If you're following my blog, you may have read that I enrolled in the Milo R2 APEX Running School. It's a seasonal running clinic that provides a full training plan covering running drills, strength and conditioning workouts, injury prevention, recovery, and injury rehabilitation. I even have a few blog posts about our sessions there. This year, on its eighth season, the sessions ran from April to July as a preparation of its participants for the upcoming 38th Milo Marathon (which was held last weekend, more on that later). It has a total of thirty-six sessions with three sessions per week.
MARSians and coaches from the BGC camp

Admittedly, I never really had any formal training in running before I joined MARS. I first got into running back when I was in college but it was only for cross-training in between swimming training sessions (yes, my first love was swimming). Fast forward to my working-girl days, I would just run three to four times a week with no training plan or whatsoever, while following some workout videos (Insanity and P90X) on off-days. So all this formal training was new to me. What's good about the drills and workouts that we did in Milo APEX is that they're all science-based. A lot of them are designed for runners to improve speed and endurance. And since running is basically focused on the lower body, there were also some workouts for the upper body, especially the core, to balance it all out.

I can say that Milo APEX has definitely changed me. I learned a lot from our training sessions. I got to improve my running form. I changed my routine and even the way I prepared for my runs. My performance has definitely improved. Before Milo APEX, I would always feel very tired after every long distance run. I would usually end up injured one way or another, and it was like I had to take a break for a week or two to fully recover. After Milo APEX, all that has changed. I would feel less tired after my runs. I recover faster. I encounter less injuries. I even joined my first trail run with a 30k distance and finished injury free (hah!). Aaand lastly, I got to break my PRs. 

Season 8 of the Milo R2 APEX Running School held its last session on the 22nd of July. It was just last week and I miss it already. I miss BGC (except the commute from my place to BGC because it's such a hassle). I miss running around Bonifacio High Street. I miss those insane drills and workouts. I miss the friends that I made, especially my 21k group whose crazy and funny antics made every training session bearable. I miss our coaches (special mention: Coach Peachy, Coach Gerald, and Coach Jim) who never failed to push us harder every session. 
21k group :)
credits to Rick Petogo for all three photos

With all this, I would definitely recommend enrolling in Milo R2 APEX Running School. The registration fee was only Php.2400 (we even got a cool singlet, oh yeah). The overall experience? PRICELESS. :)