Running w/ the Stars

So how does it feel like running with Derek Ramsay and Maricar Reyes?

I don't know. I never saw them. In fact, I didn't feel their presence at all.

But I ran the 3k distance at the Century Tuna Superbod Run and it felt daaaaamn goooood!!!! :D I've had less than 5 hours of sleep that night, since I had to wake up at 4am to be at BHS at 5am. Franco, mom, Cody (our shih tzu), and I made it just in time to park right beside Carlos Agassi. The place was packed. Had we been a minute late, we wouldn't have had any parking space at all. People were already doing warm-up runs/walks all around the place, stretching on lamp posts, and taking pictures (of themselves). As if it were 8 in the evening and a concert was about to take place. Everybody's running these days! (Well, at least it's a healthier and more wholesome alternative to clubbing.) :P

The event was impressive for a first-timer like me. Everything was organized (at least from my perspective). It was impossible not to feel the energy emanating from everybody. Adrenaline made up for my lack of sleep. As soon as the emcee shouted GO!, I couldn't stop running! Maybe because of the thought that it was embarrassing to walk while everyone else was still running. Or maybe because I didn't want to be the last one to arrive at the finish line. Or maybe it was just pure adrenaline pumping on my veins. So, I just kept going until my lungs couldn't take it anymore. Of course I had to stop at every water station (there were only two of them for the 3k route anyway :P). Male Brazilian models were handing out Gatorade. How can I not get thirsty? :P

I finished the run at a decent time -- 30 mins. Derek finished his 3k route at 27 mins, Maricar finished hers in 17 mins. (Yeah, we're on first-name basis.) I would have loved to gloat over the fact that Derek was only 3 mins. ahead of me, but I just learned he had an operation on his knee or ankle or somewhere else. So, let's cut the guy some slack. The fastest female 3k runner finished at 11 mins. (No, I have no plans on beating her time.), and the "slowest" female 3k runner finished at 3 hours (She must have ran a different route? haha :P). So, 30 mins. isn't that bad at all, right? HAHAHA!

Kudos to the runner who almost fainted on her first attempt at running, but finished her first 3k race with style. Special thanks goes out to Franco who convinced me to live a healthier lifestyle. I love you! :) See you at the next finish line! :D

Moments of clarity

Sometimes, I just can't see the point why I'm here. I can't see the big picture. I desperately want to have a glimpse of the future just so I can be confident that I'm really meant to be here at this place at this precise point in time. I ask for signs, for confirmation, that there's a deeper reason why I'm here, even if I personally think it's a waste of time. I try to dig my own tunnel and find ways to escape but always seem to crawl into dead ends. I pray that He grants my requests, that He gives me what I've been asking for. After all, He was the one who said to "ask" and "you shall receive", right?

However, James 4:3 says "When you pray for things, you don't get them because you want them for the wrong reason-for your own pleasure." And to drill the message deeper into my heart, he adds in 1 John 5:14 "This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us" Ok fine :P If God could, he would've whacked my head already for being so stubborn.

Patience has never been my best asset. In fact, it's my least practiced virtue in life. I don't like the waiting, the anxiety of not knowing what's going to happen and when it's going to happen if it's going to happen. But after much thought, after much prayer, after much Bible studies and devotion time, after much consulting with more mature people, I've realized God's message is very simple.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. - Proverbs 3: 5-6

I don't know which Bible version these verses were taken from, but I'm sure this is the best translation yet. I'm declaring that God's will will prevail in my life. And that is my moment of clarity.

See you at the finish line!

Helloooooo!

Right, I still have a blog! Yes, I still exist. Yes, I'm still alive.

Amidst the idleness and the boredom, I found a new way to feel alive. That is.. to run. Run in circles and sweat it out. If I can't pour out the energy at work, I can at least divert it to some other activity in life.

Yes, be surprised. The closest thing I have to "exercise" is [window] shopping and getting something in my room upstairs (which of course entails going up the stairs and going back down to where I came from). But now... I'm able to run for 5 minutes straight, and get my shirt drenched with sweat. Really, that's a HUGE achievement for someone who *almost* fainted after running for 30 seconds. I had to lie down at BHS's steps to get my head cleared up again. Beads of sweat didn't even form in my forehead during the first time I ran. Go, you can clap for me now :) Thank you! :)

Now I realized... I defied my own limits. I broke the barriers I planted around myself. I broke the routines I established. So whoever said boredom kills? In my personal opinion, boredom is the gateway to bigger, better, healthier opportunities.

Yes, relating mundane things with life's bigger realizations is a staple of this blog.