In the years that I've been into all sorts of  endurance sports, I've also had run-ins with the numerous sports-related injuries and conditions that come with the territory.

Plantar fasciitis. Pulled muscles. Sprains. Torn ligaments. Cramps.

The list goes on and on.

Luckily, I've managed to get through each bout of injuries with minimal fuss.  While I've learned how to prevent them from happening again, there is one condition that keeps coming back.  The bug hits me every year, sometimes up to twice or thrice in one season.  I am not alone, though.

Thousands of athletes suffer (although I'm not sure if "suffer" is the right word) from a common affliction called "upgraditis".  It has nothing to do with muscles, soft tissue, bones or other physical injuries.  But it does affect that part of the athlete that matters most--the wallet.

Upgraditis is the uncontrollable urge to upgrade (hence the name) every piece of race equipment in an athlete's arsenal:  bike, bike parts, shoes, apparel,

Everyone remembers their first time at anything.

First time on a plane, first time on a roller coaster and yes, that first time, too.  The anxiety leading up to those moments can make you wet your pants or throw up.

It's no different for runners and triathletes.  I remember the first 5K, marathon and triathlon I ever joined.  Standing at the starting line of each one, I was a bag of nerves, but was just good at hiding it.  It didn't matter that I had spent months preparing for a race.  Nothing prepares you for pre-race jitters.  Nothing.

My very first marathon was the Subic International Marathon or SIM.  The year I joined was the first (and last) time the marathon would be held on the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).  The reason I chose that race was because of the course, plus the gun start was at 4PM.  This meant most of the run would be at night, not under the scorching sun.

I began my training program 6 months before the race.  Prior to Subic, I had only done several 21km

"Don't try anything new on race day."  I've been a keen follower of this piece of advice since I began racing more than a decade ago.  It holds true for just about everything on race day--nutrition, equipment and apparel--and any sport.

So on this particular Sunday, I woke up at 4 a.m. and went about my race day routine:  I had a peanut butter sandwich, a glass of soy milk and a banana for breakfast, prepped my pre-race drink and nutrition, and finally got my gear loaded in the car.  This time, however, there was one thing new to my morning ritual--I had to wake my daughter and help her get ready.  She wasn't racing but it was her first time to join me this early in the morning to watch a race.  With everything ready, we hopped into the car for the 10 minute drive to the starting line.

The race was the Unilab Active Health Duathlon held last September 9 at Clark, Pampanga.  It was one of a handful of races held on the endless stretches of SCTEX, which was why I signed up for it. 

It's been 3 weeks since Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 Philippines (make that 4).

The local triathlon season begins in February and kicks into high gear in the summer once the major races are underway:  Subic International Triathlon in May, 5150 Triathlon in June and Ironman 70.3 in August.   Being the most prestigious race on the local race scene, everyone wanted to be at Ironman 70.3, myself included.  We trained, ached and bled for that one race.  It was the "graduation" from months of training and sacrifice.  For many, it also marked the final race of their racing season.

The off-season is looked forward to just as much as the major races because it means we all get our license to drink and eat whatever we want and stay up late on weekends.  Stuff we would normally avoid while we train for our A-race.

Cebu was my A-race so after that, my weeks began to take on some semblance of normalcy.  I didn't have to worry about getting up at 5:30 every morning to do a swim, bike or run.  I

The sun hadn't even risen yet but the parking lot of the Mactan Shangri-La Resort was busier than Baclaran on a Wednesday.  Athletes were scrambling to make last minute adjustments to their bikes--pumping tires, tightening bolts, filling water bottles.  The frenzied atmosphere was a sign of things to come on the fourth running of Ironman 70.3 Philippines.

After three successful years in Cam Sur, this year's race took place in Cebu. A new race course meant new challenges for all.  Cebuano triathletes aside, no one knew what lay in store on the new 70.3 mile course.  Unlike CWC in Cam Sur, the Cebu swim leg was an open water swim.  The bike course took athletes from Lapu-Lapu City to Talisay City on the main island and back.  The run course would be 2 loops of an unforgiving 10 kilometer course to Punta Engaño on the north end of Mactan.

Shangrila Mactan Resort, this year's host of Ironman 70.3 Philippines.

After a heavy breakfast at 4 a.m., my teammates and I headed down to the transition area for our own pre-race preps--double-check tire pressure, make

Treading in water as we wait for the start. (Photo courtesy of Alex Cenzon)

Last June 24th, the inaugural Century Tuna 5150 Triathlon was held at Subic Bay Freeport Zone to much fanfare in the multisport community.  Created by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), the same company behind the Ironman brand, 5150 is the WTC's standard distance triathlon (1.5 km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run for a combined distance of 51.50 kilometers, hence the name).  The lure of participating in this inaugural event was too strong to resist so I signed up with barely a month to go before race day.

Century Tuna 5150 Philippines was organized by Sunrise Events, which also brought Ironman 70.3 and X-Terra to Philippine shores. The race isn't the first triathlon to be held in Subic Bay but this one definitely raised the bar for standard distance racing.

While I can't say that this was the perfect race (there never is one anyway), it stood out as the best triathlon race for me to date.  The race itself as well as the pre and post-race experience all together made for an

Runners come in different forms. Which one are you? (Getty Images)

Last Father's Day, I left the comfort of my bed at 3:30 a.m. to join Run United 2, the second installment of Run Rio's trilogy.  I signed up for the 21k race which started at Bonifacio Global City and ended at the SM Mall of Asia grounds.

It was dark, rainy and the start chute was already crowded with 4,999 other runners so I decided to hang back with a few friends and start with the last wave of runners.  Being one of the last persons to leave the start was interesting, to say the least, because it gave me a chance to observe the multitude of runners heading for the finish line 21 kilometers away.

There were dozens of them but these are my favorites.  Chances are, you've spotted at least one of them in your past races, too.

The Social Media Addicted Tourist. It's easy to spot this runner.  He is the one running with smartphone in hand.  This runner is so addicted to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and pretty much any other social networking platform in existence that he has perfected