My take on who I wanna BE

(original/ first version can be found here: http://www.enduremultisport.com/2013/be-be-stronger-run-stronger/  but if you wanna read the more kenkoy write up, continue reading hehe)


At the start of the New Year, people start writing down what they want to change from the previous year. A lot of people look back at what they’ve done in the past year, reflecting on what has happened to them, be it an improvement of their current status (financial, career, or even relationships) or  lessons learned from the past. People naturally look back to their past, the history, to help identify what can be improved on, and identify what needs to continue with what they’re doing.

That, in essence, was what Mizuno did when they decided to come up with another footwear aimed at helping runners get better. Mizuno went back to history, and in this case, being a Japanese brand, they went back to as far as the Samurai/ Feudal System era, to review and research what else can help runners in their quest for running efficiently and becoming better and stronger runners. (akalain mo yun, meron pa silang nakitang galing ancient history that can help the present?! hehehe)

Mizuno came up with the BE.


With the numerous serious performance running shoes that Mizuno already have, why come up with another shoe? what’s the difference with the BE compared to other footwear made by Mizuno?

To give runners an idea on what and why the Mizuno Be was created and designed for, Master Sports Corporation, invited running bloggers to a by-invite-only event to give the running community a heads up before the release of the Be.

Team Endure was there with other Mizuno brand ambassadors such as Anton del Rosario of the Philippine Azkals, Podcast running sensations Running Wild with Coach Ige Lopez. Coach Patrick Joson was also there, together with the graduates of the Jumpstart Movement who went to the Osaka Marathon.

teammates Noelle, Rico, Carina, Marga and Hanna 

To start the launch, guests were asked what they wanna BE.

ano BE gusto mo mangyari?

Two Endure members (board members at that!) won for their creative answers namely Marga Baula with her Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious answer

supercali_______ hug :) 

"I want to be Sexy" - Rico

and Commish Rico Villanueva’s “sexy” answer which earned him the hug from segment host Anton del Rosario.


What is the Be?

ano BE talaga to?

Discovering Be


Looking at it, it seems like its what one has been waiting for, another minimalist footwear from Mizuno, as a response to the growing curiosity of runners getting into the minimalism. But it is not. The BE is a training shoe, intended to be worn when you’re not running. Inspired by the Waraji Sandals, the Be is designed with the toes “protruding” .

Waraji sandal

check it out! totoong naka lagpas ung toes nila!

isa pa! toes are literally not "included" sa footbed ng waraji sandals

Now  why would Mizuno do that? Based on their studies, this slight “imbalance” makes one more conscious of their body’s position and alignment,  trigger more muscle activation in the lower legs and feet for body stabilization. how? strengthening the muscles that work when you toe off with each run, EVEN if you’re not running.

toe off?

How does it work?
(from Mizuno’s official site)

gaya gaya puto maya?

Be features

1.  Activation sockliner

      Dips the toes to activate your muscles.

2.  Dynamic Function Heel Counter

      Cups your heel to improve its cushioning function

3.  AP+ Midsole

      Offering cushioning and comfort at foot plant

4.  BE Footprint Outsole

      Lightweight and durable


The event was hosted by teammate, and Mizuno brand ambassador Noelle de Guzman, more popularly known as the Kikay Runner.

IF i was actually invited during the event, i would have asked a lot of questions with regards to the design concept behind the Mizuno Be.

for one, i would have asked if they feel that these design (the imbalance thingy) would help runners be better runners, then why not make all the shoes similar to this concept. And, if that happens, what will happen now to the mizuno wave plate concept? Another question that pops in my mind is that, how will this support those people who need support shoes? will this also help strengthen their feet, and to what extend? what would the difference between the concept behind Be, and the other minimalist shoes out there? how come hindi sha pwedeng ipangtakbo? comfy naman un since may AP+ midsole. The BE Footprint Outsole would even offer more protection than the manipis sole of the other foot glove concept shoes.

anyway, those are just my thoughts.

ok naman sha as 'training' shoes, pero naisip ko, if ganon din naman sha, eh di pang takbo ko na lang din diba? whatchutink?

ayot? apir! :)

putting the fun in trail runs

are you one of those sick and tired of running road races and would want to try other terrains?

you feel the need to go trail running, but see yourself as not as hardcore as those doing xterra races such as putik pare type of trail adventure runs?

or are you one of those training to run the skyway pero para maiba ang view, gusto mo naman mapuno, ganon? you should then try this race  :)

WHERE TO REGISTER

Online via www.runnersrunner.com

Runner’s Runner, 3rd Floor, R.O.X., Bonifacio Hight Street, Bonifacio Global City

CONTACT PERSONS

everythingwaldorf@gmail.com
waldorfrun@runnersrunner.com

PS: what's nice with this race pa is that, maganda na ang view, masarap din daw ang pagkain dun :) 

sali na! :) 

ayot? apir!

two thirty and some change

last sunday, dec.2 was somewhat my come back race. i've been running on and off since 2008 (literal my first run, but my first serious race with training and other preparations was in 2009) , and for some unforeseen circumstances, i have only raced twice in 2012. the first one was the Rexona Run 2012 (where i sucked big time; if i'm not mistaken, that was my slowest 21k EVER (almost finished it in 3 hours! grabe ah! sana nilakad ko na lang ung buong route). Sooo i said to myself, i got to get back in shape. I have to train seriously for me to be able to get my groove back, and at the same time, wag naman kulelat. it also would help me with my dreams of running condura full again if i start training earlier than usual. medyo mahirap nang mag habol ng last minute. ayaw ko naman ng ganon diba.

ready for QC

QCIM has always been a memorable race for me. I was suppose to run its maiden issue but i got sick. ;( the second one naman, was the first full mary of our beloved margalicious, and as a way of giving back to the one who has always been 100% supporting each and every one of us, I personally went back to her after my own half mary to support and cheer her on to the finish. QCIM also has been scheduled near my gf's birthday (usually 1st weekend of December) so there. medyo memorable lang naman sha :)

This year, i intended to join the race as a training long run lang. I have been doing my long runs every sunday, usually passing alongside the buses and jeepneys of commonwealth avenue so when i found out that the route for the 21K would ONLY consist of the stretch of commonwealth, i got more excited. the first QCIM 21k i raced before included going inside la mesa eco park pa ata, pero this time, it was "easier" to some extend. others who are not used to commonwealth's false flats and wavy road might have had a few challenges while running, but this is my home court hahahaha.

luckily, i was able to get a free race kit from a teammate who wouldn't be able to run it, so i took that as a sign for me to push through with the run :) i woke up 230 sunday morning to prepare myself for the race. i had my usual pre-race prep of downing one l.5L gatorade the day prior, and my usual oatmeal and coffee breakfast. after that, i took off from the house to start my long run. :)

i have been doing my long runs in the heat of the summer-ish sun every sunday morning, so doing this long run super early that day was somewhat a breath of fresh air for me, literally and figuratively. as i was used to running in the heat, the coolness of the morning air was conducive to having a more enjoyable run. i thought the gunstart for the 21k was at 4am, so i was a bit in a hurry on my way to the starting line, only to find out that it was still at 430am. that was no problem for me as it gave me ample time to relax a bit and to do some stretching after that approx 3.5km warm up run.

at the starting coral, i didn't see familiar faces. i didn't see teammates, fellow takbo.ph runners, or even some of the other teams from takbo.ph (such as boring, cb, hob, quest, at kung sino sino pa). so i said to myself, treat this as a long run. SOLO long run (so what's new? sanay naman akong wala akong kasama mag long run so this wouldn't be any different :) bahala na, i said to myself, and off i went.

masaya sha because it was cool, so i felt i was a bit going faster than what my "training pace" should have been, pero ok lang, if i bonk out, its ok since its "just" a training run, getting a faster time would just be a bonus. the more important thing is the mileage. so there. along the route, i finally saw a team CB shirt, and saw ate rona was running din pala. said hi and hello, and eventually ran ahead. i also saw some trimac peeps pero was not able to have a "pacer" along the route the whole time. i was doing things by myself.

during the run, ibang feeling talaga. at one point, i felt i was having cold sweats, maybe because i was really sweating but at the same time, malamig ung simoy ng hangin. another factor would have been also the lack of portalet/s along the 21k route. i saw some people who pee along the center aisle of commonwealth avenue, but then i realized, paano kaya ung mga girls? di naman sila pwede mag CR sa buong route or di rin pwede mag stop sa middle ng commonwealth ave to patintero vs the cars to cross over the gasoline stations sa gilid (kasi the race route was done sa middle ng commonwealth ave, kudos to the organizers for this one ha, efficient sha, hindi sha mashadong nag cause ng traffic sa commonwealth hehehe). sooo yun. diretso lang ng kahabaan ng commonwealth avenue hanggang makarating sa wilcon depot sa may fairview, tas balik. not bad, since nag dry run naman ako dun the week before so more or less i know the feeling going there. :)  (PS: ang kulit lang ng race organizers to place the only portalet i saw along the route a few meters AFTER the u-turn for the half marathoners. i know i shouldn't be complaining etc, but then, hassle diba? sana ginawa nila BEFORE the u turn man lang para may nakapag CR etc, pero any way, its done na naman hehehe tuloy lang ang laban).

ayon. ang saya lang coz for the first time, ung mga 2 something pacers were no where in sight, imposible namang naunahan ko silang lahat diba? pero at certain points, i did. hahaha. medyo nung pabalik lang, nagmuni muni ako if mag CR ba ako or just go towards the finish na lang to get things done agad. while contemplating on this eh i saw na the sign saying "18KMS" so parang, wag na nga! diretsuhin na to! :) after gathering my breath, i continued with my pace and ran. medyo masaya ako din kasi wala pang mashadong araw that time, so kayang dagdag pa ng pace if ever. pag katapos after a few kms between technohub and UP college of human kinetics, eh i saw a blue balloon pacer for 2:30. sa loob loob ko, akalain mo un, naunahan ko pa sha halos. i tried chitchatting with him but he eventually picked up the pace towards the end so i said to my self  may slow down na muna ako, kasi nga may dagdag pa ko after, so sige. i went on etc.

upon reaching near jollibee philcoa, natuwa ako kasi 2:32 something pa lang ung gun time. ang saya lang din to find out that my training paid off. not bad for someone who's training for an 8:15 pace dapat :)

ayon. so anong lesson for myself dito? wala. hahahaha!

training and dedication and hard work works.
sabi nga ng teammate ko, why waste a good run (if i can go faster and kaya naman, why not push it diba?) and push i did. and i was able to get things done :)

PLUS added additional 3.5kms going back home :)

ayot? apir :)

PS:

tajimaya charcoal grill food! yummy! :) 

PS: for finishing with a decent time, eto ang reward ko :) 

Hot and Cold

okay, enough of you singing. hahahaha!

Training for Condura has given me options on when to do my runs. Given that this is a midnight run, it gives me the option to train super early morning, OR after work. Given that i am admittedly not a weekday morning runner, I feel that its more appropriate, in my case, to train at night because obviously the weather conditions at night are more or less similar to that as of race day. although there are times when its not that cold during midnights or early morning, the initial temperature usually helps in setting up the mood to run.

last sunday, i was able to finally do my literal long run, this long run was also my first legit heat training run. since i was not able to wake up earlier than expected, i had to do my long run, super init.  my route was a modified QCIM half marathon route, plus a few rounds inside the village, and one round UP acad oval.

seriously, di ko gets anong difference ni route Part 1 and Part 2. 

grabe! i was literally sunog. i started 9am, and lasted for almost 4 hours, due to the numerous walk breaks done in the heat of the summer-like sun (and i thought it was almost christmas time na? ehhhh bakit super init ng sikat ng araw? :(  ).

SUN-day long run

so far, i was able to explore the different bazaars along commonwealth avenue, and also the bike route placed along commonwealth avenue. the bike lane was a nice addition to commonwealth's wide road, but i don't think those looking for a ratrat training pace won't be able to do that as the bike lane was placed at the rightmost lane, side nearest UP,  shell select, etc. PERO hindi pa sha tapos, as the bike lane ended before tandang sora. (medyo bitin, but, better be safe than sorry, right?)

back to the topic, bakit hot and cold? last night kasi when i was running my supposedly easy run, i felt great (even though most of my day yesterday was not that good, it served as good fuel for the night run). i started with what i felt was a 730ish pace, slowly building up to a mga 7 or even a 645 pace at one point (i know mabagal, sorry naman hindi ako mamaw, and nag babalik loob pa lang ako ulit sa pag takbo, so cut me some slack ;) ) i felt really good running, pero at one point i felt i might be abusing myself too much, as it was suppose to be an easy run day last night. sooo i slowed down a bit in order to bring things back to what should have been the training for that day, easy 815 pace lang :) fortunately i was still able to finish my 3k easy at 24mins (not bad in my opinion, faster than what should have been hahaha).

what's the point of my run story now? wala. that there are times that i need to pace myself with my runs, specially for the full mary. i know at certain points i will be stronger but then again this IS 42.195 kms on the skyway. high elevation. long road ahead. medyo it may seem boring at time. possible also that there will be times that i'll be asking myself " are we there yet (sa u turn)?" pero what  have to do was to ensure that i got my mind on the game. make sure my running form is correct to be efficient in the longer run, and at the same time, practice mental toughness. its has been a while since i last ran more than 21k, adding another 21k would be a whole new different ball game.

tara, takbo tayo! :)

ayot? apir!

POSE-r

currently shifting to use the POSE method in my comeback full mary come Condura 2013. I was intrigued by it when our team underwent sessions with Coach Pat Joson of the Jumpstart Movement. Coach Pat also recently had students from the Mizuno Run Academy do the same thing. POSE.

So what is POSE all about? to cut the long story short, it's simply changing from one "pose" to the other. simple noh?

parang it's like this lang naman kasi:

looks easy noh? but then again, if you're not initially a forefoot runner, it MIGHT take some getting used to with the first segment (POSE-FALL) phase. you might ask why. Well, primarily because this concept works with using gravity to your advantage. running "traditionally" is different from running pose method. scientifically, this reduces also the impact on one's knees.  sakto with my case now that i've gained a few pounds from not running as often as i used to, but slowly but surely getting there again.

in principle, you might say, parang the same sha with Chi Running. at first, i thought so too.

But with the help of google, (hahaha!)  I saw the difference:

pose (L) and chi (R)

See the main differences? 1) landing of the foot (forefoot for pose, midfoot for chi) and 2) direction of the "pull". with pose, you lift the foot (using hamstrings of course) and tuck it underneath your butt (something like a heel-butt exercise). for chi, its behind you. I haven't tried Chi Running, but then again, to each his/her own naman diba? ;)

I know both techniques have their own "pros" and "cons" and who "should" be using what techniques etc. still at the end of the day, what we are all looking for is to be injury-free and hopefully faster times while enjoying running shempre ;) 

see you on the road! :) 

ayot? apir! :) 

pick my poison

k-swiss blade max stable, k-ona
mizuno wave inspire 7, elixir 6

in preparation for my comeback race, i have decided to utilize my current shoe arsenal. it has been quite some time since i've been actively and consistently running. fortunately, i still have a few pair of shoes that will help me during my training runs. in my existing plans, i need to run 3x a week, tuesday easy runs, thursday tempo runs, and sunday long runs. given my current shoe line up, here are my usage breakdown.


easy runs: easy runs usually give me time to recover after the long runs.  for these type of training runs, i can choose any of the shoes above. easy runs should help me get back into the groove of things. at times, i even use my vibram five fingers here to help stimulate other muscle

tempo runs: shoes for these runs should ideally be light weight to give the leg muscle less stress during runs. but then again, i tend to use the concept of 'train heavy, race light' with regards to shoes. IDEALLY, i would be using either the k-swiss k-ona, or the mizuno wave elixir series. both shoes provide the lightweightness i need for speed works, but still having ample support. both shoes help me speed up with impromptu fartleks, or help me with faster feet turn over (malamang, pag kapuy na ang legs, may tendency to lift lower, eh if mabigat pa ung shoes na gamit, additional weight pa un, but then again, train heavy, race light nga diba?).

long runs: for long runs, i always rely on my mizuno wave inspire series. these shoes have been my go-to shoes at all times. i use it for my long runs, easy runs, and even during tempo runs. i've had 3 incarnations of the said shoe model, namely inspire 4, 6, and 7. out of the three inspires i have, i still consider the inspire 6 as my best shoe so far. it has provided the ample support i need, and still be lightweight. cushioning was not an overkill as compared to the 7th edition, but it still is a good pair for me. the 8th edition of the inspire looks and feels like the 6th edition as well, although the cushioning feels like its the same as the 7th pa rin. i've seen images of the 9th edition of the inspire, and so far, i am happy with how it looks. it seems like the heel has deducted a few mm from the 8th, and can pass as a big person's racing shoes :)

an alternate long run shoe i've discovered recently for long runs is the k-swiss blade max stable. surprisingly for a stability shoe, this one is indeed lightweight, but still offers the necessary support. so far, i've been happy with the blade max stable, the right combination of lightweight and stability support i need for long runs. add to that the funky red and highlighter yellow color combination it has make heads turn whenever i run. parang feeling ko tuloy may mali ba akong ginagawa, or may dumi ba un suot ko when people see me run (along commonwealth and katipunan ave).

why was there a need for alternative shoes for long run? other than long distance running usually would beat your shoes more often than the shorter distance training runs, it would also wear out our soles faster (if you don't have an alternate pair.

happy running!

ayot? apir!

mental game

I have read an article in the past that the marathoners (or in my case, endurance athletes such as runners, triathletes, and the like) are the best employees. this i re-realized again yesterday during my training long run.

like any other sport, training for running needs a lot of dedication. there is a target with each and every activity. things can't be labeled easily as something you can just "go with the flow." at some point,  it can get boring. like yesterday, i realized that doing 5 rounds at UP acad oval can be really boring (just like with work, hahahaha) things go on and on, and you'd feel like nothing new happens. NOT UNLESS you make things happen for yourself (like, change the route you're running at which i eventually did). instead of boring myself around the acad oval, i decided to run along University Avenue then run along Commonwealth Avenue, just to break the monotony of running round and round like a hamster.

hamster mode

 

another lesson i've re-learned from yesterday's run was there will always be distractions from you achieving your goal. in my case, they were the bikers, skateboarders and other people at the park with me. include there also the number of people looking at me while i was running, as if i had some dirt on my face, or something. in order for me to get focused again with the task at hand (to finish my 13K "long" run), i had to zone out for a while. what did i do to keep myself FOCUSED with the task at hand? well, initially i started focusing on how my feet lands. when i get tired, i usually hear loud thumps every now and then, include also the fact that i sometimes heel strike (worst case scenario). another thing i did was to just keep (swimming) running. eventually the mind would not give excuses on why i don't want to continue running anymore (well primarily it was because of katamaran actually). 

just keep swimming/biking/running
(whatever floats your boat)

when that didn't work anymore, i borrowed a strategy i learned from Sir PatCon. He once wrote (or was interviewed about his running), and he mentioned that he prays the rosary when he runs. initially i thought that it might feel weird to pray during running. i had this belief system that praying should always be done in a quiet place, where i won't be distracted etc. but when i was actually doing it already, it gave the same calming effect despite the intense noontime/afternoon heat. given that running for me is my alone-time, it did work. 

life is a mystery

i could have also not proceeded with my long run yesterday because i went home late the other night coming from my sister's wedding. i actually thought of that, but then again i made a compromise already of waking up late AND doing my long run before attending another reunion of sorts with my relatives from the states, so there. i pushed through with what i intended to do for the week, i succeeded with my week 1 action plans and milestones (of attaining 21K mileage for the week).

not bad for someone who has not been running for quite some time actually :) 

at the end of the day, i had to admit that running is a MENTAL game; it was more of doing things because of the WHYs behind it. i kept focused on doing what needs to be done despite all the possible excuses i could come up with. 

i did it. ;)