so the hubby's not running TNF100

Remember the first time he asked for a really good reason to NOT run?  Well, apparently my concerns of him breaking a leg, falling or dying wasn't good enough.  It did though come to some point that I really did just want him to run, because I could feel that he really wanted to do it.

But then our little bean came into the picture.  So he's decided to give up his kit and not run this coming weekend.  

So the "I have to run TNF100 this year" goal is out for now.  Maybe next year.  The new goal is to do a sub-four in a marathon.  There are two coming up this June-July, and there's a 50k trail as well that's under consideration.  

But as of now, much of our excitement (as well as the grandparents-to-be) is on getting our bean healthy and well.   I'll have to get a nice chair for finish line waiting now.  Haha.

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on certificates, pregnancy and ziplines

Finishing a race, it's great to get a medal.  And it's really great to get a trophy.  Sometimes, you also get a finisher's certificate.  Having completed the Standard Chartered HK Marathon, the race kit says that they'll actually mail you an official certificate of achievement.  Isn't that way cool?  They'll actually go through all the effort of mailing stuff, no matter where you came from.  Well, I guess it would just be fair, since we flew to HK for it anyway.  But still.

And hello lookie what we got in the mail one day!

It actually looks really cool.  The paper is nice too.  Like, with full-on colored printing.  No scrimping on ink there.  Nice,  I would say.  But wait.  What's that?  Oh my glorious typographic God.

DID THEY JUST USE COMIC SANS?  They did!  Your name, for all the hardship of running through biting cold weather, breaking through and surviving with tens of thousands of runners - it is written in all capitalized glory of Comic Sans.  Ugh, I cannot express my utter hatred for this typeface.  I'm sorry Standard Chartered, the prestige just got bumped down by the use of the most loathed font by typegeeks around the world.

Okay, I will leave that now and go onto more uppity news.  We are pregnant!  Just a couple of weeks along.  Maybe a month.  As my cousin says, what a way to get out of running.  Haha.  I am now officially regressing my jogging program.  Also because I haven't done anything fitness-y for more than a week.  Which would probably make this kiddo a BDM baby.  Which would kind of dispel the belief that marathon and/or long-distance running would make it umm, harder.

Which brings me to the third subject of this post: there's a really cool trail run coming in July.  The TNF100 we're not actually sure if we're attending.  Well, Chips hasn't decided yet if he's to still run it or not.  A lot of sacrifices are going to be made in the next 9 months, and I really hate that it could hold back on the hubby's joy for trail running.

Anyway, the July trail run is in Cagayan De Oro, Mindanao.  It's so cool.  You get to run through pineapple fields and mountains.  More details are in TBR's blog.  The race is organized by a good running friend of Chips, which is also a motivation for us to go.

My original motivation was to get to try the zipline which is in the park where the finish line is.  It's actually the longest in Asia!  Isn't that totally awesome?!?  Oh the speedfreak in me is shaking with anticipation.  BUT THEN, I'm pregnant.  And well, I don't think they allow it.  DAMN.  Oh well.

So that's what's been happening so far.  I'm going to play Angry Birds now.

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him and me: statement shirts

HIM.

ME.

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will he love me more if i ran?

A couple of ladies shared this link on Facebook, which happened to drop on my wall while I was online.  It's a blog entry from renowned runner-blogger Jaymie Pizarro aka The Bull Runner.  The entry was entitled Date a Girl Who Runs.

I read it.  It was very well-crafted.  A brilliant unfolding of insight and words.  And halfway thru, it got me confused.  Because I really didn't know what to make of myself.  Maybe I should look at it the other way.  Replace female pronouns with male ones.  Because really, I not only dated a guy who runs, I married one.

Somehow it didn't make me feel better.  Especially when it came to the part discussing the "never let her go" and the train-togethers and the getting married to a girl who runs.  The beauty of that entry was that it made perfect sense.  Thru my husband, I had the opportunity to know a lot of running couples.  Some of the girls even doing better than their other halves.  Some following suit and training for the insanity that their husbands/boyfriends operate in.

I cut back to the day when the hubby was browsing thru friend's profiles and congratulating them for pacing their wives who ran their first mary's on the TBR Dream Marathon.  He was so ecstatic that he got this second-hand running high.  He was looking at their times and couldn't believe how these women did so well.  He was extremely happy and proud for them.

Which made me think, really.  Okay, I will not hide the insecurity.  Am I writing this defensively?  Maybe.  Is it a bit of oversharing?  Perhaps.  I'll be honest.  It's a bit of thinking that happens once in a while, when I remember how different we are.  And for as long as we're together, we'll just be that way.

She will never force your children to run, but they will learn to love it when they see her passion for running. She will make living a healthy, active life easy, natural, and best of all, fun. Expect a lot of laughter, sweat, and sports beans. Running will not be a sport, but it will be a way of life for you and your children.  You will never run alone.

Hmm.  I can't imagine having that.  I mean, I like sports beans.  They're sweet and they give that jolly zap.  But I don't think I'll have them because I need them for some athletic training.  

Which leads me to wonder about our "different" moments.  Like every time that he tells me to do one more round, or to just get out of the house and jog, to do something other than be on the computer; each time he does that, does he wish I was a sportier girl?  Every time he shows annoyance to why I don't understand that it would be better if I jogged without music so I could listen to my body; each time that  my stubbornness renders me totally uncoachable, does he feel regret? Would he be happier with someone who's not a couch potato, a shopaholic, a paper-hoarder who likes to take brewed coffee extremely slowly?

I take a sip from my coffee, which has been sitting by my computer screen for around 30 minutes.  Its warmth has almost escaped the mug.  I scroll up, see the sappy title, and my fingers threaten to use the Command+A+Del sequence.  The little blinking line taunts me, as it awaits my decision.  And in a fit of hearing Lady Gaga stomping away singing Born this Way (fittingly) on a music channel, I decide to let all this drama known to the world.

Because even if I'm not the girl who runs, I am the girl who blogs.  And I am the girl who reads.  I am the girl who is many things that may not be running and I'm sure at least one of those things was reason enough for my guy who runs to date me and marry me.  If love was already unconditional, then it wouldn't be right to think of even demanding more.

Now let's publish this thing.

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the pre-race diet

Okay here it is.  What we do and eat approaching race day.  I say "we" because I really would rather cook one meal for the both of us (most of the time).  Than bothering to eat something sinfully to my taste, because I would have to cook it too.  And wash.  And fix.  Well, you get the picture.

Just a disclaimer - I am not some dietician, nor am I one knowledgeable in food groups etcetera etcetera.  I did what I could to pass health class in High School.  But that's just about it.

The diet was "developed" (ooh, sounds really professional) across several races.  It was basically based on what made him feel good approaching the race, during his training and of course during the race itself.  There must be some science behind it, the simple being we really do know what's good and what's bad for us.  The yummy stuff usually being the bad, indulgent ones.  *Guilty* 

It's not a strict diet.  Though if he could avoid eating pork and beef altogether, he would.  Especially if it's down to two weeks before race day.  It's something that he says keeps his energy up longer, and makes him feel "lighter".  So that's good.  Having fish or seafood as the main source of protein gets him hungry easily - so the snacking becomes frequent.  But to that we try to have fresh fruits and/or a simple whole wheat sandwich.

That leaves all the cupcakes, bacon, spam and sausages for me :) 

Cereal with Fruits and Raisins for Breakfast

Pan-grilled Fish with Eggplants, Brown Rice and Dragonfruit

Cooking healthy isn't easy.  Well, for me at least - the reluctant domestic goddess that I am.  Keeping fresh produce from rotting away.  Trying to avoid frying.  I bought a Meyer teflon-coated grill pan last week, which would at least help cut down on using oil.  If we do need to deep-fry, paper towels are a runner's wife's best friend.  Blot that oil out to death like you're trying desperately to mattify your face on a humid day.

Over the weekend, we were at the beach.  Trips like these are dangerous, because the basking in the sun and enjoying the scenery won't be complete without good food.  The beach we went to had basic dwellings and no food arrangements.  So we had to make do with easy cooking and what we could buy at the local market.  Which meant... well, cheating.  Which was okay, he says, because it's still a month to go.  So inevitably it means we're not going beaching until that TNF100 run is over.

The bag of cheesy happiness, Cheetos vs. Grilled Fish.  Cheetos win.

Corona Extra = carbo-loading.  So it's okay, allegedly.

Grilled Fish now joined by cheese dogs and Chicken BBQ.  Oh no.

Dinner on the way home: Army Navy burgers.

Two patties, cheese and a load of Jalapenos.

Don't worry diet, we'll get right back on you now.

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the universe doesn't want me to run.

Let's take the path of less resistance.  I say that "training" and looking forward to something will set you up for a lot of "oh man" non-warm fuzzy feelings that can't be solved by a cup of coffee and a cupcake when it doesn't happen.

Should've been, would've been, could've been.  I won't be getting that shirt.  Remember the last post I wrote about me being some quasi-training-runner for the 2011 NatGeo run?  Well yeah, it turns out that the shorter distances are already closed.  I underestimated the breadth of aspiring running bums like myself.  Or really how many kids way younger and faster than me want to cross a finish line.  Now, unless I would like to kill myself before I actually find a job again, I'll go ahead and do the 21k.

Yeah, I'm not going to lie.  This bum is actually bummed.  I'll just go back to looking at pretty pictures and tumblr-ing them.  It doesn't involve pressure nor does it make you sweat and writhe in pain.

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dear Front Runner Magazine, thanks for giving my husband ideas.

Okay, I kind of mean that sarcastically.  Alright, who am I kidding.  I can't say I'm totally happy that he read that article.  And I can't say that I'm spastically bummed either.  Primarily because this now directly concerns - ME.  

We got this issue at the BDM 2011 Celebration Dinner.  It had Sir Jovie aka Bald Runner on the cover.  I think this is our second issue... or third.  I don't really pay attention to them, as they are dwarfed by the ginormous issues of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.  Okay, cue in some little back story.

BACK STORY:

Watching National Geographic, I see this ad on an Earth Day Run.  I love the world.  I think it's the most awesome thing.  When I was a kid, wanted to be a planeteer.  I wanted to meet Captain Planet.  So I saw that there was  3K distance and I told the hubby that maybe I could run that.  I rally some of my friends to join (I'm not sure if they will).  And asked Chips if he could pace me again, like the last time.

Okay, back to now: the hubby I think is really excited.  And I don't know where this "maybe I could run the 3k" initiative came from.  I suppose I really love Mother Earth.  We all should, anyway.  

Anyhoo, where does Front Runner come in?  Zoom down into the little lower left corner:

One evening, Chips did a scurry to me while I was doing my calligraphy in our study.  He had the magazine in his hand, pointing to the bold sans-serif text.  Hey hunny, this is perfect for you.  Or something like that.  I look at him pensively.

This program is totally easy!  And it's really doable.  It's like what I do *pause* but with longer distances.

He shows me the article, which had a table under it.  It was divided into 8 weeks.  

We could just adjust it to the three weeks you have until the race.  You can stop here *points to a part in the table* because you're just racing 3k anyway and just...

I zone out a bit.  He asks me for the scissors, and I give it to him.  He then proceeds to cut the table and sticks in on our shoe cabinet (well it's a cabinet for clothes that we have filled with shoes).

I've been doing the program for the past 5 days.  Which is actually pretty manageable.  I think I pretty much surprised my otherwise inactive self a bit.  The first runs, though really short distances, really HURT.  Yeah I know what you're thinking, you serious runners you, that's the distance you actually just cool down with.  I know.  It makes me feel somewhat like a wuss.

The day after is usually filled with the inability to squat and reach stuff that are on the floor.  It also pains me to go down stairs.  Yesterday we ran again and I don't know about my body being deceptive or anything, but so far I'm not feeling so much pain.  I guess that's a good thing?

So there.  Thanks Front Runner, I am free from my husband's jeering at my once-a-week jogging ritual.  Let's just hope this keeps up.  I can't believe I even said that.

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