Katie the happy runner :)

I have never imagined myself being so hooked with running..not in my wildest dreams! Yes, I do a lot of sports, ask me to play any sport for you and I'll do it or at the very least, learn to play it. I love sports...I breath, eat, sleep sports...I go to the office, work my ass off to earn money just so I could play, that's how obsessed I am with sports...I was born to play. On the contrary, I never considered running as a sport, I once thought that it was the most boring and pathetic sport ever created since you never feel a single sense of satisfaction and you barely do any locomotion but just move your legs, and that's it. No extra skills or technique required..just MOVE YOUR LEGS...not until now. I've been running for like 5 months now  and fell deeply in love with it..I would literally have sex with running if I can!haha Well, for one thing running has been a staple workout for my body but I always discover something new and exciting with every run. Even if I tread the same trail over and over again, I never grew tired of running. Second, running has been my a fervent act of worship for me...for every step is a grace from God...every breath a silent prayer...every distance a blessing...my body is His temple..the pavement is my church (at least when I run). Third, like I've mentioned in my previous blog, running clears all the clutter in my head...it re organizes my thoughts so I could think clearly..sometimes, when my judgement is clouded with my emotions, I run. Running is my great solvent for pain, anxiety, stress, fear, over excitement, over happiness, frustration..blah blah blah. On a lighter note, I've been a follower of Runners magazine from their first edition up to date. I learn a lot from it...form, technique, right gear, diet, injuries..yadda yadda yadda. And I'm sharing some of the most epic advices I read from runners:
1.) trade your flipflops for running shoes (which I did)
2.) Run in numbers (which Im trying to accomplish)
3.) Sleep in your running clothes and shoes (ummmm...i don't know if I can do that)
4.) Hydrate...especially every after 3Km
 and my most favorite which I did recently...
5.) Always bring some running stuff with you coz you'll never know when the next  run would take place.

My folks and I went to Tagaytay yesterday which made me skip my long run and so advice number 5 rang a bell..and there, I was able to do my routine in the middle of our road trip. One word...EPIC!!!! ok make it 2 words...ABSOFUCKINLUTELY EPIC! ok last, I'll make it 4...INSANELY AND ABSOFUCKINLUTELY EPIC! I ran the mountain of Tagaytay, from crosswind subdv up to people's park in the sky. The air is thinner of course so it made running a breeze but adding the total resistance of the pull of gravity (since i was running inclined) plus the slap of cold air in the face made my my run notched 10 levels or so. Here are some pics of my Tagaytay run...

run....shoot..run

behind me is the beautiful city of tagaytay

tagaytay run

mountains of tagaytay

Dad took a photo of the road the I treaded from people's park

part of the road

tagaytay road curving...

same road

at eto pa

 I hope I inspired some of you to start running as I did...Promise it's all worth it! These are my collection of runners mag...you'll surely learn a lot from it...Super stoked to see the next issue. 
HAPPY RUNNING!!!!

THE ENTHUSIAST IN ME :)

Trained to kick your ass: The training vids edition

As promised, I am posting the training vids. Sorry if it took me a century to upload them. Apparently, I can't resize the vids so it's eating up my time and patience.

We usually start our training with warm up exercises, we do a circuit of 15 min skipping rope together with push ups, crunches, and leg exercises in between. After which,  we do shadow boxing to learn combinations as well as to practice the proper form, then each of us will take our turns on the thai pads and mits. Moving on,  we cool down by doing another set of crunches..say about 5 different crunch exercise to strengthen the core. Lastly, we stretch all our aching muscles to loosen them up, and if you wish, you can also ask the instructors to stretch, kick or punch some muscle points to strengthen them more. Here are some of our training vids..THIS IS HOW WE ROLL! ENJOY!

Ate Liza's pad training

Darvin's pad training

allain's pad training

Kate's kick training

Kate's pad training

ayayay! Hollyporn..este Haliporn (Halimaw-Porn)

My colleague showed  this to me earlier and it never failed to crack me up so I asked him to forward it to my email for blog's sake. So ano...Dota o sya? If you'll ask me...Pota, tinatanong pa ba yun...DOTA na lang men!

From a Thomasian's heart...

We built our dreams along the corridors of this building, and I miss this place...

* I miss hanging out with FRAT...Mocking people as if we're the perfect beings in the entire University. I miss how we sit by the window, fooling around as if no one's watching. I miss buying and eating Mr. Donut's "twest" (accdg to Viwi).. I miss eating with you guys at the co-op and smelling like it..I miss hanging
around Geronimo street with FRAT, katakers and talulot..

* I miss how we catch our breath running to our next class coming from the 4th floor...or how we run from main building to the botanical garden carrying our mouse/rat cages. I miss spending time with the books in the main library...sleeping there like its my own bedroom..I miss tearing out a page of a book in the Filipiniana section ( can't remember who I did that with) I miss sneaking in to the old books section of the main lib with Jan Dacumos ang Hunice Dipasupil, lights off cellphone lights on, looking for a book about kalamansi and scaring our asses off... I miss walking along the streets of Divisoria in our uniform carrying a sack full of kalamansi leaves like we're garbage collectors..I miss accessing friendster in the computer lab using a proxy...

* I  miss my V-ball varsity mates and our suicide training with coach at the gym near Fabella.. I miss walking along the hall, carrying my gym bag, all dressed up in my volleyball uniform while people are in class and I, along with my teammates were excused for the day because of a game. I miss hearing " Bring home the liempo Kate" from C-pharm and FRAT with every digs and spikes that I did. I miss the undying support of  Ms. David and Mrs. Sadang that even if we lose a game, they still treat us for lunch.

* I miss waiting in line at the Dean's office for my exam permit...

* I miss paskuhan and the humongous christmas tree sitting in the grandstand..

* I miss walking in my lab gown and goggles looking like a complete lab geek. I miss smelling like rotten egg, tarnished metal, vinegar, tutti frutti gum, banana, alcohol...I miss breaking most of our lab equipments and acting surprised at the end of each sem because we had to pay for those that weren't covered by the lab fee..I miss that cute chinito BS Chem student assistant (Kuya Tristan) at the 4th floor :)...I miss mixing substandard drugs, designing and creating medicine boxes and bottles, writing drug literatures, then getting an auto zero (sometimes negative score) because I screwed up somewhere in the process.. I miss crying out loud during the cervical dislocation exercise in pcol lab and fuck, I remember, I did that to a big ass rat instead of a cute mice! I miss those sleepless nights while doing the thesis with Shar, Zsa, Edz, Cel..all the caffeine and nicotine that I took in just to stay awake the night before the defense..how Ms. Lao went super oc-oc but certainly paid off after the defense...the "kamot ulo" moments everytime Shar utters a scientific word or explanation on the simplest things.
Ex: 1.) "ay....naooxidize na yung glasses ko (instead of "nangangalawang")...
    2.) I was opening a can of tuna using a knife since I can't find a can opener anywhere in the apartment and she said "You have to use a lever in opening that Kate" (instead of "can opener")...
    3.) "You just have to emulsify the mayo and the oil to make the salad dressing" ( instead of "haluin mo na lang")...
    4.) And my most favorite "Ms Sharlene Lao" moments..."I dont like to eat the fats in the liempo kasi masyadong malaki ang fat cells therefore na eentrap yung toxins that the pigs ingest sa fat cells nila so if you eat that your like eating the toxins that those pigs have ingested." (walang matinong translation sa statement na ito..nagsabaw lang ang utak namin!)
side note: Ms Sharlene Lao graduated Magna Cum Laude in our batch and Valedictorian in Med School...she placed 1st in our Pharmacy Board Examination. And yes, she's my groupmate in thesis...no wonder I passed thesis!

* I miss pharma week..the boring parades..the purple balloons...the awesome activities...the I-won't-be-meeting-you-class announcement of our prof during pharma week.

* I miss how we look outside the window during a heavy downpour of rain..praying that our prof would send us home early before UST turns into an Ocean. I miss how I shout from the gate of our dorm asking the security guard "Mmmmmaaaaaannnnnooooonnnnnggggg may pasok po ba?!!!".

* I miss pharmacology, phar chem, quali, pharmacog, juris and all other pharm subjects...I miss all my professors in pharm... I miss our lit english prof in 4th year :D whom we never fail to trip everyday..I miss Rizal because of our epic field trip and that damn "Mi Ultimo Adios" that we memorized, if you were able to memorize the entire poem in spanish, you'll be exempted for the finals..I miss singing "eres tu" with our Spanish prof, those friggin' spanish conjugations that I only study for the exam and if you'd ask me now, I know nothing about it..I miss "Mr. Tom Cruise", our psych prof and he's epic rapelling stories..I miss "father Damaso" in theology and how he punished us who didn't come in for class that day to write 5 pages of "I will not absent myself anymore" back to back in a yellow legal pad..I miss how we push an imaginary eject button that we drew on our arm rest everytime "Mr. Botulus" extends his class a few minutes past lunch..

* I miss all the laughter, sorrow, pain, and victory that we have shared for 4 years in pharm. I miss all the silly yet significant things and moments that we did...Dang I miss everything and anything about UST!

HAPPY 400th year Pontificia et Regalis Universitas Sancti Thomae ...Thank you for cradling me in your arms for 4 solid years..

VIVA SANTO TOMAS!

----C-B.S. Pharmacy 2002-003455

Second Wind

January 23,2011

Alarm clock: @ 4:00 a.m. tootooot tootoot...

Kate: *hits the snooze button*

alarm clock:: @ 4:15 a.m. tootoot tootoot

Kate: *double hit on the snooze button*

alarm clock: @ 4:30 a.m. tootoot tootoot

Kate: *slams the snooze button*

alarm clock: @ 4:45 a.m. TOOTOOT TOOTOOT!!!!

Kate: What the hell???!!! ang ingay mo naman, anong oras na ba kasi? *looks at the clock* ay potttttt....tatakbo pala ako ng 5am

So I dragged my lazy ass out of bed..ran to the bathroom..took a quick shower..and off I went to CME. Good thing Manong Alvin (Alvin pala pangalan nya, not Aldrin) and his son, kuya Toffer were patiently waiting for me...

Kate: Nong pasenya na po, na late ng gising

Mang Alvin: ok lang neng, kaaalis labng din nila..habol na lang tayo

Kate: e hindi pa ho ako nagsstretch

Kuya Toffer: hindi na kelangan, long run tayo ngayon

Kate: ganun po ba, e gaano ho ba kahaba ang long run na sinasabi ninyo

Mang Alvin: 25 KILOMETERS lang iha..

Kate:( put@#%^&^ yan...tama ba tong pinapasok ko?!) teka po, seryoso po kayo?

Mang Alvin: OO, maganda ang trail magugustuhan mo..3 bundok ang aakyatin natin

Kate: weh?

Kuya Toffer: oo nga, tara na!

***TAKBO TAKBO TAKBO...walang katapusang takbo*** 

I was with Taytay Roadrunners Association by the way, the 1st and only recognized running organization in Taytay...my new found friends were all marathoners, some even coveted significant places during runs..The oldest runner is a 65 y/o male..BEAT THAT! Yung isang runner tropapips pa ni Elma Muros. Bigatin men! at pota..eto ako nakikipagsabayan sa kanila... 

Unang bundok: 

Manong1: Ayos si beth (believe it or not, they call me Beth..they thought my name is Beth and I never corrected them all the way..so hanggang ngayon ako pa din si Beth para sa kanila) ang lakas ah...naglelead pa

Manong Alvin: syempre..tinetrain ko yan e..mag M-milo na yan next time..42K

Kate: (Itang ina, puputok na muscles ko sa hita..tigilan nyo pambobola nyo!) haha...pagod na ako nong, pero carry pa..bday run e..kelangan matapos

Pangalawang bundok:

Kate: nong, slow down na muna, magpapass out na ata ako

Mang alvin: ocge,,dahan dahanin muna natin ang takbo

Manong 2: 1st time mo?

Kate: sa ganitong akyatan..opo. sa ganito kahabang trail..OPO.

Manong Sonny: ah....hintayin mo yung pangatlong bundok..magugustuhan mo

Pangatlong bundok:

Kate: ANG TARIK!!!! kaya ko ba to nong?

Mang alvin: kaya mo yan...maliit lang ang hakbang. ang kamay mo ilagay mo sa baba..hips level lang. Ganyan kapag akyatan, lalo na ganitong klaseng bundok.

Kate: e nong, yung jeep na dumaan nga nahirapan umakyat e..pano pa ako..baka ma deads na ako nyan

Mang alvin: hindi yan!

AND I EFFIN' SURVIVED THE 3 FRIGGIN MOUNTAINS OF ANGONO RIZAL...pagdating sa flat land

Kate: uy...may lakas pa ko! astig

Manong Sonny: yan ang tinatawag na Second Wind

Kate: Second wind? (sounds jargon to me) ano po yun?

Manong Sonny: Ang second wind ay ang panibagong lakas na maibubuhos mo pa sa last few legs ng run...yung akala mo susuko ka na pero pag malapit na e nakakapagsprint ka pa..madaming nanalo sa second wind..yan ang hindi ko prinactice dati, ngayon ko pa lang natututunan yan, kasi ang pace ko all the way iisa lang..nauubos na ako sa last few legs..magaling ka magtipid ng lakas at maswerte ka kasi lumalabas sayo ng natural ang second wind.

Kate: ahhhh para pong adrenaline rush? tipong pag nasunugan ka ng bahay mabubuhat mo yung ref ninyo..ganun ho ba?

Mang Sonny: oo parang ganun

Kate: Astig! 

Manong 3: Alvin, pasakayin mo na ng traysikel yan pagdating ng antipolo, baka hindi na nya kayanin pababa ng hilltop

Mang alvin: kaya pa nya yan!

Kate: kakayanin nong, BDAY RUN e!

Manong 3: cge..bahala kayo!

Second wind is a phenomenon in distance running, such as marathons or road running (as well as other sports), whereby an athlete who is too out of breath and tired to continue suddenly finds the strength to press on at top performance with less exertion. The feeling may be similar to that of a "runner's high", the most obvious difference being that the runner's high occurs after the race is over.Some scientists believe the second wind to be a result of the body finding the proper balance of oxygen to counteract the buildup of lactic acid in the muscles. Others claim second winds are due to endorphin production, while still others believe it to be purely psychological.
-----wikipedia

*AFTER 3567808978798799008008098222212 years....nakarating din ng CME*

Mang Alvin: Mga pare, andito na kami..natapos ni Beth ang long run!

Kate: *REJOICE! BEAT THAT!*

Yes..it was my bday yesterday...and Yes..I ran my 1st 25K without any regrets...napagod ba ako? oo...abot ulo ang pagod ko. nasaktan ba ako? oo, pumuputok na mga muscles ko sa hita..tumigil ba ako? hindi..naglakad oo, kasi di na kaya itakbo pero pipilitin pa din..uulit pa ba ako? DEFINITELY...ISANG MALAKAS NA OO! See you TaRRA next Sunday! Bring it on

*My apology for lack of documentation...the friggin cam went dead the night before the run so it's futile to bring it with me,,pero mamatay man ako ngayon, pramis tumakbo ako ng 25K at pwera exaggeration, bundok sya na solid sa tarik..next week I'll bring the cam with me so I could post a photo of the mountain here*

Trained to kick your ass

I brought dad's cam with me today to test it's video feature and also to take some photos of todays training at mapatunayan na totoo ang smile recognition feature!  I'll be posting the vids soon..10 years kasi mag upload!

Side note: Syempre excited ako magbida sa magulang ko, pagdating ko ng bahay, kinabit ko agad sa TV namin ang cam para ibida kay mommy at daddy ang training vid ko.

Dad: bakit mo vinivideo ang training mo?
Kate: e kasi 1.) gusto ko ibida sa inyo ang training ko 2.) gusto ko mapag aralan yung galaw ko, makita kung anong mali ko..maayos ang form ko.
Dad: ahhhhhhh okie...maayos ba ang form kamo?
Kate: yes dad, at bakit?
Dad: e gusto mo din ba lumakas lalo?
Kate: oo naman, kaya nga nagttraining e
Dad: Cge, ttrain kita, pag uwi natin probinsya, magpapalinis ako ng sagingan, ituturo ko sayo yung mga puno ng saging na kelangan mo ipatumba ng sipa mo!game?
Kate: (kamot ulo)

I'm breaking my rules

It's his birthday, and so I thought of starting the day right with him. I ran around CME as I always do but I tagged Vincent along with me this time. It feels different having someone to run along with. I usually am a lone runner,and I enjoy it since it is the little time and space that I could think things through and get in touch with my inner being. Running clears all the clutter inside my head and I feel rejuvenated afterwards. Me, my ipod playing mostly fall out boy and green day, and my ever trusted running shoes could go miles and miles without noticing the time. Don't get me wrong, I have ran with other people as well, believe me, I enjoyed it too, it's just that being alone is a different story. Running is my diversion from this crazy world, it is the newly discovered passion that brought me peace. And now, I wanted to share that inner peace with Vincent. After work, I drove from market to pasig to pick him up. And as the lazy boy as he is, I found him curled up on his mattress...woke him up, greeted him with a happy birthday kiss and off we go running. Here are some of the pre- run and post run pics that I took today. I have no pics of our actual run since I can't bring my camera with me.

Grabbed a bite to eat at 7/11 and felt guilty afterwards

Vince's cheesy beef shit

There's my birthday boy

Oh what the hell is this?

Obviously, he's not a morning person

Birthdays aren't complete without food. We both love cooking, that is why we rarely eat out. So for his birthday, we did the same thing. Nothing biggie though, just carbonara, our version of the buffalo chicken with sour cream dip, salad, cheesy garlic potato and garlic French baguette. I swear tomorrow I'll sweat this all out! So there...SOLVE NA HIS BIRTHDAY..Happy 26th birthday my love..*BIG bear hug*

The birthday meal

cheesy garlic potato looks over done

buffalo chicken that doesn't look like it, but promise, it's tasty

salad

garlic French baguette that doesn't speak french at all :D

And thank you Lord for adding another year to his life...We owe it all to you. :))

Carica Pappppppaaaayyyyaaa!

I went to the grocery store earlier to buy some stuff that I need  for dinner later this evening. While walking along the fruit section, I saw these and got intrigued by the names:

I have loved papaya ever since the world began, but I never care much about their varieties until I found these. The red lady of course is the red variety, and according to my research, they are short and oblong on female plants and rather long shaped on BISEXUAL plants, weighing about 1.5-2 kg.  Did I read it right? Bisexual? Wow ha, even plants have the 3rd gender! What about the male type? I guess this is not for them. Hmmmmmm I get it, maybe that's why they named it Red Lady papaya, and maybe this one's recommended for the ladies only. High Five!  


On the other hand, the Sinta papaya is the yellow type, the first Philippine bred hybrid papaya and has firmer flesh than any other varieties. I can't figure out why they called it sinta papaya in the first place since the word "sinta" in Filipino is like a term of endearment for couples... Oh wait, here's  my hypothesis: MAYBE the person who discovered this breed loved it so much that is why it was called sinta..OH PAPAYA, SINISINTA'T INIIROG KITA..ok then, you can now marry your papaya manong. :D 


 Health wise, papaya is packed with a lot of awesome benefits. Read more My curiosity got the best of me so I ended up buying the both of them. I wanted to know which one is better and according to my taste buds, red lady papaya won over sinta papaya by 1 point. The red lady is much sweeter while sinta papaya is a little bland.  But yeah..they're still both papayas..a potent laxative, so I know that I would end up rushing through the bathroom anytime soon. For today, these are my post-run meal...papaya, and:

Not much of a health buff eh? 

It's ALIVE!

Dear Blog,

I am sorry for abandoning you... I know you missed me and yes..I missed you too. I'd like you to know that I didn't mean to abandon you. You see blog, I forgot my password and the email I used to bring you to life. It's been a while..and dang! you need some serious re-structuring.  I noticed that everything I posted before were all but angst and despair. But you know what blog,  I'm proud to say that I have changed big time since I've last visited you. The "emo" Katie is long gone. I'm now full of life, laughter, happiness and content, and I am looking forward to dreaming big once again. For all the tears that I've shed during the lowest point of my life...I thank you..you have never given me any piece of advice (c'mmon I'd freak out if you did!) However,  you were there. You may have never spoken a word but I felt you listened to my every thoughts, and that's all that I needed at the moment..Someone/something that would listen and not speak at all. You were like the 2 ears that I needed the most...my venting sanctuary when I was on the verge of breaking down. This time..I promise to be with you more often..I will give you all the loving that you need, and yes, I promise to pimp you! I'll fill you up with my life, my interests, my thoughts...and everything within me...good or bad..happy or sad..glad or mad..I will be here. But I will try harder to post happy thoughts instead.  And also, please promise not to give me a hard time posting stuff in the future, coz honestly, I'm starting to get pissed off right now because this fucking thing took forever to get it done with! Till my next post...

XOXO
Katie

**Found this in my drafts..just posting it now, sayang e!

I hate my job. Every single thing about it, I loathe it from the bottom of my heart, and I despise myself for this decision of working in this company. I am a pharmacist by profession and knowledge yet here I am, stucked in the four corners of this call center they call "office", doing this routine every single day which they call "job". Let me tell you what I do on a daily basis; I dial for companies across U. S. and Canada and ask for the techiest person in the office, say the I T manager or some random person that works with the computers or at least someone who has the slightest clue on what runs on their system or what Pc's, servers, printers etc... they're using.

Now our client in San Diego gives us a list of companies to call at the start of the month. And as the days pass by, this list gets smaller and smaller so we end up calling the same company and respondent like 5 or more times a week and as a result, every single person in that facility becomes really irritated with us. I can't blame them because I know and I understand completely how inconvenient it is to be interrupted by a stranger knowing that this person will only do a phone survey with you and you getting none out of it. But what can I do? Im being paid for it, so as much as I hate to irritate them, well I can't...as much as I want to avoid the company and the people in it, I can't! It's like going somewhere wishing you have other alternatives to get there but leaves you with no choice at all but to take that same old route. What I don't appreciate the most are the effin' gatekeepers, well I know that its their job to screen calls, but can't they be more gentle in turning me down..or at least have a piece of phone etiquette, because I try so hard to be on my best behavior over the phone. And the thing is, I am just  human too and like them, I get bad days as well. I just wish that they could understand that I am just doing what's expected of me. I would appreciate if they would just slam the phone and save my breath rather than argue with me which will not only waste my time but consume my energy as well.