Please find the place nearest to you to avail of Häagen Dazs.

I think there is a new epidemic spreading among Metro Manila denizens… Running Fever.

I’ve got more and more friends and family getting into their running shoes and working those strides for all sorts of reasons : to lose weight, to maintain their weight, to build endurance, to start a healthy lifestyle etc. The bottom line is, they’re runnin’. Its gotten me running too.

I remember my first – the Ateneo Fun Run July last year. I got up at 5am to make sure I’m at starting line before 6am. When I arrived at Ateneo, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of people there – hardcore runners doing the 10km, the regular runners doing the 5-km, and fun-runners like me.  The energy in the air perked me up.

For that run, I did 2.5 km with a combination of walking and running in between because I was simply out of shape. I ran with no prior training. No jogging..not even walking. I finished the 2.5 km with my legs aching and me gasping for breath. (My hardcore runner friends will probably be snickering at this). Despite that,  I felt darn great. Was it the endorphins? Was it the morning air? What it the excitement coming from other runners? Whatever it was, I felt awesome.

I thought, maybe I SHOULD start doing this more seriously.

Fast-forward a couple of months later..

January. My colleagues Maki and Carlos have been excitedly talking about using GPS on their Blackberrys to monitor their runs. At that time, I sorely needed exercise. All the talk about marathons and GPS systems reminded me about that Ateneo run. I decided, “Ok, you know what? Let’s do this. At least one run.. even if i pick the shortest distance. Let’s get it started.  The Century Tuna Superbods Run is coming up. Maybe I’ll join that. I’ll do 5km. And oh yah.. Derek Ramsy’s going to be running too. Ok, I gotta be there. Muhahaha”.

Since July, I’ve been jogging on and off. I didn’t really monitor my time nor did I care about my distance. I was after the exercise and feeling great after. But sometime around mid-January when my colleague Carlos began to seriously run and when Maki, a serious runner, joined our team in the office, I got inspired and decided to take it up another notch.

So began “Operation train myself”…

1)  Run every weekend

2) Run at least once a week

3) Start sleeping early

4) Drink lots of water and eat a balanced diet (fresh fruits and veggies first!)

4) Monitor running time

5) Monitor distance.

The results so far? Pretty good I must say for someone who just started. In my last run did 2.5 km in 13 mins non-stop with energy to spare after. I think I can do 3km in 15 mins.

Its a simple start for my first real run… 3km. As mentioned, I originally wanted to do 5km. Unfortunately, I got sick earlier this week and wasn’t able to train. I know its nothing compared to the 21km run which I know some friends are planning to do. But hey, its a start. I’ve been following my simple program consistently since January..except for this week as I was sick. I’m fine now. Tomorrow morning, I run.

I feel great. I’ve lost weight and toned up a bit. On days that I run, my energy level is pretty good from morning to evening. The best part is, it really helps with work-related stress.

The Century Tuna Superbods is next weekend -

21 Feb 2010 at Bonifacio Globa City. Must I add, Derek Ramsy is running.

One week remains and I think thats more than enough. After this 3km run, I go the next level… I hear that it gets quite addicting.

]]> http://www.patriciaspot.com/2010/02/11/i-ran-last-year-and-it-felt-good-i-decided-heck-ill-run-some-more/feed/ 6 http://www.patriciaspot.com/2010/02/05/musicfest-2010-an-hour-with-boyce-avenue-jabbawokeez-and-kris-allen/ http://www.patriciaspot.com/2010/02/05/musicfest-2010-an-hour-with-boyce-avenue-jabbawokeez-and-kris-allen/#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:06:48 +0000 pat http://www.patriciaspot.com/?p=308

Yes. An hour hanging out with these dudes would’ve been totally awesome. Too bad my one hour with them was spent as a random blogger in the audience of press people. Oh a girl can dream. (Wait, I think i was more than an hour)

Yesterday, I, along with fellow bloggers Judd, Carlos, Mika, and Maki attened the pre- Musicfest 2010 prescon by Fearless Productions Inc. Musicfest 2010 features Boyce Avenue, Kris Allen, and the Jabbawokeez. Yes, to you fans in the Philippines, they are here on Pinoy soil and you can catch then in Cebu Feb 5, 2010 and Manila on Feb 6, 2010.

This being my first prescon organized to interview international artists, I was kinda expecting an eruption of ruckus and chaos with cameras flashing left and right, and raving fans screaming. The “chaos” was actually very mild and the whole event was… well.. tame.

The emcees for the afternoon were Mo Twister and Georgina Wilson.  Georgina was looking gorgeous.

Georgina Wilson and Mo Twister

Boyce Avenue

First up was Boyce Avenue. I’ll have to admit, I didn’t really know much about Boyce Avenue until yesterday. After the interview, I looked them up on YouTube and realized “Oooh, so these are the guys that my sister has been bugging me to listen to.” At that time, I chose not to listen to them because I automatically labelled them “mainstream pop”. Sorry. I have tendencies of mild music snobbery which emerges from time to time.

Anyway, so what if these guys rose to fame because of covers. I really liked their covers. My favorite (and the favorite of many others for sure) is Apologize. Alejandrrro, your voice… *melt*. These boys from Florida accumulated 90 million hits on YouTube and subsequently made waves on the radio as well. Now, they are touring the world. 90 million hits man. Well, when you combine 3 hot guys with that “sensitive-guy” appeal, melt-worthy singing, a good catchy sound and the internet.. That’s what you get.

After Boyce Avenue came Jabbawokeez. Woot!  I was hoping they’d bust some slick, square, suave moves for us. That would’ve been totally awesome. Every time I watch a video of these guys, it’s always mind blowing. Never mind the fact that they are creative, how they execute those the moves is just..wow.

During the interview, these guys were, well.. your regular cocky,  goofy, cool American b-boys. (Is it just me or is it a typical California thing to be all “like yeah. so like. you know“. Anyway, just an observation). They told some stories of how life was for them before their rise to fame. They were pretty regular dudes who had a passion for dance and who had to take different jobs to pay the bills. Two of the Pinoys in their group did some telemarketing stints. (I found this funny. So does this mean that our “innate call center skills” transcend geographical borders? Apparently so. hehe.)

There was a lot of Pinoy pride coming from the Jabbawokeez but then they were quick to point out that some of them were also Black and Vietnamese. That’s why they wear masks while they perform. Its not about who is who but its about the dance and the Jabbawokeez a group.

Seems like the Jabbowakeez have a thing for shades

Lastly, Kris Allen. Krrriiiiis Allen. The American Idol 2009 winner. Now I don’t what was up was this guy. Was he suffering from a bad case of jet lag? Did he pop too many sleeping pills. Maybe both? Whatever it was, he had this laaazzzyy slurrr yesterday. “Ohhh, I leanrrrned some FFilipinooo today. Maaabuuuhaaayyy…!”  It was weird. Even the band members seemed to be in a different plane that afternoon.

Want some trivia about Kris Allen? Someone in the audience asked the band to share something the world didn’t know about Kris Allen. (I guess he/she was hoping for something juicy.. perhaps for a gossip worthy story). Kris hates set lists. He’s the type who would prefer to just go with the flow on stage. Unfortunately, they always need a set list. So there! What else can I give you. hmm..

Ah yes. Kris Allen’s music career began in 2007 when wrote and self-produced an album entitled Brand New Shoes. He made around 600 copies and gave it to friends and family. Unfortunately, it didn’t really fly. Then came American Idol and the rest is history. This multi-talented guy (he plays the guitar, piano, and ukulele) and his band are now touring the world.

Of all three performers, it was only from Kris Allen whom we were able to milk out a brief performance. Someone from the press asked him to sing us a song and he obliged. I forget what song it was. I was concentrating on his slurrrr and my food (I was at the food table at this point). What I do remember thinking is,”If someone proposed to me singing like that, it would be an instant YES”. Unfortunately, it was, as said, a brief performance. No worries, if like me, you want to see what these guys, do check them out live while there are here!

For all the Cebuanos, catch them on Feb 5, Friday,at SM City Cebu North Opening Park at 8pm.

For you Manila peeps, hurry over to McKinley Hill Open Grounds on Feb 6, Saturday, at 8pm as well.

Of course, you’ll need tickets to get in. Yes, don’t you wish it were for free?

For Cebu Tickets, contact Ticketworld (2254041). For Manila tickets, contact Ticketworld (8919999). OR, you can contact this mobile number  0915-7457131.

Before I end this, let me leave you with another little trivia about these three groups. Notice, they all have performances using the song “Apologize”.

Guys! Voting is open for the Nuffnang Regional Blog Awards.

Its things like this that will kill television. With the internet on the rise, and the blogsphere getting ever so popular, the new celebrities are no longer just the new hottest actors/ actresses. One word. Bloggers.

Project Alpha is the first online TV show Uncovering Malaysia’s Top Bloggers. Its a look into the lives of some Malaysia’s top bloggers. People read their blogs, read their thoughts, insights, stories and follow their blogs like they would follow the lives of celebrities. But wouldn’t it be awesome to have a peak into what their lives are like outside the blogsphere. You know,see how they move, hear them talk. Basically see the faces behind the blog posts. Its a really awesome idea (TV is dead!). I wonder when we’ll be able to do something similar in the Philippines.

Check out the first episode of Project Alpha. Its on Malaysian top blogger fourfeetnine.com. She’s the girlfriend of Timothy Tiah, Nuffnang’s founder. Yes, she really is 4′9. And I thought I was short! But I do find her real cute.

So that’s episode one. I’m actually pretty excited about episode two and the episodes on the other bloggers.

If all goes well here in Manila, I’ll get to meet fourfeetnine (real name: Audrey), Jojo Styrus (the host), Timothy Tiah, and the rest of the Malaysian “celebrity” bloggers this October. Not to mention, some of the Filipino celebrity bloggers and top bloggers.

Keeping fingers crossed!

I was surfing around the Nuffnang website this afternoon. When I refresehed the page… *ta-taaaan!*…. It was the Nuffnang Regional Blog Awards wallpaper!

See you in SG.