runmnl

Takbo!!! That’s it. That’s the only word we have for all of it. Sprint, jog, easy run, race pace. All takbo. This thought started from a conversation I had with someone who said she doesn’t like running. “Nakakapagod.” Tiring. And I realized she wasn’t wrong. She was describing the only version of takbo she’d ever been exposed to. In linguistics, there’s a concept called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: the words available in your language shape how you experience things. Filipino has palay, bigas, and kanin for what English just calls “rice.” But for running, it’s reversed. English has jog, run, and sprint. We just have takbo. And most of us first heard that word shouted at us. PE relay. Late for school. Rain. Always urgent. Always fast. So when a beginner says “I want to try running,” they reach for the only takbo they know. All-out. And when it hurts after 2 minutes, they don’t think “slow down.” They think “this isn’t for me.” Even your Tita saying “Masama ang takbo sa tuhod!” isn’t wrong. If her only version of running is high-impact sprinting, then yes, that’s rough on the knees. She just never had a word for the version that’s easy on your joints. Swipe through. This one’s about language, culture, and why the way we talk about running might be keeping people from starting. Save this for someone who thinks running isn’t for them. Maybe all they needed was a different version of takbo. #RunMNL #Takbo #RunningPH #PinoyRunners #SapirWhorf ChikaPace EasyPace FilipinoRunning RunSmart​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Left ankle pain. Long run sa ultra? Always the left. Never the right. And always after track day. You stretched it. Iced it. Maybe called it shin splints. Maybe ignored it completely because it goes away after a few hours. But here’s the thing. If you run the same oval, in the same direction, every week, your left ankle is absorbing more load on every single turn. Counterclockwise means your left foot is always on the inside of the curve. That foot pronates more. And a tendon you’ve probably never heard of is quietly taking the damage. It’s called the posterior tibial tendon. Thinner than a pencil. Holds your entire arch together. And the medical literature is clear: running on banked tracks and cambered roads is a documented cause of posterior tibial tendon dysfunction. The worst part? This injury is progressive. It doesn’t announce itself with a pop or a snap. It just gets a little worse every week until one day your arch starts to flatten. And that part can be permanent. Swipe through. There’s the anatomy, the track mechanism, the road mechanism, and the four stages of damage. Plus what you can actually do about it before it becomes a real problem. If you run ovals regularly, this might be the most important carousel you read this year. Save this. Send it to your running group. Especially the ones who only run counterclockwise.

“Easy pace lang.” 170 bpm ⚡️ That’s what a lot of us call easy. And honestly, it feels easy. You’ve done it a hundred times. Your body is used to it. Your brain has filed it under “comfortable.” But your metabolism doesn’t care what your brain thinks. At 170 bpm, most runners are already deep in Zone 4. That’s threshold territory. That’s glycogen-dominant fuel burning. That’s not easy. That’s not even close. I wanted to break down why so many Filipino marathoners bonk even when they trained at the right pace. And the answer isn’t always nutrition or hydration. Sometimes, it’s because we never actually ran easy in training. We just got used to running hard and stopped noticing. Swipe through. There’s a heart rate chart, a fuel crossover diagram, and a glycogen burn comparison that might change how you think about your next training block. Fair warning: if your easy runs are regularly above 160 bpm, a few of these slides might sting a little. One note: HR zones vary from person to person (by as much as 10-12 bpm depending on the formula used). The numbers in this carousel are general ranges, not gospel. If you want your real zones, get a lab test or a proper field test. The point isn’t the exact number. The point is that most of us are running way harder than we think. You run for you. But your watch already knows the truth. 🏃 Save this. Send it to your training buddy who swears 170 is easy.

Strategic advice for making no reps. ✅ Just stop the squat a little higher. *Please read through the sarcasm lol* In wall balls, the standard is simple. Hip crease below the top of the knee. But shorten the squat slightly and the movement changes. Less depth means less range of motion less joint travel less mechanical work. Over 100 wall balls, that difference adds up quickly. What still counts as 100 reps on the scoreboard can feel closer to 60–70 full-depth reps in actual workload. This isn’t about calling anyone out. Fatigue changes movement mechanics. Squats naturally become shallower when athletes get tired. Sports science calls this movement compensation under fatigue. Which is exactly why movement standards exist. Not to make workouts harder. But to make sure everyone is doing the same work.

“Not to inspire, but to brag.” Sometimes that’s what running posts become. Not always intentionally. Social media changes how progress gets shown. Best splits. Moving time instead of elapsed. This is simply a look at why runners behave this way, through a psychological lens, while also considering Filipino culture. Some runners share everything. Connection. Accountability. Pakikisama. Being part of the group. Others stay quiet. Miles no one sees. Motivation that comes from the act itself. Both exist in every running community. While numbers do matter. Understanding them matters more. Moving time. Elapsed time. Sharing. Performing. Because at the end of the day, while the run belongs to you, it should still be true. Your honest pace is your best pace. As legendary coach Arthur Lydiard said: “Train honestly and the results will take care of themselves.”

The Filipino running community has a Strava problem. But not the one you think. It’s about something most of us don’t talk about. Why we react the way we do when someone posts a finish time. I wanted to look at this from both sides. No teams. No bias. Just trying to understand the behavior behind the comments. The celebrating, the correcting, and yes, the attacking. So I borrowed a few ideas from psychology to explain what’s actually going on when runners clash online about times. Things like why we compare ourselves automatically, why we protect what feels fair, and why we lose our chill behind a screen. Swipe through. You might see yourself on one side. Or both. The real takeaway? Be clear when you post. Be respectful when you correct. Same sport. Same struggle. 🏃 Save this if it hit different. Tag a runner who needs to see both sides.

CANDY GAMOS | HYROX Singapore 2025 2:11:35 PR 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵. Candy and I met in the gym. Casual hellos. I remember running with her once and then never seeing her again on any runs. When she reached out for HYROX, running was almost non existent. Maybe two runs in the last two years, counting that one with me. She was strong from HIIT. Explosive. Powerful. But every time she tried to slow down, her heart rate would spike. The body was used to redlining. So we rebuilt from scratch. Parking lot loops. Controlled pacing. Teaching her system that not every effort is survival. From zero running to cruising sub 7 pace, touching close to 6. She showed up again and again despite an erratic hosting schedule and long workdays. Quietly, the fitness built. A sub 1:40 was in no doubt within reach. Not forced. Not chased. Just there, for the taking. Then race week got heavy. A major hosting gig landed the day after. Family matters. Travel stress. She settled in from Manila to Singapore the day before. Anxiety crept in. Not because the fitness was lacking, but because life was loud. The morning of the race, we talked about not pushing through. Skipping would not erase the growth. The journey had already changed her. So we let go of expectations. Life first. She walked when she wanted to. Jogged when it felt right. Laughed with volunteers. Let the arena be what it was. Not a proving ground. Just an experience. Looking at the data after, the fitness was obvious. It looked like one of her compromised training runs, not race effort even. Easy. Manageable. Strong. Candy has always told me she’s an introvert. I believe her. She does what needs to be done in her own time. No drama. No theatrics. Just quiet resilience. Early mornings. Parking lot loops. Growth when no one was watching. Core memory will always be that race morning. Sometimes strength is not chasing numbers, but choosing presence when everything feels heavy. The result was not what we imagined. But the person she became through it is far bigger than any finish time.

SHEKHAR | HYROX Mumbai 2025 Men’s Doubles Open 1:25:16 PR with Shreyansh Sethia The connection started quietly. When asked how he found this work, Shekhar shared that something about the way the training showed up online resonated with him. No hype. Just alignment. That detail alone said a lot. Shekhar carries himself with calm confidence. Thoughtful. Grounded. Disciplined. Someone who doesn’t rush the process, but commits fully once he steps in. This was his first HYROX race. Training out of Kathmandu came with real limitations. Access to equipment wasn’t always ideal, but it never became a barrier. When there was no wall ball, sandbags stood in. Creativity filled the gaps. Consistency did the rest. Strength was already there, so the focus became rebuilding running and blending it with HYROX demands. Work was demanding. Life was full. Still, sessions happened early, sometimes before the day even began, sometimes more than planned. Not out of pressure, but out of care for doing things properly. The partnership with Shreyansh worked naturally. Equal effort. Complementary energy. Safely aggressive. For a first race, the biggest lesson was restraint. HYROX is not won early. The real work begins after halfway. The breakthrough came through repeated on-call sessions. Weight placement. Breathing under fatigue. Efficiency when things get uncomfortable. Seeing those details show up on race day was deeply satisfying. Execution in Mumbai was clean. So controlled that afterward, Shekhar felt there was still more left in the tank. Steady push and pull stations. Sub-4 wall balls. Sub-4 burpee broad jumps. Calm, intentional transitions. One moment that stays is the post-race life conversation. Life back home in Nepal. The unrest there. The rallies in the Philippines. A reminder that this journey created more than fitness. It created connection across distance and time. Working with Shekhar reinforces a simple truth. Consistency, applied with intention, truly compounds. Shekhar, wishing you nothing but the best in whatever you choose to take on next. See you soon brother!

DADI LO | HYROX Taipei 2025 2:26:03 · 1st place | HYROX Chicago World Championships 2025 2:11:15 PR Dadi Lo is one of those people who quietly changes how you see what’s possible. He inspired many of us to look beyond just lifting and take running and movement seriously. Not by preaching. By living it. At 73, he doesn’t train to defy age. He trains because time is precious and he chooses to use it well. Before HYROX, Dadi Lo was doing obstacle course racing, Spartan races, trail runs, and some road running. Movement has always been part of his life. When HYROX came up, people doubted whether he should even try. He never entertained that question. He just showed up. Taipei came first. Limited prep, busy family schedule. We focused on strategy, refinement, and execution. That race earned him qualification for Chicago and a first-place finish in his age group. Chicago was where everything was tested. With less than two months, we took a serious approach. Before ramping up, he underwent full VO₂ max testing at Cardinal Santos Hospital with Dr. @luckscuenza . Not to limit him, but to understand his capacity. The results confirmed it. This was not a fragile athlete. This was a strong one. The biggest challenge wasn’t pushing him harder. It was helping him pull back. Dadi Lo can train twice a day. He can run faster than prescribed. Learning restraint, staying within physiological ranges, and trusting the plan became the work. The shift came when control replaced the need to prove speed. Chicago was unforgettable. World stage. Best in his age group. New friends. Shared stories. And one moment that says everything. The sled push on heavy turf. A penalty was an option. He chose to finish it anyway. No shortcuts. Dadi Lo embodies what longevity in sport really means. Movement as a lifelong practice. Curiosity over fear. Discipline without obsession. Age does not define him. And it never has to define anyone.

PAT | HYROX Bangkok 2025 with Kylie de Jesus 2:21:56 PR Pat’s HYROX journey started long before race day. It started back in uni, as a close friend, quietly doing the work, choosing growth without needing attention for it. More than a year ago, when HYROX first came up, the answer was not yet. Not because she couldn’t, but because she knew she deserved to get stronger first. And she did. Spartan races, consistent training, smart investments in herself, physically and mentally. Watching that progression up close has always been grounding. Training for Bangkok began at the end of March, with race day already set for the third week of May. The window was tight. Far from ideal. During the block, Pat often stayed in the backseat. Her partner Kylie was the one leading many of the hard sessions, bringing fire and momentum. Pat trusted that dynamic. She supported. She stayed steady. That steadiness became her edge. Outside training, Pat carried a demanding professional life, long hours, real fatigue, real limits. She respected them. No forcing. No panic. Just showing up with intention and maturity. One core memory still stands out. A moment in training at Lokl that would have absolutely gone viral if it happened on race day. Team secret. Then came race day. HYROX asks a lot. The longer you stay inside the arena, the more it becomes mental. When the environment turned loud and unfamiliar, the roles shifted. Pat stepped forward. Calm. Grounded. Leading Kylie through something completely foreign, not with force, but with presence. As Viktor Frankl said, when we are no longer able to change a situation, our challenge is to change ourselves. Pat is that, personified.

KYLIE | HYROX Bangkok 2025 with Pat Salvador 2:21:56 PR Some people ease into racing. Kylie chose the deep end. HYROX Bangkok was Kylie’s first race. Ever. No local runs. No smaller competitions. Just straight into one of the toughest race formats out there. Coming from indoor cycling, light bouldering, and Lagree, she stepped into training without a racing background, but with something just as powerful. Courage. Curiosity. And an energy that lifted everyone around her. No matter how heavy the session, her smile stayed. And somehow, things felt lighter because of it. Training started at the end of March, with very little time before race day. Work demands were real. Fatigue was real. Still, Kylie showed up honest and present. She spoke up when things felt hard, then pushed through anyway. In many sessions, she became the spark. When training got tough, she led with presence, calm, and belief. She didn’t just do the work. She carried the room. Even without race experience, she set the tone. Race day was chaos. A loud arena. A completely foreign environment. Pressure everywhere, even with family watching from the sidelines. And yet, Kylie never faltered. When Pat stepped into the lead inside the race, Kylie trusted. She followed the plan. She stayed composed. She kept moving. HYROX asks a lot. The longer you stay inside the arena, the more mental it becomes. And Kylie stayed. Not just physically, but emotionally. Carrying something heavy without letting it weigh her down. She crossed the finish line smiling. Not because it was easy, but because she chose joy inside something hard. That’s her gift. The kind of person who can walk into something overwhelming and make it feel lighter, simply by how she shows up. Excited for all the things coming to you in life Kylie! LEZGETIT. See you soon!

RED | HYROX Bangkok, Open Men’s Doubles 1:30:29, with Nero Porlas Red got referred through our good friend Pat. First impression was instant. Always on fire. The kind of energy that makes you want to work harder just by being around him. He chose HYROX Bangkok as a real challenge and took it on with his partner Nero. Prep window was short, end of March to the 3rd week of May. Not ideal, but the mindset from day one was clear. Work with what’s there. Commit fully. Execute. Red already had a strong engine from HIIT, trails, Spartan races, and his Ultraman journey. The focus was consistency, better running, and HYROX specific strength. Schedule was the main constraint. Training windows were late, sometimes very late. Workouts getting submitted at 1 a.m. wasn’t ideal, but it showed the dedication. No injuries, just the soreness that comes with real work. Mindset wise, Red is confidence in human form. Pressure shows up and he steps into it. Doubt shows up and he shuts it down. He gets nervous, sure, but his fire burns louder. A big shift during the block was learning control. He can go max early, but over time he learned to pull back and respect the second half. The race is not won in the first few stations. Days before Bangkok, he accidentally hit his first sub 1. No hype. It just happened because the fitness was already there. Race day had a funny moment right away. Too excited, they ran an extra lap on the first run. Still, they stuck to the plan and finished strong. Nero also battled plantar fasciitis on the day, and they managed it calmly. They finished 1:30:29, and it felt like a starting line, not a finish line. With cleaner execution, 1:25 is within reach. What stands out most is how Red shows up. For the work. For the plan. For his partner. They bicker like real teammates do, but underneath that is respect. After Bangkok, he did what he always does. Chased the next goals. Finished his ultras. Finished his Spartan races. Kept moving forward. Red deserves every good thing coming his way. And this 1:30:29 is just proof. He’s nowhere near his ceiling yet.