Beating the May Weather

This past May was quite possibly the hottest Philippine summer I've ever had! With three triathlons and one run race, the Mayweather Pacquiao fight, my birthday, and a lot of traveling around the country under the scorching sun - summer 2015 is definitely one I'm going to remember.

Kickstarted the month with the Durianman Triathlon in Davao over the May Pac fight weekend. LC, Michael and Mitch (our friendly, neighborhood, over-staying Aussie pros), and I had a superstar welcome! It was an absolute blast getting to know the local tri community, and sampling all the local fare! Could not get enough of Davao seafood - so fresh and so cheap. Big thank you's to JJ Sarona, George Cang, and everybody at Tri Davao and The Podium Multisport for showing us a great time!

Rockstars!

Mitch cruising to the finish while I go for another 5km :s

Happy to take the top spot alongside my bae LC!

First time trying durian. Because they forced me to!

Morning after the race was the much anticipated May Pac fight! This photo doesn't even come close to showing how much I was emotionally invested in it! But I drowned my disappointment in pilsen, lechon, and kinilaw, and had quite an entertaining afternoon watching LC pack her bike after having one pilsen per round from round 6 to round 12 :p See mine and LC's instagram accounts for some awkward videos :p

P.S. Have no idea who that guy is in back left with the peace sign, and no clue who guy on right with thumbs up is either.

Once in Manila, we hit the ground running and headed straight to my favorite little Mexican place, El Chupacabra, for tacos, and more pilsen, with more friends. And afterwards, we ended up in the weirdest bar called B-Side. Cheers to unplanned evenings with good friends, where you end up dancing 'til 4am on your birthday, in run shorts and a pair of Nike Airmax! Thank you Junie, Benj, LC, Ian, Artem, Michael, and Mitch!

The following weekend I drove down to Manila for the Nike Women's 10km Run, where 9,000++ women ran the streets of Alabang at 9pm! Here are some of my favorite scenes from that unforgettable night:

Flagging the race start with star volleyball player Denisse Lazaro!

The Dome by the finish area! Step inside and you'll see your photos projected around the walls and ceiling!

4-minute workouts at the activity area. Can't believe these ladies had so much energy post 10-km!

Seen at the Activity area... amongst other things like free-standing bowls of chocolate! :p

Multi-level carpark converted to super fun activity area. Level 1 was finisher shirt and food claiming!

Strong alone. Unstopabble together.

But I headed straight for the food and the braiding station! Only Nike women look even prettier post race :p

Roof top VIP area :p First 500 Finishers received a bonus Fast 500 Nike shirt!

Now comes the really hectic part! I was all pumped and set to do Defy 123 Triathlon in Bohol May 24, my absolute favorite triathlon in the Philippines, hoping to defend my title for the third straight time. But just a week before the race, a friend told me about a new standard distance tri up north in Bolinao, Pangasinan, the Tigasin Triathlon. 

The race promised P50,000, P35,000, and P20,000 for the top 3 male and female. Definitely a big purse for a new local short, hence definitely worth traveling to! ;) The kicker was that it was on May 23! But instead of deciding which of the two races I would do, I started planning on how I could do both! :)

Doing back to back races in opposite parts of the country required a trusty partner in crime! LC and I took turns driving from Subic To Bolinao, Pangasinan on Friday morning.

Mandatory stop on "Mango Highway" in Zambales. Mangoes at P20/kg and avocadoes at P50/kg!!!

All the hotels near the race area were fully booked! We managed this tiny room with two queen sized beds. THAT WE HAD TO SHARE WITH MICHAEL AND MITCH. AND. THEIR. DRIVER!!!

Saturday morning turned out to be a short duathlon of 5k run - 40k cycle - 5k run. Organizers decided to call off the swim due to strong current. LC and the boys were definitely not happy about this!

Suffered my first ever puncture in a race! I just shouted out FLAT! and stopped. To my surprise, #050, Hen, stopped to help me out. I shamelessly asked him if he would lend me his rear wheel, even though I was riding 11-speed tubulars and he 10-speed clinchers. To my even bigger surprise he agreed! He wasn't able to finish the race because of me, and I was able to win the race because of him. 

Heinrich Gasacao, I LOVE YOU and I OWE YOU big time!

The 6-hr drive back to Manila right after the awards ceremony was, as you can imagine, no fun at all. At 5:30pm, I stepped in Junie and Rayzon's door (my friends whose home I intermittently squat at whenever I am in Manila),  and immediately went to work setting up my road bike for Defy 123 Triathlon. MARAMING SALAMAT SA TUNAY KONG KAIBIGAN, RAYZON "KAP" GALDONEZ, who is an absolute bike god/guru/whisperer, and set up my road bike so sweet that even though it was my first time riding it at the race, it felt like I had been riding it forever! 

The Specialized S-Works Amira. Women's Specific. Light. Stiff. Absolutely Gorgeous.

The very next morning I got up before 3am, caught a cab to NAIA 2, and checked in for our flight at 5:15AM. Fingers crossed, we would make it to Bohol in time for the lazy 10AM start that is unique to Defy 123 Triathlon.

That was the worst I've felt in a swim, ever! Obviously I didn't expect to feel snappy after the long drives, lack of sleep, and the flying on race morning itself. But I was so surprised at how tired I was feeling in the water, that I actually stopped and stood up after the first 100-m of getting pummelled and swum over (thankfully it was a very shallow swim). I took a few deep breaths, gave myself a hard mental slap, and got on with it. I took the rest of the swim easy and just hoped to have a good group for the 100-km draft legal cycle.

Luckily I had Skipper Pineda, Andy Leuterio, and a few other guys in a pretty organized group, and we caught up to little fish LC, who was riding with Javy Olives. I still felt horrid in the first hour of the bike, but after getting some rest at the back of the group, I started feeling better and took turns at pulling up front. The 12km run was a crazy 44C, with parts of it on the blinding white sand beach. 

It was definitely not an easy day, and I don't know if I'll ever do such a crazy weekend of racing again! But I am happy and proud to have finished what I set out to do, and even managed to surprise myself by not succumbing to the overwhelming feeling of wanting to DNF. I was very close to pulling out of the race right out of that swim. Defy 123 Tri may not be easy, but the after party is definitely worth all the hard work. Bellevue Bohol is the perfect race and party venue, and the Defy team certainly know how to throw a good one!

MASSIVE THANKS to all my sponsors who made this crazy month possible - Standard Insurance, Specialized, Dans Ph, Neo Zigma, Maxxis, Shimano, Bike Town (Enve), Nike, TYR, Rudy Project! And to my special people, you know who you are, I LOVE YOU! 

See you all in 5150 Subic and Challenge Camsur!