b i n o g . n e t

COVID vaccine first dose check and then some few years later

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 19:56:00 +0000

Last Wednesday I was chatting with Ems, one of my projectmates, on announcements from LGU here in Cebu City around vaccinations for COVID-19. It’s always on the news - how different suppliers / brands has now reached PH, but in my immediate circle of friends, haven’t really seen much buzz on actually getting vaccinated. Soon enough, Ems shares to me links the the signup website is actually up and just waiting for registrants! http://vims.cebucity.gov.ph/page/register

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Started writing this post 4 years ago and now Mpox comes to Cebu. At this time not much cases are reported, but information is very limited. Events at work are also scrutinized and deferred if not critical.

***

And yes another couple of years before I re-opened blogger. I'll pretty much use this as a journal to channel my thoughts into words. As I was trying to cleanup my notes, I saw pictures from my Google Keep. How time flies, when I started writing this post, it was height of pandemic and below are some of the pictures of one of our townhalls. It was not hard to get people back to office then and the events were always fun. Somewhere along the years as we hired more over the pandemic.

Fragile

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 12:03:00 +0000

I had been all over the place these past few months. From all that has happened, I now remember why I became a loner kind of guy. I often get comments that as a person, I had set up my walls too high. It was convenient. It kept my peace of mind. All the conversations I've been having, I had it with me, myself and I.

I found people that made me comfortable to share my thoughts unto. It was liberating. It felt good to talk about things that I had kept to myself for so long.

It did complicate the world that I live in inside my head. Interpretations. Expectations. Hopefulness that things will happen. It is too much for somebody who overthinks most of the time and gets stuck on analysis paralysis.

Not Stupid

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 12:34:00 +0000

When I started this blog, my intent was to earn from it - not knowing how complicated the blogging world is. I just went ahead writing random stuff - no thought of a niche topic, audience. To document my life basically.

After a while I started to become more conscious on the content that publish. Wil Dasovich reminded me of this conundrum during the Vlogging 101 workshop he run on a group of Accenture aspiring #GameChanger Ambassadors. He is right - we over criticize ourselves and that is the biggest hindrance in us getting out there, exposed in the open world wide web. I personally felt I looked stupid on the posts I published. We just can be too hard on ourselves sometimes. The fear of judgement is eating us up.

I guess it is a process - fight or flight. And when you strongly feel that something is your passion, you make it work by all means. As Wil puts it - "do what you fear and learn to love it...". If it makes you uncomfortable and it sends butterflies to your stomach, you take the pressure as fuel.

If ever I find the time and will to pursue blogging or even vlogging for the matter, as in more seriously, I guess I'll do more of what I usually post now on my social media handles - food, getaways and probably talk about what I do everyday for work. Hard to think of content that has audience and something that people will give a damn. Probable I can get hits on staycation or teambuilding options. But then again, maybe not. Too. Lazy.

7 Years After

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Sat, 02 Jan 2021 17:32:00 +0000

Its a new year and as always, overthinking again. I wanted to write my entry to this season's essay writing contest but ended up not writing until now. The long break made me think how I've been getting along with improving my fitness. I had a wake up call around September last year when I was having terrible headaches that paracetamol can't fix. Then remembered I had been a terrible patient of hypertension. Took my wrist BP monitor and got a 160/100. I may have been missing drinking my meds. >.<

Anyway, while this is a horrible case of bad patient not drinking meds - I wanted to make it better with sleep, diet and exercise. Set my alarm to sleep and wake up. Ordered monthly subscription from Diet-in-a-Box (which by the way tastes like resto food, so you will not feel you are in a diet at all). Now playing badminton every Sunday too for at least 4 hours, then 3x in the gym every week. To no surprise, holidays is to pig out and so I did! Before all the gluttony I was already 160 lbs, but when I weighed myself today, I gained 10 lbs that fast in 2 weeks.

And so all the guilt sank in and this picture at the bottom is me after 1 hour running on the threadmill and doing all the machines in the gym aimlessly in light weight compared to what I can now lift. I just wanted to burn a lot. When I got home, I weight myself and lost 2 lbs. But I guess it was because I was starving myself the whole day - which is a very bad idea.

Can't explain my hunger then. Next thing I know, I finished a tub of spaghetti from a workmate. Even if I sleep better, eat healthier and exercise more - I really need to work on my self-control. Whenever I see food on the table and it's just me, everything is going down.

The Whirlwind of Everyday Work

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 19:29:00 +0000

It’s been a long time since I last posted a blog post – well, about a year! I’ve told myself to keep this blog as my sanity check, if I’m living my life the way I wanted to. I slipped away. I even forgot that people called me by the name of the domain of this blog. The only person calling me “Binog” at work is the person I look up to as my mentor. Since my work moved from Boni to McKinley Hill again, I would see old officemates calling me out by that name. Means a lot, but most importantly, I realized something – I changed.

A lot of things about me got lost in translation ever since I moved to my new company. Everything in my head is work. I would spend a lot of hours in the office and just go home to get a few hours of sleep. It became a routine. I was supposed to go like that only when the circumstances call for it. There came a time that it was almost every single day in a week. It just got too toxic.

During the start of this year, I told myself, I have to snap out of the routine. I have to do other stuff. This was what this blog was supposed to remind me. I guess, I should keep writing on it to stay true to it. I should. And I will.

Become a Customer Company

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 06:21:00 +0000

I've always believed that Salesforce.com is the platform of the new generation. It's challenging the norms of the IT world. Without any concrete work experience in IT, I was able to sprint forward developing and customizing apps on the cloud. You just got to love this platform.

Recently, SFDC changed their tagline - from pushing companies to become a Social Enterprise, it now suggests to go for being a Customer Company. Take your customer as the center of your business, know how to listen. Find this video below, and know how you can be a magician in IT --

This screenshot below shows how they were able to catch real-time feedback from people while the webinar was actually happening

2013 - I Make My Own Milestones

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 17:33:00 +0000

2012 was a big change for me. I moved to a new company. Everything changed – my routine, my priorities and myself. I forget to look back. I missed to appreciate how big this year was for me, not just career-wise.

The Navi 2012 planner I received from my mentor was supposed to have done it, but I wasn’t able to spend time on it. It was supposed to be a regular status report for personal, health and career goals. But as they say, it’s never too late. I’m not going to write it on stone, but I intend to do some parts of it on this blog. It’s something totally worth it, specially this particular list, 101 things to do, “I make my own milestones”, and I guess I will totally clear it out this 2013 –

ride a bike around your neighborhood
become better at small talk
accept an invitation that you normally wouldn't
for one day, do not complain even once
sleep more
do something new at least once a month
catch yourself saying filler words "um, like, yeah, so"
eliminate those words from your everyday language
give blood
get a famous person's autograph
set your style and own it
dress in one color from head to toe
buy those shoes that make you feel like a million dollars
choose a word that defines you
live that word
send someone a care package
give a gift you made from scratch
record a video of yourself
fly out of the country just to see a band in concert
make a "feel good" playlist
make a "soundtrack to my year" playlist
share your favorite playlist with a friend
give a way something that means a lot to you
make a list of things that make you angry
next time you're mad, try dancing out your anger
finish a TV series in one weekend
carry a good luck charm
witness a miracle
go an antique furniture hunt
paint something with bright colors
for a month, document one aspect of you - what you wear, eat, give, receive
make someone a good cup of coffee
skip dessert for a week

This blog is my life navigator!

Week 5 - Learning Run-Walk

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 03:46:00 +0000

I never took training that seriously until now. There's just no way I'll DNF my first full marathon. I told myself, I have to do something that will count me as a serious runner, and not just some person who wants to run just for the heck of it. Hmmm, but still just a recreational runner, haha!

TBR is just so cool, in the sense that they would really prepare you for your big day. They make no assumptions, just a training plan that is tried and tested. Slots would not have been filled up right away if the brand is not reputable, it simply is.

As a stubborn runner, it has been very hard for me to keep up with a training plan but so far, on the training plan they gave out at TBR, I'm still good at week 5. That's two maintenance runs and a long run each week. Good thing there's free use of gym at work, I can do maintenance runs indoors. Then one in a while there are bull sessions where we participants run together, like this photo here. It's free for all, you can join even if your not in TBRDM 2013.

Slowly, but surely, I'll build my weekly mileage.

Week 4 - Back In The Game

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 13:09:00 +0000

This post has been long overdue. I'm just going to pretend that I was sucked in a time space warp. This week is week 4 of my road to a marathon, simple because I say so, haha!

Even though I’m not writing, I didn’t quit running a decent training plan. I had completed a couple of runs. All were disappointments. I never reached my target times. I simply lack training. Signing up for a full marathon is my first step in getting away with the regrets. This time, failure is not an option. DNF will not happen.

In a few hours, I’ll be on my first Bull Session for the The Bull Runner Dream Marathon 2013. I’ve been becoming slower lately, but I don’t intend to keep it that way. Back in the game!

Week 3: Back to Badminton

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:45:00 +0000

Before I started running, I was playing badminton regularly. Twice a week the very least that is. Us workmates from my previous company have the badminton court in our boss’ place reserved those two slots every single week. Rain or shine, we put up a fight. It was simply a routine.

badminton tourney
at my previous company a year ago

When I moved to my new company, everything just wouldn’t let me get back in that addiction. There was no court nearby, schedules get messed up and most of all, it’s hard to find playmates! When I started being at home in my new workplace, a couple of months ago, conversations about badminton just sprung out. I knew it, badminton is one of the most common sports around, it would be impossible not to find people who play. The rest was history.

This Saturday is the second day of a four-day tournament at work. And yes, I registered right after I read the publicity on my mail weeks back. I’m always going to be competitive at what I do, when I know I can be good at it. Stan, my partner last week, and I won our first match. I can just remember how my lungs felt struggling for air then. We were on the same page when we said we should finish the game in two sets, or else, it’s a loss. But hell did we put up a fight. Each point in the third set was literally breathe taking. We’ve been playing before, but we both lost our shape. I’ve been running for a while now, but I must admit, sprinting to every corner of the court is a different story. While I was recovering from a smash, I would need to run to the other side of the court. Everything is unpredictable, you cannot maintain a pace. You have to get to that point before the shuttle lands on the ground. I was totally unprepared. I was out of my game, but I will come back. Fwahahahah!

I’m writing this here because training to be good at badminton feels like upping my game in running too. A couple of days after last Saturday, I can really feel that my legs got stronger, specially my upper leg. Most of the time, when you play, you have to squat a bit to get your body closer to ground. It helps to have longer strides and I just realized it has a certain principle same as in running. By keeping your body closer to the ground, you have more control over your center of gravity. It will help you save your energy, when you can use that control to your advantage. If you keep your center near the ground, it will conserve you energy. Lean forward, and you get more potential to sprint to your shuttle.

I call my badminton my cross training!

Week 2: Strangled at RU2 2012 21k

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:07:00 +0000

I was a hopeful pagong last Sunday at 2012 Run United Leg 2. I didn’t have much sleep the night before, but upon seeing other sleepy heads under the pouring rain, I recalled how much this particular road race means to me. The route from BGC to Mall of Asia is fun too. I promised myself that I’ll put every effort to get a sub-2:30. But, I didn’t.

Look a lot bloodier than this, my phone cam
didn't capture the bloodiness.

It was supposed to be a favourable day for me. There was a sprinkle of rain at the start and cool, windy weather as the race went on. My legs had enough rest, and maybe a bit too much. I knew I brought enough fuel and I knew when to take them – 3 energy gels and my favourite cereal bar. There was enough hydration, good handling of traffic and all of the nice things that you can expect from a Runrio race. The whole race felt good, but short at my objective. I crossed the finish line 28 seconds after my target. But wait, the timer was late by around 10 minutes from gun start, meaning I was around a 2:40.

I spent some time thinking what I did wrong, and there were a couple of things that came to mind. First, I took a pee in a gasoline station near the 5K mark at Buendia. Hmm, took the second floor bathroom, didn’t know there was one downstairs. Maybe took 3-5 minutes for that. Then I enjoyed my walk breaks too much. I set that every 5k mark, I’ll walk a bit to let my legs recover a bit, but I think I lost track of time those moments. >.< Last and obviously not the least, I TIED MY SHOES TOO TIGHT!! Arg! I didn’t realize that that was what they meant by your feet expanding when you run. I always felt awkward when my feet don’t stay in one spot in my shoes, that’s why I tie it a bit tight. Been doing it ever since, and I just learned how to give my feet some breathing space. In the end, my feet were just crying out loud. It made me walk for a while even though I can still run non-stop. Thinking of loosening it a bit, but I felt like that would take more time. After I took off my shoes and socks, just found blood in my blisters on my pinky toes.

Better photo here.

But still, this is not one of my worst races, still a good one, considering that I spent 3 hours in this same route during RU1 earlier this year. I was able to sustain my energy and will to run till the end. Pero marami pa kong bigas na kailangan kainin!

Nothingness

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:09:00 +0000

Now that I’ve realized, it’s been months since I left a 500-meter radius. My place is along EDSA, then, my work is around two blocks away. This is just the perfect setup to save a lot, but also be kept from the rest of the world. I had been so engrossed with my work.

It’s just that I know that this will not last forever. I want to ride the wave while it still carries me. I know it will end. I’m putting every effort to keep my glide until I get where I want to be. How strong my will maybe, I know it will falter, as much as I don’t want it to be. But there is just one more thing that keeps me going.

I’m afraid of death, that all of I see, feel and strive for will go nowhere. All that people say and expect you to do are things that usually keep you from getting what you want. But because of that notion of death, I owed myself the right to be selfish. Someday, everything will just be nothingness, and you wouldn’t even know it. No senses. No state of mind. Simply nothing.

But today doesn’t have to be that way. We can be more ambitious, while we can be. Know what truly matters to us. It may not be the thing that people that we love want, but for sure, it’s that one thing that no one can take from us.

Week 1: Jumpstart with a Half Marry

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 11:26:00 +0000

Different trainers say different stuff, but at the end of the day, they want you to get enough mileage. Not speed – Mileage. You have to be running a substantial length of the distance you are aspiring for. Part of my plan right now is run a 21k once a month. I believe that is something that my body could handle. In between those, I plan to strive for PR’s in shorter distances for speed training. Summing that all up, I will be getting more mileage than I used to. Before, I don’t train for my runs, but I guess that is pretty much lame. Or pretty much, suicide for my leg muscles.

Last May 27, I ran the Greenfield City Run 2012. It was so much fun running in an unfamiliar place. Greenfield City, Santa Rosa, Laguna is a place you’d consider in settling down. It’s a quick drive to and from Manila – well, if there’s no obnoxious traffic. It’s my first half marathon after I proclaimed I was going to do a full marry by early next year. This time, I was conscious about the time.

What I did was segment the run into four 5K’s and an anything-goes last kilometre. That way, I would say like, “One last kilometre for this quarter of the road!” Psychologically, it works. Not only that, it gives me an excuse to do walk breaks. When I get to a quarter-mark earlier that I planned to, I walk for a while, until a couple few minutes before the next quarter of my race. It actually works.

But something happened on my last quarter. I became ambitious, I felt that I can run faster than I intended to. It took a toll on me on the last few kilometres. The muscle above my knee just hurt a lot, making me walk for a longer while. Also, the water that I pour on top of my head dripped to my socks. It was creating some sort of friction that hurt and made me walk some more. It was almost a sub 2:30 for me. All that, plus the heat of the sun, was all to blame (hope races start a bit earlier, like 3:30am in Condura this year). It’s just frustrating that these small things hurt my goal big time. But I guess, 2:37 is not that bad at all, especially for a turtle like me, hahaha!

21k for June, Run United 2012 Leg 2! See you there! To a full marathon, yay!

Week 0: Road to a Full Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 23:37:00 +0000

I started running on September 18 last year. A couple of HS friends invited me to my first 10k. I had mixed feelings about it. Back in UP Diliman, I would run around Acad Oval. The thing is, I can’t even keep up for five minutes back then. Eventually, I gave in, and it’s just a different kind of high when you see a lot of people running, all shapes and sizes.

Guess what, my next run after that was a 21k, hahaha! But mind you, that first 21k is still my PR right now for that distance. It took me 2:35 gun time to finish Adidas King of the Road 2011. I don’t know what got into me that time, I just kept running, I wasn’t thinking about the time, no watch, no gadget, no anything to track my time. I was just so excited. And here I am, I’m not improving much on my running. I’ve ran four 5K’s, 7 10K’s, three 16K’s and five 21K’s. Thought about it for a time now and realized that there is no stopping me from becoming a decent runner. I just need the right game plan, and I’ve found it. I’m going to put it out there – I will run a full marathon in the first quarter of next year! I’m planning to run “The Bull Runner Dream Marathon”. Hope I get a slot.

I searched for training plans and I think I found what I need – some stuff from Jeff Galloway’s site and my favorite running blog, Old Man Running (wrote about it on a previous post). These are just templates, but as how I’ve done things in the past, I still listen to my body well. If I feel like I’m doing too much, I try to slow it down and when things get a bit too easy, I step it up a little. Just eye on the target – FULL MARATHON NEXT YEAR!!

I’ll take it one step at a time. First thing that I think I need to accomplish is get a good PR at a half marathon. I’ll train for that first, then I’ll just think about what I’m going to target next when I get that goal. I believe that the best piece of advice that I got from reading is that to know where you’re at first. And by saying that, I don’t plan on jumping to a completely new training plan. I’ll just tweak what I have right now. Good luck to me on my road!

We Are The Makers: Salesforce Platform

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Mon, 28 May 2012 15:23:00 +0000

“…it's the constant hunger to learn something new…”

This line certainly sent chills to my spine, because it perfectly describes my state right now. I’ve lost a lot of battles, but I choose to continue fighting because I have the motivation to back it up. When you see a good opportunity, you should just know how to hop on the wagon without having second thoughts. And I did.

I was never a technical go-to person before. When I wanted to do something, it’s actually me who would put all the effort to find somebody who knows what I need. That changed. In our world today, there’s no excuse to not learn anything anymore – everything under our fingertips. We should appreciate and take advantage of the wealth of information around. This notion I embraced in learning Salesforce.com. The platform encourages other people to hop in the wagon, saying that there was a time when you were new at what you're actually good at right now and that there is a whole store of knowledge. There is a community that will get you to speed in learning the platform. We just have to start building NOW.

Financial Freedom

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Sat, 26 May 2012 17:30:00 +0000

I’ve been talking about Financial Freedom way before. I thought it was a long, long way to go. I thought I needed to earn lots and lots of money to achieve this. Everything changed after reading Francisco Colayco’s “Wealth within your Reach: Pera Mo, Palaguin Mo!” It was such an eye opener. My takeaway after reading it – START NOW!

It all made sense now – all that cash flow, assets, liabilities and other stuff I usually hate back in college. I’ve never really imagined how it’s important to everyone. There is a reason why everyone is taught these concepts. I thought back then that I would not need these because I’m from engineering, and these are business management stuff. There actually is such a thing as personal finance, and that you need to think that you should not be working all your life. You would have to make your money work harder for you. Just think about this – What will happen to you if you lose your job now? Where will you get your money when you retire?

The answer to that now is to have passive income, as Colayco would say. You have to plan it – know where you are right now and know where you want to be. You should live your life with restraint of your current income and your financial roadmap. Most of all, learn the value of time. If you have not thought about it, you need to think about right away, that is, today.

My struggle as a college student was to read lots of material, but as I started working, I’ve had this insatiable hunger to learn new stuff, making me read much more that I used to. Started out learning what I do as my day job and now, still can’t believe I am able to read a lot of stuff about finance without falling asleep. I guess when you really want something, nothing’s going to stop you – and yes, I want my Financial Freedom badly!

Join me in my journey to my financial freedom. I’ll try to share useful stuff. We can be a better Filipino by being part of a more responsible workforce. Let’s be wise about money.

Old Man Running

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Sat, 19 May 2012 10:50:00 +0000

I’ve been reading a lot of blogs, topics range from photography, gadgets, Salesforce.com to running. It became a headache going to each website one by one so I started using Google Reader. It makes it more time efficient to be kept posted about everything.

Allen - Old Man Running

As of lately, I’ve started reading more stuff about running. I loved this one blog in particular – http://www.oldmanrunning.org. Was really, really helpful to me. It speaks a language that I can understand, no highfaluting words, just plain English. One topic that he’s been telling about recently is that of his high wakeup heart rate. I’ve been experiencing the same thing lately. He mentioned that it is caused by lack of sleep. That made sense of what I’m going through. I trained myself to wake up at around 6:00am in the morning every day – the first nights were hard, had to use Benadryl to get me to sleep. However, lately, my bed time is irregular – blame playing DotA again. >.< His blog just enlightened me.

The rest of his blog posts tell a story of how a 76-year-old man is going back to running. I'm now inspired to make my blog a diary of my running career! Follow his blog! Better yet, subscribe to his feeds through Google Reader.

Funny stuff from his feed -

1. If walking/cycling is good for health, postmen would be immortal.
2. A whale swims all day, only eats fish, drinks water and is fat.
3. A rabbit runs and hops and only lives 15 years.
4. A tortoise doesn't run, barely walks and does nothing ..yet lives for 450 years.

And you want me to Exercise!!

(We all need a laugh once in a while)

Now, that's hilarious. >.<

No To Auto

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:05:00 +0000

For almost a year, I have not played with my camera for like a year. Whenever I bring it, I just do Auto Mode. Just feeling lazy tweaking settings. But I made a resolution that I will not use Auto anymore. Well, as much as possible, haha! What I do now is do P mode on my Nikon, then copy that to my Manual mode. From there, I just add or subtract exposure. I even used my manual F1.8 50 mm lens on a recent event. I've been starting to maintain an attitude at everything I do now. I know it will end well, if not perfect. Just a load of patience and I will achieve anything that I want.

Earth Ball in Caliraya (Lumban, Laguna)!

This photo was taken by a friend from work, Jinky. Just found it really fun, so I added some interesting label - It's More Fun in the Philippines! Found the font used by Department of Tourism here -- http://abuggedlife.com/2012/01/07/how-to-make-your-own-its-more-fun-in-the-philippines-meme/

It's becoming an addiction, made three of these already. I guess this whole gimmick from DOT will work out great after all. Sometimes it's not just scenery, but what we make out of it. We make some fun, it's not that it's fun from the very start. But there, enough trying to sound full of wisdom.

I promise, one day, I'll make substantial amount of money out of this hobby! I'll get better at this! Hell yeah! To money!! Hahaha!

On The Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:01:00 +0000

I've been reading a lot of stuff lately about cloud computing. I just really dig my practice now, Salesforce.com. There is a lot to learn, and everything is available online. You'll just have to take the time reading, pause a while to be critical about it and just try it out on readily available Developer Edition orgs. Different authors say different things, sometimes, you'll just don't know which one is right. I remember one time, I had this discussion with a workmate - is Cloud Computing synonymous to SaaS?

On top of Gulugod Baboy - it doesn't look like it though, shot too tight, but we were literally on the clouds then! Simply unforgettable.

I attended this talk about Cloud Computing. There, it was discussed how cloud is realized in different tiers - IaaS, PaaS, SaaS and BPO. All the while, it came to me that these tiers where innate in cloud, that they were exclusive to each other. But turned out, these concepts were out there before cloud emerged on the news. I could just recall some people using thin and thick clients in their projects back in college. These technology continue to challenge what the right now is. Every now and then, something comes up and becomes a phenomenon. I just think Salesforce.com will really be something in the near future.

I just passed the Spring '12 Release Exam. It just reminded me how my career changed the time I passed the Force.com Developer certification. If I just push a bit more, I believe it will continue to soar. It just keeps me to move forward, because I believe it will push me forward. A year ago, I was not as ambitious as I am now. I just found a reason to be ambitious, and I'm holding on to that. No one can really tell if I will find what I'm seeking for, but it's good enough for me that it keeps me going. On the cloud, I certainly am.

Tae Runner No More!

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:47:00 +0000

I ran my 5th 21k yesterday, and it actually is my slowest time. >.< I guess I really lack the training and the attitude for it, but I'm not yet giving up. I'll make sure I strike a PR on 2012 Run United Leg 2!!

I still can't find a reason why, but my best time for 21k was my first, on Adidas King of the Road 2011. That was a 2:35, from around BGC then a u-turn at Buendia cor. dela Rosa and back. The closest I got to this PR was this year's Condura Skyway Marathon at 2:42. The other three 21k's are between 2:50 and 3:00 Haha! But my last should have been the least dragging one out of all five except for one reason. After my long races, I usually pulling my right leg to just walk. It's the first thing that dies on me when I do my longer runs. However, yesterday, it didn't act out, something else did. Hahah! My stomache went bad, not once, not twice, but thrice! Good thing there were gas stations and portalets all over the place, hahaha! I better cut down from the details to save myself some dignity. Haha!

The day before, I had the mistake of drinking a lot carbonated drinks after eating a lot. I forgot that instead of pushing it all out, I was keeping everything in my gut for a longer time, and it did take it's toll on me on race day. Absolutely stupid. Hahah! So right now, my mission is to fix my body clock as well as my stomach, I think it needs as much training as my legs do. I just hate it that I trained so much to run more efficiently through forefoot, and then everything went to waste because of one stupid day.

I will beat that 2:35 on RU2, so my friends will quit calling me freaking "Tae Runner"! Just read this article after the run -- http://www.runnersworld.com/article/1,7120,s6-241-624--413-0,00.html. I was just pretty desperate how to fix myself. The race route yesterday was actually fun, from BGC to Mall of Asia via Buendia Ave. I know I could do better than 2:59:01! (courtesy of race results thru SMS by Runrio - http://runrio.com/2012/03/run-united-1-race-results-via-sms-available-now/). Just find it cool how results were sent through SMS. Hahaha!

Renewed

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:56:00 +0000

Just got my domain renewed. Paid Hostingphil earlier this week, and now, my blog will be as it is now for another year. I just can't believe that I've had this blog for six years now. I've not yet matured as a blogger, still posting random stuff that comes to mind (though I keep some thoughts to myself now on my Multiply diary). Even though I don't make something out of my blog right now, it still is a testament of how I came by those six years. I've changed. A lot.

I'd say, I'm a much stronger person now. As I would always say, I'm more comfortable on my own skin. I know what I can do and what I can't do, at least for now. I may be born short of somethings, but I can always venture into things that I can be good at and things that I love doing. And now it starting to sound like a new year's post, but I just got myself a breather at things now. I've been caught up with tasks at work - assignments that I loved doing. Been focused on my road to a full marathon end of year - which by the way, I'm thinking of postponing for another year. Just realized that it would take more training to come out alive after getting to the last mile.

Good news of my sister passing her Medical Board exam yesterday is blast to our home, it is something that we've been all waiting for and my sister did clear it. She's a doctor now. It just fuels my motivation that everything can be achieved out of hard work. I guess it just really takes time, as how I described it on a post on my Multiply last week --

I guess I was born for running. Initially, it was all fighting hypertension. Eventually, it became an addiction. It's the cheapest sport out there, just need a pair of shoes and off you go. This morning, I joined Pinoy Fitness for an LSD Run - went for 16k with pace 8min/km. It just is so much more fun if you go in groups, and even communities.

Half way, my right leg acted out again. It's been my problem ever since, but this time, I told myself, I just get used to the pain, I'll stand till the last kilometer. And I did! Also, the pain actually went away. It's actually true, the pain does go away, you'll just have to withstand it for a time, and eventually things will get better. It really does. It's pretty much how life goes on, someday, everything will be brighter.

I guess running is the best metaphor of life, and I am embracing that. I see it as how it feels like it never ends, but you will actually get by each second if you keep your eyes to a target. It's not something that everyone share, it's something that you have to find out for yourself. You are who you want to be, where you want to be and when you want to get there.

Up One Level

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:11:00 +0000

I've been doing Salesforce.com for a time now. I have to say that I was born to this. I've never been good technically until I learned about it. It just suits what I really like to do - something that I don't have to build from scratch, but something that I can still do a bit of coding of. I just fell in love with it. I learned Mainframe COBOL and Peoplesoft, but I should say, I am a Certified Force.com Developer!

I got certified last year. The first level would test your knowledge on the declarative setup of the Force.com platform. It came out a big deal everywhere I go, but people have this misconception that when you are a certified developer, you're also versed with Force.com code. The case is not. Apex, Visualforce and Metadata API knowledge is that of the Certified Advanced Force.com Developer. That, I'm planning to take in the near future. You can never know all the use cases of the customizations, but getting the certification legitimizes your ability to develop such. It wouldn't validate your skills, but it will prove that you know how and where to get answers when you need them.

In my opinion, certifications tend to be bookish. You'll have to read a lot if you didn't bank on experience. I read a lot of blogs saying that you really need experience to clear the exam, but I think, they just didn't read materials, that's why they learned everything on project work. I still don't have that much bank of experience, so my game plan is to take that risk. Study everything and just give it my best shot at the exams. I've proven it once, when I took the first track. I cleared the exam without any project experience. I just have this gut feel that I can do it on the advanced level certification. Well, I would never know until I get there. I'm so willing to take the risk.

I should head back watching Chris Barry again. My fave line from him now is - "Apex looks a lot like Java. If I were to make a rough estimation, its probably 75% similar, but its the 25% that gets people in trouble" - been studying for custom code lately. Well, if you had been mining materials online, you should know him. Hahah!

Goodbye 2011

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:41:00 +0000

If I would describe 2011, it would be -- Comfortable in my own skin. This past year was about getting my self-esteem back. I've always felt like I'm nobody. I've been haunted by my mistakes, but in the last half of 2011, I was able to pull everything together. Running and career brought that back to me. Everything pays off, you'll just have to work really hard for it, with a pinch of patience.

My motivation for running was to fight hypertension. I've been diagnosed of hypertension back in college - those sleepless nights of studying and machine exercises. I would usually buy venti-sized coffee at Starbucks to keep me awake. Sometimes, I even ask for an extra espresso shot. I just love coffee so much, even on any other day. I was not aware that it was doing me harm already. I don't think it's the actual coffee, but of me staying up late, and even sleepless on some occasions. I just realized that lately. I eat healthy and I'm very active, that's why it was hard for me to accept that I'm broken. And finally, I found the pattern by how I find it hard to sleep lately - and so, my BP was going up again. I value my sleep more now. With running, I tire my body out so by night, I find it easier to sleep. Plus, I'm losing weight now. At the start of the year, I was doing gym, but was not able to lose substantially. Now, from 180 lbs, I'm a 168!

My first 21K - Adidas King of the Road, BGC.

A career - that's what I've been really fighting for. I feel like I've been left behind - yes, I'm still not over that extra year in college, when I was targetting to graduate in four and a half years! Ever since, I've felt that obssession to work extra harder than others do. I just had my break the second half of this year. And as they say, you'll just have to act on it when you see a good opportunity. When I knew that I hopped on the right train, I just spent more hours in the office as I should be. If I want to be somebody, I just have to set my targets and work at it. I was competing with nobody else but myself back then. I triumphed. I now believe that I am capable of things. That, no one can take away from me. I will succeed further!

I just realized that it was totally normal to make big mistakes in your life; that it is better that you commit them early on your life. How cliche it may sound, they really teach you and make you as you are today. You will never really understand it until you've been through those hard times. Now, I bid 2011 farewell. To more successes in 2012!

Personal Record

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 23:16:00 +0000

Been lazy writing. Been seriously running. Now, I list my PR's, as they call it --

5.2k - K! Run - 00:37:10
10k - Run Rizal - 01:12:28
21k - Adidas King of the Road - 02:35:00

This Saturday, I hope to beat my best time for 10k in Energizer Night Run 2011. Excited to see friends too. :) After that, I have Run United Leg 3 to punish my legs again for another 21k run. Wish me luck!!

Happy Birthday, Pards!

noreply@blogger.com (binog) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 15:18:00 +0000

September 25 is one of the dates that is extra special to me – it’s the birthday of my closest friend. I can’t remember when I started to call her “Pards” but I think it came from her back in college. We’ve been classmates since freshman year – we walk our way from our dorms to our department together, attend our 7AM classes without taking bath on a few ocassions, do celebrations in the weirdest places and ways with our friends, and the list could just go on.

And guess what, up until now, we work in the same office. Hahah! We didn’t talk about it, we just saw each other on our final interview in our current company. We parted ways back in college as we streamlined to our majors even though we are in the same department. I guess things fall into place in a weird way, but I just know that Marie is a friend for keeps. Happy Birthday, Pards! Wish you’ll lose some pounds soon, haha!