Raising Boys
The story of three men and the woman who loves them
Rejoicing at closing of school year
Mar 19th
Today is the last day of the last periodical exams for the school year. The full implications of that haven’t totally hit me yet, though I already feel like jumping and dancing for joy.
If your kids study in a science school with a grade cut-off of 85, you would totally get why I’m rejoining. I tutor my kids, help them with their assignments and projects, and I follow up every little tidbit of class update for both my boys.
As the one actively involved in the running of my children’s education, I also get the corresponding headaches and high blood pressure that are the consequences of being too familiar with teacher idiosyncrasies or unreasonable school policies.
Don’t even get me started on the errors in the textbooks. But no, no, no…I’m stopping myself with the ranting right here.
Today is the unofficial end of the school year so I’m writing only glad tidings, such as the summer break that’s fast approaching. I’m so happy I could run from work to home and back, chest pains from chostochondritis and all. Haha!
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Not so perfect running form
Dec 4th
Running specialty store RUNNR opened a second branch last Saturday at Ayala Center in Cebu, and I was one of the many enthusiasts of the sport who checked the establishment out and tried its foot-type and gait analysis system called Footworx.
RUNNR offers to customers for free its foot-type and gait analysis system called Footworx.
Through the footdisc analysis system component of Footworx, I learned that my feet have high arches, the least common of the three foot types and the most prone to injuries according to runnersworld.com. Most runners with high arches are underpronators or supinators; their feet fail to roll inward enough to cushion the impact of their footstrike resulting in more shock going up the legs.
In my case, though, I do the exact opposite. I have high arches, but I overpronate — my feet roll too far inward than normal — when I run. To determine my gait type, I had to undergo high-speed video gait analysis, the second component of Footworx, where I was made to run fast for a few minutes on a treadmill as a camera captured the whole thing. Trained RUNNR staff reviewed the results and measured the angle of my leg against my foot as it hit the treadmill during the run.
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Sun.Star running club’s first long run
Nov 15th
We had our first group run earlier today, and it was a lot of fun. So forgive us for going a little crazy. 
(Photo by Sun.Star Cebu photographer Allan Defensor.)
Running in the rain
Nov 10th
I dislike the rain because it results in wet and muddy roads, and I especially hate it if my tasks involve going out the front door when it’s pouring.
But our Sunday long run under a downpour was exhilarating and, I have to admit, a little hardcore.
The weather was fine when Max and I started running at close to 5 a.m. Some 15 minutes later, there was a drizzle so slight it was barely noticeable. We went on our way and, three kilometers into our run, stopped for some stretching exercises.
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Trick or treating at SM City Cebu
Nov 2nd
It wasn’t what my kid Lennon, 6, imagined it to be.
Somehow, he couldn’t associate the trick or treating that he expected with the reality that he was experiencing.
It finally became too much walking from one shop to another and falling in long lines with other kids for 1 piece of candy, leaving stores empty-handed because all the treats are gone, or mind-boggling still is being told to return at a particular time in others. At home, he could have his fill of sweets but doesn’t even want them.
At the far end of an outrageously long line of kids waiting to receive treats, he asked me whose idea it was that he go trick or treating.
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First Cebu Press Freedom run
Oct 1st
This year’s Cebu Press Freedom Week celebration in September had several firsts, but I only wanted to write about one in particular: the Cebu Press Freedom Run held on September 26, 2009.
Cebu Press Freedom Run 5k men, women category winners
It was an anticipated event by runners in media (the serious ones you can count with the fingers of one hand) and I had wanted to write about the run and how I fared earlier on, but my son got sick, is still sick by the way, and so like the good mother that I am, I dropped everything to see to him first.
Surprisingly, a lot of media workers (more than a hundred I was told) showed up for the run, which had the street fronting the Cebu City Sports Club in the Cebu Business Park as starting and finishing line.
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Why I love my Saturdays
Sep 1st
My Saturdays are longer than 24 hours, and start at past 10 p.m. on Fridays when, done with work, my husband and I scout for new places to hang out in or go directly to old favorites.
Or if I finish ahead of him, I go out with drink-starved friends and see how long I can stay standing after guzzling bottle after bottle of below zero beer.
Hanging out with friends and enjoying the below zero beer at Formo.
All the stresses and cares of my week drop away and I savor these moments when I can sleep as late as 4 a.m. without having to think about work or the children’s assignment.
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Top 10 finish in 5k run
Aug 30th
It doesn’t matter that they gave out awards only to the top 5 finishers or that perennial race winners were not allowed to join, I’m still happy I made it to 10th place in the 5k women’s category of the 1st Cebu Diamond Lions Club fun run held earlier today.
Sunday’s run was my fifth 5K since I gave in last May to my husband’s urging to start joining running events. My memorable first 5K happened during the 33rd National Milo Marathon Cebu City elimination run in June. It took me 45 minutes to finish my first five kilometers, and I had to slow down to a walk a few times.
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Starting fresh
Aug 28th
I just told my husband to erase about three years worth of posts from my blog because I wanted to start writing again. Said that way, it doesn’t make a lot of sense, I know.
It’s just that my last entry here was such a long time ago, there seems to be no way of picking up from where I left off. It is such a burden to explain a year’s absence that I’ve decided it’s better to start from scratch.
I run because I want to stay slim and fit for as long as I’m able.
But what’s three years when you have a million more things to write about and, more importantly, time to do it. My children are growing up fast, my husband and I are handling or starting projects, I’ve recently taken up running as a hobby — I want a place to sort them all out and a blog is as good as any. Read the rest of this entry »
