Embracing Everyday

Went to Ateneo today to try out their Indoor Oval and in-house gym. I was feeling melancholy this morning because I am supposed to be in Cebu instead of here.

It was around 2Pm and I wanted to do some speedwork for my run today. After which, I used the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center gym on the first floor of the complex. It’s also a start for me to familiarize myself with various gym equipments – it would help in my Personal Training review.

Going back, after my speedwork in the track oval – I went straight to the gym. Lo and behold the receptionist was around 140lbs and munching on a Large serving of McDonald’s-oh-so-healthy French Fries and playing a yahoo game on the computer.

"Hi! Do you have daily rates for the gym? For walk-ins like myself?"

"Good afternoon mam, sure, it’s P300 per visit."

"Okay, here’s P300."

It was 245PM when I got there, and it was mostly kids who were working-out/checking their iPods/constantly checking themselves in the mirror. I can almost smell the aura of what you may call "teenagers thinks they’re all-looking-at-me-I’m-so conscious syndrome".

I was already sweating when I entered the gym and went straight to the free weights area. I was just barely beginning my circuit arm workout when… "BANG!" – the lanky kid beside me just threw the dumbbells on the floor… Alright, this is why I disliked working out at gyms in the first place.

Next, I went through most of the machines on hand. There were just a few – but it targeted the muscle groups that I was aiming for… And there were a couple of girls that I saw that looked hesitant to use the machines. I think they were too shy to look like that they didn’t know what they we’re doing-but-they-really-didn’t-know-what-they-were-doing… And then after I finish using a machine one of the two girls will use the machine that I used… I didn’t mind. I was tempted to teach them how to use it. But, I didn’t want to step on the shoes of the trainer’s on the gym floor.

After a shower and a very nice workout. I went to Ton-Ton’s Thai massage over at Congressional Avenue in Quezon City. I thought there were other massage options – I was in dire need of a Sports massage – but, they only offered THAI MASSAGE, what else? P250 for a whole hour of Thai body massage.

I reluctantly said, "I’ll have the whole body massage then."

An hour passed and I must say that I am now a fan. Cherry, my masseuse, targeted all the pressure points that has been stressed out by the Milo run, U.P. run, Sky run , Moro speedwork and Gym workout for that week.

I heard mass in the evening too. The gospel was about Faith. And it’s high-time I let go of my anger and have FAITH. It was the icing on my cake for that day. I felt energized and renewed. As soon as I got home, I booked myself a flight to Cebu for tomorrow afternoon. Time to see D.

I ran 6K for 35 mins and 7 secs.

Aside from running now, I still do boxing 2 to 3 times a week when I’m not running. When I trained for boxing – I read a lot and trained like a man. I can work out 2 hours straight with circuit weight training and boxing exercises with just 30 seconds rest in between. But, it does gets into a point where I got burned out with the training. As much as I’d like to spar with other women and take it to the next level. I chose not to – our gym has sponsored fights and I haven’t seen women boxing that didn’t come out in a sort of “cat fight”. When I do choose to spar competitively – I want to be friends with my competitor. I think ego gets into the way.

Now that I’m training in running. I have a personal goal of beating my speed against the distance ran. I don’t have to have someone beat me. I chose to just push myself to beat ME.

D joined me for my run yesterday. But he just did 4K and some plyometric exercises and horsed around with Sky as usual. A glimpse:

Sky’s been imitating us when we exercise. When he does his squats and ab exercises too! As parents, we become the best that we can be and be a great example for our children.

I was sore from a 5km run yesterday afternoon. I had a hard time sleeping in the evening. Must be from the adrenaline! So today, I didn’t do anything physical – I didn’t want to overtrain – since I’m just beginning. My time yesterday was 31 minutes for 5km. I don’t have a Garmin or a Polar yet. I just use my Timex watch to time my run and I just know the distance by measuring it with my car! Hahahaha… I figured, I’ll buy a Polar or a Garmin after 2 months of consistent training. First thing is to get a good pair of running shoes.

After the businesses I had to do today – and in between horsing around with Sky – I WAS GLUED TO THE INTERNET and I was just voraciously finding websites and articles on RUNNING.

And because I just registered for the 5k run at The Fort, Taguig City on June 29, 2008 for this event:

I have 18 days to train before this event. D doesn’t know about this one yet. But I know he’ll be ecstatic!…What am I thinking?

I’ve recently found a new joy: RUNNING. I’ve ran before – however, this time around it gives a different joy altogether. I haven’t met any other runners yet. But, I did stumble on The Bull runner’s blog through my searches of list of races  in The Philippines for 2008.

Her blog is a heaven sent! She’s a certified running addict and she’s a hot mother of two! And I just found out that there is a Mizuno Infinity Run this coming June 29, 2008, which will be held at The Fort, Taguig. I’m still wondering how to apply online? Do I email them the registration form I downloaded?.. I think, I’ll just give them a call in the morning to know I can go about it.

I don’t have so much “lady” shoes lately. And my sport shoes:  2 mid-cut boxing shoes, sailing shoes, aqua shoes, booties and several rubber shoes.  The several rubber shoes that I have are “retiring” – one by one – since they all have been worn-out. I’ve been religiously using my last pair of very good rubber shoes for boxing and running. Alas, I checked them out this afternoon – and I thought – it’s time to buy a new pair.

Past rubber shoes brands, varied from Adidas, New Balance and  Asics. Now that I think about it, I actually just buy a pair for the fit, the style and the budget. This time around, I believe this calls for extensive research (a certain pair might make me run faster?) and time for window shopping before making a purchase. 

I hope I can buy one within the week. My feet needs it.

I measured the Manila Memorial Oval again – and it turned out to be 2km in distance if you run once in that loop. And all the while WE all thought it measured 2.5km! Oh well! I hope I can join the Milo Marathon elimination in August!

My sister in in Vegas, recently joined a running club, she’ll be training for a 10k marathon dedicated for fire fighters on August of this year and she’ll do a half marathon in December of this year. I think I’ll go right ahead and train with her! Only I’m halfway across the globe. I’m kick started my fitness regimen with trail biking in Mindanao and I went boxing last Saturday and ran for 6km yesterday… Which got me thinking… Maybe, I’ll join the Milo marathon this coming August 2008. I did a 10km marathon back in 2001. I think I’ll do it again this year, before WE get pregnant again.

That’s my main purpose of working out like crazy now – I want to be fit when we start with baby no. 2. Hopefully, within this year 2008.

D and I did some trail biking in Mindanao. This is a video from his point of view. He strapped the Digital camera on his shirt with masking tape! This is actually for Erwin’s viewing pleasure – Enjoy

Before I write about you know who – I’ve just been having a blast with using Windows Live Writer – as you may have noticed I’ve been playing around with fonts, colors, etc… And I can write even if I’m not online. If you want to start a blog – this is a nice software download to use…

And guess what? I started running again! I’ve been out of shape for the past 3 months. I didn’t have time to squeeze in exercise with the wedding and the unending family dinners and all. So, now that everything has mellowed down and I’m back to my old routine again – I can  work out again. And this is in preparation for baby no. 2! I’d like to be in best shape again before we try to get pregnant – hopefully when Sky turns 1 1/2 years old.

But you know what? I don’t think I’d need to exercise too much. Sky’s been walking and running around crazy these days. Yesterday, D had a flight and Ate Ging was going to be off for two days. So, it was just Sky and me FOR 2 DAYS STRAIGHT.

So, what I did yesterday was meet up with my folks at Megamall – and I just made Sky WALK and RUN the whole day.

By the end of the day, WE we’re both pooped… And today, Sky and I went to Festival Mall – we had a “date” – we rode on the train, played arcade games and laughed all day. And as soon as I placed him in the car seat – he was long gone to Dreamland! It was too dark to take a photo. But, here’s a recent photo of him – PLAKDA, in his car seat in daytime.

He’s fast asleep now as I type away. I’ll need to get some rest too. It’s a brand new day tomorrow!

For starters, I was already working out before I got pregnant. However, I was more diligent with my exercise routine and food intake while my tummy got bigger.

After giving birth, squeezing in exercise was almost impossible. But, here are some tips on how I did it.

• If you’re a stay-at-home-mom; don’t get household help or a nanny for the first 6 – 10 months of your little one’s life. Do everything yourself.
• Eat something small and healthy every 2 – 3 hours. Yoghurt, raisins, apple, etc…
• Give in to chips and that sweet, moist chocolate cake once or twice a week. You deserve it. Just one slice though.
• Prepare and plan your meals as much as you can. Avoid anything “instant” or “fastfood”.
• PLAY with your baby for at least two hours a day. Jump with him or just show your little one how to jump!
• Put him on his stroller and go running with him for 30 minutes straight. It’ll be a fun rollercoaster ride for him and a great workout for you.