My husband lost his maternal grandmother last Sunday. Although we were only related by affinity, I treated her like she was my own grandmother and I felt like she sincerely treated me like one of her own grandkids.
Lola has always been supportive of my running. Since I started to run in the compound, she was a witness to the beginning of my serious addiction to the sport. She would see my everyday passing by her house even as late as 10pm. After running, I would pass by to have a short conversation with her before I hit the showers. There were times I would hang out in her place, all geared up and ready to run but would be too engrossed in chatting with her that I would procrastinate running to another day. But she would have none of that 🙂 She would kick me out of her house and promise me to tell me her stories after my daily run. This quickly became a routine to both of us.
Unfortunately, I found myself looking for another venue for my running since compound running wasn’t fueling my addiction and I became hungry for a more challenging environment. I then started running in UP, Ultra (outside and on the track) and Fort Bonifacio. These new running venues satisfied my need to provide myself different courses to try and improve my pace in different scenarios. However, I did miss chatting with Lola immediately after or before running. I still continued to visit her as soon as I get home from training but she would almost always be sound asleep and although she would always tell me to wake her up, I knew she needed to rest so I rarely trouble her with my visits.
I would truly miss all the encouraging words that Lola has shared with me. She would always say that she’s proud of me for trying to stay healthy 🙂 Lola…we will truly miss you! I will always think of you and your encouraging words whenever I hit the track…running.
Nike+ on Adizero and Air Alaris 2
I’m an avid Internet surfer. Anything and everything about an interest of mine, I always Google. My ex-officemates and I have a motto…”Google knows all”. So if I have a How to?, Where to?, What to do? etal, I always go to Google to search for a solution.
I owned 1 pair of rubber shoes before I started running. It was an Adidas Eva which I bought from Singapore. I used this for my aero sessions. However, I knew I needed new shoes when I decided to seriously pursue running. I turned to Google to help me choose a good pair of Adidas rubber shoes. Yes., it had to be Adidas. Hubby and I have an affinity towards this brand. I bought him an Adizero Mana limited ed and he loved it. I decided on an Adizero Ace after all the good reviews I saw on the web and the price points it offered. The fit was great! I had fun running with it and I actually did not get shin splints! I figured that these were caused by my old shoes and improper running posture.
Being the Internet geek that I am, I had to continue surfing for some gadgets that could help me in my running. Since I am an iPod user (I’ve had 3 different iPods every since I started using these), it made sense for me to try the Nike+ iPod sensor. The problem was I didn’t have a pair of Nike+ shoes 😦 So off to the net again and to the mall to quickly buy me a pair of those good looking Nike+ shoes. I am absolutely a fan of Adidas. However, I couldn’t find a way to have both the technology that Nike+ was providing using my Adidas shoes. I got myself a Nike Air Alaris 2. Seemed like a good pair of shoes plus it was also on sale 🙂 Now for the test run. I actually had fun with it. The Nike+ technology and concept was great! It provides you audio feedback on your pace, how much distance you’ve ran and how much more you have to run to complete your chosen distance workout. You can choose between time-based, distance-based, calorie-based running workouts. It was a fun, fun gadget to have! However, when it comes to accuracy, nothing beats a GPS-based reader. I had to calibrate my Nike+ everytime I run. But for now, I am happy with this device and for me, it does serve it’s purpose. I get motivated to increase my pace. I am given feedback if I am nearing my end goal and most of all, it’s way cheaper than a GPS device. I bought mine for less than P800 from an apple distributor. What I steal! I even bought Noy a pair of Nike Span 5+ Bowerman Series so he too can enjoy the Nike+ technology.
I discovered too late that you can actually use Nike+ with a non-Nike+ shoes. Check out this link http://podophile.com/2006/11/30/nike-ipod-shoe-hack-and-sensor-accessory-round-up/. I was able to buy the Easyswitch Run Away in Epicenter Singapore for only SGD16. That’s about P520. Before I was able to test it, my Nike+ sensor just refused to work. I assumed that it’s because the batteries ran dry. I had to buy another sensor since there was no obvious way to change the battery. That’s one issue that Nike and Apple have to fix. Good thing Google knows all. I was able to search for a way to replace the battery of Nike+ sensor through this site http://www.instructables.com/id/Replace-battery-in-Nike-receiver-for-under-5/. What a relief that I don’t actually have to buy sensor after sensor. It’ll also help if you put your sensor on sleep if you’re not using it. Just press the small white button found on the back end of your sensor for 3 secs. To turn it back on, just press the same button once. Use a tip of a pen or any semi-sharp object to do this unless you have fingers tiny enough.
Keep on running!
Hello World!
I finally decided to start blogging again after years of being dormant from my virtual world diary for years.
Topics which I want to include here would be running, photography and of course, my family. I am not an expert on all topics (yes, even with my family ;))but I will try my best to share with the Internet readers of the world my very limited knowledge on each.
So, let’s begin the sharing 🙂
I started to have an interest in running during my primary school days. We would have mini-olympics and I would always choose running segments. Of course, I would also end up dancing although I was never good at it. When I was younger, I lived in a small city in Pangasinan called Dagupan. My dad died when I was just a year old and was buried in the cemetery behind our house (Eternal Gardens) so I grew up hanging out in that cemetery. There I would roller skate, ride my BMX bike and of course go running with my yaya who would just watch as I do my thing. I started young around 8 or 9. I was a tomboy who was very playful, very active. Eternal Gardens was my park and playground. Growing up, my Mommy Nena enrolled my sister and I in ballet. I loved it 🙂 I would spend hours in practice and even did solos for our choreographer during events. However, it was during this time that I began to feel my knees weakening. Eventually I had to give up all my sports even ballet. At the same time, we also moved to Manila to be with our Mom. Occupied by academics, friends, gimmick and actually having a life, I forgot my passion for sports including running. The most active activity I had was drinking 🙂 I was still a tomboy at heart so I would hang out with my uncles, doing what they would do and they became my role models. My Tito Jombet taught me how to shoot a pistol, ride a big bike and the Filipino martial art, Arnis.
Since Tito Jombet was an avid mountaineer, I also wanted to be like him. So I decided to join the UST Mountaineers. Joining the mountaineers wasn’t easy. We had to train at least 2x a week. Run at least 8x around the soccer field and attend regular meetings. My schedule almost did not permit this as I was a 1st or 2nd year in Rehab Medicine taking up Physical Therapy which is one of the toughest courses in UST. However, I was able to pull it through. I was finally able to join after I have trained hard enough and after having been able to run around the UST soccer field 12x. I was finally ready for my 1st climb!
My 1st climb was one I would never forget. Not only was it my 1st time, but it was also one of the most difficult scenarios I found myself in. Mt. Makulot was the 1st mountain we had to conquer. It normally is not a tough climb. BUT on the day of our initiation, there was a storm and the rain continued to pour. We had to endure the climb, the mud, the cold, cold rain. Everything was WET! Even the insides of our tent was wet! On top of that, my left knee decided that it was the proper place and time to act up! It was a good thing that Tito Jombet came with us. He was able to help me pitch my tent properly and gave me a dry sleeping bag. Going down Makulot was the hardest thing I had to do. My knee was so painful that I could barely walk much less scale down a mountain. A week after that, I learned that I had Chondromalacia Patella (softening of the patella). There goes my dream to be a great mountaineer and runner 🙂
Fast forward, 10 years. I have 3 kids, a loving husband and have gained at least 30 pounds (accuracy is in question :)). My husband Noy has taken running as his fitness regime. I initially opted to try yoga and aerobics. Yoga, as expected, improved my posture and flexibility. Aerobics, interesting at 1st, was not challenging enough for me nor it provides me the motivation to work harder. I decided to try running again and committed to stop if and when I felt pain on my knees. The result three (3) months later = running addict Gail. I have rediscovered the love, the passion for the sport of running. Running makes me feel alive! It makes me feel free! At 1st I felt a mild pain on my left knee. I decided to take it easy…running 1.5km, walking another 1.5km…running to 2km until eventually, I am running 5kms easily without any pain on my knee, only in my shins…sometimes. With the encouragement of my Tita Tiffin and Tito Mark, running is now part of my life. I run whenever I get the chance to. I even join races now. I never would have thought that I would wake up at 430am just to run in a race. It used to sound like too much work for me. But now, this is my life. I prefer to run than to drink after work, we used to call this…one for the road sessions, and I used to do this every single day. Now I am looking forward to my thrice a week running for my the road sessions…who knows, maybe one day this would be a daily thing 😉
Til next time…running addict Gail signing off.
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