Pinoy Trails: Trail 101 with Altra Running PH

Yesterday's run was spent with friends from UPNR who selflessly shared their expertise, knowledge and skills in trail running to participants who wanted to learn more about the sport at Wawa, Montalban, Rizal, headed by Mr. Pinoy Trails himself Mr. Jose Ramizares.

The event started at Ati My's backyard at the local community in Wawa, with a talk about the event, what to expect during the course of the actual trail run  after which the main speaker, one of the most successful ultra runner in the local running community, Master Jon Las Bruce shared his experience in trail running.

Lucky participants they heard it from  his first hand trail running experience the basics of trail running like gear preparation, a little of nutrition and hydration, how to manage uphill terrain and downhill sections and most importantly the leave no trace principle.  

The UPNR Members were readily available  to lead and guide the participants that were divided into  teams in  the actual trail run that passed through the VK Trail of RMR up to Parawagan Peak on a cooler sunny Sunday morning. A continuation of the short talk at the peak about Leave No Trace principle I can say was one of the most important  part of the event.

We as trail runners,  are merely visitors of the mountains and trails that we pass by, and that we should carry all trash that we have and should not peak or get anything that we see along the trail. After countless picture taking, the group went down and a lecture was continued at the Acacia Junction to show the downhill techniques.  

Back at Ati Mys backyard, the event ended with a mini socials after raffling off merchandise from Pinoy Trails, Amihan and Altra. 

Salute to the individuals behind this event, for it is through sharing that we can have more  responsible runners that will take care of oneself and most importantly of the environment too. We are one in our passion and together we learn and train.See you all in the trails runners. Hope you learn something yesterday.

Photo credit to Barok, Pinoy Trails 

Altra TIMP Trail - Be Seen in the Dark

I had my pair of lovely turquoise blue colored Altra TIMP Trail last year, but  I said I will reserve it for bigger race. I still have my favorite Altra Superior anyway. Until last weekend I decided to make this my partner in the trail. 

A right choice. With Cordillera Mountain Ultra's  hard packed trails, some rocky and rooty parts and paved road on the last part, the maximum cushioning of this shoes protected my aching left mid sole foot from my previous long  race.

I was just bouncing back and fort and flying on the 15km downhill part not noticing any pain that has been bothering me the past few days. The GaiterTrap™ hook-and-loop tabs provided attachment points for gaiters protecting my feet  from the pebbles and soil. That gave me less hassle in clearing my shoes from discomfort.

The weight-balanced from front to back with a 0mm heel-to-toe drop of this shoes encouraged low-impact landing most especially on the downhill parts plus the wide toe box allowed my  toes to spread naturally and move freely avoiding blisters on my feet.

The grippy rubber outer soles that comes with 4mm lugs and a trail rudder for mowing down all kinds of rough terrain was really perfect on the rocky parts of the trail.

And when it was just too hot and I just kept on pouring water on myself, the drainage holes in uppers help shed out excess water. I still have to test this on river crossings but it was already perfect at that moment.

And most of all, this pair  just gives me joy every time I looked down into it, I can see it glows in the dark, the 360° reflectivity helps keep me visible in the dark. Isn't that lovely?