beginnings and endings

Sometimes beginnings and endings are so far apart. It takes two to three minutes for music to play, an hour at least for a movie to finish, 759 pages for Harry Potter's last book to be told. But it takes less than a second for a year to end and begin.

As with all things important. It takes just a second. It is that moment when decisions are made. the instant you cross the finish line. Everything else that happens are repercussions of seconds that we expend or realize.

Ive made no efforts to hide how shitty this year was. Yes of course there where surprisingly great events as well, but i will look back at 2010 most, of all the 27 years i have so far.

I will say this year shaped me. Big phrase to say when you're only 27. But i know it in my mind and in my heart that who i am in this moment is who i really am. I guess all the whiplash i went through and still am going through with myself and with my family toughened up the skin, my judgment and the senses.

2009 ended with an accident. We dealt with the most stupid and stubborn people on earth!!! So that was probably a sign of what my 2010 would look like :P

The year started with my uncle's death (my dad's brother). He was our excuse to drive all the way to Ilocos. Little did i know that going there last January for his funeral was and is probably the last time ill see my lola's ancestral house.

When i got back to manila, I was officially back in the workforce where, for the first time in my life, a person (my boss at that time) made me feel i was stupid. Never in my life have i been talked down to as much and as often. It really made me question myself and my purpose, dreading everyday she was there!!! 1 month in, i was already looking through jobstreet and jobsdb for openings elsewhere :P It was a blackhole of an office, stay too long, you could really lose yourself in there. Specially if youre someone who needs affirmation from a superior.

My younger brother got into an accident. He and all the passengers were safe which i could not say the same for the car. Total wreck :P

May was when our world spun and flipped over. My papa had a ruptured aneurysm. We spent months in the hospitals. The first time Mama started talking to us about finances. The first time i worried about money and all the hospital expenses. We, the 'kids' were asked to make decisions that could mean life or death. To operate or not. To transfer hospitals or not, etc. Consensus was to operate.

We had a successful operation for one of his aneurysms but he still has another one. As warned by the doctors, he had post operation pneumonia. It later led to sepsis and he went into a coma for almost 10 days. A tracheotomy was performed on him while he slept where the respirator was attached to, instead of having a tube down his throat. Day by day he was showing signs of activity and slowly opened his eyes and moved his hands :) Eventually he had to have a peg inserted through his tummy as well, so he could eat.

Months passed Papa learned to move his feet and arms and regained control of his neck. The day before papa was to me cleared to leave PGH, my older brother also got into an accident. He was safe, wrecked the other SUV, which is still being repaired until now! Again, because of drunk driving (what the hell is wrong with my brothers...).

Two weeks after we left PGH, we had a recurrence of pneumonia, brought him to the nearest hospital, PERApetual Help Hospital. Where we spent A LOT of money, but he didn't really get better. He was discharged and after 2 weeks or so, another bout of pneumonia came, brought him instead to Las Pinas Doctors where we were told his right lung had collapsed.

My other uncle died (mama's younger brother). He had been dealing with diabetes for years. Which he had been disregarding and didn't take care of. I must say i respect my mother better now. I think she respects me back as well. We converse more like adults, a far cry from the bickering that we always had as mother and daughter.

I ran a 21k fundraiser for papa that reached almost 14k that he used up in just two days for his antibiotics :P We were asked if we wanted to have another tracheotomy to make the hole bigger for easier suctioning with the risk of him not waking up again due to the anesthetic. There really was no choice, he was operated on and woke up from that operation. It became easier for him to breath as more phlegm was being suction out. Eventually his right lung was cleared and released just in time for my Kuya's wedding this December. He wore pants, long sleeves, a coat :) and shoes :) All eyes on him as he was wheeled down the aisle. He clapped when the couple kissed and threw flowers as they left the church :)

We are still praying for a full recovery. Hopefully the pneumonia will stop coming back so he can continue with his therapy :)

As for me, I decided that ill be running my first marathon march of next year. Finally experienced my first Spirits Ultimate Tourney! I was determined to find a better place to work and by November I transferred to a nearer and more advantageous job. Im officially in a relationship with someone who stayed with me through out this self building year. As i said, this year shaped me.

Right now im just waiting for that moment, looking forward to the second when 2010 ends and 2011 begins.

Booo Power Balance!!!

BOOOOOOOOOO!!! ang mahal mahal mo pa naman!

--> http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/23/3100270.htm

Makes me think about all the buys i've made for Ultimate, Running and Boxing. Some of which are gear designed to help me and my body function more efficiently. My Fivefingers, New Balance Trail shoes, CWX compression tights, Long-sleeves compression heat gear, Polar water bottle, and the biggest purchase yet... a Garmin watch with HRM. I still believe i've been very discriminating when it comes to these purchases. But then again, its so easy to get sucked in.

I remember one guy at our ANR Ortigas session demonstrating to us the benefits of a product very similar to this. It was unbelievable 4 of us were able to carry this other hefty guy, only using 2 fingers each, with the product clasped with our hands (ala light as a feather stiff as a board in The Craft). Very impressive actually.

--> http://www.skeptics.com.au/latest/news/power-balance-test/

I don't remember if some of us bought from him, i didnt. But from now on, i shall remain as skeptical as i was before, maybe even more.

So should you.

AA meeting :P

Sadly, there are no ultimate trainings the week before xmas. Still, riding my 15k-run high the day before, i was hoping to have my recovery/30 min maintenance run :)

Thus, i foray back into Adination, Alabang (AA)

Its been a long time.

I sorta knew it was going to happen, but i hoped for the best. Hehehe, as GBM used to say, sa Ortigas lang may hills at may speed drills. Since i only needed 30 mins, I ended up doing 5 hamster runs around Madrigal Business Park for a 5k. Next time siguro ill try to join the 10k group :) But i don't wanna incur junk miles, so maybe only when needed :)

Heehee :P Nakakatuwa siguro kami tignan from a bird's eye POV, a group of about 15-20 people going around in circles. I gotta give to them though, may stretching before at cool down after! At may merry christmas ensaymada pa from Banjo (salamat po!) Great timing che, panalo! At least now i have an alternative activity for my tuesdays. Sige, ill try to stick to this. That is if we dont have Ultimate practices or when im too swamped with work to leave for Barracks early. Sana lang magkaron parin ng drills and more adventurous routes (kahit hindi kasing usok ng C5 ok lang :P).

So thanks again to my new AA group for welcoming me in, specially to Ms Nao! Im definitely looking forward to the tuesdays we can run inside Alabang village :)

TBR training week 9 1:45 mins

Sa totoo lang nainspire lang ako sa chat namin ni sara earlier :P although i was really planning to run, since hindi ako nakatakbo nung Sunday because of the weather, i wasnt exactly looking forward to a long run knowing i was limited to the Alabang and Filinvest area. I refuse to hamster run around the park for the whole 1:45 mins :P edi yun, went to Fiesta mall and passed every nook and cranny i deemed safe :P

1:45 | Author Chebello | free Mobile GPS Tracking Service

I did the 15-1 interval this time and it felt great :) i did better with this than with the long run jb and i did last week based on kilometers per hour. Im really looking forward to the 2 hour run!!! Galing niyo Jim Lafferty and Jeff Galloway! hahaha :P Sana sana ganahan na si jb at gumising siya ng maaga para makapag daang hari/ daang reyna kami. Otherwise hindi ko na siya iintayin. Ill just go by myself :P

Admittedly i miss the adination ortigas group, iba talaga pag may kasama ka tumatakbo. Pero ang sarap din ng feeling ng magisa kalang tas may soundtrack ka na pinapakinggan. I started running by myself, and i just realized how much i missed it. Still, im hoping to join adination alabang tomorrow unless of course mag welga ang legs ko :P

the real challenge

And i thought the lack of money was the hard part...

Ang hirap pala humanap ng everyday sports watch. Ive been researching for 2 days now. Wala parin akong shortlist. Did i mention im planning to buy a garmin, so this would have to be a cheap watch, just around 3k :)

The nike sports band looked promising, but online reviews weren't really that good. Plus a friend, said it wasn't vff friendly, as such i would have a hard time calibrating it. So that's probably a bust. Although i really like the features it had. Now, im trying to look for an alternative to that alternative :P So guys, if you have any suggestions, pls do let me know :D

Again, im looking for a sports watch that i can use everyday, that registers my pace and time and can record laps, even better if it stores data that i can upload after runs. Lastly, the real challenge, it shouldn't reach 4k :)

Help help help!!

TBR training week 8 90mins

i just assumed the bull session would be on a Sunday. I was really looking forward to that one... i missed the free gatorade and nutribars :P hahaha! yun yung pinagsisihan, hindi yung lesson on proper running form ni coach rio :P hahaha! oh well that's that. As Kassy Pajarillo said 'bawi nalang' As long as i stick to the program ill be alright :)

Ive passed through Daang-hari a number of times, but it was a first for me to run there! Our initial plan was to start running at 6am to avoid all the smoke from passing cars, but someone just had to pass by a party the night before and didnt wake up early the next day. The only good thing that came about from jb's lateness was i got to fix the gpsed app on my phone :D its tracking again! woohoo.

We started at around 3pm, buti nalang the sun and clouds were cooperative! The Daang-hari experience was nothing like the carbon-loading at Adination Ortigas. Still, the pollution was anything but pleasant, but the run itself felt great :) i remember Carlo Serrano telling me, you dont need to run fast, first, you just need to train your knees to get used to running for a long period of time. There was no pr broken :P we had an average of 7km/h covering a distance of 12.3kms in 1:35 mins.

link here --> 1:30 Author Chebello free Mobile GPS Tracking Service

The 90 min run ate up 30% of my phone's bat which was full when we started. It obviously wont last a 5 hour run, let alone 6.

Garmin, i need you... actually its more of a want really :P but it feels like a need hehehe :P aside from that ill be needing a cheaper sports watch like a nike or something that i can wear everyday that wont suck the life out of the battery capacity. :D (i guess thats where the ayala e-gc's i won are going... ) Oh gosh!!! ang gastos! :P bwahahahaha!!

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I cant wait to do that again! We had to turn back just before what i consider the 'nice part' but there's no doubt we'll get to that soon. Next week ulit!! 120mins coming up :)

what the?!!

Why the title? sounds more like a blog laced with bitterness and dripping with raw emotion doesn't it?

It wont be. At least i think im done with that :P hahaha! it'll all depend on how the Universe wants to play...

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This has been the hardest year for me yet. Im 27, and if that astrological phenomenon does exist, i'd say this might have been my Saturn's return. Its December, just a few more days and im more excited for the new year than opening gifts on Christmas day! Almost through with 2010! woohoooo! And all i got is this one inch scar on my right eye lid. :)

Im barely scathed.

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I'm saying goodbye to my old blog and I'm too lazy to archive them all here :P but you're free to check it out at chechecheche.multiply.com

This new one will hopefully chronicle all my run related events, my ultimate tournaments, my slow crawl back into the boxing ring, the gear that ill be purchasing for all three sports, some art and ALL the food and dessert ill eat in between <3! (aheehee i consider dessert as another subgroup of food. There's go, glow, grow and grow fatter :P)

No assurances id be injury free. But optimistic im going to be sore, bruised, scratched and scathed. Barely.

:)