contact him for a few lessons before the next race. So let me tell all you guys and few girls how it went.

• Started with the swim. This was my biggest fear. I stood with Marga and Filipe at the side of the pool trying to not look nervous but I am sure they could see the fear in my eyes. I believe I even made a stupid joke or two in order not to think of the swim. Thanks Marga for laughing at them even though they were not funny. I watched the mini sprint take of and wow some of those guys could swim. I saw Jaymie swim and I thought, wow, I need her coach. She even looked like the guys on tv (just a little bit slower :) but the technique was brilliant. I saw the younger guys of the sprint distance go and that made me even more frightened. It was our turn. I jumped in the pool and waited. Levy walked me through teh complete process before so I knew we start in lane one and two (which was combined) then go from lane to lane until you reached the end and do it all over again. Then if that was not enough, we had to go back to lane 5 and do half of the pool again. Anyway here I was rigth at the back as I knew I would only cause others to slow down or even drown if I was in the middle or I could even drown. I almost died a few times but I forced myself not to stop even if it meant me doing breast strokes and back strokes most of the time. I was so tired when I finally made the end. I was not last, yepee, just third last!

• Off to the bike. I was so happy to be finnished so now I could catch up. I raced into the transition area, put on my helmet as I remembered Levy said it is important to do that first. I put on my Garmin watch and wanted to take a energy gel but did not know where to put it so I left it for the run. My shoes was clipped into the peddle and I trained two days before the mounting and dismounting of the bike section. It all went smoothly. I jumped on the bike and off I went. As I was going in the beginning I got confused on the route. I also saw the arrows but every time to late to know where to go and the marshalls tried there best to direct but I am still not sure if I went the correct way everytime. After downloading the route from my garmin and studying the route on Marga site, it does not correspond. Anyway I did the bike leg as I thought it should be done, after all I was not doing it to race but more for my first time experience. As I got back to the transition area, I followed another cyclist. He was quite fast on the route and I did most of the route with him. He started to undo his shoes so I knw we must be close so I undid my shoes as well just as I trained.

• Unto the running leg. The transition went smooth. I was in my running shoes in no time but had to put on socks. Maybe I should leave them in the next race and see how it goes. I grabbed my energy boost gel and my cap and off I went. I felt a little bit heavy but just the same as training and I knew it will only last for about 500m and so it did. I was soon into my rythm and felt more at ease as this was the part of the event I felt the most comfortable with and after all I trained for 10km after cycling and we only had to do 6.5km. The hill next to the golf course slowed me down quite a bit as I never thought it was so long. I overtook quite a few runners but was not sure if it was the same guys of my age group that started with me or the younger guys. I felt still good after the run and did the run in 29 minutes according to my garmin and the distance was spot on. I never had doubts as to the route of the run as it was better organised.

It was great to have so many support and thanks to all the guys that helped and supported us. I dont want to mention names as I might forget someone. To the guys that came all the way just to support, you know who you are, thank you so much, it made a wrold difference to me and made me feel part of the running group. You guys rock and the South African running comunity can only learn from the Philippino people. Sorry I left early but I have some other responsibilties back home.

I always forget my camera but will try and remember it next time. KEEP FIT, heads up and see you around and if I dont see you around, see you God willing at the next tri next month.

Please help if you know anything about swimming

I tried online at youtube, I tried the swimming pool and still I am stressing for Sunday for the swimming leg.

I went to Ultra today and I must say, I can at least swim now one length without stopping which is better than the last time. The problem is I will most probably only go once more for swimming.

What am I doing wrong?

• I try go slow but still get tired
• Water keeps going into my nose
• After how many arm strokes must you breath
• Every now and then I gulge water while breathing

Will it be possible to take breaks during the swim leg? Can you also change from "freestyle" to another style as long as you go forward?

Please HELP, I cant wait for the swim leg to be done so I can try and catch up on the bike and run.... ANY ADVICE?!?

This foreignrunner really feels foreign in the pool. What is some of the slowest times in the swim for I think 950m? Maybe I will feel better as I think it took me 30 minutes to do about 500m. I know you say OOPS but I hope there is advice after the OOPS and if there is, please share it with me or I will look like the crazy white guy in a funny outfit in a swimming pool which looks like he is drowning. If you know the life savers, please tell them if it is a crazy white funny looking guy, he is not drowning, just trying to finnish the swim leg in a funny way.

Either help me or pray for me coming Sunday. If you are joining the tri, meet up with me at the meal so we can laugh together. Untill then, keep fit.

WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!

This is how I described today at the nike human race. It was excellent organised. The marshalls was great, I even had a few that cheered me on, the water stations excellent with even some bananas on the course and everything else just worked excellent together. I also met so many bloggers, one of my highlights was a guy called "Doc" of happy feet and so many more. It was great meeting all you guys and sure we will see each other more frequent now.

It was also great that there were not so many runners, not only that it helped me to come first in my race category (I am so happy, the first time I win anything in a race!!!) but it was not so many people at the finnish line.

Rio, you did an excellent job in this race and keep it up, looking forward to your next races.

Then a special thanks to people like PC aka Prometheus Cometh, that gave up their day to make the day special for all us runners. You guys did a great job...

The girl that were running ahead of me the entire way until we went into the park area, where did you go to, I kept my foot firmly on the gas pedal as I was thinking you were behind me the whole time. Sorry I forgot your name but it was the girl that did the warm ups when we did the practise run last Saturday (can anyone help). Thanks for pushing me but where did you disappear to during the run and after. I looked at the results but you were not between the first ladies?!?

To the photographers, thanks guys for sweating through the heat, pushing through and for Ben the main organiser of the photos, looking forward to see my almost dying end photo.

Lastly, to Nike and all the wonderfull freebies, I put this race by far the best race I had since I started running here in the Philippines. It was worth getting the gadget for my ipod. Thanks for all the freebies, you guys were extremely generous and the socks is great. Thank you also to my great prize gift voucher, I needed new running shoes so that is what I will get.

Eric, as I mentioned on your blog, I hope you feel better soon and dont be so hard on yourself, kee your head high and believe in yourself, things will get better....

I really hope everyone else had just a great day as I did and on an extremely high note even though my time was not the best but due the the heat, hilss and almost 1 kilometer further run, I am happy and to all my crazy running friends or to all my mng pare, KEEP FIT and KEEP SMILING.

Rich blessings through not only life but also running

I would like to contribute this entry to our only Father:

This is how Christ has blessed me this past few weeks. There is a reason why I did not blog for so long and here it is:

He allowed us to go to Palawan for a week and that was great. I enjoyed my every second day running there and especially enjoyed the clean air.
We had great classes this last two weeks and I got to learn a lot new vocab and understanding so much more of the grammer (did you know studies in the US shows that Tagalog is the 7th hardest gramatical language in the world)
He allowed me to run in the milo race, menshealth race and if it is His will, next Sunday the nike run at Fort.
I was able to join the run clinic at ROX and got some great tips.
I eventually got a nike kit for my ipod.
I eventually met TBR!!! Quite a highlight.
And then last but not least He blessed me with great running friends like you that share this passion of running with me.

It is so important for me to always remember it is because of Him that I am able to run and enjoy it. I am so greatfull for a healthy body and the ability to run. Then to top it all off, He gave me salvation!!

Well I hope to see you all at the nike race next Sunday!!!! And remember to always KEEP FIT!!

What is your running speed (BPM)?

I enjoy running to music especially long runs. I need something to listen to when running or else it becomes boring. I started to google on "running beat music". I knew the song Little Bitty of Allen Jackson was a song I enjoyed to run to with a nice fast beat. I found out you have a BPM running beat. It is easy, just count your steps for 30 sec, times it by two and there you go, your own beat per minute. Take a few away for the last 30 min of your long run and by doing that you set your music according to your run. Now here is the punch of this blog. I know you have your own music and you might not be sure what their BPM is. Well I found this program that you can download on your pc and load your music of your pc on it and it tells you the BPM of each song. I will post it on the end of this story. So go on if you enjoy running to music and download the program and away you go.
I know we all dont run to music but I find it motivates me a bit more if I find a fast beat. My problem was I downloaded a lot of songs of playlists that were given to me but it is not my type of music. I enjoy Christian music with a fast beat for running and that even gives me another workout. I feel so good after the run after doing some worship with my run. You will be surprised how many nice beat Christian music there are to use with your next workout. Enough talking, go on and download that program and STAY FIT!

http://www.mixmeister.com/download_freestuff.html

Need advise on a road bike for triathlon's

I was approached in this week to join a triathlon team. I have never done this before but would like to give it a try. I love running a lot and feels the same about it as the Bullrunner. I am now in the process of buying a road bike. Can anyone give me advice on:

• Where to buy
• What to look for
• What to buy

Keep into concideration that I have never done this before so is not looking for a professional bike, even second hand is fine. A shop was refereed to me in Queson City I think it is called all-terra and maybe someone can give me more details of this? I would also not want to spend to much for in case I don't enjoy it. I am looking in spending between 15k and 20k, is this possible? Please help this foreigner to become a triathlon athlete or at least die trying.... An remember to KEEP FIT!

Long run outside or inside?

I had a late night last night at a very nice Indian restaurant at Greenbelt 3, Makati. I think I ate to much though but could not get up early this morning for my "long run" - still dont know why they call it a long run as it has so much negative connotations to it already. Why not say I am going for my short run tomorrow. How many times you set your "long run" on 20km or less, and end up on 15km or less? Well sorry to disappoint you but 15km is still a long run. The difference is it became a noun??? I know maybe I get to technical but what I am trying to say is:
I arrived at UP this morning at 6:40 and after gearing up and with my new garmin 405, I started the loops. I tried to stick to the 10km UP run loop as far as possible but one loop is about 3km. I planned to do 10 laps which is 30km roughly. I ended up after 1:30 to stop after 5 laps. the sun was on me and I had no energy left. I must add, it was my first time running in such heat!!! Another quick point, why does people who walk on the closed of lane, block the runner's way and not be a bit more considerate and keep left, the same with most races?

I can easily do 20km on a treadmill in the gym but outside in the heat is something else. Does anyone know how much km you can add to your run because of the heat?

Anyway the garmin was quite a dissapointment or maybe I just don't know exactly how to use it but still prefer my forerunner 305. I at least met another runner. He is actually a tri athlete. He asked me to join their team and can even hook me up with a great deal on a bike. I am not to sure about it yet as it is something new for me. I love running to much and feels like cheating on a girlfriend (when I was still not married and younger) by getting on a bike. I will think about it and will appreciate any thoughts on this. At least another very friendly Philippino.

To end up with my question, what is the best long run:

• inside and finish the run you set out to do or
• run outside and fall a few short?

Whatever your answer, do it to your best ability and KEEP FIT!

Here I am with my new start and my new blog

Hi all,

I enjoy to read all the blogs on running here in the Philippines. So I decided to also start my own as I can't remember on who's blog I commented so it will be easier for me to keep track. I am yes like my blog name, a foreign runner staying in the Philippines. We (my wife, kids and me) are missionaries here all the way from South Africa. I started to join some races and did the following races

• UP run
• Rush at UP
• Mizuno
• La Salle

I enjoyed all of the races and met so many people and it is great but still I am shocked to see how few foreigners there are in these races. Please when you see a foreigner at the races, talk to us, we do appreciate it and we don't bite. I will as time continue blog my experiences, ask questions and log my times in the races. Please keep on looking as you guys dont need me but I do need you guys to help me in my running here in the Philippines.

Anyway, until next time and KEEP FIT!