40 Days of Love

That's been the theme in church since last month, and today's message was "Love is slow to anger." It was a wonderful reminder of how our actions can have a damaging, long lasting effect.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32)

I had to remind myself to be forgiving and slow to anger again and again after the service while walking around the mall with Miguel. He does something I disapprove of and I tell him to stop, then he does it again so I tell him again... this goes on a few times until I find myself on the verge of anger, but then I remember today's message. It's a struggle to control anger but if you start by speaking calmly and kindly, you don't lose control easily. Because I find that once you respond rashly and harshly, the situation can only get worse. And the end result is both of you go home in a bad mood.

So I will try to apply this everyday in every situation until it becomes a habit. Or maybe I'll need to get it tattooed on my arm so I won't forget.

Book love

I'm sure that by this time almost everyone has read that popular post going around the net, the one called Date a girl who reads, written by Rosemarie Urquico. I think the post could be about how girls should date guys who read and it still would hold true.

You know how it is when you get older, how you hold on to certain things more tightly? I think that I could give away or sell on ebay some books, but I shall never let go of these:

I confess I'm utterly obsessed with Agatha Christie books and I could read them again and again.

My apologies

One thing I love about tumblr is I coming across posts like this once in a while:

(image from Scotty Crowe)

Because I know a lot of people don't get why runners love to run. :)

A happy Valentine's Day

One of my son's new interests is writing. He and his cousin like exchanging "letters" written on scratch paper. They write things like, "Let's play" and "Gusto mo mag slurpee?"

Yesterday, Miguel went out of our bedroom then slid this under the door:

Yes, he's sweet like that. :)

Happy Valentine's Day -- whether you're married, single, in a relationship, or whatever your relationship status is!

Condura Skyway Marathon 10K

Repost from my tumblr about my first Condura experience (with some edits here and there):

I conquered two flyovers last Sunday and it felt great. I didn’t get to set a new PR but I enjoyed every exhausting bit of the race.

Assembly time for 10K runners was 5 am. My sister generously offered to drive me, so we left the house a little after 4:30 and got there just a little after 5. The emcee gave some last-minute reminders then fired the gun at exactly 5:30.

I started out too fast, and before I knew it we were going up the Skyway. I trudged on and made sure to enjoy the quiet scenery. I listened to the footfalls and chatter around me, the roosters crowing, the lightening sky. Sometime after KM 6, I started feeling winded so I walked until I felt like I could run again. Around KM 8, I spotted the next hydration station and saw that they had sponges. I grabbed one and I swear the ice-cold water saved me and gave me that much-needed boost as I “attacked” the Buendia flyover going to Kalayaan.

By the time the finish line was in sight I already felt drained, but I dug in and sprinted through the last few hundred meters.

Things I Liked: 1) Marshals were present all throughout the race course and they made sure that angry drivers wouldn’t run over the runners; 2) there was a hydration station every 2 kilometers — which made me almost regret having brought my trusty hydration belt; 3) the cool medal, of course; 4) the free popsicle (I'm mababaw like that).

What I Didn’t Like: Not a single photo of myself on Marathonphotos.com!

When it comes to races, only 2 things are important for me - the presence of helpful, able marshals and well-stocked hydration stations. The other things - singlets, freebies, even the course itself - are not that important for me.

See you next year, Skyway! Big thank yous to Julie and Sir Pat for making this a memorable experience for me!