TNF100 10k Trail Run; Road Testing Suunto T4c

Last weekend was much fun, I must say. My first trail and my first out of town run. Something that will make me smile for days to come.

We arrived at our hotel on Saturday evening, after some long stopovers and shopping and after touring the red light district with all them girly and "hosto" bars...which suddenly reminded me of a plan i conjured with owen, raissa and mini.

Next morning, we arrived early and saw that a lot of people were even earlier than us. The 20k and 10k started on time and off we went to trudge on narrow trails, lahar lands, the Sacobia (sediment) River, a hill, muddy paths and a long long stretch of bridge with the sun shining brightly above us. Surprisingly, and thank god, I came out without a scratch. I was feeling artista posing for ben chan (and other cameras, hehe) trigger happy along the route, appearing here and there like Ina Magenta. (Sorry, I won't post the unglamorous pics. Hehe.)

So the verdict was, I enjoyed it. The route was fun, bountiful water, and no chance of getting lost. Great! :D

Road Test. I brought along my Suunto T4c. I'm really glad I bought the foot pod instead of the gps pod. According to reviews, the gps pod often struggles in trails. Also, I kept hearing others' Garmins looking for gps signal along the route. Anyway, it was great to have an idea how much more to go instead of relying on marshalls' "malapit na". It was also funny to see actual data on how i slowed down gradually. Haha.

As a training companion, it certainly beats an ordinary sportswatch. With a heart rate monitor and a built in coach, it tells you when to train, how hard you have been training and adjusts the program accordingly depending on your previous runs' intensity. It also introduces the concept of "training effect" which is supposed to be a new and improved heart rate zone training variation. I have yet to understand it though haha. It's cool, i tell you. (See full specs here). However, I feel like I have too many gadgets on me sometimes (parang rambo), which is why I leave behind the nike+ipod when I don't feel like it. Highly recommended, unless you prefer gps.