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By now you should know that when I set my sights on something—be it a marathon or an antidote to shin splints—I can get pretty obsessive about it. The upcoming Animo tri was not an exception. With my training in running, biking, and swimming (more emphasis on the swim portion to avoid potentially embarrassing incidents at the pool) in progress, I had to worry about what to wear.

For two weeks, I pondered over this issue, surfed the net, and asked several friends exactly what should be worn to a mini-sprint. Marga advised me to purchase a tri suit and achieve that “Lara Croft” feeling (with the option of pouting my lips just like Angie).  Mary Anne told me she was sticking to a bathing suit with leggings and pulling a singlet on top of it for the bike and run.  Annie lent me her Speedo long sleeve rashguard with matching teeny-weeny biking shorts (which did end up looking too tiny for my not-so-size-0 body).

Aaah, so many options, so little time!  Early this week, I surrendered to the idea that no one really cares what one wears because they are too busy doing their own thing.  Wear what is comfortable and easy during transitions. One that doesn’t need to be squeezed into, pulled down, or yanked up all the time. So, I opted to purchase the tri suit: the most convenient option but not necessarily the cheapest one. I never knew tri suits cost so much:

Speedo Bodyskin, Speedo BHS……….P13,000++
Orca tri suit, Bike King BHS……….P5,000
Epic tri suit, ROX BHS……….P2,500

Do you have to ask what I ended up buying?  Last Monday, I dropped by ROX (yes, on that stormy evening) to make the big Epic tri suit purchase. I liked the material (available at Bloomingdale’s store in Shang) and it fit well, like second skin. One wouldn’t even know this was locally manufactured. I was slightly concerned about the color (I wanted a black one to make me look 10lbs. lighter) but settled on the only one available, a grey/aqua/white design. 

Buying the tri suit was quite an adventure. I love ROX and all (it’s my new favorite store in Manila) but that night was terrible. I was alone in the dressing room when a blackout occurred. When I tried to pay with my card, they couldn’t process it due to the blackout so I had to part with my cash.  They did not allow for a 10% discount from my Nike+ Human Race participation; in fact, the cashier had no idea about it.  Last but not the least, it took them more than 5 mins to look for my umbrella which I left at the door (they had apparently used it at the 2/F! What?!)  

Oh well, I’m not complaining. I’m happy with my tri suit. I took it for a 650m swim test yesterday and it passed with flying colors. My only prayer is that I don’t have to run to the little girl’s room too often on race day—zipping in and out of that thing alone is a wannabe triathlete’s worst nightmare.

WHAT: The Gabriel Symphony Foundation’s 6th Annual 12-Hour Multi Sport for a Cause, In Memory of Gabriel

WHEN: September 27, 2008, 6 AM TO 6 PM

WHERE: Polo Field, Alabang Country Club

REG FEE/ DONATION: P 1,000

This is a fund raising event set up in memory of Gabriel Rene Cayetano Sebastian, the son of Senator Pia Cayetano and Atty. Butch Sebastian, who was born with a rare chromosomal disorder and passed away at the tender age of nine months.

The foundation supports children with disabilities.  Its major project is cleft-lip-and-palate operations for infants at the Philippine General Hospital, Malvar General Hospital and the V Luna Veterans Hospital.

For three years now, the Foundation has also included as its beneficiaries, blind and deaf children.  We work with Parent Advocates for Visually Impaired Children (PAVIC), the Ephpheta Foundation for the Blind Inc. wherein we donate artificial eyes and Braille books, Philippine School for the Deaf and the Philippine Ear Institute where we give out profound to severe hearing aids.

Your P1,000 donation/registration fee per participant enables registrant to join any of this year’s events:

New Event for Running Enthusiasts:

5km and 10km fun run

Race starts at 6 a.m.

Individual’s Choice:

Run, walk or bike for any distance and time between 6am-6pm. Aside from your donation, you may also wish to invite your friends to sponsor you for every kilometer that you run, walk or bike.  Discount for kids available.

Maxiwork’s Super Kids Aquathlon and Triathlon:

For kids who wish to join the aquathlon and  triathlon with distances based on their age category.

Pinay In Action All Women’s Triathlon:

An all women’s triathlon that has a very friendly distance of 500m swim, 15km bike and 3km run.

Corporate Relay:

Special donation and company’s employees come together for a team building activity and get fit by doing a 12 hour-relay.

And here’s great news:   

Maiqui Dayrit will doing his 4th birthday Ironman and Joey Torres will do his first! Maiqui and Joey are racing for the Foundation. To pledge support, you may email Maiqui at maiqui@skyinet.net and Joey at josecelestinotorres@hsbc.com.ph.

For details, click here.

I usually sing (or more like yell) “Oh what a beautiful morning!” in the car as I drive my kids to school on weekdays. My son rolls his eyes while my daughter, fortunately or unfortunately for her, stays dozed off in the backseat of the car.  Today, however, my children didn’t get any of mom’s singing; I was in an awfully sour mood.

I hardly had any sleep as I burned the midnight oil hoping to get a lot of work done to free up my load this week. I was still dreaming about my awesome weekend: ran 10k with Annie on Saturday then biked 11k/ ran 4k alone on Sunday and I could hardly believe it was Monday again.

My plan for this week was to run, run, and run while squeezing in a couple of swims for the upcoming triathlon this Sunday. If there’s extra time, I was also hoping to take a Bikram session and spend a day at the gym.  But, with the way things were going early this morning, I doubt if I’ll even have energy to keep my eyelids from falling the next few days. My deadlines are tight and I’ve got a lot of other tasks to accomplish while juggling the most demanding job of all: mommyhood. 

Ah, such is life. One just learns to roll with the punches, to give 100% at every task even when weary and spent, and to pray to the high heavens that—despite the lack of training and sleep—one will survive the triathlon that one was crazy enough to sign up for. Gulp.

I just registered for the Animo Triathlon mini-sprint distance on September 14! I know, it’s next week already.  Don’t remind me. I’m in denial.  

82% of me is excited.

10% is nervous about the 350m swim.

5% is wondering how to prepare for transitions.

3% is trying to figure out what to wear.

Boy oh boy oh boy, what have I gotten myself into?  Good thing I managed to drag, I mean, invite my 17-year-old nephew to do the mini-sprint with me.  Wish us luck!

While you were recovering from your Nike+ Human Race race a couple of days ago, you may have been sipping your morning coffee while browsing through the Sunday papers. If you had Phil. Daily Inquirer, you may have read Ms. Tessa Prieto-Valdez’s column which featured the race and the Nike Lunar Testing…

Zoom in on the photo above and you may just find a few familiar faces in there…

To Tessa Valdez, thank you for the feature! Best of luck in NY Marathon. And, if or when I see you in another race, I hope I’ll finally have the guts to say HI!