BGC run was super...

The Bonifacio Global City Run yesterday just also made it to one of my fave runs this year.

I wasn't really planning on joining the run. I was decided that the Unilab Run United 2 would be my last run prior to the Singapore run. However, I changed my mind after Twitter buddy/running friend Marl asked me to join since he didn't have any company. Yes, I'm that easy. Hehehe! So while waiting for JB finish his errands the other Sunday, Marl and I headed to Runnr so I could register for the BGC Run.

Since I would be doing the 21K this coming weekend, I only registered for the 10K. Marl and his friend Matt also signed up for the same distance.

As I mentioned in my entry for Run United, I am beginning to notice the improvement in terms of endurance and speed in my running. I made a PR for my 15K in the Run United. I made another PR for my 10K in the BGC Run.

Prior to the start of the race, Marl and I were talking about our target times. He and Matt said they plan to finish at 63 minutes. I've done my 10Ks before and I said I'll probably finish at 70-75 minutes. Marl being Marl, he said I have to finish at 65. Hahaha! Me being me, I ignored him. Hehe!

So it was such a big and very nice surprise that when I was nearing the finish line, I saw the time on the clock was just approaching 1:07. That gave me the push that I needed to make a strong finish.

I crossed the finish line just before the clock hit 1:07. At least, that's what I remember. Hehe!

It was a really good run, and I have to say that the weather helped a lot in making me have a really good running time. Knowing that weather is a critical factor in one's performance during the race, I have to admit that I am fearing the weather in Singapore. During my visit there, I remember that I had to change shirts every so often because I was sweating a lot. You see, I have the most active sweat glands in the world. Haha!

I'm relying on the change in scenery/race course to be one of the factors that will help me stand the weather and give me the energy I need to finish the race well.

Going back to the BGC Run, this run was also one of my best ones because this has to be the first run where I didn't take many stops to hydrate myself. I think I stopped by a water station at kilometer 7. O di ba, ang yabang ko lang, di ba? Joke. Hehe! I'm just really happy that the training and gym time have really been paying off.

Another lesson learned: There is really no shortcut when it comes to fitness and losing weight. It took me a year to see the change and I'm just happy.

Okay, it's my last week to prepare for Singapore. I'm confident that I will finish the run. Hmm, I have a bigger problem more than wondering if I should target a 2:45 running time to complete the half-marathon.

It's whether to bring a camera while running. I'm such a freak when it comes to documenting events and the Standard Chartered Marathon is definitely one of the major, major (loll!) events in my life this year.

Hmm, what to do? What to do? If I bring a camera, I'm definitely going to sacrifice my time. If I don't bring a camera, then there's the big possibility that I just might have a really good running time.

Oh boy, decisions, decisions. So help me god. ;)

My Amnesia Girl na...

John Lloyd Cruz. Toni Gonzaga. I can't wait.

The height of irony...

My friend Francis shared this Youtube video with me.

What do you call the situation where the Prolife President yells, "Your mother should have aborted you!"

The height of irony.

A PR at the Run United 2: Because I thought you'd be at the finish line

Yesterday's Unilab Run will be one of my favorite runs of the year.

In addition to the PR (which I'm quite sure I was able to get), the run yesterday was different because it was the first time that I really felt the improvement in my speed and endurance.

Prior to this, the last run I joined was the Rexona Run at the SM Mall of Asia - my third 21K for the year and my 9th run for the year. After that, I sort of went into an unplanned break from organized runs.

The realization that I missed running outside of the gym came when I went to the Men's Health Urbanathlon run to cheer JB and Josef. Being at the Fort just before sunrise and seeing the hundreds (thousands?) of people all raring to hit the road was all that I needed to see that it was time to join a run again. (I also promised to join next year's MH Urbanathlon just to challenge myself with the obstacles.)

Thankfully, there was the Unilab Run United 2 was scheduled just after the MH Urbanathlon. It was the perfect run to get me back. I joined the Unilab Run early this year and I had a very good experience with it, so I knew that Run United 2 was going to be just as good.

Twitter buddies/fellow Rainbow Runners (hehe!) Jamie, JB and Marl also signed up for the run so that made it much more awesome. While running appears to be more of a solo sport, it is just way different when you're with friends. (I-vanchy, Jonjon and Cyp, I missed you guys!)

JB and Jamie, seasoned runners that they are, signed up for the 32K. Marl (who is just as an active runner as the two) and I signed up for the 15K. I thought of signing up for the 21K, but that distance was scheduled on a Saturday along with the 10K and the 3K. Sunday was for the 32K, 15K, 5K and the kids' 500-m dash.

The good things about how the run was organized. Since it was a RunRio event (and backed by a major private company), it was expected that the run would be well-organized. Add to that the not-so-cheap registration fee (P700 for the 15K...hehe!) so only the best was expected.

1.) Two run dates. I thought it was great that there were two run dates. The crowd was still huge, but at least runners still had their own personal space (most of the time). I heard that the Adidas KOTR was a nightmare because of the number of participants and because that was one of the more popular runs.

2.) A slight change in the route. I actually liked it that the first leg of the 15K route had a tiny, tiny difference with the usual race route. If you've been joining runs at the Fort, you start to become familiar with the route and it gets boring. From the usual starting point, the race course makes you turn right at the first corner. What the organizers did this time was to make people turn left. I don't know but that small change was something that I liked. Maybe because asking people to turn right would make the race course longer than 15K. I dunno but I liked it... even if the rest of the course was already familiar.

3.) Water stations galore. There were water stations at every 1.5KM. Water and Powerade were available. For the 32K runners, they even had a banana station. I think we all know by now how important these hydration stations are, so there's really no need to elaborate on this.

4.) The other bonuses. There were tons of product samples. When I registered, I got a small pouch with vitamin capsules and other products along with my race pack. When I got the finisher's kit, I got more product samples, a towel, a finishers' shirt, and bottled drinks. I wanted a medal as well, but only the 21K and 32K runners got medals. Oh well. There was also a Unilab Health & Wellness Village set up at the venue, which made the event more exciting for runners.

Okay, let's now go to my run.

I've always said that I am more of a recreational runner. Some people run to beat their previous run time. Some people join to win the cash prize. Some people go because it's the "in" thing. Some people sign up to be inspired (read: check out the hotties... hehe!). For me, my goal is to just cross the finish line in one piece.

So in my previous runs, I am conscious of my time but when I feel that my feet and legs are about to quit, I stop and walk. Sometimes, I enjoy the walking too much that it takes a while before I start running again. Hehe!

In yesterday's run, I still stopped to walk and catch my breath but the walks were fewer and shorter. As soon as I feel that my heart rate was going back to a "normal" but still pumped up beating, I start running again.

I took less water breaks as well, which I'm sure helped cut my time. I took my first drink just before the 6K mark and I really just quickly passed by the hydration station. A glass of cold water in one hand, a glass of Powerade on the other hand, and I'm off again.

It was also the first time that I was able to catch up with my friends during the race. Because I know that they're much faster, I would usually just see my friends at the finish line for the traditional post-run photo shoot. Hehe! This time, I was able to catch up with Marlon just before the 5K mark. I paced with him for a little while, but was left behind when my legs started begging to slow down. I was able to catch up with him at the 7K mark. And then the legs cried for mercy once again so I slowed down again. Hehe!

I saw JB along Bayani Road. We were going opposite directions and as soon as we crossed paths, we high fived each other and that pushed me

What else? Ah, because the route was already quite familiar, I knew where to begin decelerating and where to push myself again. The difficult part for me (and I guess for the other runners) begins with the entry to Lawton Ave going to Bayani Rd. The is uneven and is hilly. Because I knew and already anticipated where the descents and ascents would be, I was able to conserve my energy properly.

One more reason why I love this run is because of the very good strong finish. It's my best "finish" I have to say. At the 14K mark, I slowed down a bit so I can have energy for the last kilometer. When I made the turn to the finish line and saw that the clock had just started with 1:46, I mustered all the energy and made a dash for it. Marlon's target was 1:40. I teased him that mine would then have to be 1:50. Therefore, it was a very nice surprise when I saw that I finished 2 minutes before my target. It seems like a small thing, but 2 minutes is a lot of time when it comes to running. Hehe!

Afterwards, I met up with Marlon (who crossed at 1:40??) and our other friend Ros to wait and cheer for JB and Jamie to cross the finish line. We congratulated one another and had our post-run photo shoot. Hehe! Jamie and Ros then went ahead while JB, Marlon and I stayed behind to get breakfast.

It was the opening of the Mercato Centrale @ BGC that day so we decided to check it out. It was a very nice place and because it was the opening, we saw several celebrities - Marc Nelson, Paolo Bediones, Angel Aquino (who is super niceeeee!!!) and the new US Ambassador. This one's a whole other story though. Hehe!

Going back to the run, I can't wait to see the race results. I hope that I got my run time correct. I can't wait to see the Photovendo pics. I hope that the photos are good. Hehe!

And I definitely can't wait for Dec. 5. Because that will be the highlight of my runs this year - Standard Chartered Run... in Singapore, baby!!! :P It's going to be awesome!

Three breakups in a week...

Are the stars misaligned again?! In a span of one week, three couples have split up. Whattashit! (Well, one was almost a split up, but love prevailed. Okay, please excuse yourself when you barf. Hehe!)

It started last Tuesday night. I got a text message from a friend saying he needs to meet up with us to consult on something. I replied, "Okay, I hope you're okay." He replied, "No, Anj, not good."

So that night, we met up at the place of our other common friend and spent the next few hours listening to him and giving him our opinions on the situation.

Thursday, I read the tweet of the one-half of a power couple I know. I really thought they were doing okay, and I was actually happy for them because despite the differences they continue to be together.

But after reading that tweet, I had to ask another common friend if the two broke up and he confirmed it. Ugh! Sad. I wonder if that's the reason I've been seeing the other half at our weekend night party place.

Saturday, I got an SMS from another friend asking how I was. I said I'm good and when I asked him how he was, he told me that he got dumped.

Sunday afternoon until midnight was spent with this friend and another friend of ours. I told him I was at his service that day in support of what he's going through. We watched two movies, drowned ourselves in caffeine, good unhealthy food, and some bottles of SML. I hope that helped a bit.

Uhm, I'm a bit angry for him, because I know the guy who dumped him. Sus. Iyon lang.

I'm starting to wonder if breakups happens in threes? I hope not.

Meanwhile, there's also good news. One NBSB friend just got into a relationship. Woohoo! Congrats and best of luck!

10 Ways to Know when Yoga is Working for you. ~ Cherie Lathey

Came across this amusing list while blog hopping. It made me laugh. Haha!

Would you agree Bernice, Allen, Theena? :P

Found via elephantjournal.com.

You know yoga is working for you when:

1. You don’t have tantrum when your usual teacher can’t teach your class and you don’t know the cover/substitute teacher.

2. Your usual spot in class has been taken and you don’t give the unsuspecting person in it the hairy eyeball.

3. You no longer clock watch when doing your 5th Sun Salutation.

4. You don’t notice your toenails need painting in Paschimottanasana.

5. You no longer try to keep pace with “Mr./Ms. Go-Fast” practicing next to you.

6. You can miss your yoga practice without berating yourself or sticking pins in your eyes.

7. You no longer flick the V sign when someone cuts you up on the way to class (or, at least, not on the way home).

8. You don’t leg it to the toilet when your most feared pose is coming up (pose runner).

9. You no longer think about what you’re cooking for dinner in Savasana.

10. Your body no longer aches when you practice yoga, it aches when you don’t.

Ristras + CBTL + O...

Impromptu gimiks are the best, I have to say.

I wasn't really planning on doing anything yesterday evening. My plan really was just to go to the gym and hit the treadmill. I missed gym last Thursday, and I really should put in extra hours at the gym because of the upcoming 15K run at Run United and the 21K at the Standard Chartered Run in Singapura.

Kamusta naman?! The gym didn't push through. Hehe!

Minutes before it was officially a weekend, work colleague Steph sent out an email blast for dindin at Ristras, a newly-opened Mexican restau at the Fort.

I told her that I can just follow, but I ended up skipping gym and going with the gang. It was a good decision because traffic that night was just so bad.

It took almost an hour to get to the Fort from Salcedo Village. It's just crazy.

Payday + Friday night equals heavy traffic on a Friday night.

When we got to Ristras, Grace, Elgin, Arlyn and Ryse were already there and enjoying Mexican. The guys were nice enough to order for us so it didn't take long for our dinner to arrive.

What arrived at the table was the most humongous burrito I have ever seen in my entire life!

We got the Godzilla Burrito, which had all the good and the bad things in it. Hehehe!

The price I guess wasn't bad. It's P1,200 and it was good enough for about 7-8 people. The regular burrito costs about P300.

Aside from the burrito, the nachos with cheese dip and salsa was also good.

After that heavy dinner, we headed to McKinley Hill for dessert at Coffee Bean. We were originally planning to have some froyo at BTIC, but there were no seats so we settled for CBTL.

I was in a cab on my way home past 12 midnight, when I got a text from I-van. Edsel had invited us to go to O earlier. Since I was out with my work buddies, I gave him the standard unsure reply, "Text text." Hehe!

I called I-van and we ended up daring each other, "I'd go if you'd go." Hahaha! After cursing each other for ruining our respective schedules the following day, our phone conversation ended with him saying, "Okay, I'm heading home too to just change." and me saying, "I'll just shower and then I'll see you guys in a few."

Haha!

Around 1:30, I met up with I-van, Vic and Edsel at our usual gimik place. It turned out to be a really awesome because it was unplanned and we were just all happy to be there partying. Hahaha! We even met a new friend. It was crazy.

As usual, we left the place when the sun was about to rise. Haha! Just like that memorable nightout a couple of weeks ago, we capped the night with bfast at Rufo's. Woohoo!

One word for that night - epic!

Asian guy on The Walking Dead

I've been seeing some tweets about new TV series "The Waling Dead" so I decided to watch the pilot episode to find out what all the fuss was about.

The series was developed for TV by Frank Darabont and was based upon a comic book series of the same name.

Uhm, plot. Police officer Rick Grimes is shot and is brought into the hospital. When he wakes up, the whole world has changed literally. It appears like some kind of plague happened and the "normal" world has become a zombie world. Officer Grimes meets other survivors and they all start the quest for a haven away from all the zombies.

The series is not for the faint of heart (or stomach... Hehe!). Some scenes are extremely gory. I have to say the execution is really good though. I can imagine how painstaking the production process of each episode is.

After the pilot, I decided to watch the next ep and I have to say that what really got me interested was the introduction of Asian guy Glenn (played by Steven Yeun) in the series. Hehehe! I dunno if he'll be a recurring role or what, but the guy's pretty cool and cute. Haha!

Definitely looking forward to the next ep.

Haba ng hair ni Kurt...

Check out this number from Glee's upcoming episode 6 "Never Been Kissed."

Woohoo!!! Will Darren Criss who will play Blaine in the series be Kurt's boyfriend??? I guess we'll just have to wait for the episode and the entire series to see how their story pans out. In the meantime, Glee really is groundbreaking! I'm glad that the series is bold enough to include a gay angle in the storyline. Exciting.

I've been watching the clip and listening to the mp3 over and over again. Hehe! This is my first time to listen to Darren Criss.

Kung ganyan ba naman ang manligaw sa iyo, gow na! Haha! :P Haba lang ng hair ni Kurt.

MH Urbanathlon brekkie with Twitter buddies...

If Sunday afternoon was spent watching yoga practitioners do their best at the Yoga Asana Championship, Sunday morning was spent at the Bonifacio Global City to show some support for Twitter buddies JB and Sef at the Men's Health Urbanathlon.

It's been a while since I saw these two guys (and the rest of my Twitter buddies), so I made sure that I'd be able to go when JB invited the usual suspects to have brekkie after their run. I missed the guys.

It's also been a while since my last organized run (augh!). That's why I decided that I would be early at the Bonifacio Global City so I can see the run/extra challenge while it's ongoing and hopefully, I would get my groove back. Haha!

Another reason why I wanted to be there early is I can take photos of my friends running, as well as other runner who may serve as "inspiration." Haha! My trusted LX-3 Hanschen was with me to help achieve this. Haha!

Jamie and I waited for JB and Sef near the finish line. We got to see the two running and triumphantly conquering the last of the six obstacles for the race - the Wall Climb.

Waaay to go JB and Sef for finishing the race and for completing all six obstacles!

I was sort of kicking myself for not signing up for the race. I knew about that obstacles were part of the race. I guess I was just being too chicken about it. Haha! But after seeing JB, Sef and many others challenging themselves and winning, I definitely want to be part of the next Urbanathlon.

From the run, we headed to Seattle's Best where we spent a good few hours talking over breakfast. We were quite a large group - JB, Sef, Jamie, Me, Gelo, Fidan, JBC, and Ponch - so you can imagine all sorts of topics that were brought up. Haha!

Fun, fun get-together. I wish we had more of those, and I definitely would want to see these guys more often.

After the meetup with the boys, I had to head home and do a quick change before heading back to Makati for the yoga event.

At the Yoga Asana Championships...

I went to the Philippine Yoga Asana Championships at the RCBC this afternoon to be "inspired" by the dedicated yoga practitioners.

One of my resolutions for the coming year is to go to a studio, and I'm crossing my fingers that will happen. It's just that I have limited resources. A month's membership fee at some of the studios I looked at will give me three months at Gold's. We'll see, we'll see. Maybe I can combine both.

Anyway, going back to the event, this it the third year that the event is being held and it is my first time to watch it. I mentioned the event to fellow yoga buddies Allen and Theena, but I think they had prior commitments.

I arrived at RCBC 45 minutes before the start of the event just to make sure I got really good seats. Later on, I was happy to have arrived early because the Orchestra section was fully. I got to sit at the fifth or sixth (?) row of the orchestra center so that gave me a good view of the participants.

The rules of the competition are quite simple. Eeach participant must do thee five compulsory asanas and an additional asanas and the whole routine has to be completed in 3 minutes.

The five compulsory poses are Standing Head to Knee, Standing Bow Pulling, Bow, Rabbit, and Stretching.

Criteria for judging included the walk, movement, general appearance, gracefulness and performance of postures. The additional asanas were judged on the degree of the difficulty and performance.

The panel of judges were Bikram yoga teachers Rich Nichols, Ball Rattanapong and Yok Buakird.

There were 14 participants - 11 in the female division; ONLY 3 in the male division. That was a bit saddening. How come there were only three participants in the male division?!

Bikram Yoga Manila director Tristan Choa welcomed participants to the event, and he mentioned that the event was one way of spreading the gospel of yoga to a larger community.

Afterwards, the performances begin. Every time a participant walked to the middle of the stage, the whole room fell silent. Absolute silence was necessary since any noise or flicker of light or whatever could distract the participant and ruin the posture. But as soon as the three minutes is over and the participants stands up again and bows to the judges and the audience, there is tremendous applause in the audience. Family and friends of the participants cheered. I lauded the participants for just being able to complete the poses, for having the guts to challenge themselves.

From what I saw, many struggled with the Standing Bow Pulling. Jeez, that was really difficult and only one person was able to do it perfectly (and he's not even a participant. Tell you later who.). I was more excited about the two additional asanas because that was the "surprise." I was completely floored by the different poses that were performed.

Prior to the announcement of winners, the whole house was treated to a performance by Ball Rattanapong, one of the judges. The guy was a 4-peat(!!!) champ in the Thailand Regional Yoga Asana Championship. And yeah, he's the one who did the most beautiful Standing Bow Pulling. Gad, he's goood! I can only probably dream of of some of the asanas he assumed. I heard gasps of amazement from some of the audience, and I heard applause and deep appreciation from those who practice. Hehe!

After Ball's performance, the winners were announced. In the Men's Division, it was Dax Cobarrubias. For the Women's Division, it was Abigail Hasegawa.

I guess while it is a competition, the real competitor of each participant is his/her own self. Unlike other sports/fitness events like basketball or football where players are thirsty for the blood of their competitors even before the event has started, the Asana Championship did not have that air of competition in it. (Of course, I could be wrong. Hehe! But I believe that there isn't because that would defeat the purpose of the practice. Hehe!) I thought the participants were also there to help promote yoga to the audience, and I hope that it did.

I left the event feeling more inspired and more determined to continue with my practice. It seems to be improving. My Saturday hatha yoga class is a fave because our teacher goes around and checks on each one. Yesterday's class was particularly enjoyable because there were two binding/stretching poses I was able to do for the first time. Thanks to our teacher Pio for "pushing" me to achieve the poses.

“Yoga is not about doing what other people can do; it’s about understanding your own body and what it can do.” This is one of the things I read in a yoga blog I follow. And I believe it's true. If you think that yoga will require you to make headstands, splits or perform like a contortionist, it's not true. Those who do it do it because they know their body well enough and know that they can achieve it. Of course, you have other benefits aside from the physical - mental, emotional, and spiritual (if you believe in that).

You have to try it to find out for yourself.

Lanvin for H&M...

The H&M x Lanvin pieces are now available for viewing. Woohoo! Exciting.

This has got to be one of the most exciting and most anticipated collaborations this year. Too bad there's no H&M here in Manila. But to a certain point, I'm also glad there's no H&M here. Hehe! *wink wink*

From what I read, the menswear collection is composed of 25 pieces plus 10 accessories and the price range isn't that bad - from $24 to $240 (for a suit). That's definitely not your Lanvin price. Hehe!

The women's line, on the other hand, will include 30 pieces and 15 accessories.

I've seen the collection and I have to say the women's line is really yummy. The dresses are very Lanvin - ribbons, the print, the cut.

As for the menswear, there are only two pieces that I would probably buy - the shirt with a tiger print and the blue long-sleeved shirt. This doesn't mean the other pieces are fantab. They are. I guess the two items are the ones that I would really like. Hehe!

Check out the complete menswear collection with prices here. And the women's collection here.

Ooooh! The packaging is super nice, too!!!

The collection is set to hit H&M stores on Nov. 23. I'm sure there will be long lines and there will be fighting over pieces. Haha!

Beautiful monsters? :P

Uhm, I hope I don't get into trouble for posting this. Hehe!

So, here's the dance routine we did for the Halloween session of our dance class at the gym. :)

Beautiful monsters dancing to Ne-yo's Beautiful Monster. :)

You were just a dream...

The perfect song at this very moment.

(P.S. I super love these guys. Awesome Youtube stars)

Halloween at GG...

One of my fave classes at the gym is the dance class of former Philippine All-Stars member Reagan Cornelio. Thanks to gym buddy/officemate Engel for introducing me to the class last year.

Every Tuesday and Thursday night, you'd find me in his class. Hehe!

Two weeks before Halloween, Reagan told his class to come in costume for the Nov. 28 session.

For love of the guy, Engel and I (and several others) supported him and came in costume. It was really, really fun.

I wore my old scrub suit (which is now way biiig for me... hehe!). I thought of adding fake blood, but I didn't want any stains on the scrub suit. For sure, I'd still be able to use it in another occasion. Hehe!

Above are some of the photos from the class. I recorded the routine, but I'm not sure if I can post it already. Hehe!

Fun gym time.