I am an Official Red Cross Donor

When I had surgery almost 2 years ago, I received blood from the blood blank. I promised myself I will give back. After watching the maze runner movie at ayala mall (which was good btw) and ate lunch,  I dropped by Cybergate to give blood.

I had a  cough and cold but they said its okey. They make you read some info, then fill up a form and get your blood pressure.   The next table, they draw a bit of blood from your fingertip to determine your blood group. The next table is for the doctor to check you up. After that, you are ready for blood drawing. Its important to eat first and drink lots of fluids before drawing of blood. You may feel faint at first but thats normal. After 10 minutes of rest and eating snacks, you can go home. My arm is a bit sore, so no heavy weighlifting for 24 hours.  I know the blood will still undergo some tests to determine if its "clean" from contagious diseases. I hope  I saved a life with the blood I gave. Hope everyone donates blood to the red cross.

Mapre Run for Safety 2014

Sept 14, 2014  Plaza Independencia
12k 1:41:25 Weather: Cloudy, with rainshowers from time to time. windy and cold

Walay panudlay pose near the start/finish line at plaza independencia

This is my 3rd mapre run, omg, I think I deserve a loyalty award or something.  Initially, I wasnt planning to register in this run because the fees were too expensive, P600 for 12k and no medal. There is a red lootbag with 1 vitamin and 1 discount card inside. Thats it. Snacks given were Virginia hotdog on a bun and bottled water.
I was planning to enter for the Karunsa Danao City run 21k. I even went to Danao last Sept 9 to scout the area and look for possible accomodations. Unfortunately, my 2 attempts to register were all failures. The organizers announced discounted rates and I wanted to avail of the cheaper rates. BUt unfortunately, they didnt communicate this info to the on-site in charge at Runnr Ayala. I sent the organizers a DM at facebook but the problem was not acted upon. I think the girl(s) in Runnr Ayala dont like me.  I was planning to register during race pack distribution but suddenly, out of the blue, on the morning of Sept 11, first day of race pack distribution, they announced that the 21k is closed. You can register  but no shirt, no medal. Bummer, I guess this is  not meant to be. Maybe next year. To fill in my quota of 2 fun runs per month, my fallback is Mapre Run for Safety 2014.
I have run this route many times before but I never brought my cellphone. So here are a few pics during the run. It was cold,  windy, it rains at times, best weather for running. What an awesome day. PR improved by a minute.  Thanks Mapre for the experience. I love SRP. Next year?...hmmmm i hope not he he.

Running near the sea at SRP on a cloudy day

SM Seaside under construction

updates 9-19-2014

after a series of bad luck, floods, not feeling well, reporting for duty only to find out there's no office, tried to withdraw but no cash was dispensed, bad day at Landbank  bought the wrong medicines (clusivol instead of solmux ugghh)  I got a  nice suprise.  Last wednesday, i callled a miscall number in my cp, it turns out the landline phone number is from Mapre Insular. They said they will give me a finishers medal..wow! watta surprise. And I received the medal with  other stuff. Made my day. So its the same medal as last year, but you know, each medal is precious because of the memories it invokes of a particular run. Its my precious momento and I will collect as many as  I can. Thanks Neil (not sure if it was vince or neil) Thanks Mapre. See you next year.

package from Mapre delivered to my office this morning Sept 19 2014

Race to Beauty

Organized by Unilever & Metro Ayala
Sept 9 2014 Ayala Terraces  5:30 a.m.
10k  1:22:50 (best time for a 10k, beat my first milo run 10k by a minute)

The Generic finishers medal hehe  no distance indicated

I chose to register in Race to Beauty because of the affordable registration fee. For only P350, you get a singlet, medal, snacks and a goodie bag. All other distances  (5k, 3k) will also receive these items at a lower rate. SULIT di ba. How can I pass this up, I just have to register. Claiming my singlet last Sat, Sept 6 was a bad experience. The person in runnr ayala wasnt there and I had to do some browsing, eating and whatever to kill time before I got my race pack after 3 hours. Thats why I prefer to register near the race, at least you get the racepack immediately after payment.
 It was raining the day before so I was worried. But the weather during the run was really cool, hardly any sunlight. The race started early, there were lots of participants, more in the 3 & 5 k though.  This run wasnt well advertised in social media. I cant even get a hit when I googled it. But there were still a lot runners, even guys wearing the pink singlet.  There's not much to tell about this run. Its the usual route, from ayala to Fuente Circle.  As usual, I was running at the back of the pack, there were about 50 of us  but I wasnt worried since I am familiar with the route and it was only 10k. I was exhausted at the start but I got into the zone when I was in Lahug. When I say into the zone, I'm already comfortable to running, my body has already adjusted and have no problems breathing. I can even sing and imagine happy thoughts while running. In short, i'm in a happy place. 

Love pics taken while running. Brings back memories. Thanks Fotosmile

Overall, it was a nice run, the weather was great, I felt it was too short, bitin. I was shocked when I saw my time, my best 10k time ever. It beat my  2012 Milo 10k, my run prior to my surgery. Amazing! I am happy with this race and I am willing to join again if they have another run next year. I hope next time they advertise a month earlier so more runners can attend. I love goodie bags, love them more than medals. Congrats and thanks to Unilever and Metro Ayala. I had a great morning.

Singlet, Race Bib, Medal and goodie bag (unilever products :D yey)

Also: credits to https://www.facebook.com/johndofotosmile for the pic