- The place was packed! -

– Attendees got free The Bull Runner Magazines…well, at least, the early ones! -

The success of the Running Aid series never fails to amaze me.  Each session is bigger than the last with over 150 people present last night vs. the first talk’s 15 attendees.  The entire floor area was filled with people, so I found my own balcony seat on the 2nd floor stairway along with a few other runners.  (TBR idea: Maybe they should do Running Aid 5 in a movie house next time complete with popcorn, cotton candy, and of course, Cheetos Jalapeno. What say you, Neville?)

- Special balcony seats -

The first speaker, Dr. Paolo Punsalan, gave a comprehensive talk on training programs, which was very informative even for a voracious running reader like me.  He discussed the different types of workouts (LSD, intervals, tempo runs, etc.), training using your heart rate, and even showed a sample marathon training program.  Great job, Doc Pao.

The next speakers were husband and wife team, Al and Joie Viado, Pinoy Ultra Runners and fitness instructors.  Actually, it was Joie who did all the talking while Al  demonstrated the exercises for core strengthening.  It was a dynamic talk, a lot of laughing, movement, and sweat (well, at least for Al who followed every single order of Joie—now that’s a husband for you!)

Once again, congratulations to the Pinoy Ultra Runners for another successful event.  Looking forward to the next one!

- Nice to see good friends Marga, Ben, and Jun there!  They don’t look like they’re listening though -

WHAT: RUNNING AID 4

WHERE: R.O.X., BONIFACIO HIGH STREET

WHEN: APRIL 29, 2009, WEDNESDAY, 7 P.M.

HOW MUCH: FREE

The 4th Running Aid will be structured into modules.  First speaker will be Dr. Paolo Punsalan, orthopedic doctor and Pinoy Ultra Runner, who will discuss the basics of running.  He will also talk about how to train and structuring your program.  Second speaker will be the Pinoy Ultra Runner’s fitness instructor tandem, Al and Joie Ligaya Viado, to cover  core training for runners.  They will focus on different exercise routines to strengthen runners. This will also involve warm up,  cool down, core and gym exercise.

See you there!

Click here for more details.

See you there!

Mark your calendars: November 13, Thursday, 7 p.m. is the next date for Running Aid 3 at ROX, Bonifacio High Street.  This time, however, it will be for the ladies!  Guys are welcome to attend as long as they behave and pretend to be interested in girl talk.

Speakers will be: Elizabeth Siojo, founding member of Pinoy Ultra Runners, and The Bull Runner (who the hell is that?!)  Seriously, I will try to my best to give a comprehensive guide on everything women need for running and attempt to answer questions that I myself was afraid (or embarrassed) to ask a male running friend or coach.

It should be yet another informative and entertaining talk. If not, let’s all just go out to BHS and run…tsk tsk. See you there!

If you’re free next Thursday, I suggest you drop by ROX for Running Aid 3.

I was pretty impressed with the wealth of information provided at Running Aid 2. According to my sources—okay fine, it was Pinoy Ultra Runners team principal and speaker of this session who informed me—that this session will be even more interesting.

They are bringing in treadmills to have lecturers comment on the running form and technique of some Pinoy Ultra Runners. If there’s time, you might be one of the lucky few who get your form critiqued by the experts (and audience as well). Hmm…now I’m not so sure if I’d like that.

Hope to see you there!

P.S. Don’t you just love their posters? Bayani Fernando should hire their designer.

- Neville Manaois on anything and everything a runner needs -

Neville Manaois, team principal of Pinoy Ultra Runners, gave a comprehensive talk on Running Essentials enumerating each item a runner needs—from shoes to petroleum jelly—for distance runs. Neville was very knowledgeable about the topic, not just discussing items he’d picked up from a book, but obviously drawing from his own experiences as an ultramarathoner.  

- Dr. Paolo Punsalan on the proper form for runners -

The next speaker, Dr. Paolo Punsalan, a Pinoy Ultra runner and Orthopedic Surgeon, discussed Running Form & Technique for distance runs. I was in and out of the session but I did pick up a number of important points. He emphasized mid foot landing which is consistent with Coach Jo-Ar’s training with me. Dr. Punsalan also mentioned leaning forward, minimizing arm swing, high cadence (90 per leg per minute) and maintaining balance while running.  He even dissected the form of Haile Gebresellasie for all of us to attempt to emulate…yeah let’s keep on dreaming.

I highly recommend this talk for runners. I hope the Pinoy Ultra Runners and ROX will have another run (no pun intended) of these talks as it promotes running to non-runners and gives us runners the opportunity to improve ourselves while avoiding injury.

To all those I saw last night—Marga, Jeremy, Hector of Nike, Philip and his wife, Felipe of SOS Village, Andrew of Epic, my TI coach Nonoy B., dad and mom of CougCat, bugobugo, Mel, Irene, and Omar—it was nice seeing you. Neville, nice chatting with you again. Hope to run with you on my side of the world.

For two weeks, I pondered over this issue, surfed the net, and asked several friends exactly what should be worn to a mini-sprint. Marga advised me to purchase a tri suit and achieve that “Lara Croft” feeling (with the option of pouting my lips just like Angie).  Mary Anne told me she was sticking to a bathing suit with leggings and pulling a singlet on top of it for the bike and run.  Annie lent me her Speedo long sleeve rashguard with matching teeny-weeny biking shorts (which did end up looking too tiny for my not-so-size-0 body).

Aaah, so many options, so little time!  Early this week, I surrendered to the idea that no one really cares what one wears because they are too busy doing their own thing.  Wear what is comfortable and easy during transitions. One that doesn’t need to be squeezed into, pulled down, or yanked up all the time. So, I opted to purchase the tri suit: the most convenient option but not necessarily the cheapest one. I never knew tri suits cost so much:

Speedo Bodyskin, Speedo BHS……….P13,000++
Orca tri suit, Bike King BHS……….P5,000
Epic tri suit, ROX BHS……….P2,500

Do you have to ask what I ended up buying?  Last Monday, I dropped by ROX (yes, on that stormy evening) to make the big Epic tri suit purchase. I liked the material (available at Bloomingdale’s store in Shang) and it fit well, like second skin. One wouldn’t even know this was locally manufactured. I was slightly concerned about the color (I wanted a black one to make me look 10lbs. lighter) but settled on the only one available, a grey/aqua/white design. 

Buying the tri suit was quite an adventure. I love ROX and all (it’s my new favorite store in Manila) but that night was terrible. I was alone in the dressing room when a blackout occurred. When I tried to pay with my card, they couldn’t process it due to the blackout so I had to part with my cash.  They did not allow for a 10% discount from my Nike+ Human Race participation; in fact, the cashier had no idea about it.  Last but not the least, it took them more than 5 mins to look for my umbrella which I left at the door (they had apparently used it at the 2/F! What?!)  

Oh well, I’m not complaining. I’m happy with my tri suit. I took it for a 650m swim test yesterday and it passed with flying colors. My only prayer is that I don’t have to run to the little girl’s room too often on race day—zipping in and out of that thing alone is a wannabe triathlete’s worst nightmare.

Race Distances: 10km, 20km, 100km 2-person relay, 100km solo

When: July 26 and 27, 2008

Where: Start and finish at Chateau Royale located at the boundary of the Tagaytay and Nasugbu

For inquiries, email TNF100@gmail.com or call 0920.285.5285

Download registration form here.  Submit registration form at ROX or TNF stores to register.

Visit ROX site for more details.

Oh, I know I want to join this.  But, my rational self just tossed these questions at me: Can I do trails?  Do I have to buy trail shoes? (No, not another new expense!)  Do we have to stay overnight in Batangas?  (Didn’t I just declare my fear of extra expenses?)  Will I be fully recovered by then? And, if I do this, will I not run the risk of another injury?  Let me think about it.  

How about you—are you joining?