Wish Us Luck =)

Me and the rest of the Philippine Team from the Philippine Underwater Hockey Confederation (PUHC), will try to bring home THE GOLD at the 1st Asian Underwater Hockey Championships thats gonna be held in Singapore. We're gonna go against the Singapore and Japan national teams.We're leaving tonight so talk to y'all when we get back. Hopefully with a gold medal hanging on our necks.

Pray for us.

See yah!

GO TEAM PHILIPPINES!

DUing It Westgrove Style!

Dont just Tri! Du it!

Looks like I made the right decision. :)

Before anything else, I got the "Dont just Tri, Du it" line on one of our Duathlon events. Kinda catchy :)

A couple of days before the Westgrove Duathlon, I've been tormented on whether or not I should the duathlon or the 10k Healthway Marathon held at the fort. I already pre-registered for the 10k a month ago and was already dead set on joining it. Besides, it would be my mini-reunion race with some of my batchmates from AMCI so I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, a few days prior to the race I was asking the one who invited me whether or not the marathon is still pushing thru. I wasnt able get a reply from her so just I decided to join the Westgrove Duathlon.

Funny thing is , I got a confirmation from her that the marathon is still on AFTER i confirmed to my fellow PUHCers that I'm joining the Westgrove Duathlon instead hehe.. But its all good though... not much of a biggie. Its just sad because I myself have invited a couple of marathon newbies from PUHC to join the 10k. Good thing some of the PUHCers decided to join the Duathlon instead also.

Its been a hectic weekend for me last week. I was starting to get sick around friday if I remember correctly. That was a long day for me. It was the ingress of my 2nd consecutive carshow week (shiro didnt win anything =P) plus it was also our referees clinic for PUHC. So I just hurriedly left my car at Silvercity then went off to the clinic. Good thing I was able to bring our driver because after the meeting I was feeling sick as hell. Was able to sleep around 3am na . Then the morning after that I woke around 5am and immediately went to the Mall of Asia to bike and run a couple of kms with my training buddies. I dunno what has gotten into me but I still played hockey that night. Hoping that would somehow cure my flu. Was able to go home that night around 1am already. Was able to sleep around 3am then have to wake up at 5:30am to meet my duathlon buddies at our designated meeting place. On the way to Westgrove I was still trying to catch a quick 5-10mins powernap. Which I of course wasnt able to get.

During the entire race, I felt like a zombie. I was really feeling groggy and sleepy the whole time. Good thing the race was short. The Westgrove atmosphere was very unique. I dunno... maybe its because of the place which I heard was touted to be the next ayala alabang. The place looked really great and the houses were awesome.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of familiar hardcore triathletes/duathletes doing the race also. Team PMI was there in full force along with racers from Team Al-terra and some other teams. Heck, even one of my bike mechanics was there also! Their presence alone made it clear that this is going to be a FAST sprint race. My bike mechanic alone can do a 10k marathon in 39 mins! We also saw fellow PUHCer and Triathlete Rafa in the mix. It was also fun seeing the young ones do their first triathlons! Going out T1 with their kiddie bikes! Some even had rollers!

I went there along with my fellow PUHC riders/training buddies Bong, Julian, Nadj, Jc, and Chari. From the get-go we made it clear that this is just going to be a tune-up race for us (yeah right!) so everyone should just take it easy and should prioritize their safety above anything else. (yeah right again!) With the 1st Asian Underwater Hockey Championship happening next week, risking and flirting with injury is a big NO-NO. Especially in a non-bearing and fun race such as this one.

During the registration I got the scare of my life when I saw the dreaded #66 race packet heading towards me. The guys in front of me got the #'s 60-64. I was really hell bent on avoiding that race packet no matter what. Good thing I got #65. One # shy away from the very unlucky # which went to my training buddy Julian. Goodluck to him I said to myself.

10, 9, 8, 7.. the countdown was on and the race went off! Team PMI immediately took the lead right from the start and never relinquished it. Julian got off to a fast start as usual with Chari following him a couple of meters behind. During the turnaround I was able to overtake Chari and managed to catch up with Julian during the transition. I think we went off t1 around the same time. Bong was right behind us while Jc and Nadj were a couple of mins behind.

The run route was short (yup we measured it). But I enjoyed the bike portion! Especially the uphill climbs! The rest of the route of was rolling. It was very tempting to go flat out on the downhill portion but I was hesitant to do so for fear of a crash. One mistake and its bye-bye to my international hockey career. Not to mention having a very badly bruised ego.

I was trailing Julian for the 1st 1/4 stint of the ride, with Chari following me closely behind. I managed to overtake Julian before the first u-turn but he managed to out-sprint me on the downhill part. Its ok though. There are still a couple of kms of pure uphill cycling up ahead. *grin* hehe.. I didnt notice Chari was behind me but she told me after the race that she was just tailing me for the entire 1st lap of the 2 lap bike portion. Thinking whether or not she'll overtake me on the downhill part since she noticed I was braking very erratically. Well honestly I WAS really braking a lot because I didnt want to go flat out at all. Hey, better be safe than sorry :) Crash on a concrete pavement? Yup, you guessed it. TOCINO wounds.

I managed to overtake Julian again on the pre-uphill portion of the steepest climb section. After that I was looking for him at the first turnaround but didnt see him anymore. I saw Chari and then Bong a couple of kms behind but no sign of Julian.

After the bike, the rest was easy. One more lap of the short run distance and it was all over. I managed to clock a respectable time of 52:55 while Chari managed to get the 3rd best among the ladies with a very fast 55:01 finish.

While fixing our stuff at the transition area, we saw Julian going in for his T2. It turns out he had a flat... and surprise surprise, what was his race number again? :) Bong had a strong finish as well along with Nadj and JC.

The post-race buffet was DELICIOUS! As usual, the PUHC riders had their fill of bottomless pasta, iced tea, cheese sticks (yup meron nito!), chicken fingers and bbq! SOSYAL! Hahaha.

The 400 registration fee was all worth it! Not to mention that you get a shirt and medal as well to boot after the race. :)

But for this certain PUHCrider... the race didnt end there. Not being content of doing just a Duathlon. She decided to up the ante and do a Quadathlon! She added a 10k marathon!!!

Instead of a Run, Bike, Run... She did a Run, Bike, Run, BUY! Hahaha. We managed to convince Nadj to buy this 10k worth, bang for the buck, trek mountain bike! After a couple of haggling with the shop clerk we managed to get it at 9k. P9500 if you charge it which Nadj did. Which was still a very good deal considering the parts included on the bike.

It was a beautiful green/floral themed Trek mountain bike armed with bontrager stems, seatposts, and handlebars. Though the groupset leaves much to be desired, it was still OK considering that Nadj is still very new to the sport and it would take awhile before she even maximizes the full potential of her current 7 speeder or the full benefits of having a better group set. So given the conditions plus the budget contraints, that bike was more than enough for her. It was still a very, very, very, very, good buy. I was really glad that Nadj bought the bike. Aside from being a mega good deal, the bike fits her and her personality.

During our impromtu dinner at this bbq place in katipunan, we all thought of a name for Nadj's new ride. When I suggested "GAGAY" I knew immediately that we had a winner. Hehe. So on that night, we christened her bike as "GAGAY: Ang Bulaklaking Manglalakbay" Hahahaha!

So much for the hell week. I was knocked out as soon as I got home.

Looking forward to a brand a new week! I'm now fully recharged and looking forward to represent PUHC and our beloved motherland at the 1st Asian Underwater Hockey Championship in Singapore! La! Hehe..

Shiro did it again! What a great year this has been.

Man am I proud of my car or what?

During the recently concluded Manila Auto Salon Carshow held at the huge SM Mall of Asia, Shiro bagged another award! Shiro got 3rd place in his division (rookie class) besting out 11 other entries for the award.

Kudos to my car audio tuner/installer JC Car Audio... though my system is 2 years old already, he still managed to make it sound really good! So to those of you whos into or into of getting into car audio, I highly recommend this shop.

I'm realistic.. though I'd be nice to get 2nd or 1st, how the hell can you beat a BMW 7 Series? LOL! That cars SRP alone is is nearly 10 times the SRP of my civic when I got it. Hahaha. And lets not talk about the amount he spent for his audio system compared to what I spent for mine :) But thats ok really, going into the competition I just wanna represent JC Car Audio. Thats all about it really. Im happy my car represented his shop well. :)

2007 has been a very good year to me..

Spiritually - My faith in God has never been stronger. Im really happy with the blessings that He has been giving me. Thats why I never miss going to Baclaran every wednesday to give thanks to Him. He knows what I pray for everytime I go there. I just wanna feel happy, loved, and content. Which is basically what I'm feeling right now.

Sports - A couple of years ago, Who the hell would ever thought I could finish a half-im distance triathlon? TWICE in 1 year? My sports life has been great so far. So no complaints. Aside from the various injuries, I've had a good year as far as competing and training goes. Though I still havent gotten the elusive podium finish yet, I know it will come. I just have to keep on training and pushing. My age-group bracket is one of the most toughest age-groups to crack. But I'll get there. I'm confident I will.

Underwater hockey is still my #1 priority when it comes to sports. Given the choice between triathlon and uwhockey, Ill pick hockey in 1 nanosecond over triathlon. I'm happy with my uwhockey game right now. Modesty aside, I've become one of the better forwards in PUHC (our uwhockey club). It feels good to know that the other players respect my game. I'm really proud about that because I worked hard to achieve that.

Financially - When i was 20 years old, I had a mission. Which is to retire when I reach 30. I'm 28 now and lets just say that my target is still achievable. Never say never :) Pretty stupid if youll think about it. Retire by 30??? By retiring I meant that I no longer would have to work, I'll just be living on interests and commissions. Its tough really, but like what they always say... "Mangangarap ka na lang din.. taas-taasan mo na. Libre naman eh :)" If I dont accomplish that goal, hey, I can always extend it till I'm 35 :) hehe.

Rides - As far as my car addiction goes, I'm proud to say that I'm over that stage already. (Yup.. I really am). Shiro is now what I've always dreamed of. All the things that I imagined doing and putting in car when I was still a kid, Shiro has all of those already. :) Maybe thats why I'm now leaning more towards Vans, Pick-ups and SUVs?? Hehehe or maybe I'm just getting old. hehehe.

Honestly, with my current lifestyle, my car simply cant cut it for me anymore. Yes he can still bring me to places but I really need a bigger car now. So sorry shiro.. If only I could put at least 2 bikes on you plus my other triathlon stuff without messing you up. Its more of me actually not wanting to torture shiro, than him not being able to serve me anymore.

As for my bikes, I'm really happy with my 2 machines already.. Cory and Macoy :) Cory, my road bike can still give those other 100k+ bikes a run for their money, hehehe. So theres no chance I'm selling her. I still havent reached her full potential as a road machine. My mountain bike Macoy has been great so far. Been able to ride him a couple of times pa lang and it feels like heaven on dirt tires! Its a far cry from my previous mountain bike.

Family - My family is my strength.. I'm really happy with our life right now. My dad, mom, and sis are all doing well... and so is my sisters family. She's pregnant again though (damnit here comes the tough babysitting part again) so that'll add another pamangkin to our stable. Which is all good of course. :) As for my mom, though I'd want her to relax more and not burn herself to death with work, I know that is what makes her TICK. She's a workaholic. I'm sure that if she'll slow down, she'll start to feel her age. Working gives her a purpose. So I'm really kinda 50-50 about it. Thats why I always ask God to bless her and my dad with good health. I love the pinoy family culture. Who says I have to move out anyway? Our family is sticking together until the end. No matter what other people say. I'll take care of my folks and my sis when they slow down. Thats one of my self-made roles in life.

Thats it for now.

Thanks for reading.

20+ Virgin =P

I finally did it!!! After 2 futile attempts of finishing a 20+ kilometer marathon, I finally got the 20+ marathon monkey off my back! I've done 20k runs at triathlons but that doesn’t really count because I walked off some parts of it. The pace is different too.

This is my 3rd try to finish a marathon event this long. I joined 2 previous 21k's before but unfortunately, I got lost on my first one (ended up just doing 15k) and wasn’t able to wake up on my 2nd attempt. Which was, honestly, a big blessing a disguise because I mistakenly packed my dad's identical but 1 inch shorter shoe in my gym bag. Had I been able to do that race, being my first 21k marathon, I would surely have a lot of dead toenails enough to run its own funeral service! Plus it could've been a very painful and uncomfortable run!

I'm really glad that I got de-virginized (20+kilometer marathon wise hehe) by the Extribe organized, New Balance 25k Power Race! Held at Clark in Pampanga, the race offered the runners a new and wonderful venue for marathons. Who says you can't do a race of this caliber outside manila? :)

As expected, with those guys in charge, the marathon went on as smooth as silk. The event was very organized, directional and distance signs were everywhere, the aid stations never ran out of water, plus they have portalets! And lets not forget the availability of the RFID Timing Chips to the 25k runners. Digital na tayo ire! He he..

The run was tough as hell, literally. IT WAS HOT! The race course even had its own version of the infamous HEARTBREAK HILLS of Extribe's Whiterock Half-Ironman. I wasn’t expecting to face those hills again this early.. at least not for a year. Hehe..

It could've been better if the race started a little earlier. Say around 6am like most local marathons but I'm sure they have their own reasons as to why they started it at 6:30am. Hey, at least I didn’t have to wake up that early. He he..

Prior to run, my target was just to finish the marathon and do it without walking. Being my first post-injury long distance run (here comes the excuses! hehe), I wasn’t really sure how my right knee and left ankle will react to the pounding. Good thing all the prayers, rest, and therapy paid off! I wasn’t able to train for this marathon at all but I'm glad that I was able to finish it well within my target time.

The contents of the goody bag that they give you at the finish line was hilarious! Hilarious in the sense that it fit the event to a T. Being a very tough marathon, who wouldn’t be glad to see the following after finishing the race?

1. Alaxan FR - Hahahaha.. Need I say more? Name says it all. ;)

2. Titan Tape Up's - Correct me if wrong but I think this is a new product. One read of the back panel tells you all you need to know why its included in the package. "Reduce fatigue, relaxes muscles and nerves". Hehehe.. After doing the Power Race, you'll definitely be needing this!

3. Alaxan GEL - I’m using this one right now! Hehe.. Didn’t know they already have Alaxan in GEL form.

4. Fitness First Face Towel - Wow sosyal :) Hehe.. San ka pa? :)

5. 2 Strips of Band-Aid - 25k Marathon + Wet Shoes + Soaked Socks = B-L-I-S-T-E-R-S. Can also be used also for yag-burns.. Hehehe.. For those wearing loose underwear and forgot to put on petroleum jelly.

6. Circulan Tablet - Nothing wrong having a good health supplement in hand after the race. ;)

Congratulations to all the finishers! Congrats to my fellow PUHC 25k marathon virgins and 10k first timers!

Kudos to the whole staff and crew of Extribe! You guys did it again! The staff and marshal’s were very efficient, from the check in area, to the aid stations, down to the guys at the finish line. Aprub!

See you guys at eXtri this december!!!

A Year Older

Wow.. I'll be celebrating my 28th bday in a couple of hours...

Am I looking forward to it? Yep.. Marks another full year of existense.

A decade already since I started legally watching r18 movies.

:)

I remember when I was still a kid I was really looking forward to that day.. Babaw ba? hehe. I looked forward to the day when the guard wont ask me anymore what my age is. Hehe.

Thank you Lord for very the wonderful year. Looking forward to another great year with YOU.

27 has been a very blessed age for me. And my previous ones also of course.

Thats why for 3 consecutive years already, everytime my folks would ask me what I would like as a gift, or if I'd throw a party, I'd simply say none and no.

And thats 100% sincere. Given what God has given me and my family, I have no right to ask for anything more. I just wanna continue thanking HIM for always blessing me and guiding me through everything that I do.

I'm happy. I'm content with my life.

My family is ok and intact.

And thats good enough for me. Anything that comes after that is just a bonus.

Thank you Lord for everything.

Non contact sport?

Hehe.. 3 hits in 1 week.

Now i know that I'm not superman. Hehe..

And they say underwater is supposed to be a non-contact sport? Thats a pile of bullcrap. hehe

I never back down from any challenge, sport, training or whatever, but last week. I finally decided to give my body some time to recharge and recuperate.

Why? Because last oct 23, thats a tuesday, A.R. gave me a very solid underwater taekwondo kick on my right rib. Funny thing was when I was asking for a sub, my team mates couldnt hear me because I couldnt speak. I wanted to but for some reason I had no voice. Probably came out along with all the air I had that time.

I still continued to play that night of course.. thinking that this is nothing serious anyway. It was painful but I just played through it.

Then the following hockey night, oct 25, thurs, I started to feel pain in my rib area. It wasnt THAT painful yet but it really stings everytime I go underwater. I couldnt bring my A-game (to my standards of course. hehe), because I couldnt breathe. It was too painful to take a deep breath so I had to make do with mini breaths before I go under water. Plus the pain was really starting to bother me.

The kick was incident #1.

#2 and 3 happened on the same freaking night. As if getting kicked on the ribs isnt painful enough, I got a huge concussion on my forehead because of a flick! Ferdie from the opposing team in my opinion was supposedly trying to swing the puck outside but decided to flick in back on the wall area because he saw a lot of defenders preparing for the swing. Me, on the other hand noticed what was happening and decided to go for the puck and attempt to ram it out of his hand. Unfortunately for me, he flicked it just when I was going down so the 3lbs puck hit my forehead really good. Good enough to give me a good ole' bukol. :)

It was all good though. He apologized for it immediately and I know for a fact that it was purely a hockey incident anyway. No big deal for the gentledog. Its my fault too also. As soon as I got hit, I immediately tried to feel if there was a gash, a cut, or whatever. Luckily for me, its just a concussion. A HUGE concussion :)

#3 was the final blow. As I was going up for air, I felt a painful solid thing scraping my back. And true enough, as I looked over to my left, I saw this loose underwater swimming pool lighting fixture! The damn thing was FLOATING. Its electrical wires was the only thing thats holding it.

It wasnt painful when I was playing.. I only knew the gravity of it when my hockey buds noticed this white skin on my back. Turns out my skin got scrapped really good. White meat anyone? :)

So there.. given the 3 injuries, I had no choice but to cancel my supposed mountain bike ride the following day. I wanted to, heck, I really wanted to ride my newly purchased mountain bike (more on that soon ;) that day.. But how can u bike when you couldnt breathe? How can you put on your helmet when you have a concussion the size of Alabama on your forehead? How can you wear your cycling jersey when u have this deep gash on your back? Band-aid wont be enough to cover it and prevent it from getting infected.

I also had to forego my scheduled bike ride that saturday and the 2 hour run the following day.

Crap.

Good thing there's no hockey this weekend. Ill get the chance to finally rest it. I tried to play through it last tuesday and wednesday. It was still painful. It just sucks because just when I thought I finally got over my injury bug, this happened.

I'm on painkillers now. At one time the pain got so bad I decided to rush myself to the hospital. For fear that I have a fractured rib or whatever. Good thing the results were negative. Probably just a bruised rib. Hehe.. Just?

The hospital gave me an injection which was really good. The pain was gone in an instant. Its kinda addicting though since the meds they gave me was crap. Compared to the shot they gave, these puny tablets just cant get to job done. It was still painful.

I also tried riding my mtb (couldnt resist hehe) last monday. That was a tough one also. Since it hurts everytime I take a deep breath, every breath and pedal was painful.. the ride route, being a very steep uphill climb, didnt help either. I still finished the ride so thats all water under the bridge now.

Another setback.. it just means that ill have to stage another comeback :)

Cant wait to be 100% again. I'm tired of getting held back because of injuries.