iVolunteer

Last Sunday, the 30th of September, I went to join hundreds of volunteers for the Maine Marathon. It was my second volunteering stint [B2B was my 1st] and my 1st for Maine Marathon. It was an awesome experience despite the weather.

I left the house at 5:20am. It was not raining yet when I left and reached Portland a couple of minutes before six. It didn't take long for me to find Julie Scala, the lady in-charged of the Food Tent where I was assigned.

As soon as I saw here she checked my name from the list and handed me my t-shirt, towel [both with Maine Marathon prints on them] and are you ready for this? Sea Dogs ticket!

After we set up the table we waiting for few minutes for the food to arrive. As soon as the food supplies were unloaded, we started chopping, slicing, unwrapping and preparing them. I have never sliced hundreds of oranges in my life until that soggy morning. It was fun!

About 30 minutes before the race starts, runners started gathering in front of the food tent.

I was overwhelmed at the sight of them and a little jealous I guess. Well, it's a "marathon", I don't do marathon. I'm a 5k lady. I was already happy to be a part of this event and one of the 400 volunteers who made the event successful.

I only volunteered for 3 hours [6am to 9am] so that I can take photos of the race. However, I did get the chance to snap some photos before the race start and was so happy to see all these things happening before my eyes.

It was then, that the rain started to pour steadily. I wanted to take more photos but I am afraid that the rain might ruin my camera.

 Taking it all in.

 The Big Bang!

 Here they come!

 The stampede.

 The Lady in rainbow Tutu.

 The Riot in the Cellar guys.

 The moose guy.

As soon as I know I had taken enough photos of the event.

I left hoping that next year I will be able to volunteer again. But deep inside me, I know I am secretly wishing that - one day, I will run the race! wink*

Why RUN if you can ride... the waves!

So I didn't get the chance to run in the Philippines the way I planned to due to several storms we had when I was there. I didn't get the chance to even just do my regular 3-mile run as my work out because I was working hard on pigging out on my favorite foods that I have not tasted for 5 long years. And yes, if I was not dining out with friends and family left and right, I was on the road exploring different places and doing different activities.

So, my dear brother Japol brought me up north to visit Vigan City to walk back in time and immerse ourselves to the history of the past.

Then, we went straight to Urbiztondo, San Juan La Union and stayed at San Juan Surfresort for the night and met up with my TSS Sistah and Blogger friend Zen of the Letters in November.

The next morning, despite the natural signs of brewing storm, Japol talked me into doing something I never thought I would do in my whole life - surfing.

At first I was a little adamant to try it knowing that I am not a good swimmer. But then, with his constant bugging and persistent. I did it. I have no choice since he already made the arrangement for my first surfing lesson.

And so I did. Despite the fear of drowning and getting chewed on by sharks... I tried it. The instructor gave me quick lesson on Surfing 101.

Next thing I knew...I was riding the waves!

So there... I hanged loose!

 

Author's Note: Special thanks to my brother Japol for the photo coverage, the encouragement and the surfing lesson fee. hahaha

Home Run

My 7-week vacation is over and I'm back to home base. It was such a wonderful vacation despite the 4 storms that the Philippines had during the duration of my stay. I had a wonderful time with my family especially with my 3 nieces and a nephew whom I love to pieces.

I also had such a wonderful time with my brother Japol who brought me to different places. But I didn't get the chance to run a race which we originally planned because of the storms and Japol's hectic itinerary for me. Oh I love him so much for all his efforts to entertain me. So blessed to have a brother like him.

I really wished I had a chance to run because 7-weeks of non-stop pigging out on my favorite foods [that I have not eaten for 5 long years] and no exercise took a great toll on me. I gained 15 lbs. back at the end of my vacation.

Though I had one opportunity to run on the first day I was home with Toby [my Nephew], but that was all about it. It didn't even make me sweat because people I passed by along the road would stopped me and chat. So I just ended up buying more food in the market instead. wink*

Good thing, Japol once came home during one of his day off and we ran from Liliw [my hometown] to Nagcarlan [the next town where I went to High School] and met up with my former High School friend, Aida and her HS sweetheart, Allan.

Japol and I got the chance too to walk with Allan and Aida from Nagcarlan town proper to Sinipian... a well-known Barrio which is frequented by devotees during 1st Friday of the month. And yes, it was First Friday that day.

And of course, a visit to Sinipian will not be complete without buying and pigging out on those yummy treats which I believe is one of the reasons too why people go to that shrine in the first place. wink*

 

YUMMY indeed!


NOTE: Photos all courtesy of  JAPOLogy. Thanks a bunch Japs. Love you.

For the Tots

I have a flight schedule to the Philippines on Monday, the 26th of June and a birthday party to plan tomorrow. It's crunch time folks but I still have one race to do before I succumbed to panic attack.

I set forth early this morning for the 2nd Annual Trot for Tots 5k at Back Cove in Portland. The place is already familiar so I don't have to set my GPS to get there. I just drove off, picked up my packets, put my number, warmed up and ran. I did pretty good beating a 7 year old kid and his Dad. LOL. I clocked in 36:19 at 11:43 pace and placed 58th among the 79 participants. Not bad. Not bad at all, huh.

Then, timely, the free massage bed was empty on my way to the parking lot and a volunteer Chiropractic came up to me and offered me a free massage. Awesome. She said my muscles are tight. I wondered why? wink*

Then, I went home to bake my very first cake pops for Brandon's birthday tomorrow and blogged this. Tomorrow... the schedule is - packing for my trip back home right after clean up. hayyyy!

Y Race?

Why do I join races? One good reason I can think of... I have to entertain myself. I need to think of a thing to do that will not involve getting bored. And I need a thing to do to stay away from food. But that is another story.

I started racing at the age of... ehemmmm... [clearing my throat here]... 46. Yeah, I'm a late bloomer.

I started joining races when I got jealous of those runners and figured out that I can do the same. And I was right. I have ran more than a dozen races to date.

The YMCA Fit Fest 5k race is another race I ran with Heather. And yes, we were not late. We came just in time. It was a fun race aside from doing a good cause for the YMCA. I work for the Y in Sanford so the affiliation is the same.

The route is awesome and picturesque. I did a great job I guess since I did not stop jogging/running through the entire race. I clocked in 36:08 at 11:21 pace placing me 461st over 701 participants. That included the walkers too. LOL.

But the best part of this race is the post race where Heather and I went antiquing. LOL we spent the rest of the day at Brunswick flea market and yard sales. I brought home some antique silver wares. Love it.

Running for the birdies and close encounter with the Walking Lady

This year, my goal is to run 2 races every month. So far, I was able to do it. I started last March when I celebrated my 1st Running Anniversary. The Snowy Egret 5k at Scarborough is my 8th race for 2012 and my 2nd race for the month of May.

This is my first "trail race" for this year [and hoping to do more]. I didn't know it until I ran the race. It was a nice nonthreatening course. Though it was a little humid, the shady trail kept us cool.

The race is a replay of my Maine Mall 5k experience in terms of "running". I ran this race again when I was passed by an elderly lady about sixty-ish years old who was just walking the whole time.

 

Let me tell you about this amazing woman. I saw this woman probably more than 5 times already since I started running. She seems to be all over the place. LOL And each time that we ran, she would just be walking the entire 5k race. She walks with grace like a royalty. She walks in a choreographed rhythm as if she was walking on air. She is fast and unstoppable. She never shows tiredness. She is relaxed and poised.

The race course had a one long straight route where we turn around at a certain point. On my way back I saw her from a distance in her signature graceful brisk walking coming my way. I continued jogging while a woman kept passing me by just like the one at the Mall race. By that time I was already contemplating to do the trick I did before but not really sure if I really want to or not.

 

After about 5 minutes of not-stop steady jogging, I realized that the walking lady caught up with me and she was walking right beside me and started talking to me when an spectator said... "good job" to us. It was then I realized that I was really jogging slow or maybe she was really fast. Well, I wasn't really threatened by her until that Maine-Mall-part-2 woman caught up with me again. Just in time, I saw that I was already almost 500 feet from the finish line. So, I sped up agian... sprinted... and ran as fast as I could passing again a couple of people on my way to the finish line.

I clocked in 36:08 at 11:38 pace and placing 181st out of the 225 participants. At the finish line I finally got the chance to talk to this amazing woman and boy, she is one of the nicest people I ever met. She even gave me advice on race walking and told me that she would gladly coach me to race walk. Her name is Debbie.

Getting Patriotic

The 3rd Annual Patriots 5k is my second race. Too bad I wasn't into running yet when they started. This race is also called "Lap around the Lake". The course is a loop around the gorgeous and breathtaking Crystal Lake in Gray, Maine. Last year the lake was covered in thick fog good thing this year we were blessed with warm sunny weather so I really enjoyed the view of the lake.

I remembered last year that I ran with an elderly woman who beat me to the finish line. This year I was looking for her but with a total of 701 runners and walkers alike, I wasn't lucky to find her and I didn't even know if she joined this year. Anyway, I love this race because the organizers are very organized. LOL. The people living around the lake are very supportive and friendly.

The race is awesome. I didn't do any extra-ordinary thing like I did in my last race at the mall because nobody threatened me. wink. So I just jogged my way to the finish line - without stopping except for 3 seconds at the water station.

I clocked in 35:15 which is 5 minutes over my last PR. hayyys. Oh well. I told you I wasn't threatened. I placed 461st our of the 701 participants at 11:12 pace. Next year, I'll try to break that record. We'll see.