TBR New Invention: The Bunion Butas

Tuesday, 11 September 2012  |  Gear + Gadgets

I can almost visualize Hector Yuzon of Secondwind shedding a tear.  I can hear my good friend Alvin yelling: “Why the hell did you do that?!”  Worse, I can imagine a hundred other running shoe addicts slamming their laptops shut after reading this post.

After running 35km last Sunday, our last long run before Berlin Marathon, I knew I had to find a solution before I injured myself.  My left bunion caused a lot of discomfort during the latter part of the run.  With each step, I felt as if my foot was being squeezed tight and I worried that this tightness would only awaken my currently dormant injury, Morton’s Neuroma, on the same foot.

So, here’s what I did to my favorite marathon shoe, the KSwiss Kwicky Blade Light…

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– Peekaboo! –

Yup, I sliced it up!

Sure, it looks awful. And, Planet Sports may never ever sponsor another one of my marathon shoes again. And, um, seeing my bunion protruding like that may be minus points to the boys out there (as if I care! hah!) But, man oh man, this “Bunion Butas” (should I copyright that name already?) offers great relief and I’m just happy that I can actually use my favorite shoe without pain anymore!

Here are 3 easy steps to creating your own “Bunion Butas”:

  1. Wear the shoe.
  2. With a pencil, mark the portion where your bunion protrudes out of the shoe.
  3. Using a cutter, create an X along the area you marked.  (The X will keep the thread from running vs just a slit.)
  4. Sew up the edges.

Good luck!  And, to all of us who have Bunion Butas, let’s all say a prayer that whenever we use the shoe, it doesn’t rain! Haha

Note: The Bunion Butas was inspired by Ani de Leon’s slit on her adidas seen on Facebook a few months back.

Registration for TBR Dream Marathon Starts Today

Friday, 7 September 2012  |  Race Announcements

Registration for TBR Dream Marathon 2013 started at 2 PM today and will continue until September 14, 2012! Again, only those accepted in the TBR Dream Marathon 2013 List will be accepted. Waitlisted runners will be allowed to register on Sept. 15 – 19, 2012.  Click HERE for more info on registration.

When runners register, you get the TBR DM 2013 Welcome Kit!  The Welcome Kit contains letters from the founders, your TBR Dream Marathon Training Program, Calendar of Events, your TBR Dream Card and the list of discounts and privileges you’ll receive as a holder!

Read through this.  Make copies of your Training Program and stick ’em all over your house.  And, mark the week of  SEPTEMBER 24 to 30 as week one of your training for your first marathon!  Woohoo! Exciting stuff!

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Our TBR Dream Marathon Official Shirts (different from the Finisher’s Shirt you will receive upon crossing the finish line in February 2013) will be distributed during our Bull Session 1 and Bull Circle 2 sessions. Please click on our TBR DM Event Calendar for the date and venue.

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For complete information on registration, please visit www.tbrdream.com.  For any inquiries, please don’t ask here!  Call or text our TBR DM Hotline at 0942-477-6099 or email tbrdream@gmail.com

One Wedding and a Marathon in London

Wednesday, 5 September 2012  |  Bullish Insights

Meet my cousin, Celine.  I lived with Celine in New York when I ran the New York City Marathon last year.  Since then, she’s moved to Singapore.

Celine
– Cel and I outside her apartment in NYC. Don’t laugh. I had to wear my marathon shoes all over NYC during that trip because other shoes would leave me and my bunions in pain –

Cel’s mom and mine are sisters.  We were born a month apart.  We studied in the same school from Prep until Highschool.  We were in the same barkada all throughout.  Needless to say, she’s like a sister to me.

Several months ago, Celine shared some great news: She was engaged! She and her British boyfriend would get married in London. I was thrilled for her!

She told me: “You HAVE to be there.”  I said: “Of course!”  Then, within seconds I added jokingly: “Maybe you could set your wedding date close to the London Marathon.” (Hey, traveling ain’t cheap and I might as well hit two birds with one stone, right?!)

The London Marathon is on my must run marathon list. My dream is to finish the five World Marathon Majors–New York City Marathon (check twice!), Berlin Marathon (in less than a month!), Chicago Marathon (it’s our groups’ target next year), London Marathon, and Boston Marathon. (Okay, okay, I’m not sure if I’ll ever run fast enough for Boston so maybe I’ll be happy with 4 of 5)

I digress. Back to Cel’s story.  A couple of months back, Celine finally emailed the exact date of her wedding: April 19, 2013. I marked it on my calendar, then immediately googled the Virgin London Marathon. The date?  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  It’s on April 22, 2013!!!

What were the chances that these two dates would be just days apart?!  It was fate! Then, I quickly checked registration.  Bummer. Application for lottery was closed. So much for destiny.

Luckily, bulls like me never take No for an answer.  I asked Timex, the timing partner of the Virgin London Marathon, if they could possibly help.  One of my favorite people in the running community, Ms. Gemma Pagsibigan of Timex Philippines, sent out emails to her contacts in the UK and told me to just sit still and pray, pray, pray.

Either I’m really lucky or the gods of running just love me to death. Ms. Gemma called yesterday to share the good news: She got me a slot to London Marathon 2013!!!  May I say it again?!  IT’S FATE!

Looking forward to two happy events in London: a wedding and a marathon all in one week!

 

TBR Dream Marathon 2013: Masterlist of Reserved Runners

Tuesday, 4 September 2012  |  Race Announcements

RESERVED

We have the names of the 750 runners who successfully grabbed a slot for TBR Dream Marathon 2013! Are you in?

To view the list, please visit: www.tbdream.com now.

For those on the list, registration details are on the same website.

TBR Dream Marathon 2013 Sold Out in 32 minutes and Good News

Monday, 3 September 2012  |  Race Announcements

[ TBR Dream Marathon 2013: Sold Out! ]

As you probably know by now, this blog crashed Saturday morning when we were set to launch Online Reservation for TBR Dream Marathon 2013.  This was due to the high traffic from runners who were eager to register.  Our web guys solved the problems, but, as I was about to launch it again at 12noon, the blog crashed again.  Sigh. We moved Online Reservation to Sunday 12noon instead and had this blog go “on leave” to free up the load on the site and ensure a smooth reservation process.  Needless to say, I’m thrilled to have everything return to normalcy.

The Online Reservation yesterday was smooth, successful, and…must I say…extremely fast!  We filled up all 600 slots in all of 32 minutes!  Unbelievable!

Thank you to everyone who signed up for TBR Dream Marathon 2013!  We know how important your first marathon will be and to have you entrust this special experience with us is an honor.

My apologies again to everyone who was inconvenienced by the reservation issues. We didn’t anticipate the traffic caused by the announced reservation date.  Thank you for your patience and understanding.  This kind of positive energy is perfect for future marathoners!

 [ GOOD NEWS: TBR DREAM MARATHON 2013 slots to increase from 600 to 750 ]

Due to the high demand for slots to TBR Dream Marathon 2013, we decided last night to increase our slots from 600 to 750 runners!

We won’t be reopening reservation.  We accepted more than enough sign ups yesterday for all 750 runners plus wait listed runners.

We will be releasing the List of 750 Reserved Runners by tonight or tomorrow so please stay tuned!