Tachycardia, on a Sunday morning ♫♫

I got to jog this morning. Same lanes. I was hoping for some improvement, knowing that I was able to finish a 5-km run albeit with lots of walk. However, I wasn't satisfied with my 'performance' this morning. I was even quite concerned.

While jogging I was reminded of my childhood, when I would have to take a break from running because my abdominus oblique would sting. It's the reason I wasn't able to keep running/jogging past a kilometre or two last May 15.

In fairness to my body in relation to this morning's jog, it was during an ascend when my abdominus oblique began to hurt. However, I don't remember having such experience before. It was even pretty early. I just find it bothersome to the point of a little anxiety.

After taking a break slash walk along the Taktak Drive slash Clarice Starling Lane, I went back jogging but my finish was not good. I was on tachycardia, even a little dyspnea. I haven't had that before. Well, I don't have memories of such before this morning.

To recover from tachycardia and dyspnea, I had to do a lot of breathing exercises. But I usually do a lot after a jog.

Back in 2009, when I've been jogging even as early as before sunrise, the main reason I am jogging is for cardio-pulmonary resistance. I wanted to make sure that my myocardium and pair of air-bags have enough resistance. You never know what would happen. It was my first step of taking care of my body, besides my conscious effort of regularly choosing healthy intake.

If I would compare myself this morning and my younger self, the latter was better. Understandable if we consider age, but I don't take that as an excuse. As a matter of fact, I should've done better.

Perhaps this calls for another clinical visit. I may have done and passed the stress test before, with a result just less than that of an athlete's performance. I've even played Touch Rugby for a time. But I can't dwell on those. I know my myocardium and what it went through before.

Am definitely looking forward to a visit to a cardiologist. I'll also be visiting my neurologist. He's got a clinic at the Makati Medical Center. And yes, I'd tell him I've been eating nuts and ice cream a lot. Woot!

Marathon's Eve

I'm gonna have to change my blog templates or designs. But that will have to wait. Right now, or for hours now, I've been pretty nervous for tomorrow. I've been selected to join an office-sponsored 5-km fun run. Actually, I volunteered to join. I love to run.

My first fun marathon was back in high school, thanks to Milo marathon things. The last would probably be back in late college or after college. I can' remember anymore. And it's been 8 years since I graduated. 

Tomorrow's run is 5 kilometres which for other people would be pretty easy but for me, I don't know. I hope my gas would last. I'm gonna need a lot.

I've just returned jogging the streets of our hill-y or slopeful (I don't know if these words are legit) village in Antipolo. I love running out in the open with the sky up above and the trees around plus I get a free access to various birds' concert. It's lovely.

Occasionally I would jog at the Legazpi Active Park. The last time I did was just yesterday morning. But running in a marathon is something else. I no longer know how it feels like, except that I'm quite prone to getting drowsy after a long run. It's probably oxygen imbalance, or whatever.

I'm nervous but I'm pretty confident that my Saucony runners will keep up with me. I think I'm gonna name the pair.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow. Find your strong.

Preparations for PHI vs DPR game day

The previous week was hectic for me albeit being observed as Holy Week. I had 

a lot of assignments, which kind of shook me. To make the story short, all my travel advisory assignments were completed yesterday. I had to.

I was able to submit one travel advisory on Monday and another yesterday. It cost me staying on Sunday until almost midnight and past midnight of Monday. Actually, the latter was already at 1AM of Tuesday.

Game day. The match against North Korea marked a number of things. For one, it's my first national game after a long time. I can't actually remember the last game I watched. Also, it was the last game of Juani Guirado for the national team because he's already retiring, but not on league level. He's still playing for Ceres. What else? Ah! In addition to my "come back" for watching live national games, it's my come back as a Kaholero. This one quite needs a follow up.

I'm just glad that I got to secure Tuesday so I could watch the Philippines vs North Korea World Cup Qualifiers. I'm on mid-shift every Tuesday. That means a 2-10PM work. Having gone "BDO" was so worth it. SO WORTH IT! I was able to witness a very historical match. 3-2 against North Korea! Against a top East Asian country and one that qualified for the 2010 World Cup!

I'd like to write about what happened since I left the office to prepare for the match, but that would be for a separate blog entry.

Missing Baseball

I miss watching MLB. I miss watching my boys [read: The Bronx Bombers]. It's been really a while since the last time I did that I could no longer remember when it was. Can't even remember which fixture I watched, though I could guess that one of the teams is the New York Yankees.

Brett Gardner. Mark Teixeira. CC Sabathia. Just three of the ballplayers from the Bronx who I miss.

First June Weekend

It's weekend!

It's Day-Away time for Alpha in the workplace.
It's SEA Games time.
It's the Champions League finals night! FC Barcelona vs. Juventus FC

THE Game

Some call it the "Pope Derby" or "Holy Derby" while others call it the "Adidas Derby." Regardless of the nickname people called the Germany vs. Argentina match in the 2014 World Cup Finals, this match was The Game of Games.

The 2014 World Cup is indeed full of dramas and a number of heart-attack moments. Late goals, (30-minute) extra time and penalties? This year's World Cup had it all. Football is the beautiful game, but it should come with a warning. Football is never for the faint-hearted.

As if I haven't had enough of the Netherlands vs. Costa Rica reaching the penalties to determine which team would make it past the quarter-finals (I was rooting for the former) and the and another PSO at the semis during The Netherlands vs. Argentina slash King Wilhelm vs. Queen Maxima match (I was rooting for the latter), not to mention the massacre of Brazil courtesy of Germany, here came the finals with extra time.

If it was another day and match, I'd be rooting for Germany. Deutschland is the team I root for after España. It's a default because of silly reasons. However, I don't know why I couldn't fully support this team during the finals. Perhaps it's because of Messi or, more importantly, it's because Argentina represents the South America. So I was pegging Switzerland. Go Football! 

I was at peace when Mario Gotze hit the back of the net (113'). And I found myself smiling after that. Except for Brazil, it seems like all the teams I've been rooting for to win since the quarterfinals did win. Btw, I was actually just rooting for David Luiz. If it was another day, it'd be for Germany. But I guess that just tells that the original teams I'd root for are the ones that won. By elimination, Germany would top them all. And Germany did. Deutschland is now the World Cup Champions.

Congratulations, Germany!

First set of 2014 World Cup Quarter Finals

Some may not believe it, but today is my first time to watch this year's World Cup. How lame, right? But I've been really busy last month and too tired to stay up until the morning. Even on weekends. It's awful because I've missed a lot of the late goal dramas, not to mention La Roja's matches. It's tough living in Asia when the World Cup host is on the other side of the planet.

But since it's already the Quarter Finals, I've been hoping to really watch the games. Thank goodness it happened.

FRA vs. GER

Germany won this, courtesy of Hummels. It wasn't really exciting. My friends were even 'complaining' for France's lack of zeal to give it all.

I was pegging Switzerland for this until I remembered which team I was rooting for next to Spain back in 2010 World Cup. Chancellor Andrea Merkel also played a part on this.

BRA vs. COL

I was also thinking of pegging Switzerland until David Luiz hit the back of the net after a free kick (69'), adding another goal to Thiago Silva's at the 6th minute. I like the guy, David Luiz. I'm not particularly keen for Brazil but I want to see him in the finals. I actually thought I was only seeing an "actual" imagination when he scored because I was wondering what it'd be like if he sends the ball (I thought about this while the ball was in midair) past the goal keeper, between and inside the posts. Then I saw David Luiz running for joy. It was actually a goal, a real one. A very beautiful one.

The feeling of rooting for Brazil became stronger when James Rodriguez of Columbia scored on penalty. I was hoping so hard that they will not equalize against the host country. Even though Brazil was leading against Colombia, the 5 minute added time was still torture. So I was definitely glad when the 2-1 score stayed until the final whistle.

Brazil off to the semis and that means I'm going to see David Luiz again. Unfortunately for Neymar, he won't be able to make it because of injury. It was his back that got hit but I'm not sure if he's also hurt somewhere. As a nurse, I'm particularly "alarmed" if the injury involves the back. I'm scared of spine injuries. Let's just hope for the best.

So next will be NED vs CRC and ARG vs BEL.