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My friend and fitness trainer, Mitch Felipe-Mendoza, has been inviting me to try out her new class: PILOXING, a combination of Pilates, boxing, and dancing for cardio, core, and strength training all in one session! That description alone was enough to pique my interest, but I haven’t been able to find the time due to my busy sched.

If you’re interested, you may wanna try out her FREE class on NOVEMBER 23, 2013, SATURDAY at 12:00NN, for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda. It will be at B+B Studio, Infinity Bldg. in BGC. They require a minimum donation of P300.  More details in the poster below.

For inquiries or to reserve a slot, please text 09178653878.

To read more about Piloxing, click on the articles below:

– Piloxing: The New Thrilla in Manila, PhilStar
– Hilary Duff, Vanessa Hudgens, Why They’re All Into Piloxing, Phil Daily Inquirer

Remember my post last month about being a finalist (yay!) in the Rappler Do More Awards?  (If your memory fails you, please click HERE.)

WHO WINS THE PAIR OF BROOKS RUNNING SHOES?

In that blogpost, I promised to give away 1 pair of Brooks Running shoes as a thank you present to everyone who had voted and posted on that blogpost.  (Apologies for the delay, I got really busy organizing One Run.)  After a randow draw on random.org, I am pleased to announce the winner!

Congratulations to JORDANA QUEDDENG, the 9th commenter (with complete details as requested in the rules), for winning 1 pair of Brooks running shoes!  Please expect an email from me regarding claiming of shoes.

YOU CAN STILL VOTE!

Okay, here’s the thing, I made a mistake with the end of voting.  It turns out that voting ends on NOVEMBER 24, 2013.  That means we have 3 days to vote!

I’m currently in 2nd Place…grrrr I hate 2nd place…so I really would appreciate it if you could ask your wife or husband, girlfriend or boyfriend, boss or subordinate, kids, friends, house help and the man across the street, to just spend a minute of his time to hop on over to the Rappler site (link below) and click on my face at the bottom of the page.  I’m assuming of course you voted for me already, right?  Thanks a lot!

<<< CLICK HERE & VOTE FOR ME IN THE RAPPLER DO MORE AWARDS >>>

On The Heels of a Dream is a weekly column by guest writer Obbie Suguitan who is currently training for his first marathon, The Bull Runner Dream Marathon, on February 16, 2014.

With barely 3 months to go, training is slowly ramping up (often literally!) into serious road time. This week I noticed that my knee pain has all but gone, hopefully never to return. I’m a bit (more than a bit) disappointed though that I got shut out of what seems to me could be a good first public run scheduled for 2 weeks from now. I should have acted earlier. Unfortunately, the organizers closed it a week before schedule because it had hit the participant limit. No one knew about the limit nor was it announced that there was a limit and that it closed. Sigh. Anyway, my next recourse was to enter another run, purportedly a dominant one (hint, hint) a week earlier. In the interim, a person received my registration along with the payment but until I get my bib, singlet, and race kit items, I will not consider myself in.

As far as training went, the 2 maintenance runs went fine. I did not get any faster (just being honest) but it did get easier. The thing with me trying to run faster is that it creates higher impact hence harder on my knees. At my present weight, the dynamic of trying to run faster makes my feet pound the ground harder so I still gotta take it easy so my endurance doesn’t suffer consequently. At this point, I have become the personification of the rule: run at your own pace.

The weekend long run was a different matter altogether. In the span of a week, it evolved from just a long training run into something considerably more significant. It changed from me and my batch of Dreamers achieving improvement for ourselves into a unified and engaging effort to help others. By this I mean One Run – a run for the victims of Yolanda. No bibs, no singlets, no extensive hydration, no medals. The only victory for the runners and participants was that somewhere in the ravaged and typhoon-torn areas, somebody was going to be fed, clothed, or given shelter because we had come to run together, and did not run for ourselves. The turnout was impressive considering it was all on short notice and that it started at 4:30 in the morning of a Saturday. I myself brought a guest who had not done any significant running but was bent on donating and possibly (I hope!) getting a head start for joining Dream 2015. This whole event was the brainchild of The Bull Runner herself then everyone just piled on in support.

– Coach Lit address the Dream Marathoners for Bull Session 3 which was held during One Run –

– with my guest –

– with TBR –

For the run itself, those who were still there to get the long training run done, it took three rounds of a fairly large circuit around BGC. Starting earlier, I found that I could take early morning sun with not much of a problem. I was very thankful that there was a new group added – the 1:1 group. I started with the 1:1 group, fell behind with batchmate Alice, and then was picked up (no, not that kind of picked up!) by one of the 2:1 runners, Ms. Iris – causing me to finish with the tail end of that group. This is the kind of support I’ve been on the receiving end of from a lot of batchmates. Thank you! One of the important things I learned is that the proportion of the run to the walk breaks has nothing to do with the actual speed. I was still the last in the 1:1 but it was because my stride speed (cadence?) is slow/low. I have actually been training 2:1 but had I gone with 2:1 I still woulda been among the last. I think, logically, my best fit would be to do my slow 2:1 within a 1:1 group – which means it would do me well to run alone or rely on the patience of a sweeper.

Anyway, even if not in leaps and bounds, I can feel my endurance and confidence grow. Big thanks to those who have been taking this journey with me – my family and of course 2014 Dreamers. For this week, my parting shot  – we’re not done with the Dream nor are we done taking more steps for our brothers. Peace.

– with Smiley Evan –

This is part of a series of posts under the Quaker Challenge. It’s about the quest that my kids and I have to achieve our Quaker Goal to swim, bike, and run more. Read about it HERE.

When we started our Quaker Challenge in August, I was completely uncertain over how far I could take the kids with it. Sure, they were willing, even excited, to swim, bike, and run once in a while, but I didn’t know if they were ready to commit to regular training sessions for sports.

In the past, one or both of them had signed up for soccer, baseball, tennis, swimming, ice skating and more, and almost all the time they would quit in less than a month. I could’ve put up a TBR Sports Store with all our barely used equipment at home.

But, the past weeks, things have definitely changed. I fetch both kids from school on Tuesdays and Fridays and they know that they take swimming sessions after. Most of the time, I swim along with them.

– Before one of our swim sessions –

On Sundays, Anton looks forward to triathlon training sessions with Coach Norman and all the other tri kids that he’s made friends with. Last Saturday, Anton joined the BGC Cycle for kids too.  (Separate post on that in a bit!)  It’s almost normal for them to engage in some form of activity at least twice a week now. It’s a world of difference from the way they spent their time after school or on weekends. I’m not even sure if these are the same kids who used to have their eyes glued to Minecraft and Club Penguin all the time!

So, what helped to make my kids more active and healthier? This is what we did:

1) WE SET A CLEAR GOAL. Thanks to the Quaker Challenge I set a clear goal for the kids to swim, bike, and run more. It became even more measurable for Anton when we signed him up for Ironkids. Sit your kids down and agree on a target together. Discuss ways on how you will achieve it as a team. Gently remind them about this during the week since they tend to get distracted with school work and friends.

2) WE MADE NO EXCUSES. There were times, especially during exam week, when Anton would say that he had too much homework and he couldn’t train. I took it as an opportunity to teach him about proper time management. Together, we agreed on how much time he would spend on training and studying. Both had to be given their fair share of time and focus.

3) I LISTENED AND EXPLAINED. Not all days are good days. So, on days when the kids would complain, I would listen to them, yet I would explain. When Nia said she was having difficulty, I told her that all sports are hard in the start. One doesn’t learn the perfect swim stroke or running technique overnight. When she said it was a bit boring. I told her only after a few “slow” technical sessions can she join other kids and engage in the fun drills and races against each other.

4) WE CHOSE BETTER FOOD. With more activities, I needed to make sure that both kids were eating nutritiously. I have them eat a heavier breakfast to keep them fueled for the day, such as oatmeal and fruits. I give them fruit/veggie juice everyday.

5) WE HAVE FUN. My greatest fear is to have the kids engage in sports hating every single minute. I make sure that they’re having fun while they’re swimming, biking, or running. Thankfully, each and every time I’ve asked them: “Did you have fun?” They both answer “Yes!” even if it’s immediately followed by “Can we pass by McDo?” I know, I know. We still have to get rid of fastfood. That’s an entirely new goal altogether.

ONE RUN: Run for the Victims of Typhoon Yolanda successfully raised P615,000 for Yolanda victims.  We wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of our sponsors and friends.  Here goes our thank you list…

Thank you to Unilab Active Health for supporting One Run and managing the in kind donations for us, especially Zeny Mejias…

Thank you to Gatorade who sponsored our hydration even with only 3 days notice…

Thank you to Raymond Racaza of Run.ph for donating 100% of proceeds from sales of their limited edition Run.ph shirts which they sold on race day…

Thank you to Photo-Ops, our official photographers for One Run…(Click HERE for more run photos)

Thank you to Tin Ferrera of Simple Hydration who provided water, Jay Em of Proactive, and HDSI Medic Team who provided medical aid during the run.  Thank you to Bonifacio Global City for the support.

Thanks to friends who helped spread the word about One Run…

– with Kuya Kim Atienza who ran his first 15k at One Run after recovering from his illness –

Thank you to our volunteers, my personal friends, and Teammates from Unilab Active Health…Ton Gatmaitan, Mae Young, Bic Ferreria, Jake de Guzman, Ani de Leon, Drew Arellano, Adel Samson, Lester Castillo, and Ed Innocentes…

Thank you to our Bull Session 3 Volunteer Pacers…

Thanks to friends Macel and Jun who worked behind the scenes and were willing to help organize the event at a moment’s notice…

And, last but not the least, thank to you to all the runners that donated and ran with us for One Run. One Run can and will change thousands of lives.

One Run was organized by The Bull Runner in cooperation with Unilab Active Health with the support of Gatorade. Thank you also to Bonifacio Global City, Run.ph, Simple Hydration, Proactive, Photo-Ops (our official photographer), HDSI Medic Team, Jun Cruz and Mike & Macel Janeo.