I have a Pilates ball!

A friend from the church in the Philippines that I work for blessed me with a Pilates ball! WOOT!

Where can I find good Pilates exercises involving a large Pilates ball? Who’s used one to help strengthen her/his core?

Back in the game

You know that when there are no regular posts on a fitness blog, something’s up. And you’d be right. Something was up. My weight!

After I hurt my knee running March 6 – that’s two weeks ago, man! – I was afraid to run, so I stopped for a while and decided to focus on the weight training as detailed in Body For Life. (I also asked the Spartan for assistance, and he’s developed a circuit training program for me as well. Thanks, Marc!)

Today, I decided to try again, so I ran a 4km run. I tried my best not to take it too hard, gunning instead for a consistent speed instead of an intense burn. I think I did okay – I averaged 6′48″/km and finished with a nice sweat. Driving back, I felt the sting of ammonia-laced sweat on my eyes, which is good. After two weeks of no running, I’m sure toxins accumulated enough, so that run definitely served to start oozing them out of my body.

Breakfast was a cup of macaroni soup with lots of shredded chicken breast. I just had a snack of a papaya slice, and lunch will be a chicken breast salad with a drizzle of Japanese vinaigrette from Dizon Farms.

We’re back in the game, baby!

37 kilometers for February! WOOT!

Today, I ran 5.3km and surpassed my February goal of 37km! Who’s the man, who’s the man?!

Unfortunately, the man ain’t me. I’ve gained another two pounds, bringing me now to 204. Lord Almighty, what is going on?!

(I know the answer, and I repent. It’s Selecta Cookie Chip Heaven! Oh noes!)

Starting returning to a healthier food lifestyle this morning. Egg white and salmon omelette for breakfast. Lunch no rice. Come on!!

I’m just 2 kilometers away from my February goal!

I uploaded my latest run this morning, a 5.22km run that was my longest solo run yet, and my second-longest, after my maiden run, an 8km October run titled Run Against Pain. The 6′50″/km pace was my fastest yet. Yay me!

I also discovered the “World Runs” feature on NikePlus.com.ph. It allows you to compare your progress with other Nike+ runners worldwide. What a cool feature!

I am 251st in the Philippines for males aged 30-39 in terms of most distance run ever. That’s 251 out of… 251? Hahaha. (My runner friends and colleagues AdoBernardo and NixonNg are 9th and 10th respectively. Panalo po kayo!) Overall, for distance run, I’m 530,286. Hahaha.

The website is under maintenance right now, but based on my calculations, I must’ve run a total of a little over 35 kilometers so far in February. That means I’m just two kilometers away from my February goal! YAHOO!

Hello again, Lance Armstrong!

I did another 5km today, but barely. I started out strong, but started to fade early in the run, so it was all I could do to keep going. My motivation was this: today, I’m going to finish that 5km even faster than I did the other day.

And yea for me, I did! I ran 5.11km today in 35:24, faster than my 5.08 yesterday in 35:57. My pace the other day was 7″06/km; today’s was 6″55. I ran slightly further, faster.

I guess I’m particular about these things right now because I’ve gained weight in the past two weeks. I’m now back at 200. (Actually 202.) So I need these runs to not just help me burn that weight gain, but to motivate myself back to below 200. One pound a freakin’ week, how hard is that??

I also recently discovered “Personal Bests” on Edward (my Nike+ accelerometer). It’s a cool little app.

Your best 1km: 6′36″

Your best 3km: 20′53″

Your best mile: 10′45″

Not fast by any stretch of the imagination, but it does help me clarify my goals and set benchmarks for my progress. By the end of the year, I propose the following goals:

• I’d like to be able to run 1km in less than five minutes
• I’d like to be able to run 3k in less than fifteen minutes
• By the end of 2010, a six minute mile

And oh, Lance Armstrong came on again, congratulating me on my “longest run to date.” Thank you, Mr. Armstrong! Question: how far do I have to run to get Paula Radcliffe? 10km? 21km? Come on!