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I would like to introduce you to my best buddy. The first one I run to, well, after a run. The one who freshens me up no matter how difficult the run was. The only one who can truly make me smile again when I feel like the road has beaten me up.

Introducing: My beloved cooler…

What does he have in store for me after each run?

1. 1 to 3 bottles of Gatorade depending on the length of the run – I drink this during the run. Most of the Gatorade goes into my Nathan hydration belt or handheld bottle for refueling during breaks in the run.
2. 1 bottle of water – I drink this to down my gel or, on hot days, for pouring on head and nape.  I avoid downing my gel using a sports drink. Creates a lot of gas and we don’t want that!
3. 1 bottle of Enervon HP – My recovery drink. I drink Enervon HP within the first 15 minutes after a workout just before we have breakfast. I need this to allow me to workout well the next day. If I skip this, I’m usually in trouble; I’ll wake up with sore or tight muscles.  Bonus is that it’s really yummy, especially when chilled.
4. Ice cold towel – Sometimes I’ll throw in an ice cold towel in there for putting over my head and nape after a run. Who cares how stupid I look?
5. Loads and loads of ice – This is of course to ensure that all the other fluids stay cold. But, you can use chunks of ice  to cool your body down during breaks in the run.

SURPRISE CONTEST!

Get a chance to win Enervon HP products! One winner will win: 1 Enervon HP 700g, 1 Enervon HP sports bottle, 1 Enervon HP running bandana, and 2 Enervon HP shoe reflector tags

HOW TO JOIN:

1) Like Unilab Active Health on FB
2) Like The Bull Runner on FB
3) Post a comment below with this: (1 to 2 sentences only)

What’s the first thing you drink after a run? (I’m really just curious to know!)

Include the following info:
– Your complete name
– Your username on FB

CONTEST RULES:

1) The 10th commenter who complies with all the rules will be named the winner.
2) Only one entry per runner. Submission of more than one entry leads to disqualification.
3) Submission of entries above 2 sentences will be disqualified.
4) All entries will be moderated and will be approved upon closing of the contest.
5) Winner will be notified via email on how to claim the prize.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Paolo Mercado for winning! Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest.

Woohoo! A race in McKinley Hill. I can’t remember the last time I ran here. Who would’ve known I’d actually miss the hills here?!  Hope to see you here!  (Great hill training run before Ironman 70.3)

Event: Run for Healthy Filipina
Date: July 22, 2012
Venue: McKinley Hill
Assembly Time: 430am
Distance | Gun Start | Registration Fee:
3k – 5:55AM | P400
5k – 5:45AM | P400
10k – 5:30AM | P500
16k – 5:00AM | P650

HOW TO REGISTER:

1) Drop by registration centers:

• Toby’s Shangri La
• Toby’s Glorieta 4
• Tobys’ SM Mall of Asia
• RUNNR Trinoma
• RUNNR BHS

2) Online registration: http://race.proactive.ph/register/kellogs-run-for-a-healthy-filipina

NOTE:

• First 500 registrants will receive One (1) 205 grams pack of Kellogg’s Special K Cereal and One (1) Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Cereal Bowl (June 25 – July 1 or Until First batch supplies last)
• Second 500 registrants will receive One (1) 45 grams pack of Kellogg’s Special K Cereal and One (1) Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Cereal Bowl (follows after first batch supplies last)
• Succeeding registrants will receive One (1) 45 grams pack of Kellogg’s Special K Cereal (follows after second batch supplies last)

SINGLET

COURSE MAPS

Where did the past couple of weeks go?! After Laguna Phuket Marathon, a long bout with intestinal flu (yes, when you’re training for a tri 1-week downtime feels like forever), and a couple of milestones in biking and swimming, I’ve realized that I barely had enough time to stop and write this. So, here’s how training went the past couple of weeks:

SWIM

Swam my longest ever distance, 2.9k. Wow. Never did I imagine myself swimming this far. Imagine, when I did my first mini sprint in 2008, I wanted to die when I had to swim 750m.

BIKE

Finally, I ticked my first century ride off my to do list! I wrote about it HERE. Just like the swim, I never thought I could ever bike this far. Nope, not after a handful of stupid bike crashes and having difficulty riding in aero position or dismounting.

How did it feel to bike 100 kilometers?  It felt like crossing the finish line of my first marathon!  It was about achieving what I once thought was impossible.  It was about hard work, not just in those past few hours of that ride, but during all those past months combined since I got my Shiv.  It was about having this fantastic thought cross my mind once again:  If I can do this, then what can’t I NOT do?!

– Jun and I after our 100k ride at NUVALI –

I still have a long way to go with biking, but it’s been a great ride so far.  (No pun intended.)

On another note, Coach Andy conducted another power meter test on me last Friday. And it wasn’t fun at all. It was quite the opposite. It was 1 full hour of Suffering.  Yes, Suffering with a capital S.

The Power Profile Test was conducted using a Computrainer Lab unit, one of the most accurate commercially available ergometers in the market, with CS 1.6 load measurement software and Training Peaks WKO+ analytic software.  The test took roughly an hour including warmup and recovery per test of 3 x 5seconds Neuromuscular, 1 x 1″ Anaerobic, 1 x 5″ VO2 Max, and 20″ Functional Threshold Power.  (But honestly it felt like 4 hours especially since I came from swim training and we did this during lunch.)

– The start: when I could still smile –

– with Coach Andy Leuterio: the King of Suffering (kidding!) and my bf, Specialized Shiv –

– See the laptop? It showed my watts, calories, speed, distance, etc. All photos courtesy of Andy Leuterio-

The results? Coach Andy sent me a Power Profile showing my Power-to-Weight Ratio per specific test: 5 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 20 minutes and Power Based Training Zones based on Hunter Allen and Dr. Andrew Coggan’s book “Training and Racing with a Power Meter”, which compares power-to-weight ratios for a vast range of cyclists ranging from untrained individuals to world-class riders.

For now, my rating is: “Fair/Moderate” for 20 minutes max, “Moderate” for 5 minutes max, and “Untrained” for anaerobic and 5sec sprint (hey, that’s pretty accurate! haha) My heart rate of 170bpm is pretty high for my Functional Threshold Heart Rate.  Coach Andy told me to watch my heart rate during the bike portion of Tri United 2 to avoid bonking and to just catch up on the run.  Hey, hey, I like that plan!

RUN

Highlight for the past couple of weeks was my Run United 2 half marathon. I didn’t realize how much I missed running. It was just wonderful to go out there and do the one thing that I love and feel completely comfortable doing. At the back of my mind though, I was thinking: How the hell do I run 21k after swimming 1.9k and biking 90k?!

Wish me luck at Tri United 2 on Sunday, July 1.  It’s going to be one long race: 2k swim-60k bike-15k run! Let’s go!

Few weeks ago, I threw a contest for Epic Relay 250k and the prize, a free slot for a group of 10, was snagged by Snail Runners Alabang.

It was nice to hear from them about their Epic Relay 250k adventure held last June 9 to 10, 2012. Hannah Pua, one of the members, recounts their experience…

It was the last week of April when the registration for Epic Relay 250K popped out. We were all thrilled and started to make our team line up. Weeks passed by and noticed that it wasn’t pushing through. As the date come closer, we decided to let go seeing that there were other priorities in line. But then, June 2 came and we saw a contest on thebullrunner.com and it says “EPIC RELAY 250: WIN A SLOT FOR YOUR TEAM NOW!” without hesitation I joined and tested my luck while following the 4-steps of the mechanics. I sent my entry, without even thinking of who will be joining me along and how we will get to prepare for a span of a week. After attending a running clinic, I opened my Facebook account and email account, hoping to see that we won the slot. I slowly scrolled down and started to shout out of joy seeing that Ms.Jaymie Pizarro emailed me on how to claim our prize. We got Ms.Arleen Lindo of Chris Sports on contact and she was very accommodating. As instructed, our captain attended the meeting and echoed to us the meat of the briefing the day after. We formed and passed the line up 6 days prior to race day. Run over meetings and carbo-loading with the team.

Then BOOM..! June 8 came. At around 8:00pm we had our meet-up, ate dinner and our very supportive team, Snail Runners Alabang gave us a simple “Send off” as they won’t be able to go with us, having another annual team run set for that weekend. We left by 10:00pm and arrived 3:00am in the race venue. Checked in our crew and the rest became HISTORY!

I was the first runner on deck and was very excited yet nervous on what that 11.4K route will feed me. Guided by two, helpful bike marshals, I sped off at 4:50am. With a little pressure, we all tried our very best to run, and outpace the unusual levels of difficulty that the route has to offer. With the cut-off in mind, giving us 40-hours to finish the race with no proper sleep, and bathing. How fortunate we are that there are hospitable neighborhood and gasoline stations along the way for us to freshen up. Nighttime get ahead of, we made sure that we were all wearing reflector vests, headlamps and blinkers for us to be safe on the road and good thing our bike marshals did not leave us alone. The experience itself was superb; running on sizzling, angry sun beaming through our skin and on dark roads with barking dogs, leaping frogs, open drainage, and singing drunk by-standers. How insane could it be for others, but we were able to outstand it! We finished the race in 27:37:00, the 14th team to cross the finish line, placing 4th in the mixed category and even awarded with the “Hassle-Free Team” It was an amazing expedition, running while viewing the scenic routes of Subic, Zambales and Bataan. Passing mountains to mountains of uphills and downhill roads, each runner made their way, outrun, outpace, outlast on this Epic adventure of 250 kilometers of fun. This exploration will always remain with us. Thank you TBR for giving us the opportunity to experience this EPIC journey!

Loved that video! If you want to join the race, please see the Press Release below…

Reverse the Bad: Join WWF’s Reverse Run!
WWF-Philippines enjoins the youth to make a difference through WWF Reverse the Bad Student Program

Step back then move forward.

This statement represents the World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines’ (WWF-Philippines) vision to confront the present state of the environment by studying the mistakes of the past then focusing on building a greener future and keeping the Earth a living planet.

Humanity is currently using 50% more resources than the Earth can provide. We are living as if we have two planets at our disposal. What better way to secure a more sustainable future than to invite tomorrow’s stewards – the youth – to join WWF-Philippines’ conservation efforts?

On July 22, WWF-Philippines will hold the Reverse Run at the SM Mall of Asia to launch the Reverse the Bad Student Program, a year-long membership program developed for high school and college students who want to amplify their commitment to protect the environment.

As suggested by its name, WWF’s Reverse Run will entail race participants to run in reverse as a symbolic way of joining the organization’s mission to stop and eventually reverse the degradation of nature. Participants will backpedal through the course for 200 meters and will then run forward.

Everyone is invited to join in the Reverse Run. As an added treat, students who register for the run are automatically enlisted as members of the WWF Reverse the Bad Student Program.

There will be registration fee of PHP 500 for those running the 3-kilometer and 6-kilometer course, and PHP 600 will be asked for those taking the 12-kilometer route.

Interested participants can sign up at Chris Sports (SM Mall of Asia, SM Manila, Glorietta 3 branches) and Skechers (Trinoma, Market-Market, Festival Mall Alabang branches).

For more information, participants can email wwfreverserun@gmail.com, visit wwf.org.ph/reversethebad, or view the WWF Reverse the Bad video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AntkXxruxE0.

Reverse the Bad Student Program

Proceeds of the Reverse Run will go to the Reverse the Bad Student Program and WWF’s other programs on environmental sustainability, biodiversity conservation, and climate change adaptation.