Bye Bye Fish

Another one of our goldfish died today. This is him (or her) floating lifelessly on the water surface.

Only two goldfish remain in our fish tank, plus one giant janitor and one teeny-weeny flat, shiny fish of some unknown species (I forgot what it's called). We originally had more than ten of this tiny flat fish. We also had maybe seven to ten goldfish originally, together with many kois that also perished.

I admit it, I'm a lousy fish keeper. I hate cleaning the tank and changing the water. So, yes, I am probably guilty for the deaths of the all our fishes. (Though I don't discount that there's a chance other, unknown factors are responsible.)

Our tank is a large, 75-gallon one, so right now it's looking very empty and sad. I hate to buy more fish because I know they'd die sooner or later.

All Set for a 21k?

How I wish I could put an exclamation point at the end of that title. But as things stand, my readiness for a 21k race is a giant question mark right now. My last run was 20 days ago. Since then, I stopped training because of a leg injury, although I tried to stay active by playing badminton once or twice a week. I resumed running just this morning with a leisurely 10k on the treadmill. Race day is roughly 13 days from now, I am woefully undertrained, and I don't feel confident at all that I can pull off a 21k. Why, oh why, didn't I just sign up for a 10k??? Or even a 5k?

Well, I know the answer to that one. I love challenges, even if they kill me (literally). My bravado and bahala-na-si-Batman attitude often gets me in trouble, but I admit the payoff can also be very gratifying. I loooove the feeling of getting away with something, of finishing a race despite being ill-prepared. Of course, with the gratification also come a slow finish time, painful cramps, sore muscles, and a limp for days post-race. I have read somewhere that runners are secretly masochists, and I have I feeling that's exactly true in my case. (Even my running playlist reflects this--John Cougar Mellencamp's "Hurts So Good" on my iPod pumps me up on every run.)

The 21k race I registered for is the Quezon City International Marathon (QCIM). It's a yearly event that I look forward to, primarily because of its accessibility. Most races are held in Fort Bonifacio, which is too far from where I live. QCIM starts at the Quezon City Hall, and goes through the long stretch of Commonwealth Avenue, into the Eco-Park at La Mesa Dam. It's a runner's dream to have one whole side of Commonwealth Ave. (equivalent to maybe 6 lanes) cleared of all vehicular traffic on race day and devoted exclusively to runners. Apart from this, the QCIM is usually very well managed, with plenty of water stations (this is a must!), adequate kilometer markers, and efficient race marshals.

The race kit includes a shirt, not a singlet this time. I think that's nice for a change. I would have appreciated though if they have the shirt in smaller sizes. I got the small size, but it's still a teeny bit big for me, maybe equivalent to medium or large for other shirts.

The race also includes a Strider Tag as a timing device. It's my first time to see a timing chip that's as thin as a strip of paper. Last year's timing device for the QCIM was a circular plastic thingy roughly the size of an old one-peso coin.

This will be my third 21k race. Incidently, it's also the third year of QCIM. I don't expect a faster finish time or new PR. I just hope to finish, even if that means I have to walk and crawl part of the way :-)

Not Running -- But Not Sitting Still Either

I've said (or thought) "I'm back into writing and blogging" so many times in the past that I've lost count. It's pretty much how I also feel about another favorite hobby of mine, running. I have this on-and-off, love-hate relationship with blogging and running. Well, maybe "hate" is too strong a word. It's true that the very thought of running in the cold early morning air often makes me feel like throwing the covers over my head and doing a Rip Van Winkle. But it's also true that many a day has felt incomplete for me without a run, or without a blog post.

Speaking of running, I'm on a forced hiatus right now. I had ignored for too long the pain in my right leg, and just kept on running and playing badminton like there's no tomorrow, until I no longer could. The pain has developed into a full-blown running injury called a shin splint. The cure is simple but very hard to do: quit running and let the leg rest for at least two weeks.

And so I have stopped running. For about a week now. That's the good news. The bad news is that I have succumbed a few times to the temptation to play badminton. Last Saturday, I played badminton for about six hours, and the result of this foolhardiness is more pain and a limp, which become very pronounced when I go up and down the stairs.

In search of another hobby that won't put strain on my legs, I have turned to photography. This has been a latent interest of mine for quite some time (my daughters say I'm interested in everything), and now seems to be the perfect time to give it full lien. I also happen to have this digital SLR camera that's been lying around the house for years now. I might as well put it into good use.

To start off, I downloaded a number of great photography books from the Internet. These books cost a great deal (easily over P1,500 when I did some browsing at National Bookstore), and I feel very lucky to be able to download the electronic versions for free and read them on my iPad. I was also able to find the manual for my d-SLR on the Internet, a very handy reference to take the place of the real manual which I've lost.

I've been taking a lot of practice shots, mostly of our dearest beatzu named Cookie. Here's a sample.

And I've enrolled in a short photography course at UP that starts two days from now. I'm super-excited! I would have loved to take the course together with my daughter Jigme, but she's too busy with schoolwork, and perhaps not as interested in photography as I am. We did agree that I'd teach her whatever I learned in the course. She's very artistic and loves to sketch, and I'm sure she'll enjoy photography too when she gets to experience it firsthand.

So that's what I've been doing these days. I hope to get to write more and blog regularly again while I'm more or less forced to stay off my feet. That way, I could also put into full use some of the idle gadgetry that's gathering dust in a corner somewhere, like this bluetooth keyboard that I'm now using while typing on the iPad. It all has made me realize once again how fortunate I am, and how there is so much to learn and to do. Learning, like living, never stops, no matter what your age is. And so here I am, embarking on a new hobby, staying off my feet, but definitely not sitting still :-)