Tag Archives: Chad

Chad, running, Triathlon events

13 Lessons from 13 Marathons

4 Comments

With the 38th Milo Marathon this Sunday the 27th of July 2014 I wanted to share the many lessons I have learned in my previous 13 marathons. This will be my 4th Milo Marathon and I am glad to support the race knowing that it has been such a well respected race in the Philippines.

One day I hope to have run 65 marathons like my friend Willy Yao and I am sure I will still be learning valuable lessons then too.

13 Marathons – 13 Lessons

Marathon 1. You Have To Be Well Nourished Before and During the Marathon

I went into my first marathon with total ignorance and paid a heavy price. The Subic International Marathon 2009 (4 hours 31 minutes) was a lesson in nutrition for me as I did not eat a proper lunch before the 4pm start. I was top 30 after 32km and then I hit the wall. I did not even have any food or cash on me that day but I always do now.

Marathon 2. It Is More Fun and Rewarding to Share the Journey

I ran the Great Wall of China Marathon in 2010 in 4:49:39. We joined a Filipino contingent and made some excellent friends and had the time of our lives. Realizing how great it was to be part of a large group helped sway us to join the Melbourne Ironman 2014.

Continue reading 13 Lessons from 13 Marathons →

Primed Lifestyle

Beer, What Is It Good For? Beer Belly vs. 6-Pack.

1 Comment

Ok, I confess, I loved beer.

Previously, I could not have imagined a life without beer. Seriously, that is how much I loved the amber ale.

My First San Miguel Beer Was at 5 Years-of-Age

Continue reading Beer, What Is It Good For? Beer Belly vs. 6-Pack. →

breakfast, Egg dish

OMELETTE of Wilted Kale, Onions and Mixed Berries

15 Comments

I have a confession to make. As the owner, manager and breakfast cook in my own restaurant in Brisbane for 3 years I never learned how to make an Omelette. It seemed too difficult. I made a great Eggs Benedict, Wood Fired Breakfast Pizza and a lot of other dishes, but I always avoided the Omelette.

After receiving a few good tips from Chef Cyrille I decided to give it a go one morning during our holiday in London. I am pleased to say that it went well and my 2 children loved it.

It is not such a difficult dish to do after all as you will soon see.


Continue reading OMELETTE of Wilted Kale, Onions and Mixed Berries →

Carbohydrates, Lunch & Dinner Recipes, vegetarian dishes

LASAGNE with Vegetable Sheets (not pasta)

1 Comment

Here is a complete meal in one nutritious slice. It might take a couple of hours of cutting vegetable and other preparations but it is definitely worth the effort. It is also a dish that can be stored in the fridge and eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner on subsequent days.

Traditional lasagne is usually creamy and involves layers of wheat sheets of pasta. As we know, wheat contains gluten, to which a growing number of people have difficulty digesting and choose to avoid. If you are like me and want to reduce (or eliminate) grains and/or gluten in your diet then here is an alternative to the traditional lasagne.

By substituting the pasta sheets with zucchini, squash and eggplant sheets you are making this dish far healthier. You are choosing higher quality foods that won’t spike your blood sugar and are therefore fuelling your body with optimal sources of calories.

Continue reading LASAGNE with Vegetable Sheets (not pasta) →

Primed Lifestyle

How To Be Fit (Not Fat) At Work

10 Comments

It is not easy to maintain fitness whilst at work slumped over your computer most of the day. We lead a sedentary work day and then commute home only to watch TV until bed time. This is not conducive to good health so here are a few tips for you to Prime your work day.

Top 7 Ways To Become Fitter Whilst at Work

Continue reading How To Be Fit (Not Fat) At Work →

Primed Lifestyle

How to Maintain a PRIMED Lifestyle while on HOLIDAY

Leave a comment

Holiday excess! Two words we do not like at all. We all usually come home with excess baggage from our holiday. Excess because of the new clothes, gifts for friends and souvenirs. But what about the excess weight around your waistline and butt? This is a usual occurrence after a great vacation where we return heavier than we left due to over-eating and drinking, and not getting enough exercise.

This post relates to our recent 3 weeks in Italy, France and the UK where we managed to return as we departed: fit and healthy. Here are a few hints on how to have a great holiday that could leave you a little lighter in body, enriched in mind, and save you some cash as well.

Continue reading How to Maintain a PRIMED Lifestyle while on HOLIDAY →

Primed Lifestyle

STAND UP DESK

2 Comments

Leading a sedentary lifestyle and sitting down excessively is said to be as bad for your health as smoking. Try to incorporate more standing in your life. If you want to try this yourself, you might want to gradually ease into it as it takes a little getting used to.

5 Benefits of Using a Stand-Up Desk

(1) You live longer. A piece in the NY Times mentioned that sitting for extended periods of time is strongly linked with increased mortality and metabolic syndrome, regardless of how much exercise a sitter gets. It is estimated that people sit up to 12 hours a day during working hours, commuting, eating and watching tv. You cannot simply exercise away your sedentary work habit of sitting all day as your exercise will not undo the damage done by excessive sitting.
Continue reading STAND UP DESK →

Triathlon events

MELBOURNE IRONMAN Part 5

2 Comments

Filipino Contingent’s After Party

Thanks to Princess and Fred Uytengsu from Sunrise Events, and David and Honey from 2XU Philippines, there was a fun Melbourne Ironman after party at Chihuahua Mexican Bar & Grill. It was fantastic to re-live our great memories from Melbourne where every member of the Filipino contingent became an Ironman.

After party1

The party was a lot of fun and I was delighted to be awarded with a nice trophy for getting the best marathon split for the group with my 3:28:27 time.

After party3

Magical Melbourne – 5 Melbourne Highlights

(1) Beautiful St.Kilda/Melbourne: We were absolutely delighted to be staying at a beautiful apartment in the heart of the action. Our view from our room was spectacular (as seen below). We booked through airbnb as it is inexpensive and you can find an ideal locations with kitchens and all the modern conveniences. St.Kilda is where all the main events were happening and we loved the area. You could swim at the beach, walk to the Ironman expo, bike and run the marathon course, and experience the great restaurants of the area. The people, lifestyle and ambience were truly fantastic.
Continue reading MELBOURNE IRONMAN Part 5 →

Chad, running, Triathlon events

MELBOURNE IRONMAN Part 4

9 Comments

The Run – The Reason I Swam and Biked

Wow, what a blast it was to be finally off the bike. I did a quick stock take of my body and I was feeling good. I had no cramps, was very happy with my bike nutrition and drinks consumption.

It was a great relief to have on my trusty K-Swiss mens running shoes and I felt I was ready to rock the run course.

K-Swiss

I was initially thinking of maintaining a 5 minute per kilometer pace but decided to go with the flow and run at whatever pace I was comfortable doing. Well, for the first 10km that pace was at a quick 4:31/km average. I was flying past many triathletes with many a spectator commenting on my pace, my easy running style and encouraging me to keep going. Indeed, the most memorable guy was standing outside a hotel with a beer in hand. He told me if I maintained my pace that I would overtake 500 people. I must have done a double take and looked at him with apprehension as he then repeated it and told me to keep it going. I kept his comments in my mind the whole run as I did indeed want to overtake 500 people.

It turns out that I actually ran past 472 people with not one person over-taking me. So, of the 360 that took me on the bike it turns out that I got them back on the run with interest. I got to overtake another 100+ who were already running even if I was still many kilometers out on my bike.

MIM11

I loved the run. I will never forget it as I got my personal best time of 3:28:27 (beating my previous best by almost 2 minutes). It is very empowering to know you can run so strongly after a hard bike ride.
Continue reading MELBOURNE IRONMAN Part 4 →

Triathlon events

MELBOURNE IRONMAN Part 3

Leave a comment

The Days Before the Ironman

One of the highlights of the whole trip was our breakfast with most of the 80 strong Filipino contingent. Thanks to Fred Uytengsu and Princess of Sunrise Events we had an excellent breakfast together and discussed our excitement for the pending event. Fred even arranged for the eventual female winner, Caroline Steffen from Switzerland, to give some words of inspiration to us all. She also won Melbourne Ironman 2012.

MIM Caroline

After putting our transition bags into Frankston we simply ate well and rested.

MIM bike

We had a very big late lunch of smoked salmon with avocado, scramble eggs, ham, mushroom, tomato, spinach, chicken, green tea and even a glass of red for me! We were in bed by 6pm and had a restful sleep knowing we had trained well, tapered appropriately and had done all we could to be ready for the grueling task ahead of us.

Definitely no carbo-loading occurred this time. Luckily we had Tri-United 1 as our triathlon warm up before Melbourne as Natasha learned a very valuable lesson. Despite not eating much bread, pasta, rice, noodles etc. for at least a month before Tri-United 1 Natasha decided to “carbo load” a little the night before the race. She ate a simple Japanese Udon Noodle dish that reacted very badly with her stomach so that she was quite ill several hours before that race and up to gun start. That lesson was well and truly learned from and neither of us would make that mistake again here! We stuck to our regular nutrition of quality meat, vegetables and fruit.
Continue reading MELBOURNE IRONMAN Part 3 →