Filipino expat in UAE to join in Ultraman Florida 2019 race
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00:00It was April of 2016 when a good friend of mine, Roderick Celestre, invited me and introduced
00:14me to the triathlon.
00:16At that time I didn't know how to swim, I didn't know the proper way to cycle and run.
00:21And I never had any long distance running or stuff like that.
00:27And then after several months of training and asking help from friends, so what happened,
00:35I did my first triathlon October of 2016 during the Roy Nassar Memorial Triathlon.
00:41And I did a sprint triathlon and that time I considered myself as a triathlete and it
00:48became a history.
00:50I feel proud and honored to represent the UAE and the Philippines in the upcoming Ultraman
00:56Florida this coming February 15 to 17 of 2019.
01:03And this will also help me to help the tribal communities of Palawan, Philippines to have
01:09their first tribal sports festival this coming April of 2019.
01:14I've been living and working here in the UAE for eight years now, working as an emergency
01:20medical technician in a public healthcare sector, wherein my job is to promote health
01:26and save lives.
01:27You know, the UAE has world-class sports facilities.
01:31They even created a lot of cycling tracks.
01:35We have beautiful beaches here and parks wherein we can do our run.
01:41That is absolutely free and wherein a lot of people can have a free access on that.
01:47And the UAE really encourages and helps a lot of people to be very, very health conscious
01:54and to be physically fit.
01:58That's why I can say that the UAE has an amazing job when it comes to the sports facilities
02:04and being health conscious.
02:07I used to be a smoker and I cannot even run so fast or run so long.
02:15So when I started the triathlon, you know, I feel relaxed, I feel better.
02:21And then it has a lot of health benefits.
02:25A week before the race, it's all about a balanced diet.
02:29I always make sure that there is protein, carbohydrates, and fats in my food.
02:36And the day before the race, I do like a carbo-loading wherein it will really help me to fuel myself
02:44for the next day's race.
02:47And a few hours before the race, I always make sure that I still have a lot of carbohydrates
02:52in my body and I also take 500 ml of vitargo electrolytes that will really, really help
02:59me to fuel myself for that race.
03:03Normally, I train around 20 to 25 hours in a week that compose of swim, bike, and run.
03:10In the year 2016, I already did eight 70.3 and one full Ironman and other 45 races that
03:18includes half marathon, marathon, swim, bike, and run races.
03:25And my ultimate goal is to finish an Ultraman race, most especially to be qualified in the
03:31Ultraman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii this coming November or December of 2019.
03:41What motivates me to win?
03:43Of course, my family and also all the people that support and trust me and believe in me
03:51for my journey in my triathlon.
03:54And above all, the tribal communities of Palawan, Philippines because they are the reason why
04:00we have this Race with a Purpose campaign and they are the reason why I'm racing because
04:06every time I race, the people who benefited from it are the kids and the youth of the
04:16tribes and I never thought that I can inspire them, I never thought that it can influence
04:23and encourage and motivates the triathlon communities to do the same.
04:30This is for them, this is for the kids, this is for my family, this is for my friends,
04:35this is for everyone who trusts and believes in me.