Friday, August 16, 2013

Day 5: Heading to China Tomorow

So... We are packing for China today and leaving for the airport in less than 5 hours which will be 3:30 am in the Philippines. We met with Jeanette Obieto who is the coach traveling along with the twins and the other two female athletes. We were briefed that our flight leaves for Hong Kong at 6:30am and lands at 8:30am. We will have a two hour delay before we depart Hong Kong for Shanghai at 10:30, landing at about 1:10pm. From their we will take a 2 and a half hour bus ride to Nanjing where we will meet some Philippine delegates from the PSC.

The twins' workout today went well, but of course that humidity was strong again, and when you are running 200's you feel it. The girls finished up the day getting massages at the coliseum, and after we went to the mall where I got a massage.I have been doing some running out here myself, and my calves where locking up on me. So I decided to get a deep tissue massage. It was a very interesting massage, but not the kind you are thinking..... I was massaged by a 6' 4 blind man! I have to say it was one of the best massages I have gotten. See they have a massage place here in the mall where all of the masseuse's and masseurs are blind. The idea is that they are able to feel the tension and have a keen sense of touch. It was a deep tissue massage and a bit painful at times, but I did feel a lot better afterwards.

Today the girls were offered a full ride scholarship by the head track and field coach (Rome) at De La Salle University in Manila. It is a well respected University in the Philippines where the focus of education is on Dentistry & Nursing. It has about 12,000 students currently and have a brand new 20 story building which was just completed at the cost of 950 million dollars (see picture of building below). It is doubtful however that the twins would choose to study in the Philippines, but it is nice to have options.





We were also able to view an annual celebration at De La Salle University where the students participated in a parade, and had on beautiful costumes (see pictures below).









Thursday, August 15, 2013

Day 4: Support and encouragment coming from the Philippine Sports Commission

Hello family and friends,
The twins had a great training day. They ran well, and came out of the blocks very well. This is the first time in a while I saw them both training well at the same time. I think they are getting excited for Nanjing (See attached videos from today). We also visited the Philippine Sports Commission's office and picked up some official gear for the girls (see attached pictures). Everyone in the offices where very welcoming and encouraging. The girls also met with Lito Oreda a journalist from Balita, and Clyde Mariano from the Manila Bulletin. Clyde a middle aged journalist who has spent many years covering track & field events for the Philippines, gave the twins a history lesson on the success and failures of the Philippine Track and Field. Clyde was very animated and the girls found him to be fun to talk to(see photo below, Clyde is in the 2nd photo 6th from the left). We also received information on our trip to China. We found out that we will be departing for China at 6:30am on the 17th and arrive in Hong Kong and 8:30am. We will then depart Hong Kong at 10:30am arriving in Nanjing at 1:10pm. The delegation will consist of the twins and two other youth athlete. One pole vaulter and one triple jumper. The athletes will be residing in the Olympic Village where over 1,500 athletes from 45 countries will be housed. The girls were also excited to learn that they would receive a stipend per day for expenses. Tomorrow we will get up at 5:30 am and try to beat the heat, and get some last minute endurance work in. Thanks again for following the girls, please click on the videos below to see them in action at today's workout.








Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Day 3: The humidity here is crazy!

Hello friends and family,
Today was a good day. The girl's are feeling a little more comfortable here. They got their Philippine National welcome packet which had several pairs of shorts, shirts, track tights,sweatsuit and shoes. That made them feel good (I will post a picture on the next post). They even gave me two polo shirts with the Philippine national emblem.The workout today was tough for the girls because of the humidity, but they ran well, and the best thing was that neither of them complained of injuries (I am keeping my fingers crossed). They also got massages today at the Philippine Center for Sports Medicine by Benji (see picture below). The Rizal Memorial Coliseum where the girls are training at houses all of the Philippine National Sports prospects who are training for the 2013 South East Asian Games. They live in several surrounding dorms where their housing is provided free of charge. It was nice to see people from the different sports like basketball, judo, baseball and other sports all working out in the weight room, getting treatment and massages. It was good for the girls to see athletes that are committed to being the best they can at their particular sport.  As I am writing this post the girls are sleeping, it's 3am over here. They are adjusting a bit better that I am to the time zone difference. They need there sleep because tomorrow they are running fast and working on coming out of the blocks. We also got to visit a mall today here in Rizal (they call it the small mall), it is huge and most of it is swap meet style, however they have several very nice department stores inside. We hope to visit The Mall of Asia later this week before we head to China on Saturday. Tomorrow I hope to include a message from the girls in their own words. Thanks again for all of your support. If you have somoene who you would like me to add to the email list please leave a message in the comment section, or email me.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

First Day in Manila

We landed in the Philippine's at 4:07am on Tuesday. During the flight we couldn't believe how many meals they served (we ate 3 times). It was very tough to get rest on the plane, I was moving around the whole time trying to get comfortable enough to fall asleep (didn't work).We made it back to the hotel and once again ate a breakfast buffet. We then took pictures for the visa's to China, and signed for the Twins' Philippine passports to be released to us.We headed to the track at about 4pm to avoid some of the heat and humidity, and the girls did some light running and stretching. It is amazing how much you sweat out here when working out, I think the humidity is actually going to have a positive effect on the twins' training. The twins are notoriously tight in their hamstrings, glute's, and calves. Kyla was amazed at how easily she touched her toes and how well she was able to stretch after warming up. Last week she was unable to finish a couple of workouts because she was tight. We went to bed early after leaving the track. We intentionally stayed awake and then slept at 8pm to try and acclimate to the time change. We will work out at 6am tomorrow doing  sprints at 75% (whatever that is), and then Thursday follow up with some real speed work. It is my hopes that they can turn up the speed in this humidity and increase their turnover.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Casino Night was a success!

We had a succesful fundraiser last night, and were able to raise enough funds to not have to worry about our expenses while in the Philippines and China. Thanks to all of you who came out and supported, and those of you who mailed in donations we truly appreciate it. We will continue to post information on our experiences in the next couple of weeks, including photos of them training.We are flying out tonight at 10:50 and should land in the Philippines on Tuesday at 3:45 am.