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Run – September 9, 2012

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Woo-hoo, I was able to run as planned! The weather was absolutely lovely when I went out. A slight breeze was blowing and there was a beautiful sunset as my backdrop.

My feet didn’t feel so good though. This is the first time that I ran on solid concrete using my Vibrams. As such, the whole run was an exercise in gait adjustment for my body. There was definitely an irregularity in my running pattern the whole time, so I walked when I felt like I needed a break.

As I mentioned earlier, this run was supposed to be a test of the Endomondo Sports Tracker app on my Blackberry. Sadly, this was a major fail. First of all, the Blackberry’s GPS took forever to locate me, so I scrapped that plan early on in my run and just used my watch’s countdown timer instead. And when I retried the app during the end of my run, the GPS worked perfectly that time around! Annoying. So I extended my workout for a couple more minutes to test the app. The timer and the distance tracker worked fine, but when I loaded the map view, all I could see was a two moving dots on a background of white and gray checks. No “map” could be seen at all. And I couldn’t take screen shots of the workout log! The app took forever to upload the workout, too. I got tired of waiting for the whole thing to finish so I canceled the operation in my annoyance. But I guess this is more a function of my data provider than the app itself. I will have to perform a test again to see.

I also used this run as an opportunity to make a short tour of the neighborhood outside the condo. And look what I found in the process–a gym! It’s located about 50 feet from the condo gates. I went inside and took a look at their equipment, and I was ecstatic to see that they had a squat rack. Win. They’re open everyday from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM. Gym session costs Php 50.00 (approximately $ 1.20 using current exchange rates) if without treadmill use, and Php 60.00 ($ 1.44) if the treadmill is going to be availed. I’m definitely going to pay them a visit.

Running:

  • 0:15:00 – total

Walking:

  • 0:15:00 – total

An Open Letter to Executive Optical

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Dear Executive Optical:

Normally I find your ads about addressing poor eyesight quite funny, if a bit basal. However, this newly-installed tarp along the South Luzon Expressway is atrocious and done in very poor taste, even for you. Do you really mean to say that the only reason a beautiful mestiza girl could date (or, God forbid) marry a skinny, bespectacled, dark-skinned young man is because she had the misfortune of having less than 20/20 vision? Is there really no way that she could truly want to be with her decidedly un-mestizo beau, even if he is smart, funny, kind-hearted, responsible, and, MOST OF ALL, respectful TOWARDS WOMEN?

And what about the tagline, “Don’t be a loser”? Are brown skin and plain looks SO abhorrent that you immediately label them, and the people associated with them, as “losers”? Moreover, WHAT ON EARTH makes you so sure that the lady is the REAL loser in this situation? Don’t you think that there’s a possibility that it could be the smiling young man who could be getting the short end of the stick, especially if the woman turns out to be a VAPID, DEMANDING, ATTENTION-STARVED girlfriend or wife in the long run?

This ad of yours is playing gender and beauty stereotypes to the hilt. You are effectively saying that people who have dark skin, broad noses, and un-Western looks–in short, people who look like Filipinos–are not desirable and have nothing worthy to offer in a relationship. You are also saying that “beautiful” women are so inherently superficial that all they could ever want is a man who is physically at par with them–tall, narrow noses, extremely fair skin, and with nary a hair out of place. Do you really believe that women are THAT unintelligent? Really?

But maybe you just want your ad to be funny, funny enough to generate brand recall. I get it. But this… this is just appalling. Not all jokes are funny, especially if they come at someone’s expense. And I don’t think sexist and narcissistic is the kind of brand recall you want to have.

UPDATE: A friend on Facebook was kind enough to point out that the woman chose the darker guy because the fairer one brought a cauliflower instead of flowers–meaning it’s not the woman who has an eyesight problem, it’s the mestizo guy.

I will admit that I misunderstood the premise of the ad. I thought it was the woman who had poor vision, thus she chose the “less attractive” male over the other. However, this new perspective changes things only slightly. Now the ad basically says that your ability is directly proportional to your physical appearance, to the point that the darker guy needed a handicap (the other guy’s poor eyesight) to win the race to the woman’s heart.

And the ad still depicts “beautiful” women as shallow, because it leads you to ask: “If both males had been holding flowers, would she still have chosen the brown-skinned guy?” Looking at the ad, I have a feeling that the answer is no.

On top of that, the ad portrays “beautiful” women as materialistic as well, since the girl’s affections can easily be swayed by a material offering, like flowers. To illustrate my point, let’s assume that she did like the guy in blue (the fairer one) in the first place. So just because she was offered a cauliflower as a symbol of his love, she moves on to the next person who brings a better present?

The premise may have changed, but the overall impression of the ad remains the same: sexist, narcissistic, and done in very poor taste.

All fired up by The Expendables!

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It’s confirmed. Action movies, especially those that feature lighting-fast hand-to-hand (or foot-to-foot, if you will) combat scenes, have a rousing effect on me. And before you start shooting me (see what I did there?) with ugly looks, let me explain. Every time I finish watching a super-charged, down-and-dirty, ground-and-pound ass-kicking on the big screen, I always want to grab the next person I cross paths with and beat the living crap out of him (or her) myself.

Does that make me violent? Rabid? Insane? In dire need of psychological help? I don’t know. All I know is how extremely thankful I am that I’ve kept my wits about me and haven’t acted on my instincts so far.

But I’ve just come from watching The Expendables 2 at the Shang Cineplex of Shang-ri La Plaza Mall. The sequel to The Expendables is rough, rowdy, and surprisingly tender, with lots of heavy artillery and physical combat to satisfy both classic and contemporary action fans alike. They even added a tough-as-nails, highly-intelligent, “combat-proficient” minority female to the mix, to make sure that most of the audience demographic is well-represented on the screen.

Plus, there’s nothing like the feeling of seeing all of your childhood action heroes sharing air time, performing their trademark moves and saying their trademark lines, and basically doing what they do best: kicking butt. Sure, the plot could have used a bit more substance, and Van Damme’s weird eyes distracted me from time to time, but all in all, The Expendables 2 was enjoyable to watch.

And going back to my original point–if action films with more refined fight scenes make me want to start a bar brawl by myself, then you can imagine what effect this testosterone-powered, ultra-macho ensemble movie has on me. I better release all this aggressiveness in the gym. I’m a walking time-bomb.

Workout – August 15, 2012

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Jumping Jacks:

  • 20 jumping jacks
  • 20 jumping jacks
  • 20 jumping jacks

Barbell Squat:

  • 30 lb x 5 reps
  • 30 lb x 5 reps
  • 30 lb x 5 reps
  • 60 lb x 5 reps
  • 60 lb x 5 reps
  • 90 lb x 5 reps
  • 115 lb x 5 reps
  • 115 lb x 5 reps
  • 115 lb x 5 reps

Woo! Super challenging work sets tonight. I haven’t lifted in close to two weeks (due to the terrible storm that ravaged Metro Manila for most of last week), so it was hard to pick up where from where I left my squats. Also, I decreased my work sets from 5×5 to 3×5 due to time constraints–Ara and I got to the gym at past seven this evening, so we had to hustle through our workout because the building closes at nine. I’m happy that I got all three sets though. Win! :)

Standing Barbell Shoulder Press:

  • 15 lb x 5 reps
  • 15 lb x 5 reps
  • 15 lb x 5 reps
  • 30 lb x 5 reps
  • 30 lb x 5 reps
  • 30 lb x 5 reps
  • 40 lb x 5 reps
  • 45 lb x 5 reps
  • 45 lb x 5 reps
  • 45 lb x 5 reps
  • 45 lb x 5 reps
  • 45 lb x 5 reps

Woohoo! I survived aced all five sets! And I have Ara to thank for this. She was with me all the way through my OHPs. I love that girl.

Barbell Deadlift:

  • 40 lb x 5 reps
  • 60 lb x 5 reps
  • 90 lb x 5 reps
  • 140 lb x 5 reps – PR!

Oh my goodness. I honestly thought I was going to bust an artery with this lift. But omigod omigod omigod–I’M LIFTING MY BODYWEIGHT ALREADYYY!!! I’m so, so happy!

And when it was over I thought, “Huh. So that’s how heavy I am.”

Huh.

Standing Calf Raises:

  • 20 reps
  • 20 reps
  • 20 reps

I skipped the planks and the stretching tonight because the gym was closing down on us. I’ll find time for them tomorrow when I train with the Taekwondo team.

Oh, and in case it caught your attention–Ara actually took those pics of me, but in keeping with the orientation of my previous workout pics (taken in the mirror), I flipped them horizontally. :)

Finally, “The Bourne Legacy”!

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I just came home from watching The Bourne Legacy at Eastwood Mall with my friends. Coming into the movie, a heavy air of anticipation hung over all of us because hey–this blockbuster film was shot in the Philippines! The excitement was palpable among the moviegoers as we all waited to see the parts of the country featured in a major international movie.

AndThe Bourne Legacy didn’t disappoint–I was thrilled beyond all imagination watching Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz lead a motorcycle chase along Pasay Rotonda. And it was surreal watching different parts of Metro Manila being shown on the big screen in a big budget Hollywood movie.

And all the non-stop action made me ignited my desire once more to be a lean, mean, fighting machine. Remember The Dark Knight Rises? Yeah, I want to be a cross between Anne Hathaway’s smooth and graceful Catwoman, and the gritty, hard-boiled men-of-war like Liam Neeson’s Brian Mills, Daniel Craig’s James Bond, Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne, and Jeremy Renner’s Aaron Cross, to name a few. Which gives me an idea: maybe I’ll write a post about these action heroes’ training programs one of these days. :)

The movie’s ending left me a bit unsatisfied, though. It felt abrupt to me. It’s probably a sign of more Bourne movies to come. I mean, you seriously don’t think the scriptwriters just ran out of steam at the end of the movie, do you? Or that the producers just wanted to wrap it up real quick, for any number of reasons? Then again, there’s a very real possibility that that’s exactly what happened, so… I’m not assuming anything. It is what it is.

All told, Bourne was pretty f*cking awesome. Win. ^_^

Lesson for the day.

Aside

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Let go and let God. Releasing all the doubts and fears, and trusting that things can only get better from here. Problems may seem overwhelming, but remembering and believing that my God is greater than the universe gives me courage to step forward. It’s time to take the leap.

Workout – August 3, 2012

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Running:

  • 0:10:00

The gym was so crowded today that I decided to skip jumping rope to warm up and go for a short run instead. Also, for lack of decent personal space and in my hurry to get to the squat rack, I forgot–yes, forgot–to do my jumping jacks.

Barbell Squat:

  • 30 lb x 5 reps
  • 30 lb x 5 reps
  • 30 lb x 5 reps
  • 60 lb x 5 reps
  • 60 lb x 5 reps
  • 80 lb x 5 reps
  • 115 lb x 5 reps – PR!
  • 115 lb x 4 reps
  • 115 lb x 2 reps
  • 115 lb x 5 reps
  • 115 lb x 3 reps

So… PR! Too bad I wasn’t able to complete five across. But hey, I’ve got next training to hit all sets. I seriously thought I was going to die (especially during the last set), but I’m so pumped nonetheless.

Barbell Bench Press:

  • 15 lb x 5 reps
  • 15 lb x 5 reps
  • 15 lb x 5 reps
  • 40 lb x 5 reps
  • 40 lb x 5 reps
  • 40 lb x 5 reps
  • 50 lb x 5 reps
  • 65 lb x 5 reps – PR!
  • 65 lb x 5 reps
  • 65 lb x 5 reps
  • 65 lb x 5 reps
  • 65 lb x 5 reps

Second PR for the day! I’m really happy about this. Of course, I couldn’t have done it without my friend Ara. She spotted me all throughout my bench presses and was my biggest (not to mention only) cheerleader. And when I got stuck halfway through the ascent of my last rep, Ara helped me push through it.

I love that girl. I’m really, really glad she’s working out with me now. :)

Pendlay Row:

  • 15 lb x 5 reps
  • 15 lb x 5 reps
  • 15 lb x 5 reps
  • 40 lb x 5 reps
  • 40 lb x 5 reps
  • 40 lb x 5 reps
  • 60 lb x 5 reps
  • 75 lb x 5 reps – PR!
  • 75 lb x 3 reps
  • 75 lb x 4 reps
  • 75 lb x 3 reps
  • 75 lb x 3 reps

Another PR! Whoop, whoop! I’m ecstatic! :D

Plank:

  • 60 sec
  • 60 sec
  • 60 sec

Modified Side Plank:

  • 60 sec
  • 60 sec

Stretching:

  • 0:05:00

I’m over the moon about today’s workout. I can’t believe I set PR’s on all my lifts; and not even the fact that I wasn’t able to complete all sets can put a damper on my spirits. I’ll get them all next time. For now, I’m just going to bask in my awesomeness. :D

Today went really, really well.

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I thoroughly enjoyed my solo movie date. Like I said earlier, The Dark Knight Rises blew my expectations away, and served as a great ending to a hugely successful movie series.

I can’t say I felt the same way about Ice Age, though… but I guess it’s more because I saw The Dark Knight first rather than the other way around. After the weight and substance of The Dark Knight, my movie palate was left unsatisfied by the lightness of Ice Age.

Lesson learned.

And as promised, I did my conditioning workout after my movie marathon! I already outlined it last night but here’s my official log anyways:

  • Body Weight Squat: 2 x 10 reps
  • Goblet Squat: 2 x 10 reps
  • Side Lunges: 2 x 10 reps
  • Mountain Climbers: 2 x 10 reps
  • Kneeling Push-Up: 2 x 10 reps
  • Glute Bridge: 2 x 10 reps
  • Burpee: 2 x 10 reps
  • Box Drill: 2 x 10 reps

It took less than fifteen minutes, tops–but man was it exhausting. I spent the rest of the evening just chilling at home, watching TV. I ended the night with a showing of X-Men: First Class on Star Movies.

What a great way to cap off movie marathon day. Good night, lovely people. :-)

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