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Two more days until the big day!

I actually have an hour to go before I leave for the airport and fly off to Cebu. This may be the last time I’ll post before I race on Sunday as I expect to be caught in the whirl of activities that surrounds Ironman 70.3 Cebu.

I’m all set. I’ve packed my bags.

– Can you find my peanut butter and jelly, bagels, and gummy worms in there? –

– Awesome bike bag lent by Joey of Dan’s Bike Shop to keep the boyfriend Shiv safe and comfy –

Along with the luggage, I’ll be bringing along a whole lot of mental toughness, focus, and some sense of humor for the race. (Hey, I can’t start crying now about jellyfish, waves, and crosswind right? So, um, I figured I might as well just laugh about it! Hah!)

It’s a little over an hour’s trip to Cebu.  But, the journey to get to Ironman 70.3 has taken months of sweat, sacrifices, crashes, and tears.  It’s also been the most fulfilling months for me when I learned about my own mental and physical strength and where I truly pushed myself to the limits despite my fears.  I’ve been fortunate enough to receive  guidance from the best coaches around (who I’ll thank in a post next week) and from family, teammates, friends, and even you readers who’ve always been supportive of me.  I couldn’t have done this alone!  But, at the end of the day, the Ironman 70.3 is a solo journey.  As with everything in life, you are truly on your own out there facing your own demons and winning your own battles.

It’s been a long, challenging road just to get here, and, I’ll see how it all ends—or shall I say how a whole chapter of my life begins—after Ironman 70.3 Cebu on Sunday. Until then!

A good ol’ friend from the running community is back. And, boy, did I miss them!

Back in 2008, Photovendo of good friend, TBR Magazine photographer, and fellow runner, Ben Chan, was the first online service for runners’ photo needs. They took a break for a while, but now they’re back to snap our pics during races.

Click HERE to visit Photovendo’s website.

Aside from checking out the latest products from Nike, we also witnessed representatives from various countries take part in “Game On, World.”  (#gameonworld)

“Game On, World” is Nike’s global activation where visitors can run to log the most miles for one’s city by running at the innovation space. Involving Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia, the challenge pit country against country in the total miles clocked via Nike+ Running apps (available on iPhone and Android).

– On the NikePlus rankings, Philippines is SECOND to Singapore!  This can’t be!  We have to win this guys! –

For the Philippines, our athletes were Coach Rio de la Cruz, Drew Arellano, and L.A. Tenorio who teamed up with Ms. Indonesia. They were to run on a treadmill for 5 minutes against representatives from Thailand and Singapore. Highest total kilometers would be the winner.

– Drew, L.A., and Coach Rio –

– Our Pinoy athletes with actress/beauty queen/runner, Agni Pratistha –

– Day of popular band Thaithanium, Freddy of South Side, competitive racing cyclist Loh Sea Keong, and competitive marathoner Vivian Tang –

Drew and I had run around the roads of Singapore earlier that morning. In fact, we ran loops around the start/finish area of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. So, um, I did my part to contribute to the kilometers on Nike Plus and I was glad to just be a witness to this treader event. See ’em sweat below…hah!

The winning team was Thailand/Singapore, but we all still have a chance of winning. Like I said, right now, the Philippines is second to Singapore online. Seriously now, how many are we Pinoys compared to Singaporeans? By our sheer number we can win this by a landslide.  All you have to do is log in your kilometers after each run on nikeplus.com! C’mon, let’s do this!

[CORTEZ 40/40]

In celebration of Nike Cortez 40th anniversary, 40 interpretations of the iconic Nike Cortez from 40 artists, designers and personalities from Southeast Asia are on display. The Cortez 40/40 is a showcase unique to the region.

It was so cool to see designs from our very own Pinoy personalities!

– Lovin’ the purple shoes by Laureen Uy of Break My Style –

– Work of art by AJ Dimacurot. Big fan of his googoogaga line for babies/kids –

Other Pinoy designs featured were shoes by Eunice Alera, JP Cuison, Miggy Chavez, and Anton Lopez.

The Nike+ innovation space ends on 12 August 2012, and is located at 180 Orchard Road, Peranakan Place Level 2. It is open daily from 11am – 10pm. Admission is free.

Previous Post: Part 1: Nike+ Innovation Space – Nike’s New Products

* Full Disclosure: TBR was sent to Singapore by Nike to cover the Nike+ Innovation space event. TBR did not receive cash compensation for this post.

In celebration of sport, youth and human potential, Nike showcased the best in product innovations and digital sport at the Nike+ innovation space in Orchard Road, Singapore. I was fortunate enough to be invited along with other Filipino athletes and media to check out Nike’s newest and most revolutionary performance innovations.

– At the entrance of Nike+ Innovation space on Orchard Road, Singapore –

– with our Pinoy representative for the Game On, World challenge, Coach Rio de la Cruz and Drew Arellano. Naks! –


– Upper left: Reyna, Nike Communications Manager, welcomes us to the event. Middle right: Matt Nordstrom, Senior Designer/Apparel Innovation showcases the new products –

Matt Nordstrom, Nike’s Senior Designer for Apparel Innovation, flew into Singapore to present the new revolutionary products to us:

[NIKE LUNARLON]

The Nike Lunarlon foam technology, 30% lighter than standard phylon foam, was introduced four years ago. It spreads force out more evenly across the foot, providing ultra-­lightweight springy cushioning. It also protects the foot, while improving stability and comfort for an enhanced running and workout experience.

The Lunarlon technology can be found in this season’s Nike LunarGlide+ 4 (which I wrote about HERE). It is combined with firmer carrier foam, and helps move and support the runner from soft to stable as the heel lands and the foot flexes down.

– That Nike Lunar Glide 4 is so light it’s floating! –

– Even LA Tenorio is amazed! –

– with Pinoy Jerwin Ngo of Nike Singapore –

[NIKE ZOOM SPIKES]

Nike debuted the ultra-­‐light Nike Zoom Superfly R4 and Nike Zoom Victory Elite spikes. Uniting superior fit, protection and Nike’s dynamic Flywire technology that loosens or tightens with the natural motion of the foot to help provide support and stability, these cutting-­‐edge shoes help prepare athletes for their greatest performance ever with a focus on speed.

[NIKE FLYKNIT]

Matt said that the Nike FlyKnit is “the best marathon shoe ever made.”

Nike Flyknit revolutionizes running by rethinking shoe construction from the ground up informed by athlete insights and employing a new proprietary technology. Yarns and fabric variations are precisely engineered only where they are needed for a featherweight, formfitting and virtually seamless upper.

– with Andrea of Nike and the new Nike FlyKnit Racer. It looks like a knitted shoe that will fit like a sock! –

– Drew is mesmerized. I’m dumbfounded by the material for this new shoe! –

– See the thread the spools of thread on both sides behind Andrea as well as the words spelled out behind her?  That’s the same material they used to construct the Nike Flyknit –

With all the structure and support knitted in, the Nike Flyknit Racer’s upper and tongue weigh just 34 grams (1.2 ounces). The whole shoe weighs a mere 160g (5.6 ounces) for a size 9, 19% lighter than the Nike Zoom Streak 3, a shoe worn by first, second and third place athletes in the men’s marathon at the 2011 World Championships.

Nike Flyknit upper is also engineered for precision fit, creating a feeling of a second skin. NIKE has created an everyday running shoe, the Nike Flyknit Trainer+, which at 220 grams or 7.7 ounces, will bring the weight and fit benefits of Nike Flyknit to runners of all levels.

[NIKE PRO TURBOSPEED]

The Nike Pro TurboSpeed suit is the lightest, fastest track uniform Nike has ever built. Based on wind tunnel data, it is up to 0.023 seconds faster over 100m than our previous track uniform. For the past 12 years, incorporating more than 1,000 hours of wind tunnel testing, Nike’s Project Swift has evolved and refined superior Nike AeroSwift technology, working towards maximum velocity for elite athletes.

– Matt shows us the Nike Pro TurboSpeed. Its dotted texture was inspired by a golf ball –

– with Coach Rio, Drew, and Matt –

The technology will also be used by athletes from the USA, Russia, Germany, and China for international team competition. It’s nice to know that Nike Pro TurboSpeed collection use an average of 82% recycled polyester fabric and up to an average of 13 recycled plastic bottles.  Cool!

[NIKE ECOSYSTEM]

Nike+ has expanded into a multi-­sport ecosystem that includes Nike+ Basketball, Nike+ Training and Nike+ Kinect Training. Athletes of every level can find a variety of devices including a new range of colors in the Nike+ SportWatch GPS Powered by TomTom, and the Nike+ FuelBand, Nike+ Sportband, Nike+ Running Apps and iPod nano with NIKE+. Multi-­sport users can visit the single-­‐destination nikeplus.com to access all their data – including lifetime NikeFuel points accumulated from all Nike+ devices – creating a globally connected community of sport.

– You can use your iPhone or Android device to track your runs and upload to nikeplus.com –


– I don’t recall what I was eyeing here. Surely one of those Nike gadgets on the table haha! –

The Nike+ innovation space ends on 12 August 2012, and is located at 180 Orchard Road, Peranakan Place Level 2. It is open daily from 11am – 10pm. Admission is free.

Next: Part 2: Nike+ Innovation Space in Singapore – Game On, World!

* Full Disclosure: TBR was sent to Singapore by Nike to cover the Nike+ Innovation space event. TBR did not receive cash compensation for this post.

Woohoo! I arrived home from Singapore to find this box…

And I opened it to discover these cool glasses inside…

– Thanks McDonald’s for these glasses! Still looking for the Big and Tasty inside! –

WIN THESE COKE 2012 LONDON OLYMPIC GLASSES NOW!

Thanks to McDonald’s I’m giving away these 2012 London Olympics Coke Glasses to two (2) lucky winners.

Here’s how to join:
1) Follow McDonald’s on Twitter
2) Follow The Bull Runner on Twitter
3) In 1 to 2 sentences, submit a comment below answering this question:

In running, when do you feel most like an Olympic champion?

4) In the same post, include the following info:
– Your complete name
– Your username on Twitter

CONTEST RULES:

1) Deadline for submission of entries: MONDAY, JULY 30, 2012 at 11:59 p.m.
2) TBR will choose top 5 answers.
3) Top 5 answers will be eligible to join the raffle conducted by TBR via random.org. Two runners will each win: 1 set of Coca Cola 2012 London Olympic Glasses.
4) Only one entry per runner. Submission of more than one entry leads to disqualification.
5) Submission of incomplete info or more than 2 sentences leads to disqualification.
6) Winner will be announced on this page and will be advised via Twitter on how to claim the prize.

GET YOUR 2012 COCA-COLA LONDON OLYMPIC GAME GLASSES AT MCDO

If you don’t win this contest, then you can still get your own glasses. Just by adding P25 to any Medium Extra Value Meal, you get to bring home of 1 of the 6 different colored glasses, embossed with official London 2012 Olympic Games sport pictograms including Gymnastics (Pink), Athletics (Green), Swimming (Blue), Basketball (Aqua), Football (Charcoal) and Cycling (Purple).

Collect all 6 glasses now. Visit any McDonald’s store nationwide or order via McDelivery (8-6236 or www.mcdelivery.com.ph) for your 2012 Coca-Cola London Olympic Games Glasses

For more information, like McDonald’s on Facebook and follow on Twitter (@mcdo_ph).

[Full disclosure: TBR received a set of Coca Cola 2012 London Olympic Glasses and no other compensation for this post.]

UPDATE: Congratulations to the following for winning 1 set of Coca Cola 2012 London Olympic Glasses each. Please expect a tweet on how to claim your prize:

1. Terrence Joseph G. Dizon 
(teejchubbs)
2. Paul T. Ablaza
 (tweetnicm_pol)