Saturday, April 24, 2004


>The thought is tiring enough.

Most of you may have realized by now that thinking can almost be as tiring as a full day in the gym, or a first-to-five Frisbee or basketball game, or walking from N. Garcia to Greenbelt. For me, it can be more tiring than all that.

Just last Wednesday, I was explaining to Neva how worried I was about not being able to earn money this May. My April was fully booked, but May was clean and empty, except for my Mom's birthday on the 7th. The next day, I went to a meeting in Makati and headed for the malls to look for some good athletic wear for Frisbee. I decided that if May was going to be free, then I might as well play Frisbee all month. I scored some tops and I was happy, but the thought of having no income for May was haunting.

Then yesterday came and I rushed to Makati to prepare for another meeting. While waiting for my friends to print out their presentation, one of them tells me that their Boracay shoot was moved to mid May, meaning I could do it. She's still checking if they have a budget for me, but I hope it all turns out well. I remembered Neva telling me that she was going to Boracay around the same time, so I gave her a call and got her schedule. Then I got another call for a docu shoot in Vigan, so I booked that as well. By the time I got off the phone, I had booked May 5-19, with only one break on the 11th. Nyee!!!

I was shocked with what had happened. I mean, it was good that I got work for May (all in one day), but wow, no rest! It's cool and freaky at the same time. And I'm going to miss my Mom's birthday. Tsk, tsk. I thought I'd celebrate it with her the weekend before, then I looked at my schedule again and realized that I was going to Cebu on the 28th til May 1. Oops! Ok, I'd just better get her something really nice from either Cebu or Vigan then.

I have this habit of staring at my schedule and just visualizing my whole week or month of work, but just looking at my schedule this summer was tiring. And then there're other things, and people, that like to creep into my mind and bother me. Oooh, clear your mind, Alia. Clear your mind, before everything clutters up.

I've an event tonight. Then a shoot tomorrow. Then a script due on Monday. A draft due on Tuesday, before I leave for Cebu on Wednesday. Hmmm...doesn't feel like I resigned. Oh well, let's just make the most out of all this. :) Sigh.


Wednesday, April 21, 2004


>My bad arm is good, and it's falling in love with Disc!

The Frisbee disc that is. Yes, I just had a wonderful session with my friends in Cuenca Field, Alabang. It was hell for my smoking lungs, and my legs are still shaking from all the running, but it sure feels good being exhausted from such a fun, fun game. And I made a score! Woohoo! Go, Dark Team, go!

I've been wanting to try Ultimate Frisbee ever since I did a feature on it for GamePlan (2 features actually) last year. My first real game was in San Agustin with some GamePlan friends last year, before Mel left for Australia. It was sort of her despedida game and Buko, Akiko and I were all rookies. Carlo was the one teaching us and I remember that Buko ended up playing soccer with some foreigners who were sharing the field with us, but we were able to pull him back into the game and it was fun. He and Mel used to be soccer players and while running for the disc in the air, I actually jumped for it and Buko and I collided in midair. He was used to this kind of "violence", of course, but I wasn?t. And I actually found it exciting. It was new to me! Now it?s supposed to be a non-contact sport, but you can't help collisions sometimes, and it didn't really scare me. I wanted to play some more! If only I didn't have such poor endurance.

We had to party in Carlo's house afterwards, so that was a tiring day. Tonight, though, I'm resting well at home. I still have a script to revise, and an article to write (Bah, I'll probably start on the article tomorrow. Oh, later I mean.), but I can't help feeling so proud of myself. Yey, I feel athletic again! Except I'm smoking. And drinking beer. Tsk, tsk.

Ultimate Frisbee is one hell of a cardio workout. I?ve seen the game played many times, but I'm glad that we had drills today. The drills are interesting because I've never trained for a team sport before. I tried soccer once, but having been a swimmer and a gymnast, relying on teammates never really worked for me. But I had so much fun today and I think my working with Team GamePlan for 3 years is a major factor in this new passion of mine.

Many of my high school friends are on the team. I think they're called the Disc Devils (Naks. Mga demonyo!), but they're super nice and extremely patient. The most patient of all was my old friend Tonio. He became my instructor for the night, and even if I already knew about the basics (I've written 5 scripts about the darn game, so I should know the rules by heart by now.), he insisted that we both start from scratch. After a little intro, he gave me a 101 on the throws. I had to keep myself from laughing at times because I wasn?t used to him being so, um, instructor-like. Hehe. But I was a good student and I tried hard. Sometimes he'd say "nice" or "YUN!" and I'd have this kiddie grin on my face...until I screwed up again. Darn it.

Anyone can do a backhand, and he said that mine's pretty ok, except the disc wobbles in the air sometimes because I lacked spin. It's possible that my arm was still weak because of the operation, but apparently my swing was just plain wrong. I used my wrist too much, so I could only throw short distances. Tonio told me to use my whole arm, as if I was playing tennis, and for the life of me, I kept forgetting to do so. Then we tried the forehand and I nailed the first two throws, but later on they just kept going in all sort of directions; curving to the ground, flying too high, it was frustrating, especially when Tonio said, "You got it na kanina!" Grrr, I know, I know!

My problem is that I get too conscious of what I'm doing. Then I get nervous and my whole act just crumbles to bits. I remember being this way in gymnastics. I'd do a stunt for the first time perfectly, then I?d be conscious and start screwing up, not exactly understanding what I'm doing wrong, or why I?m doing it wrong in the first place. The worst was when I competed in the Pacific Alliance in Hong Kong. I don?t know why, but I just couldn?t nail my double twist on the floor. I had been doing the stupid thing for more than 2 years, so it should've been a cinch. But no! I kept overturning and it was just the most horrible thing; spinning and crashing, seeing the floor zoom in for an extreme close up. Ugh. And it actually happened in competition! My one and only international competition! That was so embarrassing. I saw thought bubbles pooping out of the other gymnasts' heads, "Why?s she even here?"

I retired from the sport after that tournament because I felt it was my time. I probably lacked confidence. A lot of confidence. I had very low self-esteem those days, and I had very small dreams as a gymnast, mainly because I never thought I'd make it to becoming an international gymnast anyway.

But it's different now. I no longer feel like I need to prove anything to other people. No, I've to prove EVERYTHING to MYSELF. That's all.

I really want to do well in Frisbee. I really, really want to get into this. If just to keep me fit, then I think it's perfect. And if it helps me stop smoking, well, even better! I need an outlet, I need a sport, I need something better than being in a boring gym. It?s an outdoor sport, it can be played almost anywhere, and best of all, I think it's going to help strengthen my bad arm. Ah, Doc Canlas will be proud.

***
Another thing I really want to get into is climbing. But that can be expensive. Then there's diving, my favorite sport of all time. But that's even more expensive! Frisbee will have to do for now, but I'll try to get the players into diving anyway. Hehe.

***
If you live in the south and you want to get into the Frisbee craze, the Disc Devils practice every Tuesday nights from 7:30 to 11:00 pm. Just bring some money for the lights on the field because I think they cost P250 an hour. The amount you pay depends on how many people show up, so bring your bring your friends and let?s bring the price down.

They also play on Sundays from 3:00 to 6:00pm, so let's all get together, stay fit and have fun. Yeah, get your butt off that working chair and join us for a cool sweat! You won't regret it.

There are also leagues that play in San Lorenzo Village in Makati, the Fort Bonifacio Army Field (where I think all the hoopla started) and the U.P. Sunken Gaden. And, of course, let's not forget Boracay! Which has an excellent team by the way. Iba talaga when you can sprint in the sand. Nyay.

***
I'm also happy to say that Frisbee gives me an excuse to buy new shoes. Yey, I?m buying turfs (Is that how you spell it?!)! Wheee! And can I just say that Dri-Fit is probably the best discovery in sports today. I swear, this technology from Nike is amazing (And so is the Nike website! Have you seen it? It just takes really long to load, but it's really wow.). I wish I could afford more. I only have 2: one black and one white. Perfect for Frisbee actually.

And then there're my Lagalag quick dry pants from the Habagat store in Mega Mall. Ah, thank goodness these local outdoor fanatics come up with amazing gear. Go, Pinoy!

***
Dang, do I need a bath.


Monday, April 19, 2004


>Masters Swim has been moved!

Announcement! The Masters Swim Meet that I posted about before has been moved to either May 8 or May 15. I'll post the sure dates soon, but at least that gives us former swimmers more time to train. And I just realized that I'm in the 19-24 age group. Hello?! They're all probably stronger than me! For the first time, I wish I were a leetel older.

And my eldest sister Carla's nuts. She trained in ACC today and forced herself to do a 25-meter hypoxic (which means to swim one lap breastroke underwater without going up for air) and she did it! She did it! And she almost fainted! Good thing she didn't faint underwater. Crazy.

***
>Here's another fun thing you can do this summer.

Hey, Southeners!!! (And Northern people willing to make the trip.) Tina Juan's Fitness Advantage is having a fun adventure race called The Fitness Advantage Urban Challenge in Festival Mall, Alabang on May 1. 3 members per team can compete to win P3k for 3rd Prize, P5k for 2nd Prize, and P10k for First Prize. They're also giving away some goodies, so mail at balahaw@yahoo.com for more details and registration forms. Entry fee is P900. Entry fee after April 24 will be P1,200.

Yey, so many things to do this summer!

***
>I've gone and done it. I've sold out.

Indeed I have. Hehe. :)


back up!
past accidents

This page is powered by Blogger.

< # FILIPINA ? >
< # FlipBlogs ? >