To runners who bike, this May 20, Circulo Verde in cooperation with Livestrong would be holding a cycling event, the Livestrong Twilight Challenge Ride, that will gather at least 1,000 bikers for a good cause: helping empower people affected by cancer and encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle.

The route would cover a 25 kilometer distance, passing by least three cities: Pasig, Quezon City, and San Juan.  Take off at 4pm from Circulo Verde along Calle Industria in QC, towards Tiendesitas, around Ortigas Center to Greenhills, then back to Circulo Verde, ending in a barbecue party.  This is a reunion bike ride for all Philippine Livestrong Supporters of the 2010 & 2011 Livestrong Day events.

- Jerseys and race kits will be distributed on site. The jersey is NOT included in the race kit, but it would be available at the event for P500 at a first come, first served basis. -

WIN LIVESTRONG TWILIGHT CHALLENGE RIDE KITS

I’m giving away 5 (five) kits to the Livestrong Twilight Challenge Ride to 5 (five) lucky winners. Here’s how to win:

1) Post a comment below telling me how you “Livestrong” each day
2) First 5 people who comment will win 1 race kit each
3) Winners will be notified via email on how to claim race kits
4) Only 1 submission will be accepted. Sending more than one entry will lead to disqualification

Read the press release below…

LIVESTRONG TWILIGHT CHALLENGE RIDE SLATED FOR MAY 20

Livestrong Philippines in cooperation with Ortigas & Co. premiere development, Circulo Verde, has slated this year’s Twilight Challenge Bike Ride on May 20, which is expected to gather at least 1,000 cyclists from Metro Manila and nearby cities.

The Livestrong – Circulo Verde Twilight Challenge Bike Ride will cover over twenty-one kilometers starting from Circulo Verde, Bagumbayan, Quezon City, passing by other key Metro Manila landmarks including the Ortigas Business District, Tiendesitas at Frontera Verde, and Greenhills Shopping Center.

“Our thrust is to convince people that living a healthier and more active lifestyle is essential in preventing cancer; that the road to good health starts by making small commitments like eating the right food, exercising, and quitting bad habits like smoking,” says Eric Bergara, Community Representative for Team Philippines Benefitting Livestrong.

Livestrong is an affiliate of the Lance Armstrong Foundation that aims to improve the lives of people affected by cancer. This year’s ride attempts to reunite 2010 and 2011 Livestrong Day Philippines supporters and hopefully enjoin more people for the cause.

Event co-sponsor Ortigas & Co. is a known developer of green communities like Circulo Verde, Tiendesitas, and Greenhills Shopping Center.

“In Ortigas, we believe that it is the developer’s job to create the ideal conditions for leisure and living. Our communities are all designed to have ample space for play, exercise, picnics, and barbecue parties. Circulo Verde, for example, which spans 12-hectares, has allotted 70% open space to make room for parks, biking, jogging, and walking lanes. Hopefully, people can get a preview of a healthy and active lifestyle in Circulo Verde, true to the vision of Livestrong, ” says Joey Santos, General Manager of the Real Estate Division for Ortigas & Co.

Twilight Ride participants are requested to wear yellow and gather at Circulo Verde as early as 3:00 PM in time for the 3:30 PM gun start. The event would be capped off with a band performance, an outdoor barbecue, and a Zumba Dance Party facilitated by Gold’s Gym.

Registration is done online at a fee of P300.00 inclusive of snacks, while jerseys will be sold on site for P500.00 at a first come first served basis. Proceeds of the event will go the beneficiaries of Livestrong Foundation in the Philippines.

The event is co-sponsored by Dunkin Donuts, Manila Water, and San Miguel Beer. For more information and updates please visit www.livestrongdayph.com or follow @livestrongdayph on Twitter.

UPDATE: Congrats to pjong, Mark Terrado, RM Ornedo, Ronaldo Robles and Kamote 22 for winning 1 race kit each! Please expect an email from me regarding claiming of your race kits. Thank you to everyone who joined.

Posted on May 14.12 to 03 Race Announcements  |   18 Comments  

Last night, I joined the Newton & Runner Duathlon Clinic at Bonifacio High Street.  The event encouraged runners to start biking as a cross training option and to subsequently start joining duathlons as a new challenge.

The clinic started with a talk on duathlons by my triathlon coach, Andy Leuterio, a brief talk on bikes by owner of Dan’s Bike Shop and Specialized distributor, Joey Ramirez, and, lastly, an introduction to bike fitting by Edmund Mangaser of All Terra.

- Coach Andy Leuterio -

– with Joey Ramirez of Dan’s Bike Shop -

- with Edmund Mangaser, Coach Andy, and my bf, the Shiv, during the talk on bike fit. Photo courtesy of Total Fitness -

After the informative talks, the workout began. It was a—get this—bike-run-bike-run-bike session. Phew!  It was tough. (Big mistake for running an 8k tempo that morning.)

There was a lot of grunting and groaning from all 30 participants, including myself. A wonderfully intense workout that left me soaked in sweat yet happy.

- Fitness First Team -

– with other participants of the Duathlon Clinic -

- Claiming my raffle prize with Zinnia, Tin of Runnr, and Coach Andy. Thanks Runnr! -

Posted on May 11.12 to 05 Training  |   1 Comment  

They say you grow wiser with age. I turned 36 over the weekend and, even with the addition of another year under my belt, we sure had one of the worst workout ideas ever.

On Saturday, my birthday, I biked 48km and swam 1km.

The following day, my plan was to run for 2 hours or around 20km.

My friends and I (we now call ourselves Team Berlin because we’re all signed up for Berlin Marathon on Sept. 30) decided to skip our regular morning long run and switch this into a “Night Run.” A friend-who-shall-not-be-named conceptualized this idea after suffering the intense heat during a 24km run the previous week and then enjoying the cool evening air on weekday run a couple of days after. So, he thought: Why not run on a Sunday evening instead?! We all thought it was a great idea.

So, I met them at 6 PM. We bumped into Tessa Prieto-Valdes who found out it was my birthday weekend and ran into her house and came out again wearing a birthday cake headband atop her head just for me. (That is probably one of the sweetest and silliest things anyone has ever done for me on my birthday.)

Who said it would be cooler on a Sunday evening again? Even with the sun gone, it was as hot and humid as hell. There was no wind, not even a slight breeze. For all of 5 minutes, it drizzled and there was hope of rain pouring on us, then it quickly disappeared.

The last 5km was slow and painful. We all had run longer distances than this in the past, but why was it so difficult this evening?!  Oh, maybe because it was hotter than usual.  Maybe because our bodies were not as fresh as they are during a morning run.  Or, maybe because some of us had lunch as our last meal.  For whatever reasons, the fact was we were all craaawling.  When we ended the run, we were hoping that the restaurant where we were to dine for my birthday treat could simply deliver their pizza to us.

Anyway, we did make it to the pizza place. We had panizzas and pasta over talk on running, LMFAO, Subit, and, of course, the bad evening idea that we will probably never repeat again. We ended the night with the best way one does after running in intense heat. We treated ourselves to a scoop of gelato each. I would’ve wanted 5 more scoops of the peanut butter ice cream I devoured, but maybe I’ll reserve that for 37 years old or 50km, whatever comes first.

—————————

Thanks to everyone who made the birthday weekend extra special. Received some awesome gifts from loved ones.  One of my favorites was from TBR Jr.  He kept on bugging me the entire week to buy him a box of silver paper clips.  Turns out, it was for my own birthday surprise: a bull made of paper clips!

Posted on May 09.12 to 01 Bullish Insights  |   2 Comments  

Do you want to go beyond running and start biking?  This may be the perfect event for you.  One of the speakers is my tri coach, Coach Andy Leuterio, who said we’ll have a great workout that evening.  Okay, I’m in.  Who else is coming?!

To help enthusiasts of all levels prepare properly for duathlon races, Newton and RUNNR in partnership with Bonifacio Global City and Fitness First will conduct a “Discover Duathlon,”a run-bike clinic on May 10, 7-9 pm at the building B3 Activity Pod of Bonifacio High Street in front of RUNNR.

Breaking down the basics and the more technical aspects of the sport is Andy Leuterio, a veteran of many local and international races including the Ironman 70.3 in Las Vegas and in Camarines Sur.

The clinic will cover everything duathlon, from gear and proper workouts to tips on the course and in the transition areas. Choosing, handling and fitting of other equipment such as protective gear and bicycles will also be discussed in the clinic. Edmund Mangaser of All Terra Cyclery and Joey Ramirez of Dan’s Bike Shop will also be there as resource speakers.

The participants, which will be limited to 30 persons, also get a chance to experience scientific training with the Tri Team SB-RUNNR.

To join, visit RUNNR Bonifacio High Street from May 7 to 10 and pay the registration fee. The clinic is valued at P1,000 but registration fee is P395 only.

• Newton singlet
• Runnr Elite Socks Single
• snacks

For more on running and world-class running gear, visit www.runnr.com.ph, facebookcom/RUNNRPhils or newtonrunning.com or follow RUNNR on twitter.com/RUNNRStore.

Posted on May 08.12 to 09 Other Announcements  |   Be the first to comment  

For the first time ever, New Balance will be holding fun runs in the VisMin regions particularly in Bacolod on June, Cebu on July, and CDO on October offering only the 5Km and 10Km categories.

Registration is currently on going for the Bacolod leg until May 27, 2012 in Planet Sports and The Athlete’s Foot Robinsons Place Bacolod. The Bacolod leg will happen on June 3, 2012 at the Provincial Capitol Lagoon. All registrants will receive a race bib and technical shirt.

Image of New Balance technical shirt…

Posted on May 08.12 to 03 Race Announcements  |   Be the first to comment  

First of all, thank you to everyone who participated in the TBR 5 to 5/5 Contest the past several days. It makes this birthday / anniversary week even more special for me by making a few of you a little bit happier. Now you winners just better make sure you use those shoes and other running items well (read: minimum of 3x a week for training sessions) or else I will take them back. (Kidding!)

Anyway, on to the finalists for the Grand Prize.  Below are the 20 entries I picked out from all the submissions.  ALL of them were touching and meaningful, but I really did have to shortlist the entries since I don’t have 186 pairs of shoes to give away.

1 – allyn: I will give it to a running teammate, doc yruma, in his 70s I think, who has done all milo marathons and a total of 80 marathons to date.

2 – Joseph C. De Jesus: I will give the 2nd shoes to my cousin friend who motivated me to run and continues to support me.

3 – Prants: I will give the 2nd shoe to my brother who always look up on me on everything I do. After I got hook up into running, he’ll do drills around our village using only his old rubber shoe since high school just to keep the pace and his condition with me. Since currently unemployed, he can’t buy one on his own.

4 – Jhudann: I would give the second shoe to my grandmother she recently joined hyundai run and she did 5k in 1 hour at the age of 75. We saw a positive result of running to her health that’s why we encourage her to run every morning.

5 – charles: Who would you give the 2nd shoe to and why? I would give it to my 52yrs old running mate who is using a shoes he purchased from an ukay-ukay store. I know this will be a big help to him to reduce all the pain he is experiencing during our run using his old shoes and makes running more fun to him…

6 – Julio Judilla Jr: Who would you give the 2nd shoe to and why? I will igive it to one of my running mate in ANR Moa, to Mr. Pepper Rosales because at first he run bare foot All i know he likes to run without a shoes but the real reason he has no money to buy a running shoes that’s why he run barefoot.

7 – russell: I will give the 2nd shoes to my dad because I love him to see running again. Despite that I didn’t showed much of my concern from his diabetic condition, this shoe (if I win) will be a motivational factor to get him back to shape at least alleviates his worsening condition and hoping for a good and healthy life.

8 – richard loma: I want to give the 2nd shoe to blind runner,not sure his name ,richard seguia because he truly inspires a lot of people. A truly strong inspring guy.

9 – Terrence Joseph G. Dizon: I would like to give the 2nd shoe to John Onofre G. Dizon, who taught me to run and buy me a pair of running shoes. I want to show my appreciation and gratitude to him by sharing the prize if ever i will win this.

10 – heather cerezo: I would give the shoe to Kuya Nestor, a churchmate, who has to earn enough to send his two college kids, a 2nd grader and a preschooler to school, but still manages to run with us on weekends. With his hand-me-down rubber shoes, he never fails to join each Milo Marathon at Batangas and encourages his two kids to join him.

11 – Ed Calinao: My wife’s nephew, John Carlo, is a young runner with great enthusiasm in the sport, but due to financial constraints brought about by recent events and problems faced by his parents, nobody could afford to buy him a pair of running shoes. If I were to win in this contest, I’d like to give him the 2nd pair to help him develop his passion for running.

12 – paul ablaza: I would give the 2nd shoe to my girlfriend because I found the best running partner in her. I’ve seen that she’s been staring at running shoes whenever we go to a store but since she’s been supporting her family financially and helping her brother in his college studies that’s why she opted not to buy a new pair of running shoes and just continue using her old worn out pair.

13 – hadrian gabiola: I gave it to my ex-wife because she is the one who encourage me to run. Now I am a Marathon man!

14 – Noelito Castillo: I tend to share my winnings to my wife Nette for her Birthday this coming June. Because the last shoes I bought her was a second hand 30K used running shoes that is now also worn-out.

15 – Louie Bautista: I would give it to my father because he has just been buying shoes from the ukay-ukay. Maybe those kind of original shoes will earn him higher mileage and healthy lifestylfe to stay longer with us.

16 – Goldy: I would give the 2nd pair of shoes to Omar, a friend, an amateur runner, but rather a coach, not just to me, but to every runner he knew, because he never fail to share different running techniques, encourage everyone to train and run, or even remind us on what to do before and after the race. He’s running for more than 10 years and been winning in different local races (that’s when someone pay for his registration because he can’t afford to).

17 – Arnel Villanueva: I would like to give it to the most important person in my life, my inspiration and the one who wakes me up every time I have a race so I wont be late – my mom who just started to get infected by my passion for running last month.:)

18 – Conrado M. Angala: I will give the 2nd shoe to my brother because he’s running shoes now looks to old and dirty. He do not have enough money to buy new shoes because all of his salary goes to our parents.

19 – berniceruth: I choose to give them my husband Aaron, who always joins me in my morning runs even if he does not like to run and he has to sacrifice precious sleep time. He deserves a pair of shoes because, for months now, he has only been using his old pair of basketball shoes which he fixes and refixes every time they fall apart.

20 – Netzky: If I win, I’ll give the 2nd shoe to Jho Diaz, a 2012 TBRDM batchmate and a really determined, passionate runner. She actually deserves to win this contest (if she joined) because instead of buying a new running shoes, the soles of her shoes are kinda worn off na here & there and was detached during our last long run in Nuvali but she just took it to a Mr. Quickie & still used it last March 18th, she choose to still help her parents financially & sends her siblings to school. (sorry Jho, i really have to share your story.)

Of the top 20, I used random.org to choose the winner.  And the winner is…

CONGRATULATIONS TO NETZKY! (#20 above) I’ll be emailing you on how to claim your prize for yourself and Jho.

Posted on May 07.12 to 09 Other Announcements  |   8 Comments  

This is DAY FIVE, the last day, of TBR’s 5 Days to 5/5 Anniversary Contest 2012. For more info, click HERE.

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

The Grand Prize for the 5 Days to 5/5 Contest is worth over P20,000!

• 1 New Balance running shoe
• 1 KSwiss running shoe
• P2,000 worth of GC’s from Otterbox
• P5,000 worth of GC’s from Aesthetic Institute of the Philippines
• 1 Chi Running Session worth P2,500 from Forward Lean Running
• 2 Runnr race hats
• 2 Runnr dry max socks (3-in-1)
• 2 Runnr sports towels
• 2 Runnr water bottles
• 2 Unilab Active Health Lootbags
• 2 Unilab Active Health Technical Shirts
• 1 lootbag and shirt from TBR Dream Marathon
• 1 Enervon HP 700g

HOW MANY WINNERS?

There will be one (1) winner, but, just like last year, there’s a catch!

The winner doesn’t get to keep all the prizes.  He must “share the wealth” with a DESERVING RUNNER OF HIS CHOICE. I repeat, the person chosen must be a RUNNER so that the items will not go to waste!  That person may be a loved one, a teammate, a colleague, or even a stranger who you’ve seen racing without shoes. The items that MUST be given to the other runner are:

• 1 of the two shoes (KSwiss or New Balance)
• 1 Runnr race hat
• 1 Runnr dry max socks (3-in-1)
• 1 Runnr sports towel
• 1 Runnr water bottle

HOW TO JOIN?

1) Follow The Bull Runner on Twitter
2) Like The Bull Runner Page on Facebook
3) Subscribe to TBR Mailing List (upper right of this blog)
4) Post a comment on this blogpost with the following:

IN 1-2 SENTENCES ANSWER THIS QUESTION: (using more than 2 sentences leads to disqualification)

Who would you give the 2nd shoe to and why?

Also include:

- your Name
- Name used in Twitter and FB
- Shoe size
- Gender

HOW CAN I WIN?

• Deadline for submission of entries: Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 6:00 p.m.
• All entries submitted within this period complying with directions above will be evaluated by TBR.  20 entries will be shortlisted (I expect to have a hard time choosing among all your answers.  I’m such a softie!) and these entries will then be will be eligible for a raffle to be conducted by TBR via random.org.  There will only be one winner.
• All entries will be moderated and will be approved upon closing of the contest.
• Only one entry per runner. Submission of more than one entry leads to disqualification.
• Winner will be announced on TBR Pages on Facebook and Twitter ONLY and will be advised via email on how to claim the prize.

May the best runner win!

Posted on May 05.12 to 09 Other Announcements  |   187 Comments  

Tomorrow is the big day: the last day of my 5 Days to 5/5 Contest. For more info, click HERE.

Thank you to every one who’s participated so far. I never thought my index finger could get so tired approving all your entries!  It’s been fun and I hope it was just as thrilling for you to wait with bated breath for the winners’ names to be announced each day.

The GRAND PRIZE is waiting to be won. What exactly can you win? I’m so excited to tell you I couldn’t wait till tomorrow. Wait, that’s not true. I’ll be biking and swimming then enjoying brunch with friends tomorrow so I thought I’d go ahead and tease you already.

Drumroll please…

The Grand Prize for the 5 Days to 5/5 Contest is worth over P20,000! Woohoo!

• 1 New Balance running shoe
• 1 KSwiss running shoe
• P2,000 worth of GC’s from Otterbox
• P5,000 worth of GC’s from Aesthetic Institute of the Philippines
• 1 Chi Running Session worth P2,500 from Forward Lean Running
• 2 Runnr race hats
• 2 Runnr dry max socks (3-in-1)
• 2 Runnr sports towels
• 2 Runnr water bottles
• 2 Unilab Active Health Lootbags
• 2 Unilab Active Health Technical Shirts
• 1 lootbag and shirt from TBR Dream Marathon
• 1 Enervon HP 700g

Now, don’t ask me just yet how you can win this. Contest mechanics will be announced tomorrow.

May the best runner win!

Posted on May 04.12 to 09 Other Announcements  |   14 Comments  

This is DAY FOUR of TBR’s 5 Days to 5/5 Anniversary Contest 2012. For more info, click HERE.

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

1 On Running Shoe (actual model may vary from the photo below) and 1 box of Enervon HP 700g

- On Cloudsurfer. I have a pair of these and it makes you feel like you’re running on clouds -

HOW MANY WINNERS? One (1) winner

HOW TO JOIN?

1) Follow The Bull Runner on Twitter
2) Like The Bull Runner Page on Facebook
3) Subscribe to TBR Mailing List (upper right of this blog)
4) Post a comment on this blogpost with the following:

IN ONE (1) PHRASE/SENTENCE ANSWER THIS QUESTION: (using more than one phrase/sentence leads to disqualification)

What about running turns you ON?

Also include:

- your Name
- Name used in Twitter and FB
- Shoe size
- Gender

HOW CAN I WIN?

• Deadline for submission of entries: Saturday, May 5, 2012 at 4:00 p.m.
• All entries submitted within this period complying with directions above will be eligible for a raffle to be conducted by TBR via random.org.
• All entries will be moderated and will be approved upon closing of the contest.
• Only one entry per runner. Submission of more than one entry leads to disqualification.
• Winner will be announced on TBR Pages on Facebook and Twitter ONLY and will be advised via email on how to claim the prize.

May the best runner win!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Tara Tecarro for winning this contest!

Posted on May 04.12 to 09 Other Announcements  |   208 Comments  

My new BF, my Shiv from Specialized, and I went on our first date last week. We dropped by All Terra for my first bike fit with him. There to greet me was owner, Edmund Mangaser, and Coach Andy Leuterio.

- with Edmund Mangaser of All Terra -

The Shiv was placed into the trainer while I changed into my bike shoes. Newbie me didn’t know that I should’ve come in biking attire. Whoops! Edmund told me that I was the first one he’d ever bike fit in casual clothes. Hey, there’s a first for everything, Edmund!

THE BIKE FIT PROCESS

1) Edmund measured my inseam. This gave him an idea what saddle height he would start me with.

2) Using a goniometer, he adjusted the saddle to a height that gave me a leg bent angle of 35 degrees of flexion. A height that wasn’t too high for newbies, but would still allow for good leg extension.

- Edmund measures the angle at which my legs bend -

– Edmund marks my legs with a pentel. Later that evening, I had dinner with my sister not realizing I still had those large moles on my legs! -

3) Edmund then adjusted the saddle fore/aft position. He adjusted my saddle forward to allow me to use my aero bars without bending too much from the waist. He also made sure that when the pedal is at 3 o’clock position, my legs can apply power to the pedals.

4) Next was saddle tilt. He simply positioned the saddle at a level position.

5) Lastly, he worked on the cockpit area. He made adjustments to the front end (handle bar/aero bars) to put me in aero position and to allow my arms to support my head weight well especially when I start assuming a tucked aero position.

- What do you mean I can’t do my bike-walk intervals at Ironman 70.3?! -

Beyond the bike fit, Edmund gave practical tips on biking which I greatly appreciated. He reminded me that the bike fit is a work-in-progress. It cannot be perfected in just one meeting. Ultimately, I must return every now and then to make adjustments as I progress.

Before leaving, Edmund revealed that we had actually worked together before. Confused, I asked where. He handed me a brochure for an ad I did one or two years ago. Turns out, he was the biker with me in the brochure. We never met because our shoots were done separately. Small world!

- Me (and my teeny-weeny waist. Thanks to photoshop and BDO!) and Edmund on the BDO Rewards Book -

All Terra
Branches:
G/F Club 650 Sports Center, Libis QC
638-2075
3/L Sports Loop, Robinsons Galleria
871-8529
Ortigas Home Depot (beside Secondwind), J. Vargas, Pasig
570-6618

Posted on May 03.12 to 04 Gear & Product Reviews  |   7 Comments