Dear Kara,

After two months of being back in school (teaching and studying) and living a fairly less-active lifestyle, I finished another 5k race today, in partnership with my friends from IVPM. We ran the Globe Run for Home!



This time, I knew I could and I would finish this 5k race, and the challenge would only be for me to beat my last 5k best time (which, by the way, was messed up by the organizers of the last 5k race I joined). I could've run the 10k again, but I knew I lacked training. So I decided to run 5k with my newly-converted running friends, and just enjoy the thrill of the after-race runner's high.

I was somewhat disappointed that unlike when I ran my first 10k two months ago, my automatic inner iPod didn't play on my last kilometer. No songs reverberated. No lyrics shouted out from the depths of my runner's heart. Maybe it was because I wasn't exhausted enough. Or maybe because on this my fourth 5k run, I was going to gain new analogies and insights different from those I gleaned from my last runs.

Today, out of the 6,000 reported runners, I noticed many couples running in tandem. Few were as old as my parents, but there were many who were around my age.

All of a sudden, I thought about running, pacing, and timing in relation to a marriage or long-term relationship. I began the race with Nikki and Nancy, friends of mine whom I have enthusiastically encouraged to run with me. All three of us ran at different pace, none of us were yet elite, and although we all giddily began at the same time and from the same portion of the start line, we all knew that somewhere within the race, we would all get separated, not because we wanted to run alone, but simply because none of us could keep pace with the other, and frankly, it was difficult to run alongside another runner who ran at a different pace and a different rhythm.

True enough, I lost sight of Nikki and Nancy early into the race. I wanted to hang on and adjust my pace, but my legs began pushing me on...at the pace of my regular training run...not too fast, but not too slow. Later on, I would see Nancy again, but although I tried to look for Nikki, I didn't see her (and Tin, another friend) until after we had all finished the race.

Running alone, I enjoyed the thrill of knowing that my goal was to beat my best time. I enjoyed the freedom I had to weave in and out of the myriad runners ahead of me or beside me. As a lone runner, it is easier to adjust my pace, to slow down when the water stations were in sight, to increase speed when the terrain became easier to manage, and to adjust my strides when the running was uphill.

Yes, I think for the most part, running, like life, is indeed a sport for one. And although I do not propose that we run though life alone, running in tandem has it's requirements.

For one, to be able to comfortably adjust your pace to that of another's, you must be an elite runner. Elite runners have had months, even years of training in running. They are already good on their own. They already know how to pace themselves, how to run well without getting injured. They already know their best times and their worst times. They can anticipate their needs on the trail, and they do not need much coaching. This comes from regular training.

Second, running in tandem precludes that you, or your partner, is willing to run at less than his best time, unless you find a running mate who has the exact same pace that you run on. And if you decide to be with a running mate who runs at a faster or slower pace, either you, or your partner, must be willing to make a sacrifice.

Third, running in tandem entails sensitivity to your partner's needs. A runner must conserve lots of energy during long runs, and probably (as I have never run in tandem; I have just observed), if you, or your running mate has to talk a lot and explain a lot (let's get water here...slow down here...we need to cross that marker...let's increase our pace...are you still doing okay?) lot's of energy will be consumed during your run. Instead of focusing solely on finishing the race, both of you must now focus on finishing the race...with your partner in tow...and in consideration of your partner's needs.

Now this is not to say that I don't want to run in tandem. In fact, I may have dreams of finding that perfect running mate myself. 

After this last run, I just realized, on more than just a spiritual and philosophical level, how important, extremely important it is to find a running mate who has spent countless hours training, training, and training...only so you can finally decide to adjust both your paces, and finish a well-run race...with your Sole Running Mate. (Pun intended.)

Every now and then, meeting a "Rovilson" is just quite a bonus.

Labels: family, fitness, love, marriage, musings, running, women

Yesterday was the Philippines' 111th Year of Independence.Yesterday marked the day of my 2nd Year Anniversarry of teaching. Yesterday was June 12, 2009.




I praise God for the many wonderful things He has showered me with in 2009, knowing how much I had prayed for a breakthrough, for all things new, for beginnings, for growth, after much-too-long-struggles in more than one area of my life.



Since I had forced myself to take a leave from school in the second semester of AY 2008-2009, I made sure that I would attend some kind of organized learning that would continue to supplement alll the teaching that I was doing. So I saved up and attended the 1st Philippine International English Language Conference at the SMX Convention Center.



It was both a broadening and exciting experience, since not only did I realize how important my chosen career path is, but i also met most of my teachers in UP :) This event also opened up the opportunity to conduct an echo lecture-seminar to older and much more experienced faculty in UMak during our English Week.



I truly enjoy running, maybe because when I run, it  makes me feel as if my body, at least my physical body, is truly alive. I enjoy the feeling of knowing that my muscles, my breathing, and my spirit are all in a state of struggle during the run. Each step, each movement is a struggle, and each step taken is also part of the win. It is exhilirating to know that my body, which has undergone such moments of sedentary life, is actually capable of such action.

This summer 2009 is also the best summer that I can ever remember. I know that on my own, I had already mapped out a very detailed and very structured summer schedule for the acheiver in me. It would have been my very cerebral summer of finishing another 9 units of my MA in English...but once again, the Lord had other plans. I think He knew how much my family and I needed a break.

Aside from my many other pre-summer break summer excursions to Pagsanjan (shooting the rapids), Liliw (shoe shopping and church-hopping), Paete (woodcarver watcching), and Puerto Galera (beachcombing), I was able to visit a host of islands in the Philippines when my family and I went on an 8-day cruise.


I was truly my dream vacation! Eight days of sumer sun, sand, and frolic, and it couldn't get any better than this: Marinduque for the Moriones Festival, two days of beachcoming in the island of Boracay, three days in otherworldy Coron and the Calamianes islands, one day in Lubang Mindoro, and finally, to Corregidor and back to Manila.

Truly, I could not have imagined a better vacation more suited to the entire family. We all had a blast, and we call came home awed and thankful at what the Lord had just laid on our feet.

Back in Manila, although I was still getting my summer salary as a full-time instructor, it was inevitable to think about expenses once again as we had spent quite a bit dduring the cruise.

God had the perfect answer. Upon my return, a Korean student, Dahee, whose mom had interviewed me several weeks earlier called and asked to arrange a series of tutorials. I was thankful, as it not only gave me time to work on something; it also gave me additional income for the rest of my summer vacation.

I knew that I had to recover some cash, as the long-planned-for secret 30th Anniversary Wedding of our parents was due in a few weeks. There was a lot to do.


Needless to say, on the said date, May 31, everything worked out perfectly. Our dear friends and family memebers helped us all pull off a wonderful, wonderful surprise. I know that our parents' 30th wedding Anniversarry is something that will last us the rest of our lifetimes, not only because it is our family's legacy, but also because the memory was a collaborative effort of all those whom we loved and who loved us most.


Not long after Dad and Mom's 30th Anniversarry, I also had another article published. Although I have been published quite a number of times already, I can never get over squealing in delight whenever I see my name, my byline either on print, or online. It is like getting ice cream and fizz wizz lollipops on a clear summer day.

I have been an active memeber of the professionals ministry of IVCF for a number of years now. There has been a constant struggle in IVPM Makati for the past few years, but this summer, we all went for a reunion for revival. I have been re-elected as an officer once again, and we, the Core look forward to acheiving new heights of relational discipleship and growth in the fellowship.


Thrice, this summer, I have spent evening until early in the morning bonding with high school classmates. It has been ten years since we had last seen each other, and it was slightly terrifying, meeting them all again, changes, no changes, and all. Yet in the end, meeting them was a pleasant discovery of differences and sameness, and the opportunity to recall the fragility of our youth.


I am also thankful to Hopie for new friendships, because she invited my family and I to GCF Makati, and I have been blessed by my friendships there. I am thankful for Hopie because I am aware that she spends a great amount of time in nourishing her friendship with me. I am also thankful because I have an ate, an older sister I can talk to, I can bug, when I'm not able to make wise, rational decisions in the snap of a finger. I'm also thankful to my new (and very young) pastor (PNorb) and his wife (Carol). There are many things I have yet to share with them, but I am just thankful for the affinity that I feel...being the eldest in the family, I am always thankful for friends who are older and wiser than I am.


Indeed, 2009 has been a MOST WONDERFUL SUMMER. I am now enrolled in UP, after a bit of processing for readmission. By next semester, I hope to increase my load of subjects, and get a few higher courses. Next week, I will find myself teaching in classrooms once again and I look forward to this new semester.


I know that still, my heart is searching for something; it has grieved and has undergone a splicing from a scalpel. Yet I know that many new things will still come. The first half of 2009 is only the beginning.

"And ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)

 And you know my heart Lord...I need not say anything else, because You, above all, know my heart.

Labels: fitness, God, links, love, me, musings, published, teaching, UP, women, writing