Posts Tagged with: "Adidas"

One thing great about running is that it doesn’t take much for you to do it. You can jump into whatever outfit you choose—jogging pants, biking shorts, tank top, or sando—and end up getting a great workout like any other runner donning the most fashionable or high-tech get up. Still, it doesn’t hurt to occasionally get your hands on some new apparel to look your coolest while you’re sweating it out.

Here are TBR’s 5 tips for buying new apparel:

1. Go for moisture-management fabric. Choose light-weight, breathable material that can wick sweat away from your body. Please stay away from cotton or other heavy material unless you want to return from a run looking like a human condom that’s as heavy as an elephant.
2. Check for chafing. Before you purchase a shirt, shorts, or sports bra, look at every single seam or knot. These tiny little nuisances can ruin your run as they rub against your skin a hundred times over. Ouch!
3. Consider the weather. In Manila, we are fortunate (or maybe not) to only have either of the two: rain or shine. So, a runner’s wardrobe would consist of ultra-light clothing (I opt for sleeveless tops and shorts) and maybe shades and a cap for summertime and jacket and cap for rainy days.
4. Know your needs. Do you carry your keys, powergel, or lucky charm around with you? Then you’ll need shorts with a pocket. Do you run at night? It’s best to choose clothing with reflectors. If you go mountain climbing or cycling, you may want apparel that can be used for those sports too.
5. Invest in socks. When purchasing socks, go for quality. You can also bring your running shoes along so you can go for a brief test run in the store. Don’t scrimp on socks unless you find joy in popping blisters or murdering your toenails.

Speaking of apparel, I was fortunate enough to receive manna from heaven—or more like Hong Kong—a couple of weeks ago. The Adidas regional head office sent me two new Adidas ForMotion(TM) samples! Both are white Supernova tees: one with classic Adidas lines in red on the sides (92% polyamid, 8% elastane) and the other with orange lines running down the sides (100% polyester).

I was saving the shirts for a special occasion and I thought the Run To Bring Hope was the perfect event to sport the one with red lines for three reasons: 1) I love it’s smooth fabric (I prefer it over the slightly see-through polyester. I’m very conservative, you know?) 2) It looks more like a shirt with oomph! 3) The red lines bring out the blush in my cheeks after I beat my PR. Yeah!

– “You’ll never want to run in anything else. This ventilated ClimaCool(R) running tee uses ForMotion(TM) technology for improved comfort when you run.” From Adidas.com –

What can I say? This running tee was a delight to wear. It was superbly comfortable and light. The fabric was as smooth as silk yet it was breathable. It moved along with me through the entire race despite the sticky sweat. I don’t usually use shirts with sleeves in a race because I find them bothersome, but these tees have completely changed my views about it.

To Adidas: thumbs up to your ForMotion(TM) tees! Thank you for the gifts. By the way, one small request: could you please put pads in your sportsbras? Pretty please?

I had a good laugh early this morning when, upon checking my Inbox, I find an email entitled: “Guess Who I Saw!” from Odette of Adidas. It was more of a shameful, hide-myself-behind-a-race-bib kind of giggle because of what I decided to wear that day: a navy blue Nike top with matching shorts. Despite my loud and proud proclamation of love for the Adidas KOTR singlet, I decided against wearing it in an effort to stand out against a sea of runners in red. Check out the photo and you’ll see that my mission was definitely accomplished! Haha!

Can you find yourself here? Let me know if you do!

– Adidas King of The Road 2007…woohoo! –

Thanks to Odette Velarde for the photo.  Odette, as mentioned, I promise to wear my Adidas singlet at the Milo Marathon! haha

My feet and I got to know each other a little better today. Thanks to Adidas, I got a free runner’s check up with Kristine Warren, the head physiotherapist of the Moro Lorenzo Sports Clinic in Ateneo de Manila.

So, there I was, standing in the middle of the Ateneo Highschool parking lot under the pouring rain with my feet soaked in dirty rainwater (how many times should I remind myself to stop wearing flipflops now that it’s the rainy season?!) I was searching for the Moro Lorenzo Gym and—since that entire structure was not even conceptualized during my college days—I could not for the life of me find it! After calling a friend (who just tells me to go straight ahead), I see it before me. Now how could I miss that colossal thing?!

After a brief wait, I am welcomed by Kristine herself. She cordially ushers me into her cubicle, plops down a black rubber pad right outside the door, and asks me to run as naturally as I can over it—with my bare feet. Uh huh, I nod and then I nervously peep out her door to note the handful of male athletes who will be forced to watch my attempts at landing on that little mat properly while I try my best to curl and hide my hideous runner’s toes (which, as I’ve told you, were earlier submerged in rainwater. Cover your noses people!) After reminding myself that these men are practically a decade younger than me (so they could care less about a ditzy mommy) , I muster up the courage to run and successfully finish the simple test in three tries.

Kristine pulls up a chair and I sit beside her to watch my feet pop out on her monitor (much like what the Predator would view using his infrared vision.) In the case of my foot image, the red portion shows areas of high-pressure landing against the backdrop of my yellow footprint. The monitor also reveals how and where my feet land and the full movement of each foot as I run.

– Kristine and Joseph of the Moro Lorenzo Sports Clinic posing with my feet image! –

My first reaction was panic. Do I land the right way? The image portrayed me clearly as a heel-striker. No doubt about that. But, with all the opposing information available in books and the net, I wasn’t quite sure if it was good to be labelled as such. Kristine says there is no hard and fast rule to this one. Some coaches teach you to strike at the heel, others prefer mid-foot. Whatever works for you, she says. Images of Haile Gebrselassie, Adidas endorser and greatest runner of all time, landing on his fore foot—not his heels—flashback into my memory and I know Kristine is right. To each his own.

Next, Kristine reveals that I—ack I hate to admit this—sort of turn my knees inward while running, then my feet try to make up for it by moving laterally. What?! I didn’t know I was capable of such a complicated maneuver! Perhaps I should have been a flamenco dancer instead of a runner?

Kristine instantly makes me feel better though when she calls me a “lightweight” runner with narrow feet. (Now you know: the best way to boost the self esteem of a knock-kneed runner is to tell her that she’s lighter than she looks.) She further says that I put heavy pressure on my forefoot (oh, you should’ve seen all those tiny red spots right below my pinky toe and in the middle of the ball of my feet) so she knows exactly what shoe to recommend for me.

Kristine says I must focus on cushioning. (Cushioning. Cushioning. Cushioning. Remind me about this the next time I go shopping for shoes. Now I know why I’ve got more calluses than skin under my feet. Okay okay I’m exaggerating, but really I do have a lot.) For competition, I should get the Adizero CS which has climavite cushion. Meanwhile, I could choose between the AdiStar Cushion or Supernova Cushion for my training shoes.

I hate to admit it, but I’ve confirmed what I knew for the past few weeks: that my current running shoe isn’t compatible with my feet! Through the Adidas Runner’s Check Up, I learned that my shoe is way too wide at the front and lacks the cushioning my special feet deserve. Aaaah, that’s what I get for buying a shoe without ever having my feet assessed. Lesson learned, but money wasted.

So, to all you future running shoe shoppers out there, go for a feet evaluation before you open your wallets! The Adidas Runner’s Check Up travels all around the Metro offering free feet assessments to everyone.

Thanks to Odette Velarde for making all this possible! Yeah, impossible is nothing with Adidas, eh?

Now that was a fine race. Let me rephrase that: it was one helluva race. This may just be rookie talk but truly for me it was the most well-organized and orderly of the mere five races I’ve joined so far. You gotta hand it to Adidas and RACE for taking care of us runners. From pre-registration (when will we ever stop talking about those red singlets?) to its start (aaaaw, did tears not well up in your eyes as you listened to the national anthem against the backdrop of a beautiful sunrise?) until its finish (or at least my own finish since I left before awarding started), I would say that almost everything was well-prepared for. The minor bumps along the road—long lines at the portalet and the wait at the baggage check-in—were exactly those: minor little flaws that I overlooked once I heard the oh so romantic and deep voice of that host!

– Err…next time, can someone please remind me not to come this early? –

So, anyway, there we were—Annie and I—impatiently waiting for the race to start as we stood just a few rows behind the starting line along with the sea of runners in red who were, needless to say, impatient as well. At exactly 6 a.m. the gun was fired and we were off. After making a right from the starting line towards Roxas Boulevard, I knew the route would be pretty simple. It would be straight, straight, straight, climb up and roll down the Buendia flyover, hit the 10k turnaround, climb up and roll down the Buendia flyeover, straight until you make a left back into the Quirino Grandstand. Soon after my brain had absorbed all that (which was just a few seconds, mind you!), Annie had skipped ahead…uhm…way ahead.

I ran at my own pace (around 75% effort if Coach B asked me) but, after a few minutes, doubts seeped into my brain if I could even keep this up. I had slept at 11:45 the night before (coming from a 10-hour road trip from Pangasinan) so I thought I could forgive myself for not breaking PR on this race. After all, I had a good excuse! Before these evil thoughts could get any further, I cleared my mind and focused on the race. Just enjoy it, I thought. If I get tired, I could always slow down. If I don’t break my PR, i’ll try again next time (although I would curse myself for weeks.) With that, I kept my pace steady, chatted with Renz, checked out the view in what was to me unfamiliar grounds, and relaxed. Surprisingly—and guys this is going to be dull and boring—but the entire run was smooth sailing for me. Why, even the Buendia flyover, which made me shudder when I saw it from afar, posed less of a challenge than I initially expected. As I climbed the hill, I could almost hear Coach B whispering “slow down, take shorter strides” and that’s exactly what I did. As always, rolling down freely with my arms outstretched was my favorite part. When I hit the 10k turnaround, I felt like I got my second wind with a sudden burst of energy pushing me further. So, off I went with the gusto of a runner who had just started a race. The last part of the 5k was quick as I remember it. I just ran, and ran, and ran and I loved it. Aaack, I so loved it! Before I knew it, it was over.

I checked the time and I was ecstatic: 56 minutes 27 seconds. I broke my PR. I shaved off a whopping 4 minutes! Wooohooo! “Yeah, I AM the Queen of the Road!” I exclaimed…to myself…silently…so no other runner would think I was crazy.

– Runners make their way to the finish –

– All queued up at the Finish Line –

– With Mars, a highschool batchmate I hadn’t seen since…uhm..highschool. See you at more races, Mars!

Before leaving, Hitme (and his macho driver) arrived bearing gifts. The best gift any runner could receive: a bundle of Runners World magazines! Truly, this man must be called “Running Santa” for his generosity, jolly disposition, and good choice of presents! Hitme, no, it’s not because of the tummy!

– Hitme’s driver delivering my stash of Runners World Magazines! Doesn’t he look like Rudolph? –

Driving home from the race, Annie texts me announcing great news: she won first place for 10k in her age group! I couldn’t be happier for the bestest running buddy one could have! I could go on and on about Annie, but I’ll save that for another post. For now, I shall reluctantly but humbly pass on my crown to Annie as the official Adidas Queen of the Road for 10k. As if I ever had the title anyway!

– With Annie, winner of her age group for 10k with a time of 47.43, and her friend Rose –

Winners of the Adidas King of The Road 21k:

Men’s Category: Eduardo Buenavista 1:07:28

Women’s Category: Jho-An Banayag 1:19:17

I registered for Adidas King of the Road 10k yesterday morning! If you haven’t signed up yet, drop by the RACE booth at the Vasquez Madrigal Building in Annapolis Street—quick. There is no deadline for registration, but slots may be filled up if you wait till race day. (See my List of Races for more info)

Oooh, the bold red singlet alone makes me jump up with excitement. It’s the first singlet that actually fits me (finally!) and, even better, it is actually wearable in a race—so unlike all my other singlets that have been unofficially tagged “pambahay” (house clothes).

– More views of the singlet that everyone is going gaga over. Mine is not for sale. On second thought, it is. Bidding starts at P10,000. –

Enclosed in the race packet is the route map with the start and finish line at the Quirino Grandstand.  That’s reason number two why I’m all revved up for this race. All my other races were at The Fort. I think I can run the roads of Fort Bonifacio backwards already, blindfolded, with my shoelaces tied together while eating a peanut butter sandwich! Okay, if I pulled that stunt over there, I’d definitely end up in the city morgue…but seriously races in that area can get a bit predictable even for race-crazy runaholics like me.

The only thing that’s making me a bit queasy about this race is the thought of my business trip the day before. I’m going on an 8-hour round-trip to and from Pangasinan on the 30th. Gulp. Will I be able to rest well during the long drive? Will I feel strong enough when I wake up early for the race? Or, most importantly, will I even wake up? I’ll know the answers to those questions soon enough.

See you at the Adidas King of The Road on July 1! Who’s coming?