I am joining the 2013 Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines

I was just given the approval to join the next Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines in Cebu, Philippines. I can't wait to register this December 1, 2012.

I missed the 2011 edition of the Ironman 70.3 Philippines since I had already raced in the Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore and will only race once a year. This year, as part of my Adult Pulmonary Medicine fellowship Medical training, I was in Palawan for our Midyear Convention while the participants raced the streets of Cebu last August 2012. Next year, despite the lack of time for serious training I will join the Ironman 70.3 Philippines to be one with my team mates (Team Reborn). I will not aim for a fast finish but will try to do my best to finish strong despite the lack of time to follow our training program. 

I am so excited to resume fitness training once again. I have been trying to lose weight to compensate for my lack of training. If I can't commit to long training hours to increase fitness power then I need to lighten up to improve performance. I hope to be 68 kilos on race day. We, Team Reborn, have been keeping track of our weight, Body mass index and body fat percentage and So far I am on track. Started with 77 kilos prior to resuming training and have lost more than 5 kilos in the past 8 weeks. I will soon blog about how I lost weight properly despite my busy schedule. I am now as healthy as I was 2 years ago when I joined my first Ironman 70.3 race. I still have to lose a few centimeters of fat in my midsection which I accumulated from not exercising and eating more than I should. This time, I am determined to lose weight and control my diet. 

I want to be an Ironman once again. With God's help, I will be successful in my Adult Pulmonary Medicine training and Ironman 70.3 training next year.

Ironman 2012 Kona World Championship

Joy of Sunscreen

Triathletes love to train in the heat. We run at 12 noon to acclimatize our bodies in running in the heat. We bike from 6 am to 5 pm to increase our cycling endurance. We swim for hours in the pool or beach to train for the massive swim start.

Marathoners and Ultramarathoners also heat train. It takes about 2 weeks for the body to adjust to the high environmental temperature during exercise or running. We become more prone to electrolyte imbalance, heat stroke and dehydration when we exercise at extremely high temperatures.

To avoid these disastrous events, we take in more water and electrolytes and do simulation runs to adjust to the heat.

When exposed in the sun, we forget to take care of our skin. Endurance athletes are prone to sunburn during training. Frequent sun exposure may also cause premature aging and skin cancer.

I have used many brands of sunscreen since I started endurance training. It didn’t matter to me if they were Spf 15 or 60 as long as I was using sun screen to help protect my skin. I have to admit that I didn’t like wearing them but had to. They felt sticky and uncomfortable after application. Some even caused mild skin allergies.

During the last COBRA Ironman 70.3 Philippines, One of our team sponsors, Belo Medical group, provided us sunscreens to help prevent sunburn and protect our skin. The Belo Essentials Sun Expert Sunblock was given to team members and have been using them ever since.

This sunscreen lotion was unlike any other brand. They do not feel sticky at all. It was like water being applied to the skin. It comes in two preparations. The BODY lotion is spf 60 while the FACIAL lotion is Spf 40 and non-comedogenic (non-pimple causing). After one application, riding hard for 2 hours at 11am, my skin didn’t feel burned or irritated and all I got was a great-looking dark tan line.

Try it and experience the joy of sunscreen.