another failed attempt on sleeping early

i was home early last night. i was eating dinner (out) by 9:15, and home by 10:00. 

and just as i looked forward to some actual waking minutes with the family, i find that the house lights are all still out: the family was not yet home ;-)

the intention was to sleep early, before midnight, but again i failed myself. i blame two things: 

1) loula

loula was home alone the whole day, so to make up for her loneliness, i spent about 10 minutes playing fetch, and another 10 resting with her in the 3rd floor sofa (me sitting, her lying down with head on my lap). afterwards, i had to start getting ready for bed so i let her just sleep some more, alternating sleeping positions on the couch and wooden floor.

2) glee

for a change, i turned on the TV and played the glee DVD episodes 1-8 that kristine gave me many weeks ago. i was already somewhere on episode 5, and i thought i'd play it while i took a bath -- just to at least listen to the singing. of course, once i hit play, i couldn't peel my eyes off the screen and ended up having my shower at 12:45am. my dad watched with me as he caught the last episode of the disc.

3) loula again

1am and i finally decided to hit the sack. i was already tucked into my bed when i hear the gates open. knowing how adorably loula can behave once she's sensed that my mom is home, i pull myself out of the bed just to witness her reaction. and indeed, the sound of my mom's voice as she entered the door makes loula jump to her feet and run, as if she wasn't sound asleep 1 minute ago.

i say hello, good night, and go to bed five minutes later.

tips for climbers this christmas!

One week before Christmas!!!! At ngayon pa lang, super kulang na ko sa exercise. Here are some tips from Mr. Horst, our most-read climbing training author ;) Reposted from the Nicros Training Center.

#1 sure is a toughie.....!!!!!!

5 Keys to Effective Offseason Training

As winter bears down on much of the nation, many of us will be limited to pulling down on plywood and plastic. No matter if you climb at a large commercial gym or on a small home wall, the crux of winter-time training is finding ways to elevate your game so that you can enter next season as a stronger, more-skilled climber.

When climbing indoors it is easy to fall into the trap of concentrating singly on max bouldering, lapping the same routes, or less effective yet, social climbing. Transforming yourself into a better climber demands a more intelligent approach in which you enter the gym each time with the intention to train most effectively.

Here are five keys for getting the most out of your indoor climbing sessions.

1. Commit to engaging in a real training program. 

Simply climbing until you get pumped isn’t much of a training program. A real training program has a greater breadth and depth of purpose. Leveraging your self-awareness and intelligence, you must design and engage in a comprehensive, synergistic sequence of warm-up activities, climbing drills, route/problem sends, and a number of specific exercises. It’s very helpful to maintain a training notebook. Plan your workouts, and then go to the gym and work your plan.

2. Identify and train your weaknesses.

The quickest way to improve in climbing is to train-up your weaknesses. Conversely, practicing things at which you already excel (or engaging in the same familiar types of climbs) is a pathway to slow—or no—improvement. Growth comes from challenging yourself, stretching your boundaries, and learning new moves. Most important, you must identify your weaknesses—mental, technical, and physical—and target these weak areas with specific exercises and drills. Ask yourself: What three things are most holding me back on the rock? Write them down, and then develop ways to target each area with training.

3. Strive to improve your technique.

Regardless of the grade you climb, I guarantee that you can climb harder if you strive to refine your technique and quality of movement. The goal is to constantly expand your skill set, reduce technical flaws, seal off energy leaks, and to climb with greater economy. Here’s an excellent technique-training drill that you can use on any indoor or outdoor climb. Pick a climb to ascend repeatedly (over the course of a few sessions, if necessary) with the intention of mastering every move as if it were an Olympic gymnastic routine. Work to discover more efficient moves/sequences, unlock subtle rest positions, and move more precisely and briskly. Strive to maximize use of your feet (visually spotting and feeling each hold), soften your grip, and develop a greater sense of proprioception (feel your center of gravity shift to the optimal position with each new move). Practicing to make perfect is the pathway to excellence, whereas thrashing up a route once, and then moving on to the next climb, is the road to mediocrity.

4. Strengthen the antagonist and rotator cuff muscles.

If you climb long enough or hard enough you will likely incur some sort of sport-specific injury. Fortunately there are exercises you can perform to reduce injury risk. While elbow and shoulder injuries sometimes occur acutely, they are more often the result of muscular imbalance in the arms and around the shoulders. Regular training of the antagonist (push) muscles will help prevent these imbalances. Reverse wrist curls with a 10- or 15-pound dumbbell is a must-do, thrice-a-week exercise for all climbers—if you are not doing these, you are at greater risk of elbow tendinitis. Similarly, performing a couple sets of push-ups, light shoulder presses (use 10- to 30-pound dumbbells), and a few rotator cuff exercises (more on this in a future article) will go a long way toward strengthening and stabilizing your shoulders.

5. Keep the program dynamic and progressive.

Mental burnout, a performance plateau, and injury are often the unintended consequences of engaging in a never-changing training program. Keeping your workouts effective and fun over the long-term demands that you find ways to keep the program fresh, progressive, and on track toward your goals. Consider that while your current modus operandi was successful at propelling you to your present ability level, it will fail to advance you to the next. Elevating your climbing demands that you constantly challenge your mind and body in new ways.

Copyright 2010 Eric J. Hörst. All rights reserved.

sunshine after the rain

two caravans down! and so far, both have proven to be extremely testing and tiring.

nonetheless, there remains a distinct feeling of satisfaction and pride as each one wraps up...

reminds me of TATAK production days back in high school, where everyone works together, suffers and strives together, staying in the campus til late in the evening for rehearsals, night after night after night...down to the actual play dates. the play itself would be nerve-racking, everyone serious and focused....the minutes alternately feeling slow and fast (slow pag easy scenenario, fast pag panic-mode)....until finally, it's curtain call....bow..encore....and we celebrate in the backstage with lots of photo ops (using instamatic cameras pa noon!) and thank Him for a successful event.

oh, getting back :)

here are a few photos from two side trips from Go Negosyo caravans, held November and December in Bataan and Davao, respectively. both series of sleepless nights is topped off by new experiences in new places.

in Bataan, i got to visit Mt. Samat for the first time, where there actually exists a humble museum on events leading to world war II, including of course the death march. there were really interesting articles, photos and artifacts which brought me back to kasaysayan 1 days. it was also only then that I learned that samat's cross actually housed an elevator and a viewing deck. (the photo below with me by the round window is in the cross!) it was a pleasant surprise, getting to go high up to take in the view, and get frozen by the extra cool November breeze. 

in Davao, i got to hang out with a friend who i haven't hung out with in at least 5 years. we started with a few drinks in the evening (hanggang nabawalan na ng alcohol due to the 2am curfew in the city), went back to our separate places to sleep, and met up again by noon to go to Samal Island -- also my first time there! Marja brought me to Aquafun Resort, popular for its 40 meter water slide made of tarpauline, taking one from the mountain slope to the sea.

after some sliding and swimming, we kayaked to take a peek at the Maxima Resort. and before going home, we also did the canopy walk (again, a first for me!) but out of everything, my favorite thing about this sidetrip was the actual chance to visit the island, complete with boat ride (via RORO bus on barge one-way, then actual ride on the ferrt the other way), habal-habal, and of course, the BRIGHT afternoon sun. i didn't know i'd get to ride so many forms of transportation on that one :)

in a few hours, i am heading to daet for the last out-of-town goneg event for the year. i don't think i'll have time to do any sidetrips on this one but....who knows....maybe i'm in for another surprise. ;-) life is good!

PS the photos don't do samal island water's justice. it was so so so nice. and linaw at ang linis niya. even as Marja and I kayaked, just along the coast, we already saw fish jumping in and out of the water. i saw crabs and starfish and LARGE schools of fish. have to go back to snorkle!!! (and get more sun, of course!)

*Waterslide photos not mine...just put them here for your appreciation. Sarap nung slide! I totally wouldn't mind going back. But something to go back for is the Maxima Resort: a 2-storey beach house on stilts, rentable by a group (friends or family), approximately P12,500 per night, good for ten people. Check out http://maxima.psdgroupph.com/ for more info!

**Mt. Samat photos care of Bennette :)