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I don’t know about you, but I can hardly wait for RUNNR, a new cutting edge running specialty store, to open at Bonifacio High Street.  The store will carry big name brands such as Adidas, Asics, Mizuno, New Balance, Nike, Hammer, Nathan and Polar. Plus, it’s going to be filled with some of the running items we could only drool over online: CW-X and Fuelbelt.  It will also be the first to launch the revolutionary line of Newton Running Shoes in the country. 

RUNNR will also feature an exclusive Footworx Fitting process that leads customers thru a comprehensive series of tests such as their Footprint Scan and High-Speed Video Gait Analysis.  And, even better news for flat-footed people like me, they will be the first to offer Custom Insole Moulding in the store, while-you-wait. Woohoo!  

RUNNR is set to open by the 2nd week of June.

Presently, Runnr is looking for people to join their sales, operations, and marketing/events team.  The number one criteria: You have to be a passionate runner.  So far, they only have 4 out of the 7 people they need for the store as they’ve been very picky.  If you are interested, you can email hrd@runnr.com.ph.  By the way, running and trying out the gear is definitely part of the job!

This cycling event, the Tour of Hope, has found its way to this running blog because 1) I support the fight against cervical cancer, 2) some of these cyclists are runners, and lastly, 3) my big sister requested me to promote it; she is the event organizer.

I initially wanted to join this until I realized that it coincided with TNF at Clark and…uhm…I haven’t biked that far in my entire life.  Maybe next year.  At least I can help by making a pledge.  You can too!

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Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, with 500,000 new cases and 250,000 deaths reported each year. Over 80% of cases occur in developing countries including the Philippines, where it is ranked as the second most common cancer afflicting Filipino women.

The Tour of Hope is a cycling event that is held all over the world and is now on its second year in the Philippines. This year’s tour will cover approximately 500 kilometers spreading the cervical cancer advocacy through out Southern Luzon, kicking off at Muntinlupa on May 24, 2009 and ends in Camarines Sur on May 28, 2009.    

The event is a joint project of Bravehearts, CECAP, CIF (Cancer Inst. Foundation Inc) supported by GlaxoSmithKline Philippines, Campaigns PR Inc., Team David’s Salon, Gold’s Gym, Crocs, Maldita,, Gatorade, Wings Photography Inc., Personifi, Philam Life Insurance, Destiny Cable, Metro Magazine, Action and Fitness Magazine, Health Today, Manila Bulletin, Business World, Mabolo Flowers, Nikon, and Creative Juice.

We invite you to support Cervical Cancer awareness and screenings across the Philippines by donating any amount to the cause or by pledging an amount for every kilometer completed by any Tour of Hope biker (Click here to visit the website.)

For more information and for details about  how to pledge or how to join the bike tour, call 7138144.

A letter of apology from Botak management…

BOTAK would like to give its apologies for our last racing event, the Paa-tibayan 42K Marathon. We admit our short-comings to the participants and as way to get back to the support you have given to us we will be coming out with a much better race this coming June 28, 2009. It will be held at the Parking lot of the UP Swimming Pool in the UP Diliman Campus. 

BOTAK Paa-Tibayan 100K will be handled by a different race organizer with which there will be three race directors to manage the races. The event shall highlight the Ultra-distances; 50K Solo, 100K Relay and 100K Team Relay, a 10 Miler, and 5 Miler Race and the first Street Mile Competition.

We hope that you will support us again in this next endeavor.

Sincerely yours,

BOTAK

It was an impromptu decision via text.  Saturday night, Photographer Ben and I agreed that we would meet up at the Market! Market! Power Mile Run the following day.  “Game!,”  “Tara!,”  “See you there!”  With so many exclamation marks, it was evident we were excited about the next day’s race.  

Turns out, it was all talk from my end.  I woke up at 5:15 am and nonchalantly texted Ben “Sorry, woke up late.  Missed the race.”  He must’ve been at the starting line already, I thought.

Hubby and I decided to proceed with our run.  We arrived at Bonifacio High Street at 7 a.m. and started at 7:20.  It took me quite a while to get all geared up for my road test:  Polar on the left wrist, Garmin on the right, Polar S3 footpod on the right foot, and heart monitor on the chest.  

– How to get a good tricep workout during a run –

We first ran one small loop around BHS, 1.14km according to my 305 and the hubby’s 405, so I calibrated my Polar accordingly.  I used to dread calibrating, but it was fairly easy with just a few buttons to push.  The Polar’s screen, compared with the Garmin 305’s, was more difficult to read at a glance but it wasn’t a big issue for me.  The main problem was my inability to shut down the beeping sound that came every second!  Was it a pacer or my heart rate?  I had no idea, but I knew I couldn’t bare to run with the annoying sound!  My solution: the ipod to shield my ears.

We ran outside of Bonifacio High Street towards the course of the Market! Market! race.  It was a surprise to see small groups of Market! Market! runners (or more like walkers, at that time) who were still on their way to the finish.  We took the same route behind S&R passing by the Lexus showroom and climbing up through British School.   When we hit 5k, we turned around and followed the same way back in hopes of completing a full 10k.

The pace of both the Garmin and Polar were significantly different throughout the run. One reason is that my Garmin reads the average lap pace, not current pace, which was highly recommended in the Garmin forum I browsed through before. (Next run I’ll have it on current pace to compare with Polar.)  The Polar gave me what I believed to be accurate pace readings based on my effort.  Unfortunately, I failed to put the kilometer readings in the Polar’s screen (again, I couldn’t figure  it out!) so I couldn’t compare distances throughout the run.

As for my run, wow, I was feeling awesome.  I hadn’t had a run that good in…I don’t even remember anymore.  No niggling aches nor pains anywhere in my body.  I felt so good I considered doing a 12k instead of the planned 10k.

Shortly after the hubby and I passed our 6km mark, however, the heat got to us; it was excruciatingly hot.  I couldn’t imagine how Botak Marathoners survived that kind of heat.  By the time we hit Market! Market!, hubby took a detour and ran under the shade of Serendra towards the car.  I went ahead, stubbornly resisting the idea of stopping as a strong and pain-free run was such a rare occurrence for me.  My goal was to finish just 5 miles, the distance I should’ve run at the Mkt! Mkt! race. 

I ended at exactly 7.98k according to Polar, 8.01k according to Garmin.  Due to the heat, my face was sunburnt and, despite my shrimp-like appearance, I exclaimed to hubby “This was one of the best runs I’ve had in months!”

We had breakfast at Pancakes where I couldn’t stop raving about my perfect run in between bites of my mushroom omelette. In the middle of the meal, I got a text from Ben.  Turns out he had just woken up and overslept as well!  So much for the Market! Market! Race.

Congrats to Francis Macatulad for finishing 5th overall and 1st in his age group for the 5 mile race at Market! Market! Power Mile! 

For the next seven days, I will play courteous and hospitable host to a special guest in my home, the Polar RS800CX, the top of the line training watch of Polar for elite runners.  I will take him around the city, touring my favorite routes on foot, on a bike or in the water, and perhaps he may even join me on a short excursion to Clark for the TNF 100.  He’ll only be staying for a week as he is a demo unit lent to me by Polar.

Yesterday, I met Hitler Dulay of Sports Resources Inc., the local distributor of Polar Watches.  Our meeting lasted for over three hours as he introduced to me the various models of Polar watches (with more emphasis on the running watches, of course.)  He presented the Polar simulator on his laptop, which was a cool program that allowed one to click on the watch onscreen and view its features and performance during a pretend workout.

Polar has various running watches: RS100, RS300X, RS400, and RS800.  But, it was the Polar RS800CX that got my attention; the features on this watch are simply astounding.  

I jotted down all the key points that Hitler mentioned which made it seem like a better buy than the Garmin 310 XT, to be released in June, which targets multisport athletes as well.  (Good thing I told hubby to hold off on buying my birthday gift until I can decide on the Garmin 310XT!)  Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of the Polar RS800CX’s features—you may click here for that—but these are the points that make the Polar better than the Garmin in this bull’s eyes:

1. May be used as a watch.  One can wear the Polar all throughout the day as a watch.  The Garmin Forerunner 305 may only be used during the activity as battery life is short and, being GPS-based, it does not work indoors.  The 405 may be used as a watch but you have to charge it often.
2. Longer lifetime.  The Polar has a replaceable battery in it, like regular watches.  The Garmin will eventually die in around 2 years; it’s as disposable as a cellphone unit.
3. No charging.  Since the Polar is powered by a battery, one doesn’t need to charge it like a Garmin.
4. Cadence and stride.  Both Garmin and Polar will provide info on time, distance, pace, speed, calories, and heart rate.  But, the Polar can give info on cadence (no more counting my steps!) and stride.
5. Running Index.  This is a feature that will allow you to track your progress from previously recorded runs.  
6. Fitness Test.  Once a month, with the click of the Fitness Test button on the Polar, your watch can test your fitness, compare it with previous records, and provide info on your current fitness level. 
7. Shoe recording.  One can store three different shoe info on the watch.  As long as you note which shoe you used for the run, the Polar will record what shoe you used for the activity.  (No more writing this down on my journal!)
8. 2 year warranty and local service center.  Majority of local Garmin users purchased their units in the U.S. as I did mine.  I worried over repair should the Garmin conk out.  WIth the Polar, there’s a 2-year warranty (approximately the lifetime of the Garmin) and a service center in Pasig.
9. Heart rate zone training.  Both the Garmin and Polar allow for use of heart rate monitors.  But, the Polar’s strength is in heart rate monitors while the Garmin in their GPS systems.  For those who want to train efficiently using their heart rate, the Polar is a much better choice.
10. GPS.  I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Polar has a GPS option. GPS was the only reason why I bought the Garmin 2 years ago!  
11. Lighter.  The Polar RS800CX is sleeker, lighter, and less bulky than the Garmin Forerunner 305.  I enjoyed the snug fit around my wrist.
12. Water resistant.  For runners who swim, like me, water resistancy is important.  The Garmin Forerunner 305 and 405 cannot be used in the pool.  I read that the Garmin 310XT, although water resistant, will only work like a timer during a swim.  The Polar can swim.  I guess that’s why in the local triathlon scene, more triathletes choose Polar over Garmin.

Right now, I see only two downsides to the Polar RS800CX:

1. GPS as a separate unit.  To use the GPS, one has to purchase the GPS3 separately, which costs around P10,000.  To make it worse, it is quite bulky and it has to be strapped to the arm.
2. Expensive.  The Polar RS800CX costs P27,000, which excludes the GPS unit.  

I have yet to play around with my new toy this week.  Tomorrow, I’ll run with both the Garmin Forerunner 305 and the Polar RS800CX to check on the Polar’s accuracy.  I’ll let you know how it fares.  Maybe then I’ll decide if I should invite him to stay in our house permanently!