Now at 73kg...

This was an unexpected surprise this morning.

Even though I went for Pump last night, I still managed to wake up this morning ahead of my alarm clock. I thought to myself that I meant to do a weight check. The main reason was to find out whether I have put on weight since I started WFH.

To be honest, I think that I don't get as much activity during the day now that my "office" is right next to my bed. But after this morning, I guess I still have enough activity after work that would allow me to say I have an active lifestyle. Hehe!

It's my first time in a long time to hit a 73.something weight. My main complaint before was that my weight is always between 74.4 to 76.6.

Hence, this morning was a nice once.

It was a good motivator for me to do a 30-minute run on the treadmill.

Next thing I need to do is check my body fat percentage (which I suspect is quite high). That is more important, I suppose.

Run, run, Wednesday...

Went for an easy run just now.

Another good thing to like about my neighbourhood, or SG for this matter, is that there is an abundance of space for health and fitness activities.

I've never been to an area where there is no access to a park connector, a park, a community centre gym, or some open space/field for activity.

When PG Boy was staying in Tampines, Bedok Reservoir was a fave area of mine for a morning jog. Now, that he moved closer to the city, there is a park connector near his place. Either that or we go to the gym.

At my own place, which is very ulu (haha!), there is a nearby park connector that gives me a good few kilometres to run and sweat a bit.

The first few times I decided to go for a jog/run, I was a bit experimental and I wanted to explore the neighbourhood. The result was me getting lost and surprisingly, ending up at the next MRT station. Haha!

Recently, I've been sticking to a more familiar path. I would usually go for anything between 5 to 6 kilometres. If I wanted to and if I'm not lazy, I can even go for a 10K.

I'm really grateful for these park connectors because it's a safe space for running, walking,jogging. By safe, I mean I can wear my earphones and I dun have to worry about being hit by a car. I also dun have to stop every so often to give way to crossing vehicles.

However, I do choose to skip the run if I get home around 8 or so.

The reason is I'm afraid of the dark. Seriously. While the park connector has lamp posts, it's still dark and there are very few runners/joggers by then. Also, the other side of the park connector is nothing but trees, trees and more trees. It does get eerie at night.

It's not that I'm afraid of being mugged. It's because my active imagination frightens me that someone or something might start running beside me and that someone or something is floating. Hahahaha! Afraidy Aguilar.

Ommmm....

I came across this amusing photo while browsing through my Instagram feed.

It's amusing, isn't it? Hehe.

For the past few weeks (months), I've been able to go back to practicing yoga at least twice a week. Luckily, the FF next to my office has 7AM classes, which is just perfect. Dun be surprised. The class size is usually around 10 or so people, which is just right.

When PG Boy was still in Tampines, I get to practice three times a week. I would drag him out of bed on Saturday mornings so that we can attend the 10AM Hot Flow at FF Tampines. He was quite happy with the class (so was I) because the teacher was very good.

Now that he moved to a new place, I must check the yoga classes in the nearest FF branch (which I think is One George?).

Hmm, I'm glad to be able to practice yoga again. It does help in one way or another. I get to know my body more. I wish I'm more flexible. I have difficulty with folding poses. LOL. But maybe in time, it'll get better.

As Caroline, the Hot Flow instructor at FF Tampines, would usually say, "Okay, you try today. And if you can't reach it today, that's okay. You try again next time. And maybe one day, you'll be able to finally do the pose perfectly."

Keep calm and ommmm on?

Abrasions...

When I showered this morning, I felt a sting right near both of my elbows.

Wondering what it was, I checked and that was when I saw that I had these abrasions.

The culprit: last night's Body Pump class. Haha!

In case you didn't know, this week is International Fitness Week in Singapore.

Fitness First has a series of activities to celebrate the event.

Last night's Body Pump class was a special edition.

In addition to the usual one-hour class, there was another 40-plus minutes of core strength exercies.

I've been attending Body Pump for quite a while now. It was Ian who intro'd me to the class. I was telling him how I'm too lazy to lift weights or use the machines when I'm at the gym. He reco'd I attend Body Pump.

Since then, I've been trying to attend at least one class each week. It's not enough, but better to have one than none at all. Hehe!

Anyway, the abrasion wasn't from the Body Pump class but from the core strength. I'm sure of that.

We spent almost the entire time on the mat in plank position.

Endorphins plus adrenalin plus feeling very tired (or very happy?) equals not noticing that I had the abrasions. Hehe!

Oh well, last night was definitely a good workout. The abrasions are nothing.

Playmates wanted... hehe...

I-van asked me to post the message below, and because I'm a good friend, I'm doing as requested. Haha!

=== Looking for badminton playmates--Makati area on Wednesday nights. And Mandaluyong/Makati areas on Sat/Sunday afternoons. Any takers? ===

So it seems like badminton will be added to the list of fitness activities this year (or at least for now). Tugs tugs/running buddy I-van invited to play badminton last week, and kaldakarin that I am, I said yes. Haha! (Talk about giving the term "drag queen" a new meaning.)

We had our first game last week at the badminton court near in PRC. Edsel and Nico didn't get to go because of work. Victor was still in Oz. There was still good attendance though because Arthur and Luis joined us. I think the workout and all the sweating came from all the laugh trip rather than the actual games. Hehehe!

Sunday was more serious though. I-van invited to play, and naturally, I said yes. Everyone else was busy. I don't know if the fact that it was a Sunday and that we set the game at 2PM had anything to do with the non-attendance. Hehe!

I invited Marl, Alonzo, Josh, Kit, Adrian, Nico but they all had engagements. Luckily, I-van found another player - Andre - from a "place" one would not really expect to get badminton players. Hehe!

There was still the issue of the fourth player. Hmm, I-vanchy and I decided to just go ahead with the game. We were confident that we would find a fourth player when we get to the badminton courts. Haha! Friendly becks naman kami, eh.

So from Pioneer, we went all the way back to QC to meet Andre. We fetched the guy along Timog before heading to the courts across ABS-CBN.

The gods were smiling at us, because Andre's friends were there. The issue of the fourth player was immediately solved. We met Sonny, Niño and another guy whose name now escapes me. It really is a small world because Niño remembers me from UP Diliman. He was doing his undergrad. I was doing graduate school. Haha!

Not to mention that there were a number of cute guys, and a number of becks as well. Haha!

So we got to play for about two hours. Would have played longer, but I had to go to Makati. Still, I'm thankful that I-van and I decided to go ahead with our badminton plans even if initially, there's just the two of us.

Lesson learned. Persistence.

If interested to join, let's come on.

Bringing out the boxing gloves and the hand wraps again...

In one corner of my room sits a black mesh bag with a pair of red boxing gloves. Hidden under a pile of shirts which I have to give away is a pair of neatly rolled blue hand wraps.

The last time these two have been brought out was in 2008 when I tried to get into boxing at Elorde. But I was unable to sustain that and both were almost forgotten.

Yesterday afternoon, I found myself digging for the hand wraps and wiping away the dust that has gathered from the mesh bag of the boxing gloves.

Earlier during the week, good Twitter buddy Marl invited me to join him, Ros and Jamie in their muay thai training. Marl and Jamie have been doing muay thai for quite some time now, while Ros is a fellow newbie.

Good thing that I didn't have anything scheduled yesterday afternoon. At 4PM, I was at this building on the corner of Sta. Catalina and Banawe in QC making my way to the third floor.

It's the home of Sarreal Boxing Gym.

When I got there, the guys have already started with their warmup. They were jogging around the gym. Sarreal gym appears to be a good boxing gym. There's enough breathing space for the boxing ring, the drills, the training activities, and for resting. Hehe! The restroom/shower area was small but it was clean and decent.

After putting my stuff in one of the shelves, I joined Marl, Ros and Jamie.

What followed after was four hours of intense workout!!!

The warmup activities already gave me a good stretch. Afterwards, trainer Gomer taught me and Ros the basic moves. This was then followed by sparring inside the ring. I've almost forgotten how grueling it can be, even if it's just three minutes of sparring. Haha!

Jab left, jab straight, kick. Some of the instructions given by Jomer. Good thing I did boxing before so I was a bit familiar with things.

After the first round, I had to sit down and catch my breath. Ros, Jamie, Marl and I took turns sparring with Gomer. The guy is made of steel. He doesn't tire at all. Hahaha! Peaceful and compassionate person that I am (may ganon talaga?! LOL!), I didn't want to kick him with much energy because I was afraid of hurting him.

But after seeing how Jamie kicked with so much power and energy, I started to think that Gomer probably enjoys the feeling of another person's shin landing on his thigh. Masochista lang. Or maybe he thrives on feeling pain. He is a fighter after all. Haha!

In the next two rounds that followed, I tried to punch hard and kick harder. It hurts! Haha! And it requires focus, I had to keep reminding myself to pivot my non-kicking leg and I had to keep the kicking leg straight and pointed.

We started with our training a few minutes past four. By the time we got to my favorite part - the post-workout stretch - it was already close to eight in the evening. Wow, I didn't expect the whole thing to last that long. I certainly didn't expect myself to last that long. When we were doing the drills and the abs routine, I was already dead tired. Hehehe!

For surviving the initiation, I rewarded myself with a good dinner, gelato and a foot massage. Haha! I was able to drag Marl to go with me. Unfortunately, Ros and Jamie had to go ahead. I have a feeling we will do it again very soon.

So that was my baptism into the hall of pain (as Jamie calls it). I loved it. I still have a looong way to go with my form and movement, but I think I had a good start. And I will definitely go back for more pain. Haha!

Unilab Run: 2nd 10K for 2010

I ran the Unilab United Wellness Run yesterday and it was super!

That's my second 10K for 2010, and I'm really glad that I did much better compared to my Condura run. Haha!

My time for Condura was around 1:20. Yesterday, I made sure I checked the time board when I reached the finish line and I clocked in at 1:13:45 or so. Not bad, huh?! Still, I want to do a sub-60 for a 10K. Hay.

What made the difference? I didn't bring a camera with me. Wahaha!

Friend I-van also joined the race (actually, it was him who got me to sign up) and he did the 21K (again)! Woohoo! Galing! We met up after he crossed the finish line and then we went around the area to check what gimmicks the Unilab people prepared.

A Wellness Village was set up with mini-villages - Men's Health, Women's Health, General Adult Health, Senior's Health and each one had their own engaging activities that promoted wellness. Hehe! Together with Ivan's friends, we went to the Ceelin photo booth and had our souvenir photos taken. Haha!

There were also a lot of freebies given away. We just didn't get any because we didn't get the Village Passport that we were supposed to use for claiming stuff. Oh well, it was okay.

The race was well attended. It's not as crowded as the Century Tuna Superbods Run (that's what I heard). And there were sports personalities/celebrities present that drew the attention of the crowd. Hehe! Some of those who ran were Aga Muhlach, Carlos Agassi, Rovilson Fernandez (or his lookalike?), and Akafellas DJ Myke. During the post-event program, I saw John Lloyd Cruz, Diether Ocampo, Dingdong Dantes, Ryan Agoncillo. Sports celebs Akiko Thompson, Monsour del Rosario, Norman Black and the Alvin Patrimonio were also there.

When I saw from afar that Alvin Patrimionio was in the event, I really forced myself to walk to Ivan's car to get the camera and walk all the way back to the event venue just so I can have my photo with the guy. As mentioned in a previous blog post, I've been a fan of the Captain for the longest time. I've waited more than a decade to see him up close. There was no way I was going to let this photo op pass. Hahaha!

Going to the run itself, big congratulations to the Unilab group for having a well-organized run!

There were large kilometer markers, directional signs and other directional paraphernalia to guide the runners. Marshals were deployed throughout the course. Water and 100 Plus stations were located at almost every kilometer. Thank gawd for this! Haha!

The race started on time! Perfect. FF instructors led the runners in doing pre-run stretches. Proper race briefing and countdown were also done.

There was no line at the finish line! This was one of the major mistakes at the Condura Run. There was a long queue at the finish line so when you actually get to cross the line, you'd have already spent several minutes standing and waiting for your bib to be tagged and collected. The result? More minutes on your recorded run time.

The claiming of loot bags was also very easy, because several tents were setup for each distance category. No long lines and the claiming was fast.


All in all, the race/run seemed to have gone smoothly and without any major issues. So congratulations, congratulations to Unilab! :)

P.S. The only thing I'm wondering about now is how come my name isn't on the race results released just this morning. So is I-van's. Nyerks, what happened?