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A couple of weeks back, I wrote about my introduction to Klink, a new and free cloud storing service where you can store, share and access photos, videos and files across different devices so you can view and organize them and keep files safe.

I’ve enjoyed using it the past few weeks for work (and play!) I uploaded tons of images and files onto Klink, which freed up a lot of space on my Mac. Even better, all those files were available to me at anytime and on my devices where I downloaded Klink. I even got to access some files when I was offline.

These are just a few examples of how I used Klink the past weeks:

+ From my laptop, I uploaded the JPEG file of the Bull Session poster I had designed onto Klink. The following day, I accessed the image from Klink using my iphone and posted it on Instagram while I was in a coffee shop!

+ From my laptop, I uploaded the PDF file of the Calendar of Activities of TBR Dream Marathon onto Klink. I clicked on the star icon, which made the file available offline. A few days after, I was in a meeting with the GM of Nuvali who asked about the upcoming events of the marathon. I accessed the file on Klink from my iphone even without wifi and provided details of the event.

+ From my laptop, I uploaded the PDF file of the next issue of TBR Magazine. My staff needed access to the file while I was out. I shared the link to the file using the Private Sharing feature on Klink via my iphone.

+ I uploaded all the images of past Bull Sessions and Bull Circles on Klink. That way, I can easily share photos with other runners, potential advertisers, and friends and family from my iphone.

A couple of weeks back, I also got to meet Michele from the Klink Headquarters in Australia who showed me even more ways to use Klink particularly for TBR Dream Marathon.

So, here are even more ways I can use Klink:

+ For Bull Circles, Bull Sessions and even finish line photos of TBR-ULAH Dream Marathoners in February, I can upload them all onto Klink. I can share all images by clicking Public Sharing and allowing everyone, especially participants of the event, easy access to photos.

+ Now, for all participants of TBR ULAH Dream Marathon, you can actually download Klink and share your finish line photo to your friends and family with a click of a button too.

There are just so many uses to Klink. I do hope you get to try it too.

Click HERE to visit the Klink Website and sign up for your free account.

Check out how Tom uses Klink to keep his files organized just like me in this Youtube video.

My first thought when I heard about adiZero Primeknit: adidas has Primeknit?! They’re already releasing more colorways when I hadn’t even seen the shoe?!

My second thought: Are knitted uppers the new fad in running shoes now?

Give me a month or two and I could probably knit myself a shoe too!  I kid.  Anyway, if other running shoes come out with knitted uppers in the coming months, we’re pretty much sure my guess was right, right?!

More about the adiZero Primeknit 2.0, the first one-piece upper Performance running shoe, which is being rolled out in new exciting colours this Fall/Winter season for both men and women…

Using the latest design tools with a new seamless engineering technology, adidas has created a first-of-its-kind running shoe. While traditional sports shoes are constructed from several different pieces, this breakthrough method digitally knits the entire upper in just one piece. Knitting fused yarn fine-tunes the exact amount of flexibility and support needed in every part of the shoe. There is no lining or reinforcements – the strength comes from the fused yarn, digitally-knitted in distinct grid patterns to provide ventilation. This all means lightweight comfort that wraps seamlessly around your foot, whilst fewer materials produce less waste.

James Carnes, Head of Design for Sport Performance at adidas, said, “We are constantly innovating to bring superior performance products to the greatest athletes in the world. In designing the adizero Primeknit, our goal was to completely rethink how footwear is engineered, with a keen eye on sustainable construction. This revolutionary design will forever change the way we engineer shoes, combining both premium innovation and maximum performance benefits.”

The adiZero Primeknit collection is now available at adidas Bonifacio Global City starting October 18, 2013 at PHP8295. A total of six colorways will launch in the Philippines, starting with the White and Pink models, followed by four more in November to January 2014.  Woot!

Follow www.facebook.com/adidasPH for more information.

This is part of a series of posts under the Quaker Challenge. It’s about the quest that my kids and I have to achieve our Quaker Goal to swim, bike, and run more. Read about it HERE.

The entire family–the hubby, both kids, and I–woke up early Sunday morning of October 20, 2013 to get ready for Anton’s first triathlon, Ironkids Philippines.  The future triathlete woke up as if it was a regular day, while his Mother (er that’s me) was a bundle of nerves.  Truth is, it was almost, if not more, nerve wracking than my first triathlon!  I taught our future triathlete how to pack his gear for transition, made sure he had a good breakfast of oats to fuel him for the morning’s race, and we were off.

RACE KIT CLAIM, CHECK IN, AND BODY MARKING

We arrived at the event area at Palm Country Club to find a lively and exciting atmosphere.  Since there were various wave starts, younger kids had already finished the race, others were about to start, and other older kids like Anton had just arrived like us to check in.  It was like any other triathlon for us adults except for them, to ensure the safety of the kids, they have assistants to check in the bike and their equipment at transition.  How cool is that?!

Start and Finish Area

My future triathlete

Body marking…check!

Kids’ bikes lined up at transition area

Kuya who assisted us at bike check in

The not so little boy with his super nervous Mama (who is incidentally shorter than him now)

RACE START

We headed for the pool for the 7:15 AM race briefing led by Coach Ani de Leon.  Before the race started, I reminded Anton that his goal was simply to finish the race.  If he crossed the finish line, he was already a winner.  With that, he went on his own and I watched from the sidelines with my heart exploding out of my chest.  Man, who knew that Ironkids could be so stressful?!

We watched from afar as the kids listened intently to directions explained by Coach Ani.  I noticed that Anton was the tallest in the group.  I also knew that he was probably one of the least experienced.

Race briefing by Coach Ani de Leon for 11-12 year old boys

Kids get ready to start. Always the scariest part of the race.

And they’re off!

The race started at 7:30 AM.  The other kids swam with power and ease.  The leaders broke away by the first two laps.  My eyes were focused on Anton who was at the end of the pack.  He swam slowly and calmly, his stroke a reflection of his personality.  Earlier that morning, I told him to simply focus on his stroke and go at his own pace.  And, I was glad that he listened.

Struggling through the swim

Anton was the last out of the pool, but when he came out, I couldn’t have been prouder.  With the little training he had and his disdain for swim training, I was glad that he pushed himself to finish the swim!

Anton quickly went to transition and took off on his 3 loops around Filinvest City to cover 8km.  Each time he passed us on the loop, I was relieved to see him enjoying the race.  Other kids were entering T2 at this point and heading out to run. Anton came in from the bike and made up for some lost time from the swim.  Then, he was off to run 2k.

Anton loved the bike portion

Nervous dad and bored sis waiting for Kuya to pass on the bike

First placer. This kid can leave me in the dust!

As we saw Anton running towards the finish line, it was one of the happiest and proudest moments ever.  He looked exhausted but fulfilled!  He could barely talk.  Um, he could barely breathe as we took the photo of him below.  But, I knew he had a great time!

After packing up and heading for breakfast, I asked Anton if he would do this again.  He replied: “Yes.”  And with that one word, I smiled dreaming of the world of possibilities for this little Ironkid of mine.

Anton just a few minutes after he crossed the finish line of his first triathlon

With good friend, course director of Ironkids and TBR Dream Marathon, Neville Manaois

Couldn’t be any prouder of this Little Man

PREVIOUS: Part 1: Ironkids Philippines – Training for the Race

On The Heels of a Dream is a weekly column by guest writer Obbie Suguitan who is currently training for his first marathon, The Bull Runner Dream Marathon, on February 16, 2014.  

October 6, 2013 – The First Bull Session

It’s the day after the first Bull Session – the first of several long, increasing runs that I, along with the other participants of The Dream Marathon batch 2014, need to run as part of training. After a few weeks of training from scratch (I have never trained for any running activity in my life), yesterday was my first experience of running in an organized group. With my tireless running patron Joanne, I got to the site with almost no expectations other than to learn even more things about training. What greeted me was a sea of blue as most everyone there had the official training shirt on. My own training shirt, even as I already got the 2XL size, did not fit as I had hoped, so my purple shirt had me standing out like a sore thumb. I see this as a good thing as it gave me an additional goal – to fit into the training shirt between now and Christmas.

Everyone and his brother were busy in various stages of stretching, meeting and greeting each other, and general merry making. My brain was failing. I couldn’t recognize anyone I had met online because my mind was processing so much information. As if it hadn’t sunk in that I was doing this – not just this one training run but the entire Marathon. As daunted as I occasionally am, the great thing was that everyone was as friendly in person as they are online. Could it be true that running united these people? Apparently so. Strangers greeted me with words of encouragement.

The run itself was thankfully uneventful – by uneventful I mean nothing untoward happened to me by way of cramps, breathlessness, or such. My 2:1 pack had all but left me behind but, aside from my run-bud, there were two guys who stayed back with me egging me on: “Power walk ha!”. Thank you. I had pre-decided to just do 1:1 on account of my weight and hypertension so hanging back was fine save for a few bouts of guilt that I might hold some back. Having been training mostly in the evenings, running in the sun was also somewhat new to me. Still hard for me but I welcomed the experience. Saying my prayers, training as I’m told, and eating as I should, are the things that carry me forward.

I came in ‘alive last’ (the complete opposite of dead last!) I believe but it was very good for me to go through it. ‘Complete don’t compete’, ‘As long as you finish’, ‘Run at your comfortable pace’, and similar words of encouragement in various friendly voices kept echoing in my mind. Just the same, I look forward to run-walking more pounds off and logging on more mileage. This time, I really am thankful for all the Bull.

This is part of a series of posts under the Quaker Challenge. It’s about the quest that my kids and I have to achieve our Quaker Goal to swim, bike, and run more. Read about it HERE.

Ironkids Philippines was held last October 20, 2013 at Palms Country Club, Alabang.  Anton joined the 11 to 12 year old category with the distance of 300m swim-10k bike-2k run.  Before I tell you about how the race went, allow me to share with you how we prepared (read: crammed) for the swim, bike, and run.

SWIM: SWIMMING LESSONS ON FREEDOM FRIDAY

In preparation for Ironkids and also as Li’l Miss TBR’s main sport, we started swimming lessons with Coach Anthony Lozada several weeks ago.

I made the mistake of scheduling their swim lessons on Friday, which Nia has labeled “Free Day Friday.”  By “Free Day Friday,” she ruled that, as soon as she and Kuya are dismissed from school, there should be nothing planned for the rest of the day.  It’s essentially freedom from any schedule and they’re free to lounge around at home doing absolutely nothing.

You can imagine the look on their faces when I told them that swim sessions would be every Friday.  I heard all sorts of complaints from “Huwaaaat?!” to “But you’re breaking the Free Day Friday rule!”  But, I stood my ground and crossed my fingers that they would enjoy.

Off to swim classes we go

And, enjoy they did!  As beginners, Coach Anthony gave them a personal session.  He assessed their skill level, gave them a few drills, and fixed Anton’s form.  By the following week, he and Coach JS got Anton to swim laps in better form. Although he still had a lot of room for improvement, I knew that Anton would be able to finish 300m at the triathlon.

As for Li’l Miss TBR, she was floating, kicking, and swimming all over the place.  I couldn’t help but smile because I knew she was enjoying every minute.  For her, that’s what’s most important.

The kids ended the session laughing and giggling.  I asked them if they had enjoyed and both replied: “Um yeah.” half embarrassed to admit that breaking the Free Day Friday rule was a good idea after all.

BIKE: FIRST TIME ON A ROADIE

Anton’s first bike out with Coach Norman’s trikids at Camp Aguinaldo a few weeks ago freaked me out a bit.  Okay, correction, it freaked me out a lot.

Switching from a mountain bike to a road bike takes some getting used to for any athlete and Anton was no exception.  On his first ride, he was wobbly and I thought that he was going to crash or bump a car.  While the rest of the parents sat by the waiting area, I hopped into my car and followed him from behind like a stage mother.  I think I held my breath for 15 minutes straight.  After 3 loops around Camp Aguinaldo though, I felt like I could relax somewhat. He looked more comfortable after.  Don’t you just love how kids can learn something in half the speed that we do as adults?

with Coach Norman Pascual and the rest of the trikids

Since I felt that the once a week sessions with Coach Norman wasn’t enough, I told Anton that I’d take him biking with me more often.  Two weeks ago, after my run at Run United Philippine Marathon 21k, I fetched Anton and we hurried off to Filinvest City to bike around their carless loop.  This is, incidentally, the race course for Ironkids.

Biking with my boys! Boys meaning with my son and my Shiv!

We biked around the area, first in the flat portions and later on up the hill towards Palms Country Club.  My boy did so well!  We biked a total of 8k, the bike distance for the triathlon, before we called it a day.

RUN: RUN YOUR BEST

The run wasn’t a problem for TBR Jr. as he’s participated in 3k events in the past.  Just last week, he came home from school and proudly announced: “Mama, I ran the fastest and longest during P.E. today.”  Before I could congratulate him, he added “But, after the run, I felt like puking.”

For any runner, ending in “vomit-mode” essentially means that you pushed your body to the brink of exhaustion; you gave it your all.  And, with that, I replied to my boy: “Aaaw, congratulations! Well done!”

NEXT POST: Part 2: Ironkids Philippines – The Race