Warning:  This will be my first all-Tagalog blog post, my brain cells were not moving fast enough to translate Tagalog thoughts to English. In short, tinamad ako.

Sa mga panahong ito alam nyo na siguro ang mga nangyari sa 34th edition ng Milo. Marami kayong nabasa tungkol sa tagumpay, mga bagong PR na napagwagian, mga birhen na dina birhen, sa larangan ng marathon ang ibig ko sabihin. Ang nakakalungkot, may mga nandaya at may namatay. Pero sa mga nakakita sa akin nung Milo, marami din nagtatanong sa akin “hoy Sam, ano nangyari syo, bigla kang nawala na parang…NINJA!”

Ano Ang Nangyari
Well ayos na sana ang lahat eh. Ang ganda ng pace ko hanggang 8th km, chillax pace nga mga pare koy. Nsa 5:55-6:05min/km ang average pace. Ka pace ko sila Noelle at Prince pero nauuna ako ng konti. Kse ang evil plan ko eh sige sabay lang ako sa kanila, pero pag dating ng last 5 kilometer, babanat ako ng malupit na parang yun na ang huling takbo ng buhay ko. Alas, ako ang nabanatan..ng malupit! Pag dating ng 8th kilometer, malapit sa Uniwide, biglang kumirot yung sa banding kidney ko at ilang parte ng tsan ko. Alam nyo mga pare, bago pa man akong tumakbo, may sakit nko sa kidney. Masakit, ang magkasakit sa kidney. Read the rest of this entry »

This morning, I went for a 30 minute recovery run in the grassy area of dlsu-d oval. No specific training for me today, just an easy pace to help me regain back my leg strength. Cris Sabal and Aileen Tolentino later arrived and I informed them of the problem I had the previous day. Cris checked the muscle (iliotibial band) in my right leg and compared it with my left leg and informed me that it was too hard and tight. I joked that what he felt was a solid rock-hard muscle but he just reiterated his observation that mine was unusually too hard. He suggested a regular massage (self-massage will do) to get rid of the tightness.

Later on, I told him that I’m working on strengthening my core. I do the “usual” core strengthening I know like full crunch, leg raises and the likes. He suggested that the best way to strengthen and stabilize the core should not consist of bending my spine like what I’ve been doing, but focus more on plank exercises. He asked me to do the following for 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest in between: Read the rest of this entry »

The Urbanite Run Race Results can be found here.

It’s a good thing the race results came out earlier than expected. Was told this came out as early as last night. I just hope next Finishline race will have individual race photos as well courtesy of PhotoVendo.ph (Update: Urbanite Run Race Photos by Photovendo available here–> Photovendo.ph

Anyway, the result confirmed I broke the 60 minute barrier woohoo!! Was even more surprised  senator/runner Pia Cayetano who usually runs a lot faster…is right behind me. Maybe this is just her tune-up run for Saturday’s CAMSUR Ironman. She’s indeed a tough lady-senator huh

One of the selling point of Runnr Store at Bonifacio High Street is that they are the first store to offer Newton Shoes in the Philippines. I finally got hold of Newton Shoes (racer shoes-stability) last week but was only able to road test it just last night at Bonifacio High Street for 10km. However I did use it previously not for running but for walking to “feel” the shoes. First impression? Weird.  While walking, it almost feels like you have a bar under your forefoot, but the awkwardness goes away pretty quickly. Now lets check its vital stats

The first time I used this while walking around the office, my boss asked me where I got my McDonalds shoes!

You will notice that Newton shoes have a negative heel (the forefoot is higher than the heel), this is because of the actuator lugs below the forefoot section of the shoes.

During my road test, I did notice a significant drop in heel striking, but as a mid foot runner, I don’t get much of that anyway. The shoes have a nice roll on the forefoot section which seemed to improve my posture but I also noticed it gave me a sensation of running on slight downhill. I’m not sure if its just my mind but I also noticed increased foot speed and my legs weren’t dragging as much. Having said that, I was able to run 10km faster without ever stopping and felt very good and satisfied at the end of the run even though their website and even blogger runners warn that I might feel some pain on my calves due to an increase usage of calf (which I didn’t experience at all). On the last kilometer of my run, I was able to sprint the entire 700 meters even if I’m only used to do it on the last 300 meters. Was it the shoes? I would attribute a little to them because they helped me maintain my position even when I’m tired as well as keep me on my forefoot to help me stay in my natural sprinter form.

This shoes is very light compared to other shoes I’ve tested. They are very breatheable due to the completely see through mesh that covers the toe box and side walls of the shoes. As I have very sweaty feet (which makes me very susceptible to annoying and running-career-destroying blisters, I’m sure this will keep my wet socks dry faster during runs and help keep odors away.

Obviously, this shoes was inspired by Sir Isaac Newton and his Third Law of Motion: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Actuator Lugs

The main selling point of this shoes are those four red actuator lugs above. As you land on the ground, those actuator lugs presses against a hollow chambers connected via an elastic membranes that absorb shocks and stores energy. Energy is released back to you as you lever your foot forward. These lugs will thrust out of the midsole chambers with a burst of energy that helps your forward propulsion.

An interesting question that might pop-up is if Newton shoes can be used by any runner. The answer is no. They are designed specifically for people who are already mid-foot/fore-foot runners, or for people who are working on transitioning from a heel-strike stride to a mid-foot/fore-foot stride. I suggest that you head over Newton Website to see a couple of videos and interesting facts about fore-foot running.

Aside from the cost (this shoes cost php 7,400+, the most expensive running shoes I’ve tested), the other draw-back I noticed during my short road-test of this shoes is that the corner of the heel counter section seems to worn out easily. See pictures below:

I don’t know if its the road condition of BHS, my running form (maybe I’m a terrible heel striker after all!) or both but I’m really curious if this just happens on me or others as well. Any Newton runners reading, please send in your comments if you notice the same. Hopefully, its just me.

Yesterday was so much fun. I together with a couple of blogger-runners tested LunarGlide+, Nike’s newest running shoes that offers both superior cushion and stability.

Now lets check its feature:

Men's LunarGlide+

Women's LunarGlide+

What’s the difference between men’s and women’s version? Women’s version has a much softer foam under the hill than men’s version. The women’s Nike LunarGlide+ upper section has a medial-side Arch Strap with Flywire technology to provide better lock-down in the mid-sole. Women runners are more prone to bunions (due to their broader forefeet), thus Nike applied the Dynamic Fit Technology, a stretchy material on the medial side of the women’s Nike LunarGlide+ adjacent to the big toe, which expands to accommodate the varying width of the female forefoot. The hill section in women’s version is different too. Nike did it by framing the heel instead of fully encompassing it, this unique heel counter balances a woman’s distinct needs for comfort, fit and support. General Feature: Main feature of this shoe is the Dynamic Support System. Nike does this by incorporating mid-sole is comprised of a lightweight LunarLite foam core that sits within a firmer foam carriage. The LunarLite foam core is cut to fit into the carriage at an angle creating a deeper cushioned lateral side. The medial side of the Nike LunarGlide+ mid-sole features a rear-foot wedge that has been contoured into the firmer foam carriage which provides stability on an as-needed basis. In theory what this technlogy does is simply combine both stability and cushioning feature of a running shoe while adjusting to the runner’s gait. Rocket Science indeed!

Rubber Outsoles

Check out the shoes outsoles (same as women’s version). The design is simply exceptional, very detailed with black cushioning pillow delivers remarkable look. I haven’t seen any Nike shoes with outsoles as much detailed as this.

Flywire Technology

Nike added Flywire Technology on this shoes, they got this concept from cables on a suspension bridge, the high tensile thread embedded along the upper provides utmost support with less material which aims to drastically reduce the footwear overall weight.

Nike LunarGlide+ Upper section

The no-seam streamlined silhouette looks good on this shoes.

You can attach your Nike+ device in this shoes too

LunarLite foam has proven to provide superior cushioning and significant energy return. Everytime I run, I feel a “bouncing” effect as the energy is returned to my feet which helps me propel forward.

I have four running shoes and I must admit this is the most comfortable shoe I’ve had. They are lightweight and super flexible, and I noticed a definite extra bounce in my runs when I put these on.  In fact, I felt so comfortable that I’ve used this shoes for the past two races I’ve joined and I’m planning to use this on ALL my road races. So comfortable I felt like I could run forever, oks that extreme well maybe not forever…but the LunarGlide+ shoes took my running to the next level.  I can’t wait to use this on my very first Marathon race on July 5th. The 33rd Milo Marathon Elimination round!

LunarGlide+ will be available on the first week of July and will cost Php5900+.  Place your order now.

Nike Park - Bonifacio High Street 856-2586 and 856-2587
Nike Park - Greenbelt3 757.44.91
Nike Park - SM Mall of Asia 556-0789
Nike Park - North Triangle 901-3547