30-Day AB Challenge

Found this yesterday. And since it is exactly the right day to start, my daughter and I would like to try this challenge. And we are done with our first day last night. So far, so good. I just hope that we can finish this and good results will follow. You can try it too. 

Zumba Fitness Party @ Circuit, Makati

It was all worth it!

It was raining hard last Saturday afternoon when I commute to Makati for the rescheduled Zumba Fitness Party. I don't have anyone with me to attend the event. I am wet, alone and hungry. Plus I have this doubt that the event won't push through. I told myself better be there and be told by the staff face to face that the party was canceled than wonder all afternoon at home and be bored to death. 

I arrived at the site an hour earlier than the scheduled start. There are few people there including some participants, others are staff of the event. Then I saw around 10 people being busy securing the place dry. They repeatedly wipe floors amidst the downpour of rains. After I change for my 'zumba' attire I found a place to sit (at the dance floor) and read The Casual Vacancy from my cellphone (since it seems that everybody knew somebody at that place except me). Actually, I am meeting one of my friend (and her friend) but she will come from Imus pa. And honestly, with the traffic due to rains I am pretty sure they won't make it. And they didn't.

me, the stage and a few early birds like me

our waiting situation

Alas! By 5:30 PM the party started. The instructors were introduce and everybody was excited. It was a 2-hour continuous zumba dance party. Of course, if you are feeling tired or thirsty you can get off the dance floor and drink your water or the unlimited Carbtrim Lemon Tea offered at one of the booths at the event.

the instructors were introduced

I am somewhere there...find me!

this is the 'free-style' partying the instructors do

I guess, it's about an hour and a half when I took a time off, drink some Carbtrim tea and lots of water, took photos from the Carbtrim photobooth and in time to find my husband waiting for me. 

It was a fun night. The routine was perfect. The instructors are very good. I had a good time. And since I had my friends' extra tickets I took home 3 lootbags with a year supply of Carbtrim (kidding!). There's also some raffle games but I did not win.

  Looking forward for the next Zumba Fitness Party!

37th National Milo Marathon

Last Sunday, July 28, I earned my first Milo Marathon certificate. I ran under the 5K category. The official race result has not come up yet so I can't tell what is my official time. But I doubt it that I will beat my best time of 47:14 last Energen Family Run. The running track was too crowded. Under 5K alone there is around 29,400 participants. 

a small portion of the crowd/participants

There was a different track for the 10K, 21K and 42K category. Most of the photographers are on their track (sadface). And they were provided with mineral water and gatorade at their drinking station. We were supplied with a cup of water from pitchers. Well, we were there for the experience and goodwill. We only paid P100 and P10 from the registration fee will go to the Milo charity. All is well since we are after the running experience and the certificate.

me and my certificate

And of course, as long as you are with friends everything was fun.

And I am with my ever supportive husband.

See you on the next run.... :-)

Blame It On the Rain

I never been fond of rains. I grew up believing (my mother) that raindrops are dirty and dangerous. In my younger years, my siblings and I watched our cousins bathe in the rain from our windows since we are not allowed  to do what their parents allowed them to do. My mother perpetually told us that we will get sick if we go out in the rain. And I believe her. Growing up I never like the rain. I hate it when my feet or my shoes got wet from rainfalls, bringing an umbrella was also a big (and difficult) task for me, the road becomes muddy, the long traffic and it's hard to commute when it rain. To put it simply, RAIN GETS IN THE WAY OF MY LIFESTYLE! Rain dampens my mood. I don't go out when it rain to the point that I miss (deliberately) attending appointments and even school or work.  Just this year three of my most anticipated event was cancelled because of the rain. 

We are scheduled to hike at Mt. Pico de Loro last April but a thunderstorm happen. It was supposed to be our last hurrah for the summer. But mountains and lightnings are not a good combination. I guess the mountains will have to wait for us next year. 

And eversince I fell in love with zumba last year, I am looking forward to an event where I can dance and enjoy the company of friends and strangers apart from the usual gym where I frequent. And last May 26, Brainbox and Zumba Philippines organized a Zumba Party @ The Park to be held at Bonifacio Global City. My superfriends and I were so excited and arrived early at the event place. Alas! The rain pours forcing the organizers to cancel the party. Good thing, and I just learned this week, the event was rescheduled on August 3 at a different venue. It will be held at The Circuit, Makati. 

Finally, the third event is the Robinson Fit & Fun Buddy Run supposed to be held last June 30 at Bonifacio Global City. Me and my running buddy Tinay registered at the 5K category. Of course we are both excited for this event since it's our first buddy run and we heard that the organizer give away lots of grocery items as a treat. And, as you may have guess, it rains. Not just a trickle of rain but the whole Metro Manila and most part of Luzon is under Storm Signal No. 2. To ensure our safety, according to the organizer, they have to postpone the run. My friend Tinay traveled from Batangas, her hometown, only to find out, when she got to Manila, that the event was cancelled. What a bummer, right? Nevertheless, the run was rescheduled this August 10. 

I know that it seems everything goes well in the end. That is if the rain won't dampen the occasion...again. I'm sorry if I am being peevish here. Don't blame me...blame it on the rain.

P.S.

I will have my first Milo Marathon this weekend (July 28). I hope the weather will be kind and let me earn my first Milo certificate. I pray and hope that the rain won't come and let me run and enjoy the moment. 

Energen Family Run

We had a blast from the last fun run we did. It's the Energen Family Run held at Bonifacio Global City last May 26, 2013 for the benefit of Bantay Bata. (Yes, this is a late post. One of the many that will come because work is getting in the way of my blogging.) My friends and I run the 5K category and I finished at 46:14, my best so far. 

We enjoyed the run. It was a well organized event. The route was easy and clear, plenty of water stations, enough marshals and the event host was funny. 

There were game booths and photo booths. Giving out of loot bags are organized too. What I enjoyed most is watching the 500M category for young boys and girls. They are so cute.

a 500M runner

They raffled off 10 Ipad Minis for all the categories and a PS3 for the kids. We are not lucky enough to win anything but the experience is enough to make our morning perfect. 

we take photos at the photo booth even before the race start...priorities!

the loots, I had a whole week of Energen breakfast

the running me!

Kudos to Energen and we are looking forward for the next run.

Puchu-Puchung Fun Run

Puchu-puchu - a slang word use to describe a mediocre performance.

That is how I would describe our recent fun run via 'Huling Hirit sa Tag-Init sa Kyusi' held at QC Circle. The run was organized by Blue Concept. It was poorly organized. Maybe they lack in promotion because the participants are less than fifty. Registration fee doesn't include singlets. They gave us a bib without a timing chip, so we don't have a way of knowing our official time. The claiming of the bib was done on the actual date of the event. Both 10K and 6K category run at the same time. They gave awards to the 10K top finishers but not on the 6K category. I never made it to the top, of course, but I know that two of my friends did. There were few booths for the sponsors. They gave away puchu-puchung finisher shirt too. But I like the finisher medal. I clock in at 55 minutes for the 6K category, by the way.

Nevertheless, I was with my friends and my husband. We just made the most of what was laid in front of us and enjoyed our time together. 

And here are my loots....

Running Improvement

I did it again! I done and finished another 5K run last March 24 at the Quirino Grandstand. This is for the benefit of the OFW, our modern day heroes. My race result is not something to brag about, but it's a personal best compared to my previous run. 

my official time is 47:54 (my last run result is 54:24)

The important thing is my friends and I enjoyed the event. We did something healthy for ourselves while doing something good for the beneficiaries of the event.

the goodies 

finisher shirt, bib and medal

My running buddies agreed that we will join another run this April via NatGeo but it will be on 10K category this time. I am kinda scared that I won't finish the race. I don't know if I'm still alive before reaching the finish line (kidding). Then I read this article from Yahoo:

5 Surprising Tricks To Help You Run Faster:

• Work out if you associate or disassociate

• Listen to Bon jovi
• Eat Beetroot
• Run slower
• Jump more

I don't know if I will take this tips seriously but it won't hurt to try. Besides I really want more improvement in my running. Good luck to me.

Oh!...Shucks!!!

It just occurred to me that I missed the Earth Hour last March 23. My family and I never failed to join this WWF organized event to show our support in raising awareness about climate change. We participated by turning off non-essential lights for 1 hour. Even if we are the only house participating in our neighborhood we do it anyways. And I missed it last Saturday. I texted my sister if they participated last Saturday and they did. I think I slept it through. You see, I am not feeling well this past couple of weeks and I can't slow down to take some rest since my schedule is full. I only have a half of Saturday free to take a rest and I guess I used it well and woke up early the following morning for my fun run and the Earth Hour completely forgotten. Until today. 

I know it's not a big deal but I feel that I owe Mother Earth something for missing the event. (Drama!) And as a retribution I will commit myself to run 10K for the NatGeo: Earth Day Run 2013. I halfheartedly said 'yes' to my friend Dinah when she told me that we will run 10K this time for the NatGeo Fun Run since I don't think I can do it. I may be dead by the time I reach the finish line. Finishing 5K was my greatest achievement and I don't think I can top that. But as she said I had to push my limits. Sigh.... It is settled then. It's 10K this time. I'll be bringing my daughter, too. And some of my office mates to make the event more fun. Feel free to join here. 

My First Fun Run

Finally I had my first  fun run last February 17 via PhilHealth Nationwide Run. This is a simultaneous run in 18 sites across the nation for the benefit of The Philippine Children's Medical Center and Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital. Hence the event title: Nationwide Run for Mother and Child Protection. We almost didn't make the registration. We decided to join 4 days before the event. The singlets are already sold out and online registration are already closed. We only paid P100.00 for the registration since we are only getting a bib and certificate. I attempted to finish the 5K event...and I did. Gun start for the 5k event is on  5:45am. We were pretty early so we did some picture taking first.

And soon the race begin...

at the starting mark before the gun start

the 5k runners

As I said before, I am not athletic. My husband thinks I'm fragile, I think I'm clumsy. So as the run begins I let my friends go ahead and not wait for me. To reiterate, this is a fun run, not a race. And I'm sure that I can never outrun anyone of them. So I run and I walk and run and walk furthermore. I am more like walking than running. For the first few meters I am already looking for the water station. I know my friends are way ahead of me but I don't care. As long as I will finish this race, it's an achievement already. So when I saw the U-turn marker for the 5K runners I almost jump for joy (but I was so tired, so I didn't).

I finished 5K at 54 minutes and 24 seconds. My husband told me it's not bad at all. Bolero! I know my record is too bad.

Afterwards, we gather our certificates and visit various sponsor booths for some freebies.

And take more pictures...

Here's my certificate and bib...