Some pretty exciting stuff has been happening over at Specialized. I told you about the brand new Specialized concept store over at Pasong Tamo.  Now, they’ve launched the Body Geometry FIT.  I was lucky enough to be one of the first people to try it.

[WHAT IS BODY GEOMETRY FIT OR BG FIT?]

BG FIT (Body Geometry Fit Integration Technology) is a comprehensive fit philosophy created to help cyclists ride faster, longer and in greater comfort, while reducing the chance for injury. Developed after years of working with Dr. Andy Pruitt Ed.D., Director of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, it is a comprehensive fit system that creates the perfect marriage between bike and body.

Locally, there are only three certified experts who can give a you a BG FIT: Andy Leuterio, Keshia Fule, and Jami Ramirez.

– BG Fit experts Andy and Keshia –

Check out this video about the Body Geometry FIT…

[MY BODY GEOMETRY FIT]

I arrived in full bike gear ready for my BG FIT with Andy Leuterio who happens to be my tri coach.  Allow me to walk you through the entire process:

1) OPENING INTERVIEW: Coach Andy asked me about my history as an athlete and as a cyclist, my profile as a cyclist, past injuries, and more.

2) 20-STEP FIT ASSESSMENT: I went through a series of very simple tests from measuring my butt using the ass-o-meter (I kid you not!) to measuring my leg length and more.

– Andy and the ass-o-meter. I like the sound of that! –

– My left leg is shorter than my right. Boo! –

Here are some embarrassing facts about my body flaws as gleaned by Coach Andy from my assessment.  Written in his own words:

• Mild to Moderate varus forefoot angulation, with moderate arch height: As the foot “collapses” under load (your “flat feet”) this causes a chain reaction leading to knee “wobble” and possibly the cause of your ITB pains.

• 3-4mm Leg Length Discrepancy: Your right femur is longer than your left. Pedalling biased towards your right leg can make your left reach further down to complete the stroke, and this can also affect your ITB. In some cases, this can also be a cause of unilateral saddle sores.

• Sit bone width of 130mm. Currently “all over” the saddle due to insufficient saddle width.

3) SIDE VIEW ANALYSIS AND FRONT VIEW ANALYSIS: Andy asked me to ride in aero position on the bike and assessed my position.

4) DETAILED EQUIPMENT ADJUSTMENTS:  Coach Andy then made the following adjustments to the bike.  Here he explains each one:

Remedy 1: Replacement of saddle with Oura Pro. Measurement of your ischial tuberosities (the “sit bones”) revealed a width of 130mm, which in turn necessitates a saddle width of 155. This ensures your sit bones are properly supported so you can sit “square” on the saddle. Riders new to such support often experience a “different” feeling as the bottom is now supported on the bone rather than on the fatty part of the buttocks. The benefit is they now won’t feel the need to constantly shift to support their weight.

– Thank you Specialized for this Oura Pro. I know exactly why they call it this.  When I sat on it for the first time, I said: Oooooh-Ra-Ra!  Ultimate comfort! –

– Coach Andy explains sit bones like a doctor! Methinks he needs a lab coat –

Remedy 2: Saddle height and fore/aft optimized for your “short leg”.

– Andy moves my saddle up and forward.  Bike adjustments took most of our time. It was trial and error as I had to ride on the bike to check if each adjustment in the saddle and aerobars were comfortable with me. Good thing Maiqui Dayrit of Fitness First Team and Yurbuds (who incidentally bullied me way back in college!) dropped by for some chit chat –

Remedy 3: Placement of your right cleat further back than the left to effectively “shorten” your right femur and make it approximately the same pedaling length as the left. (the femur moves more along the horizontal plane compared to the tibia)

– Andy adjusts the cleats –

Remedy 4: Blue” BG footbeds with additional varus support compared to the standard 1.5mm support of your current Trivent shoe footbeds. Plus additional 1.5mm varus wedge under your left footbed. Additional foot support places a firm platform to quell the foot collapse so there is no power loss. This helps cure the knee “wobble” (or more technically, your knee tracking in varus) and, thus, ensures no power loss as your leg drives downward. Imagine a piston cleanly tracking up-and-down versus shaking throughout the stroke.

– Andy gave me a new footbed and a wedge underneath the left footbed – 

Other Adjustments: Move your aerobars further back so your elbows form a 100–110 degree angle in aero. This ensures the cockpit provides ample skeletal support so you have no need to stretch out to place your forearms on the aerobar pads.

5) FOLLOW UPS.  I was told I would have to come back after a few weeks to make adjustments.  Coach Andy advised that there is an adjustment period as my body becomes acquainted with the new fit, especially with the saddle. He reminded me to be patient and ride the bike regularly for the next 3 weeks, and to inform him immediately if there is any pain or discomfort not associated with normal rider fatigue.

– After 3.5 hours, we got the BG FIT right! –

[THE VERDICT: ONE WEEK AFTER]

Two words:  Woaaaah baby!

The first few short rides out and on the trainer were adjustment periods.  I felt uncomfortable at times and slightly lowered my seat (with Andy’s approval.)  Today, I rode 75k in Nuvali.  I felt more powerful.  It was much easier for me to pedal faster and harder, I was more comfortable in aero position, and OMG my feet were in heaven because of those footbeds.

I had to temporarily replace the Oura Pro with my old saddle because we’re still waiting for the saddle adapters to come in so I’m looking forward to an even more comfy (and hopefully faster) ride when I use those.

Huge thank you to Joey and Jami Ramirez, Andy Leuterio, Keshia Fule, and Specialized mechanics for the help!

I wanna be like Emelia Fahlin when I grow up!

[DO YOU WANT TO GET A BG FIT DONE?]

Introductory rates for a BG FIT are at P4,000 for Road/MTB and P5,000 for Time Trial/Triathlon bike.  For inquiries and appointments, call Keshia Fule at 0919-860-3241.

[TIPS WHEN GOING FOR YOUR BG FIT]

1. Clear your sched for 4 hours to be safe.  It can vary from person to person depending on how simple or complicated your case may be.  Well, due to all my body flaws, my BG FIT took 3.5 hours.  (3.5 hours that were well worth it for me!)
2. Come in what you normally wear when you ride your bike. Bring your helmet and bike shoes too.  Unless you want wear those into the store too for a complete biker look.  Duh!
3. Bring a small towel. The aircon in that room is super strong, but you may still sweat during the adjustment process.
4. If your bike came with a set of shims and spacers for the cockpit, take those with you.
5. Bring snacks.  No one should go hungry during a BG FIT.

All registered participants of TBR Dream Marathon are cordially invited to our Send Off Party!  There’s food, games, raffle prizes, sponsor’s booths with discounts, lots of laughter PLUS your race kits will be waiting for you!  We’ll see you there!

EVENT: TBR Dream Marathon 2013 Send Off Party
DATE: 13 February 2013, Wednesday
PLACE: JY CAMPOS Halls A&B, Unilab Bayanihan Center, 8008 Pioneer St., Brgy. Capitolyo, Pasig City. For map to venue, click HERE.
HOSTS: Tessa Prieto-Valdes and Boy Ramos
TIME: 7:00 to 9:30 PM.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

• Final address and race briefing from TBR Dream Team and Presenter
• Race Kit Redemption. Runners may also claim their Pacer’s race kit. For more details, click HERE.
• Sign up for free transportation to and from Nuvali on race day. First come, first served. (No online reservation.)
• Raffle with prizes from our sponsors. Grand prize: two (2) Garmin Forerunner 10. Only participants who are present during the event are eligible to claim their prizes.
• Sponsors’ booths
• Fun, casual evening of cocktails with batch mates

WHAT TO BRING:

• Medical Certificate. No medical certificate, no race kit. For more info, click HERE.

WHO CAN COME:

• Strictly for registered participants of TBR Dream Marathon 2013 only

For inquiries, please contact TBR Dream Hotline at SUN 0942 477 6099 or tbrdream@gmail.com. Look for Macel.

Hunting for an international marathon abroad that isn’t too far from home? How about the Guam International Marathon?

I ran in Guam last October 2011 when I participated in the Guam Ko’Ko’ Road Race. Running in Guam was a  fantastic experience for me with their wide, open roads and a fantastic view of the sea and the sky; it was very reminiscent of our very own Subic.

If you’re interested, here’s more info on Guam International Marathon:

Join the Guam International Marathon (GIM) featuring marathon, half-marathon and 5K & 10K distance runs on April 7, 2013. Enjoy a scenic race course that follows Guam’s beautiful western ocean front. With a start and finish in the heart of Guam’s resort district, the Guam International Marathon is truly an ideal destination marathon for runners and athletes.

To register, log on to www.guaminternationalmarathon.com before April 3, 6:00PM. Registration fees start at US$40 and each successful registration includes a Dri-Fit T-shirt, finisher medal, complimentary water, Gatorade and refreshments at the finish line. Plus, you get a chance to win awesome prizes like cash and roundtrip tickets to Hong Kong, Palau, Cairns, or Honolulu. There will also be a post-race festival featuring dance performances, food and beverage concessions, interactive cultural booths, and free massage therapy for the runners!

For more information on GIM, shoot an email to info@guaminternationalmarathon.com or call (671) 1-671-646-9171 loc. 3003. If you have any travel-related questions on Guam, contact the Guam Visitors Bureau – Philippine Office at info@visitguam.com.ph or call (632) 519-6756.

Here’s something from my good friend Hector Yuzon who, with his teammate Raffy Zamora, aim to be the first Pinoy athletes to complete the Xterra Triple Crown. It’s their dream to finish this and, in doing so, they also hope to fulfill the sports dreams of underprivileged children. May you can help! Read on!

XTERRA TRIPLE CROWN 2013: First Philippine Crusade

Since the birth of Xterra in the Philippines back in 2011, Raffy (being a mountainbiker) was instantly hooked. I was introduced to the sport a year later after him. Personally, if Xterra was a person who walked into a bar, my instant thought bubble would be: i knew you were trouble when you walked in.

Both Raffy and I have a big passion for the outdoors and endurance sports. And Xterra providing both in one exhilarating event was just a dream come true. 1.5km open water swim in itself is difficult, 35km mountainbike is no joke. If at first you think this distance is too short – well, ride it before you say it. And you finish it all off with a heart pumping 10k trail run, this is just WOW.

Chasing the Dream

I have been imagining of participating and dreaming of being the first Filipino to complete the Xterra Triple Crown. Only to find out that my teammate Raffy was also dreaming of the same thing. Brothers from another mother, we are.

The Triple Crown is participating in all 3 Xterra events in 3 different countries (Philippines, Saipan and Guam), all roughly a week apart from each other. No Filipino has done it yet, so since Raffy and I will be the first, this may be setting a Philippine record! We are both scared, as we both know that recovering will play a huge factor for us to finish and complete the Triple Crown, within a respectable time. Good thing, Health Food and Shotz is there to make sure our nutrition plan is in check.

Confidence through Sports

Sports has given so much to me and Raffy. We made new friends along the way, and have opened doors for our careers and created great opportunities for the both us. Through sports, we both grew up as assertive and driven individuals, and having said that, we would like to create these same opportunities with less fortunate kids.

Donate your Sports Equipment for Underprivileged Kids

We are opening the doors of Secondwind and Health Food stores to accept donations of cash or in kind in the form of new or old (but still useable) sports equipment (shoes, apparel, soccer ball, badminton rackets, volleyball nets, etc). Together with one of our partners MyPhone, we will be distributing these in rural areas – who knows, maybe that kid who receives a pair of shoes, or that badminton racket becomes motivated and driven in life and becomes our new government servant, or a successful leader of an NGO.

For those who do not know yet what Xterra is, here is a video of the Xterra World Championship 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlIP2PgTkHE

Race: Condura Skyway Marathon 2013
Date: 3 February 2013
Venue: Filinvest Corporate City

One of the most anticipated races of the year drew thousands of runners to the south with the promise of running on the Skyway, a strip of elevated road so close to the heavens that runners spend the rest of the 364 days of the year dreaming of running it once again.  (Well, at least, I do!)  The 6th Condura Skyway Marathon had runners of all shapes and sizes wake up in the wee hours of the morning to run 3.8k, 6k, 10k, 21k, and 42k.

The race, led by running brothers Ton and Patrick Concepcion, who’ve run marathons all over the world has a reputation of being well-organized and well-thought out.  The practice of Wave Starts, similar to bigger races abroad such as the New York City Marathon and practiced last year, was impeccably executed again.  The 21k course was clean and simple (how much simpler can you get on the Skyway?!) and road marshals lined the roads to ensure everyone’s safety.  Water was sufficient and bananas were provided at some stations. Portalets were available all throughout the course.  Medical aid and ambulances were conspicuously present during the race.  The enthusiastic hosts at the start and the cheerers at the finish line made the race more entertaining and exciting.  The medals were definitely something to be proud of too!

It was a fantastic race!  And, I really wouldn’t complain about anything!  But, there’s always room for improvement and, if you were to ask me, here’s my very short wish list for Condura Skyway Marathon 2014:

• 21k race start at 4:30am.  Our race start was 3:30am last Sunday.  While I don’t mind running a marathon at midnight, I really thought twice, thrice, and even a fourth time if waking up at 2am (yawn) for a half marathon was worth it.
• Sports drinks at every station. While more 100Plus was provided this year compared to last year, there were still complaints about lack of sports drinks.  Hopefully, next year, they can provide more.  My secret ultimate wish: that they actually provide the non-carbonated sports drink that most of us runners prefer heehee.

Congratulations to Condura Skyway Marathon for yet another fantastic race!

———————————————-

THE DREAM

I won’t lie to you. I was anxious about this race.  I was hoping to run a sub-2 hour 21k and while I had trained hard for it, I still had some doubts.  The last time I ran a sub-2 was in 2011.  My 21k PR was way back in 2010 and I’m not even sure if that still counts.  For all of 2012, I was focused on training for my first Ironman 70.3 and managing injuries that I had absolutely no speed in my legs.

Two nights before the race, I dreamed about it.  DON”T LAUGH.  Here it goes:

My friends and I were walking towards the starting line when someone told us there was a shortcut.  In the darkness, we climbed up a long ladder and suddenly found ourselves in the Condura office! (I told you not to laugh!)  We walked straight through the hallways passing cubicles and I happened to see Ton Concepcion busy preparing for the race.  I stopped to chat about the event while my friends went ahead.  We went on and on about races, running, my ITB, then suddenly I heard the gun start!  I ran towards the race start and found that I had been left behind!  I still ran the race in complete darkness (it looked like Ermita) then after a few kilometers, the sun was out and I was on Singapore roads!  I found the elite runners heading back and chased after them.  The end!

I can’t really tell if I managed to reach the elites at the end.  You figure that portion out!

WARM UP

I woke up at 2 am for the race feeling nothing like an elite runner.  I felt tired, sleepy, and, after I found out my driver who I asked to come in for this race only because I expected difficult parking didn’t wake up, I was grumpy too.

With friends Ton and Jun, we ran a quick warm up and met up with Lit who had already done his warm up.  These three guys are the ones I usually run races with.  And, for the entire 2012, we ran our races together.  Yes, we ran them together, easy and happily, chatting all throughout.  This race was different.  Walang kaibigan kaibigan.  We were all gunning for our best times.  We’d all meet up at the end.  (We were so serious I couldn’t help but laugh really!)

THE RACE

When the gun went off, we all made a run for it.  My plan was to run a 5:40 pace for the first 10k.  At the half way mark, if I felt great, I would aim to sustain or go faster.

I could only see Lit and Jun ahead of me.  For the first few kilometers, we were running at a 5:30 clip and I knew I would bonk if I continued this way.  I slowed to 5:40 and committed to run my own race.  Those long climbs were tough!  I tried to distract myself by looking at the marathoners on the other side of the road, cheering them on, waving hello to friends, and thanking God that I only signed up for half! LOL

By the turnaround, a little over 10k, my average pace was 5:41.  I felt like I could push some more…and I did!  It was at this point that I found my rhythm.  Everything went by in a blur.

All I remember next was seeing Jun ahead of me by the last 5km.  I ran right behind him.

In the last 3km, we made a run for it and sped off towards the finish line hitting Km 21 at 5:25.  It was oh-so painful.  I couldn’t feel my legs anymore.  I was praying the race would end soon.  I was reminding myself that I had been through worse, that I trained long and hard for this race, that we would soon be eating crepes (haha!)  When I crossed the finish and saw my time, 1:59, all the pain was well worth it.  Yes, yes, maybe even the way too early call time!

My official time was 1:58:55.

– My one and only photo after the race –