Archive for January, 2012

Last week, my good friend Mitch Felipe-Mendoza invited me to a free trial session for Redcord. I heard about Redcord early last year from my best running buddy, Annie, who raved about it being a hit in Singapore where she works as a Pilates instructor.

I dropped by the new b+b Studio in Infinity Tower conveniently located in Bonifacio Global City. Awesome studio with an amazing view of the city.

– Pilates equipment –

– Redcord area –

The only thing I knew about Redcord was that it’s a fusion of suspension training (think TRX) and Pilates. As a fan of TRX before and being a big believer in the benefits of Pilates especially for runners, I was very excited (and nervous) to give this a try.

During the session, I asked Mitch all about Redcord:

WHAT IS REDCORD?
Redcord is a suspension training system that uses body weight as resistance and exercises multiple muscle groups and the nervous system to produce the most optimal neuromuscular challenge and experience.

BENEFITS OF REDCORD FOR RUNNERS:
– improves balance
– challenges coordination by syncing the nerves and muscles in multiplanes
– improves full body strength by optimizing muscle activation
– educates the athlete thru body awareness-proprioception
– increases flexibility
– improves stability thru core control

– This is me after my Redcord Session. Thanks to Mitch for the intro session –

For my first session, I was just familiarizing myself with the use of the cords. It wasn’t entirely new to me since I’ve used suspension training in the past, but there were certainly some exercises that I’ve never done before. We worked on both my arms and legs being extra careful with my foot which is still recovering from my marathons. It’s wonderful that there’s a wide variety of options for each exercise to make it easier or harder for each person.

While most of the exercises use body weight and tension to build strength, the reps still made it very tiring. I liked the fact that with each exercise, you could also feel a stretch in some muscles, something that all of us runners need. We also used the Bozu for balance and some hand weights for the upper body after the Redcord sessions.

Mitch took it easy on me for my trial session. She said the first session is always an assessment of a Client’s strengths and weaknesses. By the second session, the instructor can customize your program according to your needs. I’m definitely be back for more (and harder workouts…gulp!) in the coming weeks!

WHERE CAN YOU TRY RED CORD:
b+b studio
– 11th Fl., Infinity Tower, 26th St., Bonifacio Global City, +639178653878/+6324786691
– Gr. Fl., Bonifacio Technology Center, 31st St. corner 2nd Ave., Bonifacio Global City, +639178992639/+6328151009

AVAILABLE PROGRAMS AT b+b STUDIO:
1) Redcord Personal Training Session
2) Redcord Duo & Small Group Training
– Redcord Fitcore
– Redcord Full-body Conditioning
– Redcord Burn
– Redcord Athletic

Anyone game for an ultramarathon trail run in Hong Kong in March? Perhaps Bald Runner or Jonel?

I received an email from Pierre Le Magnan, event director of Raidlight Lantau50, inviting us Pinoy runners to hop on over to Hong Kong for their upcoming event. Here’s information about the race taken from their website:

– Image from Lantau50 website –

The Raidlight Lantau50 is a trail running event on South Lantau Island, Hong Kong. Participants have the opportunity to tackle this challenge solo or as a team of two. The 51-km course covers three country parks on South Lantau with 90% on trails and a cumulative elevation gain of 2,500 meters. It will cover the most scenic trails on South Lantau, including 5 climbs for a cumulative elevation gain of 2,500 meters. This is a challenging trail run which requires adequate training to complete the full route within 12 hours. The event starts and ends in Discovery Bay.

Starting time and location: Saturday March 24, 2012 at 8:00 am; Discovery Bay Plaza.

There is also an Explorer run (15km) which will cover the steep climb (450m) of the Lo Fu Tau (Tiger head) before heading to Silvermine beach (Mui Wo) and back to Discovery Bay via the monastery, mostly on trails.

Starting time and location: Saturday March 24, 2012 at 9:00 am; Discovery Bay Plaza.

For more details, visit their website: Raidlight Lantau50

Block your calendars for TBR Dream Marathon events for JANUARY 2012:

JAN 18, 2012, WED: BULL CIRCLE 4 
Register: 6:30 PM. Start: 7:00 PM
Venue: 5/F Top Shelf, Fully Booked, Bonifacio High Street (UPDATED)

Our speakers will be two doctors:  Dr. George Canlas, orthopedic surgeon, sports medicine doctor, and expert on hydration for Gatorade will discuss proper hydration for the marathon.  Dr. Randy Molo will talk about foot biomechanics and injury prevention.  TBR Dream Alumni Reylynne dela Paz will share her story about running TBR Dream.  Needless to say, you’re in for a lot of new information that can improve your performance on race day.

JAN 28, 2012, SAT: BULL SESSION 4 – LONG RUN 3 HOURS
Register: 4:00 AM. Start: 4:30 AM
Venue: Solenad Activity Area, NUVALI, Sta. Rosa, Laguna (Click HERE for a map to NUVALI)

Our initial schedule for the Bull Session was Jan. 14 at BHS, but we opted to postpone this to make way for Todo Responde, a fund raising run for Sendong Victims.  We highly encourage TBR Dream Marathoners to join this run.  I’ll be there to show my support as well.

Since Jan. 28 will be a long run of 3 hours, we thought it would be more fun to do it at NUVALI. We hope you can make it! NUVALI will be providing a free shuttle to and from the venue.  Limited slots available for the ride so it will be on a first come, first served basis. Online reservation will be posted on this blog a week before the event.

To TBR Dream Alumni from Batch 1 & 2: We’d love for you to come and pace the new batch. Please let us know if you can come as volunteer pacers. Email jvcruzmc(at)yahoo.com with subject: Bull Session Pacer

It’s the start of a new year and I’m in need of a change. I’ve been doing strength training exercises at the gym for 4 years now and my muscles (and mind) are aching for a new challenge. So, in the next few weeks, I’ll be searching for a new workout that I can sustain to complement my running.

Last week, I tried Red Cord with Mitch Felipe (I’ll write about it soon).  This coming Friday, I’ve scheduled a trial session with my friend Miggy Dy-Buncio who co-owns CrossFit Manila and is a certified CrossFit trainer himself. Oh, and he runs too!

According to CrossFit Manila’s website, the CrossFit program is “a combination of high intensity and constantly varied exercises, which means you’ll never repeat a workout. Exercises range from gymnastics, Olympic weightlifting, track and field, kettlebell training and other sports. Most workouts resemble circuit training and are finished in less than 30 minutes.”

30 minutes?! How cool is that?

I asked Miggy to accommodate 10 more TBR readers to our CrossFit trial this week. Come and join us! It will be fun!

EVENT: Free CrossFit trial
DATE: Friday, Jan. 13, 2012
TIME: 12:30 to 1:00 PM
PLACE: CrossFit, Army Gymnasium, Bayani Road cor. Lawton Ave.

If you are interested, please comment below with these words: I WANT TO TRY CROSSFIT. First 10 readers will join me and my friends for a free trial session. Let’s do this!

For more info on CrossFit, click HERE to visit their website.

UPDATE: To the first 10 commenters below, see you on Friday!  To those who didn’t make it, so sorry! Hope you can try CrossFit anyway in the future.

1 Sherrie Torres
2 Toel
3 odie
4 Yas
5 Dex
6 Wilbert
7 Joseph
8 Rosalia Castro
9 Jo
10 Nina

TODO RESPONDE RUN is a collaboration of efforts led by Francis Razon of EatPrayRun Sportswear to unite and launch a fund raising run event for the Sendong victims and baby Rafael.  Popular runners and key figures in the running community have pledged their support: Michelle Estuar & Renan Morales, Raffy Santos & Edwin Soriano of runnersrunner.com, Raul Acuna of ARC, Rovic Canono of Greentenial, Jonel Mendoza of Front Runner, Jinoe Gavan of Takbo.ph, Jeff Lo of Pinoy Fitness, Team BGC, running host Boy Ramos, Tia de Guzman of Pep Squad events and Rio Dela Cruz of Runrio.

I’ll definitely be running this one. I do hope to see you there! 100% goes to Sendong victims and baby Rafael.

TODO RESPONDE Run 2012
January 14, 2012 @ 5AM
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
3K/5K/10K

Registration Fees:
3K – P300
5K – P300
10K – P350
Bib numbers will be issued to participants

Gun Start:
3K – 6:00am
5K – 6:15am
10K – 6:25am

Registration Venues:
– ROX at Bonifacio Highstreet, BGC
– ARC (A Running Circle) Unit H, Aloha Hotel, 2150 Roxas Boulevard, Cor. Quirino Ave. Malate, Manila. Contact Numberphone: 567.iRun
– RUNNR – ATC, Alabang