Rescue Run - December 23, 2012

Rescue Run was organized by the Filipino Running Community in response to the devastation brought about by typhoon Pablo in Mindanao. This run was organized in just twelve (12) days. Considering the complexities involved in organizing such an event, I'm impressed!

I registered for this event at the Sin Tax Run - they had a booth outside Starbucks One E-Com center. For a minimum donation of PHP200, you get a race bib. It's a donation because you can give more if you wish. There are two categories: 5K and 10K. I registered for the latter. There are also barefoot categories - I think it's also either 5K or 10K, only you have to run barefoot.

Here's my review of the Rescue Run 2012:

Strengths

The cause - Typhoon Pablo caused a lot of deaths (over 1000), destruction, and loss for millions of Filipinos in Mindanao. Although there were a lot of rescue and relief operations that took place (UNICEF, Philippine Red Cross, among others), this run is the Filipino Running Community's way of helping our brothers and sisters whose lives were affected by the typhoon. I have no idea how much funds were raised because of this event - but I have faith that the proceeds will reach the right people.

Sin Tax Run - December 16, 2012

The Sin Tax Run was organized by RunRio (probably the country's most popular race organization company, of Coach Rio de la Cruz fame) in support of the Sin Tax Bill (which eventually became the Sin Tax Law, click here to view the article).

The registration fee for this event is ridiculously low: you only need to pay PHP16 to get a race bib and a timing chip. As if that wasn't enough, you also get a free visor after finishing the race. So, why 16 pesos? It's simple - see RunRio's explanation below:

Photo credit here

In addition, Coach Rio says: “This race is part of our CSR (corporate social responsibility). It is our way of giving back to the running community. Our goal for the running community is to make it bigger and to sustain it. There are races almost everywhere, but the quality and the experience (is not always topnotch). When someone has a bad experience in an event, he or she will no longer encourage his or her friends or family to join the race. But if they have a good experience, they will keep on going." Click here to view the article.

On Gratitude and Happiness

Merriam-Webster defines gratitude as the "state of being grateful" - grateful being "appreciative of benefits received" (click here).

Happiness, on the other hand is "a state of well-being and contentment" (also from Merriam-Webster, click here to view).

There are lots of online articles about how being grateful can lead to an increase in happiness (see article by Lauren Suval here, or Erin Skarda's article, among others). I will write about gratitude and happiness on a personal level.

Thanks to yoga, I have learned to become more focused on the present. More importantly, yoga allows me to focus on the things that are going right in my life. From little things, like getting enough sleep, or having a delicious meal, to really important stuff, such as spending time with my nephew and niece, or hearing Mass.

Nike We Run MNL 10K - December 2, 2012

This post is overdue - been over ten days since the event took place. This was such a huge event. As mentioned in my previous post, a lot of people joined this event because for only PHP1200, you get a Nike racing shirt, plus a finisher's shirt if you finish the 10K within two and a half hours.

So, here is my take on what happened, from the registration all the way to the event day itself. :-)

Registration
My friends and I went to the Nike store in Glorietta on October 28 to register. We came from the Unilab Run United Philippine Marathon, where we ran 10K. So naturally, we were already tired when we got to the store at around 10:30 am. However, much to our dismay we discovered that the registration booth won't be open until 1:00 pm that day. So we just left and decided that we will register individually.

Swimming, yoga, fellowship

Thursday night (November 30), I went to Ace Water Spa in Pasig with an old college friend.

Photo credit here

This became a routine for us - every one or two months, we would meet at the spa and catch up. I would also do my laps, after which we would enjoy the various hydrotherapy massages the spa has to offer. This time it was a bit different - we met in the evening. Plus, this was before a long weekend.  In the past we would meet up in the morning (I used to work at night then) and grab lunch afterwards.

Updates from The Running Yogi - 28 Nov 2012

So happy to have finally practiced again at The Yoga Place. Will talk more about the studio in a different post. Last night's session was very good for me. My body misses yoga - the heat, the various asanas, the breathing. Managed to do some of the more challenging poses (for me, at least), such as the Supra Virasana, or the Sleeping Hero pose, as well as the Marichyasana, or Sage pose. The latter is a huge breakthrough for me - I cannot do this pose without the use of a towel (as I used to be unable to make my hands meet and fingers locked). Hooray for progress! Will make entries on various poses and its benefits soon.

Early this morning, I got up and ran around the village park. My Adidas MiCoach on my BlackBerry is messed up again for some reason. I ran 5 km today. Actually, it can be anywhere from 4.9-5.6 km. That's a wide range, I know. But I tried measuring the distance of one whole round around the park - I got a range of 0.7-0.8 km. Plus, there's also the fact that you could've taken a longer route using the same path - perhaps I took the outer lanes, yeah? Anyway, the point is it I ran,and it feels great!

Here's to a great Wednesday. :-)


Cheers,

Earl Patrick

Today's training

Went to the gym tonight and made a hamster run (that is, an indoor run using a treadmill). Managed to run for 4.37 km in a span of 30 minutes.  After which, did strength training for my back and shoulders. Would have done legs too, but considering I ran 10k yesterday and 4k today, I didn't want to overdo it.

Anyway, I just realized I always run faster outdoors. Does that happen to you guys, too? Besides, running outdoors is much better. It's very liberating for me.

Today is a happy day! Let's hope this great social weather will last throughout the week. And I have a feeling it would, especially since it's a holiday on Friday.


Spread the happiness,

Earl Patrick

My Yoga Wish List for Christmas

Here are a few of the yoga stuff I hope to get my hands on this Christmas. Hopefully someone reads this post and decides to give them to me as gifts. LOL! Otherwise, will save up and buy them one at a time.

The Bhagavad Gita

Photo credit here

Million Hectare Challenge - November 25, 2012

This morning was Haribon Foundation's Million Hectare Challenge. This year marks the 40th (Ruby) anniversary of the environmental group, and to celebrate they held its annual run.

Today's run

According to the Adidas MiCoach app on my Blackberry, I ran 3.58 km today for 25 min 28 sec. I think it's a good warm-up for my 10 km run tomorrow morning.

I am thinking of investing in a good watch for runners. Garmin obviously first comes to mind. It isn't cheap, however. As always, I need to do lots of research before I make a decision. Oh, and I have to save up too, of course. Yoga isn't exactly cheap. And I'm beginning to think running won't be in the long run, either. Doesn't matter, it will all pay off. :-)

Very happy that I ran today! Off to see my friends for dinner. Have to get home early too, since I need to be up really early tomorrow.


Cheers,

The Running Yogi

My Half-Marathon Training Plan

Just a few updates from The Running Yogi

I feel so bad - I haven't practiced in a yoga studio for over a week! Need to have the discipline to start practicing at home whenever I couldn't go to my home studio. I have the tools handy for me to start doing so, anyway.

I feel so sluggish - this week the only physical activity I have done was to practice yoga for almost half an hour early Tuesday morning, and to workout in the gym Tuesday night. The latter was very quick too - I got to the gym late, and I was on a tight schedule as I need to catch the last shuttle heading home (which I did, fortunately).

Thoughts on Happiness

"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get." - Dale Carnegie

So what's the deal with this quest for happiness of mine?

I don't know how this came about, exactly. But 2012 has been such a year of revelations for me, and I suppose happiness came as a result of that. Let's examine the events that took place which contributed to my happiness cause.

• Work - definitely a major contributor. Due to a slew of factors, I found myself in a new job in August of this year. But the previous year and the first half of this year had been a major challenge for me. I was under a lot of stress at work, and it really took its toll on me, health-wise. I am in a much better shape now; but I realized, it was hard for me to say goodbye to my previous company. I have been there for almost six and a half years, after all. Anyway, I am now in a whole new environment. After over three months, I am still adjusting to a lot of things: my role, my colleagues, my current work setup, etc. But if I examine all the good things going on, I just feel fortunate. I constantly remind myself to be grateful (as in even setting up a daily task of doing so), and to seize every opportunity to learn.

Upcoming running events

I am psyched to be joining the following races over the next several weeks:

Million Hectare Challenge - November 25, 2012. Liwasang Ullalim, CCP Complex, Pasay City. This is Haribon Foundation's annual event. No idea how long this has been going on, though. The main thrust is to restore 1 million hectares of rainforest by planting native trees. Their theme is, "I care. I nurture. I shape the future." - very catchy, don't you think?

Looking forward to my practice later

I haven't practiced in a week! Been busy with other activities last week - running, a trip to Chinatown and Divisoria with friends, plus the opening night of a musical. I miss yoga! Come to think of it, I even miss working out (as in lifting weights), and that's saying a lot. LOL!

I still have a long way to go when it comes to my practice. But I am not frustrated. One of the great things yoga has taught me is patience. I'll get there, and when I do it'll be great! Just thinking of some of the poses I couldn't do before - the camel pose, for one - and how I can manage to do them now (some with relative ease) is amazing.

I am grateful for this day, this will be a beautiful week!

First blog entry of The Running Yogi in Manila

Hello. My name is Earl Patrick. Most people call me Earl, some people call me Patrick. Either way's fine, really. I am currently working as a consultant (implementation team) for a software company offering travel and expense management solutions.

I created this blog in order to write about two of my new-found passions: running and yoga. My asthma relapsed in August of 2011 after about 18 years since my last attack. Also, I officially quit smoking in December 2008. So you can imagine my surprise when I found myself wheezing and coughing like crazy. After a 3-day hospitalization, maintenance meds and change of corporate environment (as the previous one definitely contributed to my stress, and hence, my asthma), I found myself wanting to get back on track to fitness.