Bucket List: Hollywood Roadtrip, Disney and Vegas

Five weeks into 2011. Five weddings already.  Well, actually, I'm on my way to the fifth wedding. But five days before that happens, I want to let the bride-to-be remember how crazy, fun and awesome we were back then.  Now we only have photos to bring us back five amazing years ago...

HOLLYWOOD

with JP, Anj (who's tying the knot in 5 days), Oly (who's getting married too on April)

Hooters

Grauman's Chinese Theater 

Rodeo Drive

 

Kodak Theater

DISNEYLAND CALIFORNIA

with Anj and Oly

VEGAS 

with Anj

I'm sooooo glad we did all these at our twenties and while we're single.  Even if both of you are tying the knot this year, I shall continue creating and adding to my twenty something single's bucket list.

Running into Jeff Galloway

First question. How do you call someone who is a Running Expert, a Marathon Coach, an Olympic Athlete, an Author-- all rolled into one? Jeff Galloway!

Second question. Did I mention that he's the Creator of the Run-Walk-Run method which I'm following for my marathon training?  Well, last night I met "the" Jeff Galloway and listened to him talk for 3 hours.

Third question. What could be more awesome than that? Attending his talk for FREE...thanks to TBR, all Dream Marathoners get a free ticket each to meet Jeff.

Three months into his famous run-walk-run program and I get to meet him in person.  And he gets to sign my one-month-old-Kris-Kringle-gift Galloway book: Marathon You Can Do It.  How amazing!

Tonight, I learned a lot but to share a few...I learned that:

you can add Water Running to your Cross Training options
and I will definitely try it this weekend

as much as I don't have a time goal for the Dream Marathon,
as much as I want to just finish all 42k,
as much as I expected that the Walk Breaks can slow one's time goal,
taking walk breaks in between runs can actually make you finish faster

it is very possible to run a marathon every 4 weeks
if you bring the 4 run/1 walk further to 30 sec run/30 sec walk

Water running, as the name implies, is practicing running while your legs are underwater.  Jeff said to have a floating device where your feet won't touch the ground and then you run.  The water's resistance strengthens muscles.  By alternating off and on, the main running muscles will retain their resilience longer.  Do this for 15 minutes every week.

Walk breaks work because on each successive walk, most or all of the fatigue is erased, giving you strength at the end.  And because of less fatigue, walk breaks eliminate injury.  Walk breaks can change a bad run into a regular one and sometimes a great one.  Less fatigue and less injury lead to running faster.  Because of his innovation, Jeff has been running without injury for 32 years.

I could keep on running through my mental notes from Jeff but for now, I write about the run-walk method to encourage my friends out there to start running cause Jeff has definitely stirred a twist in marathon training putting smiles on beginners' faces upon finishing their first marathon through his ideation of the walk breaks. As for me, I'll follow what Jeff wrote on my book...

Clarissa, keep running!

5, 10, 15...All in Three Months

If you haven't figured that out...i meant 5k, 10k and 15k...the distances I've covered since I started running. And say I must..they are indeed doable in a matter of 3 months of training.  This is such a cliche but... I never thought it can be done...more so, I never thought I can do it but I DID! Thanks to the Galloway Run-Walk method we're following under the Dream Marathon training.  It's simple...you don't have to run all the way. You run for 4 minutes then walk for 1 minute. Then run again then walk. 4/1 style! Walk breaks help minimize fatigue and injury. Also, you don't need to overtrain yourself.  Even if you're a busy person (like me), all you have to commit to are the Long Runs every weekend (with increasing time goal) and Two Maintenance Runs (45-60 minutes) during weekdays. That's pretty much my training program.

It's only after I registered for the Dream Marathon that I started training. The first Bull Session (the term for training Dream Marathoners) commenced last October 23 with a short talk by Coach Lit Onrubia.  Afterwhich, we dream marathoners got our first taste of Chi Walking and Chi Running.

A month after that, on November 21, I ran my first race...my first 5k in Unilab's Run United 2.  Here's my first running victory moment (courtesy of PhotoVendo)...

After one more 5k race (Nike Run), I already ran my first 10k during the Mighty Bond Xtreme Run in Ortigas last December and another 10k during the Run for Love, Run for Life Race in Alabang last January 8.  Here's my friend Trish, who, like me, never ran before registering for the Dream Marathon.  But we did register and together we'll cross our first marathon finish line on March...

It was only last Saturday, January 22, did I run my first 15k at the Bull Session's training.  It felt sooo good, not to mention, empowering.  Now, I still can't imagine I'm running 42k on March but hey, this was the same feeling I had when I ran my first 5k.  I can't imagine two more 5k loops then but now, I've reached that goal...running 15k.  So really, even if it still sounds unimaginable for me now, I'll run that 42k anyway.

Don’t Just Count Them…Write Them Down

This is not a Starbucks ad. These are my blessings notebooks. In December of 2007, I started writing my blessings everyday. Sure, I would count them before that…only when I am reminded by other people, when I feel bad and need a quick fix, when I literally read “Count your blessings” on a car sticker.  But seriously, there’s an entire different feeling when you make it a habit as (first) you allot time for it, (second) you write them down, (third) you do it everyday.  It’s as simple as that.

Honestly, I started doing this because I was undergoing my quarter life crisis—a time when I doubted myself: Have I accomplished enough for my age? Am I successful for my age? Am I worthy? Hah! Those were the days (which I laugh about now) and having read articles and books on how to stay positive…it hit me: BE GRATEFUL.

So for three years now, I’ve learned these.

1. It’s a habit you need to develop.  It’s when you do it repeatedly that you get the point. I mean, at first, I would only acknowledge the “big” blessings that would come my way such as a bonus at work, a concert we did, a party I attended, a birthday surprise. But then as I continue to think about how blessed I am day by day, I started taking note of the SMALLEST and MOST TRIVIAL of things. Smallest such as a “free mint candy from an officemate” or “a really long hard tummy-aching laugh” or “finding a parking slot in 30 seconds”.  The most trivial of things like a “good and loving family” or “fun and supportive friends” or “having quality education”.  And so from the biggest most obvious blessings to the simplest taken-for-granted things…I wrote them all.
2. The ratio of positive-happy-awesome-days to low-energy-bad-vibes days is 360:5.  Of course I still have those tremendously miserable days where a series of unfortunate events coupled with Murphy’s law happens.  But with my blessings notebook, I realized that it’s ok to have those ^%$!*@ days because out of 365 days, 360 brought me smiles, laughter, peace and fun.  So who cares? The five days don’t matter after all.
3. This ritual makes me a better person everyday. I never thought that this is an exercise for your mind to focus on positive things instead of making a big fuss out of an issue.  As I take on this journal journey, it has become so effortless to switch your mind on to the brighter side of things.  Logging my blessings have brought me benefits more than expected.

So I challenge myself now to magnify this blessings journal even more by committing to my FIFTH GOAL this year…TO FILL UP THE ENTIRE SPACE ALLOTED EACH DAY WITH BLESSINGS BIG AND SMALL.

Now start writing yours. If you start a blessings journal after reading this, you allow me to be a blessing too.  I thank you for that; and I might as well end up writing your name on my journal today.

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.  ~G.K. Chesterton

Something New Every Year

I've told you about pursuing breakthroughs instead of resolutions. I've told you that it would be about WRITING and RUNNING for me this year. I want something new every year and this time I want to share with you that since the 2006 World Tour of UP Concert Chorus, I have made a set of TWIN GOALS:

TRAVEL TO AT LEAST ONE NEW LOCAL DESTINATION

and

CONQUER AT LEAST ONE NEW COUNTRY EVERY YEAR

So far this is what I have accomplished for the past 4 years:

2007: North Shore Zambales

2008: Banaue and Sagada, Mountain Province

2009: Misibis Bay, Albay and Davao

2010: Bondoc Peninsula, Quezon and Bantayan Island, Cebu and Taal, Batangas

2006: Italy, Germany, Scotland, England, New Zealand

2007: Japan

2008: France, Spain, Macau

2009: Singapore

2010: Korea

2007: Surfing at Zambales

2008: Banawe with Tin

2008: Travel Retreat in Sagada with Tin

2009: Discovery Bay Misibis, Albay with Kaich, Jael and Macy

2009: Samal Island, Davao

2010: Pueblo Por La Playa, Quezon with Heroic XXX

2010: Hike to Taal Volcano with Tere, Tin, Andrea and Mica

2006: Venice, Italy

2006: Olympia Stadion (Home of 2006 FIFA), Berlin, Germany

2006: Aberdeen, Scotland with Joy, Kaich, Anna, Airis, Glady and Eman

2006: London, England

2006: Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, Tauranga, New Zealand

with Monique and Ma'am Ena

2007: Japan with family: Solo, Ate Carmela, Kiko

2008: Eiffel Tower, Paris, France with family: Kiko, Mommy, Tita Miriam

2008: Madrid, Spain with Tita Miriam and Mommy 

2008: Macau (Starcom Trip) with Jemelle

2009: My emo moment in Singapore Botanic Gardens

2010: Starcom Trip to Korea

Having been to different places here and abroad have made me realize how beautiful the world is.  I realized that although technology has made the world smaller, the world is still so big having a whole lot of places to visit, a whole set of things to be inspired with--new experiences altogether.  It brings such a natural high to step on new grounds, to learn new things, to experience new culture, to taste new cuisine, to learn a new word or two (if not a new language), to be overwhelmed by history and most of all, to talk to different kinds of people. Amazing. Fascinating.

As I was sipping my coffee at the Louvre Museum back in 2008, I told my uncle, Tito Tony, that I’m overwhelmed by the number of people visiting the grandness of Louvre everyday.  The long line outside looked like a string of ants from afar. I realized that we are just a speck in this world, too irrelevant to be focusing on problems, negatives and non-essentials.  The world is oh so so so beautiful, I wish everyone would grasp it that way everyday.

I wonder what awe the world will bring me this year.  I haven’t planned for anything local and international yet.  For now, I’m just going to sit and wait for what surprises 2011 will bring me.