Welcome to my LIFE!

Last Sunday I ran (and survived) my 1st marathon-- Botak Paabilisan Road Race Series 5km/10km at the Fort Bonifacio. It was exhilarating!


It helped that I saw a colored race map the day before courtesy of Bro J. Needed to psych myself for the upcoming race.

I woke up early around 4:30am (the race was at 6am). In my excitement I forgot to bring my camera  so I only have 1 photo. I rode with Jay & brother Chef Jonathan (of Paul Calvin's). Chef ran the 5km while Jay & I ran 10km. It's interesting to note that my running buddy, Jay ran the 21km Adidas King of the Road (coverage by Ms. Bull Runner) the week before. Cool!

We arrived 5:30ish. Just on time for some warm-up stretching. I saw the running crowd getting ready then I joked, "Hardcore na ang mga ito!" Intimidating but in my mind what's important is to finish the race.

So at about 6am the gun went off. It sounded like a faint clap from where we were. The runner crowd started slowly moving. I'm not an expert at crowd estimates but I'd guess give or take around 1,000 participants. And so we ran. No, we really RAN!

It was not comforting to see that during the first loop up the slightly inclined McKinley Road, we already saw runners coming back downhill. Wow! Is this a sprint race or a marathon? I suspect they were clocking like under 3 minutes per kilometer  Hardcore.

There were lots of temptations. Temptations to stop. Temptation to turn at the corner for the 5k mark (10km needed to go 2 loops, ugh!). Temptation to just walk the rest of the 10km. Temptation to slack off.

But go go go. Run! David! Run! At about 5km the feeling was, "Why am I doing this?" At about 6-7km I felt the second wind with some help at the water stations. Those weeks of trainings are paying off. Heart rate seems alright. My breathing seems alright. Not terribly exhausted.

During our training Jay and I kept pushing each other. A very important factor in running. Because we all take the path of least resistance. The easy way out. "Pwede na yan" may be a timely message by Pastor Ferdie that Sunday.

And so I finished the 10km. I forgot to check my exact time but it should be under 1:20mins by my estimates. I am now a 10km finisher :) Woohoo! I'm still finding out if Botak is going to post the race results.

It was fun. It definitely won't be our last. I need to beat my PR (a new term I learned). PR means Personal Record not PageRank for you SEO suckers.


More temptations-- what a fine way to end the 10km run with an awesome breakfast buffet at Paul Calvin's Deli (review by Anton Diaz) at the Fort owned by my restaurateur friend Jay (pictured above). Thanks to Mitch Lim for taking our picture (no camera, remember) and making it memorable.

Actually, I was too tired to eat so I just took taho, their famous malunggay bread & lots & lots of water.

Jay is also my neighbor, running mate, coach, & motivator rolled into one. Thanks man for getting me into running!

Cross-posted from here http://daveq.wordpress.com/2008/10/20/10km-botak-paabilisan/

I just love the way this *mother* was engineered. Amazing!

So the rumors were true.

Reviews abound so we won't duplicate it anymore (Engadget, CrunchGear, Apple). We're just here to admire this beauty. Sigh!

Watch the making.

I just love the way this *mother* was engineered. Amazing!

So the rumors were true.

Reviews abound so we won't duplicate it anymore (Engadget, CrunchGear, Apple). We're just here to admire this beauty. Sigh!

Watch the making.

The future of sketching

While most visual artists prefer traditional materials such as oil, acrylic, bronze and ceramic, Tokyo-basedb SACHIKO KODAMA prefers FERROFLUIDS. Composed of magnetic nanoparticles, ferrofluids often contain high levels of iron and, as such, are deeply affected by and responsive to the presence of magnetic fields.

Me, playing guitar. acoustic guitar Michael Hedges Preston Reed Don Ross Erik Mongrain Will Ackerman Tommy Emmanuel Leo Kottke Fingerstyle

Erik Mongrain is a Canadian composer and guitarist, best known for his unique acoustic style, and his use of a two-handed lap tapping technique on the acoustic guitar. (Source: Wikipedia)

Check out their gallery
http://www.sscycle50th.com/bikes/gallery/gallery.php

Photos by: Michael Lichter Photography

Found via StumbleUpon

2008 is a baby boom year which brings our population to an estimated 90M this year.

"The Philippine population, which grows 2.34 percent a year, is projected to hit 90.46 million in 2008."  (according to a report here.)

Don't traumatize your kids like these http://www.cracked.com/article_16475_p2.html

Click for More KIDS stuff

This is an reference chart for geeks who may want to teach ABC to their kids. Creative.





































Found via http://www.labnol.org/home/kids/techie-parents-teach-kids-english-alphabet/3841/

Yes, Twitter explained for the rest of us. http://www.commoncraft.com
A quick and plain English intro the micro-blogging service Twitter.

Some highlights:

"Creativity now is as important in education as literacy."

"If you're not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original."

"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." -Pablo Picassa


Description:
A must-see for every parent and teacher. Education guru Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. Sir Ken Robinson is author of "Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative," and a leading expert on innovation in education and business. (Recorded February, 2006 in Monterey, CA.) More TEDTalks at www.TED.com

This is our generation

The Victory Ortigas Singles will be participating in Habitat for Humanity build this coming June 21 (Saturday) from 7AM to 12NN in Habitat's Pasay housing site.

Sign up here http://singlesortigas.multiply.com/journal/item/1

Join and make a difference.

An amazing stop-motion production by Blu.

The new short film by Blu: an ambiguous animation painted on public walls.
Made in Buenos Aires and in Baden (fantoche)

music by Andrea Martignoni
produced by Mercurio Film
assistant: Sibe

http://www.blublu.org/

Video courtesy of the Japan Ad Council

Film maker and writer Terry Jones discovers a colony of penguins, which are unlike any other penguins in the world. From the BBC

HEre's a link to the making of the film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzhDsojoqk8

For you nocturnal types:

"If a person is going to stay up late to work, when they could have gone to sleep, they are clearly working on something of significant importance to them. Working on important things and being passionate about our work fuels us to an unbelievable extent."

"This purpose, or worthwhile cause, is the emotional rocket fuel that guides us in maximizing our minds to achieve our goals."

Night productivity = "world changing?" Maybe.

Read more here http://www.dumblittleman.com/2008/04/6-reasons-why-productivity-belongs-to.html

Does posting this at 4:20 AM qualify as a night owl?

Thanks to Noel Sadicon (kaleidoscopemind) for the link.

The title of this post is an oxymoron.

"Are there schools NOT designed for learning?"

For those who are not aware of my latest vocation, I went back to the academe and started teaching in College of St. Benilde. I am currently a Level 1 Instructor. Sadly that's what CSB can afford me :)

But the upside is I'm having the time of my life!

The student's passion and energy are exhilarating. It is my hope that at their "younger" age I will not only be able to teach them to love learning but also I will be a living example to them.

Watch the video below and see an example of schools that are "designed for learning" as it should be. We hope we rock the CSB boat soon. Hi Ms. Menchu Cueto :)

UPDATE: Here's my teaching folio. Come look.

Kudos to Louie Elep for the video.