Today is the last day of submission of entries to get that privileged slot for the New Balance ChiRunning for Trail. See the details below:
This session is a sneak peek at the 10K route for the forthcoming New Balance Trail Adventure Run at Nuvali on June 20, 2010 which would be headed by the country’s only Certified ChiRunning® Instructor Lit Onrubia. Best of all is that it’s free.
The adiNation of Runners (aNR) Philippines is a running club with a goal to provide members with value-added training and special privileges to train and motivate them to achieve new fitness levels. Here in Metro Manila aNR is staged initially in four locations: Ayala, Alabang, Ortigas, and Bonifacio High Street. This program co-presented by takbo.ph.
Exclusive privileges:
The pilot run of the Ortigas Group was held last night in Pearl Drive in front of the University of Asia and the Pacific, headed by Luis (The Gingerbread Report). Although there wasn’t much publicity about the event there was a good set of runners that joined the event.
Some of the participants of the pilot run with group head Luis (white visor)
Some orientation
The Ortigas Group runs every Wednesday nights (headed by Luis, 7PM onwards) in front of UAP, and Saturday mornings (headed by Rodel “The Argonaut,” 6AM onwards) in front of Tiendesitas and would cover various routes around Ortigas Center.
aNR Ortigas Group in action...
Joining the Group Run is free and you don’t need to be adidas gears to do so. Just drop by the assembly area before the run starts, fill up the form, and you’re done! You also get a “passport” that your group head would sign afterwards which you should keep for future runs. Only one signature per week thought is allowed.
You can sign-up before the start of the run
More pictures from last night’s run can be viewed here via takbo.ph on Facebook. For more information about aNR Philippines visit http://adination.takbo.ph/ or for the regional site visit http://www.adination.com/.
ROX has a free urban trail running clinic all Saturdays of November, 2009 from 3PM – 5:30PM. The route starts from ROX and goes though the Fort Bonifacio Army Camp, Fort Bonifacio’s Bike Circuit (Dirt Trail) and back to ROX. To register sign up at the 3rd level of ROX or email your name and contact number to rox.cs@promegrp.com.
Believe it or not, the Nike Run Clinic is still ongoing and is extended indefinitely. By this time the first batch should’ve finished but by popular demand the clinic is here to stay, so if you just got the running fever and want to join a clinic you may still do so by going to the PSC Arena (formerly Ultra) Tuesday nights or at Nike Bonifacio High Street Friday nights.
Last night was a very unique clinic session. I only got 1K total but it was one of the most enjoyable sessions of the clinic so far. The theme: relay.
It was the first time that all participants were able to run together regardless of gender, skill level, age, and all other factors. We had two “competing” teams, both composed of men and women. The runners were posted on two points on the oval 200M apart, one for each gender. The relay starts with the men running to the women’s post and vice versa, each time tapping his/her teammate waiting in his post until everyone in the group was able to run. The first round was 2 continuous sets but only 1 set for the second round as many were already “complaining.” It was quite interesting that nobody was complaining when we were doing much longer runs.
This session was great that all were able to do their sprints. It was a measly 600M run but it was a very fast run for all of us and I really enjoyed it. As for me I was only able to do a lap for my warm-up so I only managed to run a total of 1K, but at an as-fast-as-I-can pace (less the warm-up of course) so for a change I was able to do some speedwork and for once a GF405 was needless. There were a lot of interesting new things that we did last night, and I look forward to more sessions like this. Sessions like this really spice-up the clinic. Thank you to all the coaches!
Last night was another “Just do it” session, being somewhat similar to the previous session at Ultra. We thought that it was an “unloading” or recovery session based on what was listed on the Nike Run Clinic site. We started with some new routines so we thought that it was the course of the session but afterwards we were grouped again for the intervals. Here are my stats:
| Distance | Time | Pace |
| Warm-up 400M | 1:35 | 3:59 |
| Intervals 800M 800M 800M 800M 800M |
3:06 2:58 3:13 3:21 3:21 |
3:52 3:42 4:01 4:11 4:11 |
| 2000M | 9:48 | 4:54 |
| Total: 6400M |
I guess we went a little overboard with our times which were much better than last week’s. I think I even reached my 80-100% maximum heart rate (MHR) during one of the intervals.
Tuesday nights at Ultra
There was a large turnout of people again at Ultra last night (like in the previous weeks). This was just one view of the track.
I have a strong hunch on who might’ve placed this sign.
Insider Scoop
Due to the still increasing popularity of running in the country Nike Philippines may extend the duration of the Run Clinic. I’m not sure if I have the liberty of telling how long this “extension” is so it’s better to ask Coach Rio himself.
Like I mentioned on my blog last week, Nike Clinic was indeed featured on TV last Saturday on the show of Jessica Soho. Too bad that I missed it but I’ve heard it was just a short segment (so chances are our shots were edited out).
Nike still has some surprises up its sleeve—what it is remains a surprise even to myself (we weren’t able to coax Coach Rio to spill the beans) but if you’re itching to find out (like myself) better attend this Friday’s session at Nike Park BHS. If my flight wasn’t a few hours later I’d most likely be there.
That about rounds up my last Nike Run Clinic session at Ultra (for now). To my classmates whom I just got the chance to talk with last night, I’m pleased to meet you all!
Before I leave I’d like to thank Nike Philippines for this wonderful initiative we call the “Run Clinic” and of course all the coaches that bear with us every session, headed of course by Coach Rio. Thank you very much! I’ll surely miss this activity while I’m away.
“If you think running is difficult, stop thinking.” I could probably describe last night’s session with this quote. Just thinking about doing 5x800M with a pace of 3:45/800M ±15 seconds was tiring enough, so I just said to myself, “Just do it!” (Now I think I understand where Nike got this slogan.)
Together with some pace mates, I skipped the usual warm up easy run—we immediately joined the warm up routines, this time headed by Coach Rio himself. Curiously there was a video camera covering last night’s session and I’m not certain if it would really be shown on TV as Coach Rio declared (I don’t know if Coach was kidding when he said it would be shown on TV on Saturday). Thankfully we didn’t do the routines that probably won’t look pleasing on video, but for the first time we did running backwards—like in one of the training videos seen on the Nike Run Clinic website.
After the warm up routines we were segregated into groups: the newbies, intermediate, and the seniors (those that have stood the ages). About a third of the attendees were newbies—those that just joined quite recently. The seniors were actually those that have been with the Clinic for a while and those not really aiming for goals that the seniors (or advanced group) set were just grouped as intermediate. Only a difference of 1-lap (and a surprise 5-lap run) separates the intermediate from the advanced group.
The intermediate group did 4x800M while the advanced did 5x800M (800M is 2-laps). Our target time as I mentioned earlier was 3:45/800M ±15 seconds but since our group included running addicts our pace was considerably faster, especially during the first few rounds:
| Round | Time |
| 1 2 3 4 5 |
3:02 3:14 3:28 3:24 3:30* |
*approximately, I wasn’t able to record our time due to some “technical problems.”
We thought that after 5-rounds our activities are through so we took our time doing a lap of cool down walk but Coach Rio said we still have one task to do—surprise, surprise! We’re not done yet. A 2K (5-lap) run with a pace of 5:00-5:15/km (target time of about 10:00-10:30) completed our list of activities. Some in our group went way beyond the target time (8:30) while me and my pace mate finished at 9:52.
Total activity run: 6K
All groups were merged for the core exercises and stretching routines to end the session. Because of the lesser number of routines we had to do we actually finished the session at 8:55PM, a record.
Expect the coming sessions to be more intense. Personally I think it’s better not to know what’s in store for the next session: not thinking about it shuns the chance of skipping a session because of fear or laziness. Don’t think about it, just do it!
Yes I’m still keeping count of the number of sessions, and we’re more than halfway through the entire Clinic program. If you’re wondering why my posts skip a session it’s because I usually am not able to join the Friday sessions of the clinic at BHS (traffic going to Fort Bonifacio on Friday nights are always crazy).
To those who just recently joined the Clinic (about half of all the attendees last night were newcomers) I recommend that you join all sessions whenever you can, especially that the Clinic is more than halfway into the program.
Like in the past few sessions Ultra was again packed, mainly because during Tuesdays the Clinic shares the facility with Team Bald Runner. Like Nike, both Clinics have seen fast growth in terms of attendance over these past few weeks probably attesting on how fast this sport is gaining popularity.
Last night was a recovery session. It started with the usual warm-up. I was supposed to do 7-laps but in order to be able to join the drills I had to cut it to 6. The drills involved ankling, high knees, butt kick, Russian march, grapevine, skipping, and another new routine that I forgot the name. This was followed by a lap of easy run on the oval, and immediately succeeded by the second round of drills in turbo mode. Another lap was done afterwards, followed by core exercises, and a new and improved stretching session was introduced.
Our core exercises closely resemble what I usually do in the gym: crunches, leg raises, etc. One minor difficulty was that we don’t have mats (attention would-be sponsors) so we had to lie on the floor, thankfully it was padded to ease the pressure on our knees and elbows. And because of that my singlet looked like I used it to mop the tracks (lesson learned: wear dark singlets).
The new stretching session, a.k.a. spa session, required us to form a pair: one being stretched and the other assisting. In a way it really was like a day at the spa. If you’re mad at your partner you may take this opportunity to get back at them, but then again you’d swap places afterwards so it’s better to be nice. It’s one thing to stretch but having someone to help you do it is much better, like having a personal chiropractor.
The stretching session took a while so we experienced another lights out—just when we were trading places with my stretching partner, Chris. I felt a bit sorry for their batch because they didn’t enjoy the luxury of time; nonetheless I hope I did a good job in doing my part.
Garmins are becoming a norm in the Clinic as I saw more people wearing it, especially the Coaches. It’s hardly a fashion statement nor a gadget-fix—it’s almost a need. And it’s nice to have some people to talk to about our gadget.
To summarize here’s the breakdown of our recovery session routines:
Like the previous session, last night’s session was jam packed! For some reason the clinic just seemed to double its participants. Running must really be getting popular!
As usual we started with a 5 lap easy warm-up run around the oval (2K) followed by the routines. I arrived a bit late (a nasty habit) so together with some not-so-early-birds we were all grouped together for our own session of the drills.
The main set was 3 sets of 3 laps around the oval (3×3×400, 3.6K) with a 2 minute recovery between intervals and 400M recovery walk between sets. This session was the Ultra debut of my GF405 so I was able to log our times:
| Time | Pace (per km) |
Speed (km/hr) |
|
| Set 01 400M |
1:26 1:25 1:30 |
3:35 3:32 3:45 |
16.74 16.94 16.00 |
| Set 02 400M |
1:27 1:29 1:26 |
3:37 3:42 3:35 |
16.55 16.18 16.74 |
| Set 03 400M |
1:32 1:35 1:28 |
3:50 3:57 3:40 |
15.65 15.16 16.36 |
| 3.6K | 13:18 | 3:41 | 16.24 |
I had fun with my running mates even though the pace we were keeping wasn’t that easy. This is one of the things I love about the clinic: having running buddies. Surely anyone can run on their own but for the sake of improvement it’s much better to have a buddy (or more). We, the “seniors” of the clinic (those that were present since day one) were starting to know each other so we were all like students in a classroom having chats while resting (sometimes too much that the coaches had to call a timeout) and even during our cool-down routines jokes were being thrown so we’re all laughing while we’re doing our core exercises and stretching.
The core routines were back after being missing-in-action for a few sessions due to lack of time, a.k.a. lights out. We didn’t experience lights out during this session (even if we passed 9PM) so we were able to complete our core routines which were more challenging than before. Of course stretching was still there, but due to the absence of our beloved tarpaulin mats our elbows and knees took the toll (thank goodness for the rubberized surface). After the session was over, most of us looked like we wiped the floor with our shirts. Even my knees hurt (not because of running).
It’s another great run session at the Ultra continuing where we left off from last week.
Warming up was a bit of a problem for some as the temperature was mild. It takes a bit more time before our muscles get really warm and we perspired less, but this made running more pleasant. Like past sessions, it started with a warm-up run, 5 laps or a total of 2K, followed by some routines and stretching.
The 42K group had 3×4×400M, or 3 sets of 4 laps each, a total of 4.8K while the 21K group where I belong had 3×3×400, or 3 sets of 3 laps each, a total of 3.6K. Both groups had a 1 lap walk as rest in between sets. The other groups had 3×3×300M or 2.7K.
My summary:
Warm up: 5×400M (2K, 10:00 est.)
Intervals: 3×3×400M (3.6K, 14:00 est.)
Total: 5.6K
There was a surprisingly huge turnout of people at the Ultra during the session, not all of them are run clinic participants though (Ultra is not exclusive to Nike Run Clinic). Nonetheless, the coaches managed the crowd well and we got back to our respective groups for our program and continued our intervals. I missed some familiar faces and I saw a lot of new ones. The first time participants had a separate group so they still are “in the game.”
Sharing the tracks with so many people was very difficult but fortunately there were no collisions. We had to run in a very tight pack, most of the time occupying only lane 1. Imagine running at a pace of about 1:30 per lap with about 8 people all running on a single lane! The group pacer had to constantly shout “Lane 1 Please!” to alert people to clear the lane as we approach. These constant shouting actually worked to help us pass safely and also taught people some courtesy in using and sharing the tracks. Despite the volume of people on the track, our group managed a time of 1:38-1:26 per lap, give or take a few seconds to each member’s time as we were constantly running on tight packs.
Like last week we ran short of time before we got to finish our final routines so we only managed to do stretching—sans core again. Ultra has a “lights out” time of 9PM and since not everyone finishes their intervals at the same time, some finished their complete cool down routine, while some, like us, only had a portion. I hope that Ultra gives us a bit of an extension next time since our program intensity would increase over the next sessions so we may need more time (2 hours is too short especially now that the number of participants is increasing).
I’m really enjoying these recent sessions: maybe because we are starting to get to know each other, and maybe because we are improving. Maybe that’s also the reason that we find our 2 hour run session a bit short.
Earlier today Nike Run Clinic held its first LSD at UP Diliman. This was the first opportunity we had the chance to do so since there are no races this weekend, and what’s good with this special session of the Run Clinic was that it was open to everyone, and even included free Rush Fitness Water and Hidden Spring Mineral Water. Thank you sponsors!
I was delighted with this LSD because it gave me an opportunity to run not only with my Run Clinic classmates but also with my officemates and also some of my friends from takbo.ph. Surely it was a very pleasant change of pace and venue and hopefully this happens again during free weekends. And of course what I really liked about running in UP that you don’t get at Ultra or BHS (Bonifacio High Street) is having taho afterwards.
The LSD session started a few minutes after 6AM. It was still dark at that time and you can hardly recognize fellow runners so we had to wait a little to have some more light (the street lights were turned off early despite still being dark). We had all the freedom to choose our route but my running buddy and I chose to have an hour and a half run regardless of distance, in line with our goal of 21K race on March, hence we weren’t sure of our exact run distance (which was at least 10K).
Another thing I liked about this LSD was the presence of our Coaches which were patient enough to guide us in our stretching (we had special treatment because it was just my running buddy and I during our stretching).
Having a running buddy during an LSD is not required but is highly recommended. Running on your own for more than an hour could be very dull, especially when you’re running in loops, and it’s probably better to have a running buddy than a music player. Chatting with a buddy also keeps you aware of how deep your breathing is so you know if you should slow down your pace. This was actually my longest run time-wise but I’d choose this anytime over any few-minute treadmill run because of this “human factor.”
One misconception others have about LSD was that it involves running really long distances so some are intimidated to join one—it’s not! There’s an “S” there that stands for “slow.” The “long” part was just a by-product of running slowly (on your comfortable pace) for quite some time. It could also mean long time—however long or short you want to.
I enjoyed meeting all you guys today, you know who you are (too many to mention) and I hope to have more LSD sessions with you in the future!
Thank you for visiting!
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