Pics, or it didn't happen.

I got the chance to catch up with a friend who I haven't seen in 3 or 4 years. The circumstances of our friendship revolved around alcohol, band gigs, nicotine and a lot of staying out late so, he's not someone I would recall as a GOOD friend. 

I congratulated him on his recent switch to a more active lifestyle. He's running now and yes, I've seen it on his Facebook. He'd post a photocollage of his shoes, the map and the distance he finished that day. It's great! I'm so happy for him! I mean, who wouldn't wish the people around them live longer, right?

But apparently, he doesn't feel the same way about me. Since we're talking about active lifestyle, I tell him I'm running too. Just recently but yeah! I'm running too. I go with my best friend. In fact, we're on a suicide mission and registered 22k in The NorthFace Run. Isn't it crazy?

But you know what I got? A doubtful "You joined a marathon?" "You run?"

Oh I'm sorry, I didn't post photos of my shoes so it means I don't run? 

It annoys me that people judge you now based on what you post on Facebook. If you didn't post photos of your vacation abroad, it's like you never even went there. Just because I don't take a photo of the food I eat, it doesn't mean I don't partner my running with a healthy diet. And I've been so tempted to post a photo of my running shoes on Facebook just to show you I run but that doesn't make sense now, does it?

I just find everything on Facebook so pretentious. 

Should I start taking half naked photos of my body to show everyone how I progressed from 170lbs to 130lbs? 

It could inspire people? Who am I kidding? It's just going to inflate my ego with all the likes and the wows from friends I barely know. 

So, here's a photo of my running shoes on gravel. Just because.

Running: Week 2

Am I getting stronger? Definitely! I can feel it!

It's only an added perk that I lost 2lbs., like an added booster for me to keep going. Other than that, I can run now. I mean, not fast, but I can keep a pace. As long as I don't sprint unexpectedly, I can run a straight 3k distance. An improvement by any measure!

As for food, I'm eating a little bit more healthier too! Here's breakfast two days ago! It's from Ebai's Cafe near Victory Liner in Engineer's Hill. We hit a gold mine right here, I've always known about this place but never really tried it. We had lemon grass tea and it was wonderful! Something that reminds me of Sagada. We tried their pasta once but chose the vegetable lumpia that day. It was filling and oh-so-good!

I know we both look like s**t but we're good. Our skin's better, we feel a lot better and I love the early morning therapies! It came at the right time when I'm stressing about future plans for me and my little monster. Every time I have a plan, I get sucked into a series of issues that renders my plan "impossible."

I've made a decision though, I'm not sacrificing my son for a career. He'll always be first. Even if I have to carry him with me where ever I need to go to get my trainings done. I WILL FIND A WAY.

Morning Run-ins

What more must I say? :))

Funny Friday

Running has a lot of perks! I love it! It's like a community! Well, I guess it is. Joggers would greet us GOOD MORNING! and it felt awesome! It felt a lot better than getting hit on. Haha!

So, the goal was to run at least 10k without looking like we got trampled over. The goal is to be able to say good morning back without losing a beat while running. The goal is to smile and say good morning. It's pretty hard especially for me. I can't seem to get my body to coordinate. The moment I breathe out of my mouth, I trip on my feet. How lame is that? Haha!

But it's a process. I can run 3k without stopping now and without looking like I'm out of air. That's an awesome achievement. We've been at this running thing for 2 weeks. Not bad. We've got 2 more weeks before The North Face run and we're feeling good. I, personally would want to finish that race but if I don't get to the finish line on time, I'm perfectly fine. It's already a win for me since it's a first step to being fit! Did I mention SEXY? Haha!

Here's an excerpt from an entertaining Friday!

2014 The North Face 100

Challenging myself to something I haven't done in 10 years. My first run was exactly 10 years ago. It was the 10k Milo Marathon. I finished the 10k in an embarrassing 4 hour time. Trust me, I felt like a complete idiot for joining in the first place. Thanks to (good friends, very good friends)Deus and Larry for dragging my ass to the finish line. They would have completed the run in less than 2 hours if it wasn't for me. It was just one of those things I did out of "okay, I can do this."

I want this to be different. I want this run to be something I'll accomplish. I want this for myself. If anyone has been following my blogs, you'd know by now how many challenges I've failed. But that's the thing right? It doesn't matter how much I fail, I'll keep challenging myself. Everyday is not Monday. Things change and it can always get better.

This is for me. This is me, taking small steps to finally finding my happy place.

And because I know I'm not the only one going through something in life, I dragged my best friend to take this run with me. We both need a jump start to improve ourselves and this is one of the toughest challenges we'll take together. It's just the beginning. Don't knock it till you try it. We've got exactly a month and we're pretty pumped. We're doing this no matter how shitty we look like after a 6k training run. A long way to go to get 22k but Retreat? Hell! Hahahaha!

Importance of Keeping Records

I'm a Class A procrastinator. Obviously from my sporadic blog posts, you can tell. But one thing I'm regretting right now is not keeping a record of my little monster's progress. I remember thinking "Yeah, I should write this down, print that photo and put it in an album."

That was a year and eight months ago. I still haven't printed his birthday photos and yep, I still don't have a book where to write his firsts (first steps, first food, when he started talking, etc.) I still don't have one and it's making me feel bad. I also lost his baby book, so yeah. Talk about feeling REALLY bad.

I'm the type of person who can't start something if there are missing materials or ingredients. As an excuse, I kept telling myself, I don't have a baby book to write all these awesome things. But today's different. I brought the little boy to the doctor and when she asked me what are the previous medications prescribed to my little boy, I couldn't answer. I gave as much medicine names as I can remember buying but of course, that's not as accurate as what a baby book would have provided.

I kept thinking about this on our way home and so, I'm taking my 2014 planner and putting notes about my little boy in that book. I'm not a planning person anyway, so it's fine.

For starters, I promise to print out his birthday photos soon. :))

Such a lazy afternoon, my little boy's napping. I just want to doze off and do nothing but I'm sure I'll regret that later!

First BDJ Box

I’ve waited 3 months for this box! 

By the time I got myself to purchase a box from them, they were fully booked until March! Initial impression, I’M IMPRESSED! 

I’ve been longing to try the brand Benefit! 

I think this month is going to be awesome for me! More about the contents later! 

Getting Back the Vibe

Dead air happens even when you're with your most comfortable friend or partner. For writers, it's called the writer's block. In my own words, I'd say it's a period of time where a writer can't seem to get anything in words. Well, there might be the occasional jibber jabber but nothing he or she would judge as suitable for readers.

Call it that or laziness, I had a dry period in terms of writing. In fact, I'd say my recent "dead air" is more of an uninspired, unmotivated, I-don't-know-what-to-do-now kind of phase. Dull moments. Bleh.

So, receiving good news from my employer after days of vacationing and not working without notice, I feel I owe it to myself to get back on my feet. Challenging myself to be happy and find joy in simple things, I'd like to start with the good news today.

I got a raise! It's not big per se but for me, it's more of a validation that I'M NEEDED. I'm not as expendable as I thought I was. Aside from a LITTLE salary raise, we had an agreement to change the payment terms. I will be paid by the hour so that would mean getting extra should I decide to work more hours than usual! I LOVE IT!

And another thing to be thankful was arriving safely from Manila early this morning. A weekend beach getaway to Batangas sponsored by my little monster's grandparents, it was a much appreciated free vacation! Tiring! 6 hours from Baguio to Manila, 4 hours Manila to Batangas and back again, PHEW! My skin's showing stress! But the beach and good food made up for the heat and butt pain. ;)

I'm expecting more good things to come! I'm hoping for more good things to come and I'm going to make ways for MORE GOOD THINGS TO COME!