It was during Globe’s Run for Home race that I finally got to wear this pricey brand of tights from CW-X. When Runnr store gave me the opportunity to own one, I immediately went to the store to check it out and was surprised to find several design of tights to choose from. Some tips if you’re planning to buy one:

1. Identify what kind of support you need. I sweat a lot when I run so when I asked Julius which one suits me best, he easily suggested CW-X Ventilator tights. And as luck would have it, this one offers a lot of support to my knees which I would notice would feel painful after a 21km run, probably due to my weight which I’m still working on. Update: I’m now 144lbs, 9 lbs to go and I’ll be on my ideal running weight

2. Get the right size. I first took a medium size one only to find out later that what I really need is a small one. A guide on the package itself (which I failed to read) will help you decide if you need a small, medium or large size tights – the deciding variables would be your weight and height.

As with the tights itself, I’ve found it very comfortable during my 21km run at Globe’s Run for Home race. Yes you’ll get those strange/surprised looks from other runners because of felix bakat its cool design but what I like most from this particular tights is its mesh panels strategically located on my quads and calves which are like built-in air conditioners for my legs and helps lessen heat fatigue from those areas. I believe it is made up of lighter weight material overall which helps to dissipate heat further. As for my knees, their patented Conditioning Web technology helps provide support to my muscles and ligaments around my knee and to the medial and lateral head of the gastrocnemius in my calf. The Conditioning Web runs along the ITB, the knee, lower back, inside of the leg and then through the calf. I have already used these tights on both long and short runs and they carry out very well, though I find that the true gain of the technology really comes through after a long run or after more than 15km. I find that my legs remain fresh and my workout remains strong to the end. The other real benefit is that the following day my legs still feel good, sometimes fatigued but never to the point where they impact the next workout.

CW-X tights are available in Runnr Store. Picture of me wearing this tights can be found here.

I finally got the result of my x-ray after visiting a doctor two days ago as mentioned from my previous post. See the result above. I’m happy as the x-ray result didn’t show any cracks or dislocation on my pelvis, hips and left knee. While I’m not really a pessimistic person at most times, I want to clear this out with a second opinion on Saturday, this time with an Orthopedic doctor who happens to be a runner too, to get a more reliable feedback and assurance that I’m ok and I’m just paranoid. I’m not saying that I don’t trust the surgeon who interviewed me two days ago, but sometimes a reassurance will help kick that monkey off your back.

Ninja in doctor costume by Chris Hastings.

I’ve been telling friends that after my marathon debut just this month, I got this slight discomfort in my butt area. My curiosity had me researched about the pain and it looks like Ischial Bursitis. I thought it would disappear but it didn’t. I felt a sharp pain when I started my leg-speed training last Saturday and I only lasted for 10 minutes because of the pain. Since then, I haven’t done any running at all and I was worried more about gaining weight. So yesterday I decided to visit our company clinic in Makati.

Upon the suggestion of our HR, I need to go first to our company’s HMO satellite branch in Makati and from there, they will give me a referral to an Ortho (which is ALWAYS an affiliated member). If you’re an (unlucky) regular employee here in the Philippines, you just can’t go to any doctor of your choice. That’s just how it goes. And so a surgeon interviewed me about my pain. I told him about the pain in my butt and slight pain at the back of my left knee. Immediately, he told me to proceed to the next room to get an x-ray of my left knee and pelvis area. Ten minutes later, I got the x-ray result and showed it back to the surgeon. He glanced at the x-ray result of my left knee and glanced even longer at the result of my x-ray in my pelvis and told me that he saw nothing wrong with the result. However, he pointed out that those black spots in the x-ray result of my pelvis are “air nodules” and are quite painful. His theory was that those air nodules might be the source of my pain and I need to get rid of it by drinking more than 8 glasses of water and eating more fiber. I was a bit relieved with his answer, knowing that I only take like 3 glasses of water a day, 2 cups of coffee and a soda on daily basis. Probably this is the reason why I normally fart 10-15 times a day, more so during race-I guess I’m the number one source of methane release every time I join a race. His comment about the pain in my left knee is less satisfactory; he just suggested me to buy a customized insole to fix it and mentioned about a store in Hongkong where he saw one. I have to inform him that Runnr Store sells it and informed him where to find it. The whole discussion made me realized that I should be talking to an Ortho who is a runner too and not just a regular doctor.

Tomorrow I’ll get the “official x-ray result” including the x-ray man’s findings. The surgeon told me I needed not to give him the official result as my problem is not really that huge. I shall post the result on Thursday of the x-ray result and hopefully, any runner-doctors here can provide additional info.

And yes, I’ll  have a second opinion on Saturday!

The result shows you the following:

1. Your overall standing (same distance category)
2. Your overall standing within your gender division
3. Your overall standing within your age division
4. Your varage speed per mile and per kilometer
5. Bird-eye view near the finish area. This is cool, you can mouse over dots and you’ll know their name. I did add a little fun here. I added the names of those people I left behind near the finish line in my facebook account and encouraged them all that we race together in the future hehehehehe. Those people who left me behind? Oh yeah I also added them in my facebook account and challeged them for the next race hehehehe
6. Your current location when the overall winner finished the race.
7. Your current location when the runner (of opposite gender) finished the race.
8. Your current locaton when the average runner finished the race.

Photovendo.ph did a wonderful job paparazi style of having pictures of runners taken during their most awkward moments hehehehe. Here’s what I got:

Me: I need a strong finish…but first I need to overtake this lady runner on my right. Darn my right foot shifts to heel strike!

Me: Yahoo I’m near!!

Me: Hello Riezel how are you?! Looks like we’re gonna be finishing the race together!

Me: Sorry change of plan, I need to cross the finish line alone.

Me: Looks like I’m succeeding!

Riezel: Waahh who the hell are you! Me: My Name is Sam, The Running Ninja!! Woohoo finished it first!

I’ve mentioned from my previous post that I plan to create a customized program for me incorporating some of the Lydiard principles. The first step involve in this program is to run for 2 hours continuously regardless of the pace. I’ve done this already, running around oval track with my heart rate within my aerobic zone (133-153) three times. The next step is anaerobic running and leg-speed training and this is where I’m going to concentrate most.

This step basically consists of hill training and moving your legs fast. The aim of hill training is to bring resistance to the leg muscles specifically those white muscle fibers that are key ingredient for giving you faster speed. It also helps stretch your leg muscles and tendons which eventually will avoid the possibility of having pulled muscles or strained tendons during your actual race.

How I’m going to do hill training:
Warm-up is a MUST for all kinds of training so I’m going to run around the track for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes is just my preferred time to spend for my warm-up, but if you find yourself already perspiring and your body feels warm already then you can go to the next step – stretching. Another fifteen to twenty minutes will be spend for stretching. There’s a proper way of stretching which was demonstrated to me last week by elite runner Cris Sabal. I plan to make a blog post with pictures in the future on how to do it properly so that we all can learn from it. After stretching, its time to attack the hill!

It’s a good thing my training ground has everything I got for my runs. It’s got a 150 meter steep uphill road leading to oval track and this is where I’m going to do my hill training. The aim of this exercise is to use your own body weight for the resistance; the center of gravity must be lifted up and down to gain resistance, not just lifting the knees. One key important to remember during hill training is NEVER RUN IT FAST. The idea is the slower the forward momentum, the more resistance on legs that will be concentrated and this is what we are aiming for. At the hill top, I’m going to jog for three minutes and when running down-hill, I’m going to do it faster with the aim of developing leg-speed and stretching leg muscle for better stride length. At the base of the hill, I’m going to sprint the entire stretch of the remaining road leading to Gate 2 entrance gate: this is around 50 meters of flat road then start again running slowly uphill. I plan to do this for one hour plus cool down for at least 15 minutes. All in all hill training can be done from 1:45 to 2 hours.

The running form when running up-hill
Keep the upper body relaxed with arms loose at the sides
Hold your head up, never look down at the ground; this will throw the hips back
Keep knees coming up high with the hips held comfortably forward

I don’t have access to up-hill roads, what I’m going to do?
You can try your building or condo’s stairs
Buy a manual thread mill which is usually always inclined

How I’m going to do leg-speed training:
I will do my usual warm-up jog for 15 minutes followed by another 15 minutes of stretching. I will try to run 200 meters (this I will do at the oval) with three minutes interval and will do this 10 times. After then 10th repetition, I’ll cool down for at least 15 minutes. I also plan to do this for 15minutes during work (most probably during my 1 hour lunch time) by utilizing my office building’s stairs

The running form when doing leg-speed training:
Run with normal stride with the aim of MOVING THE LEGS FAST.

My schedule:
Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday : Leg Speed training
Wednesday and Friday : Hill Training
Sunday : Long Run
Monday : Rest Day

I plan to start this tomorrow – July 24. I hope this will help me improve my finish time. On August 15, I will join the Urbanite Run (might downgrade to 10k) and this will be my motto:

IMPROVE OR DIE!!