Pilipino Ka Ba? Are You Pilipino?
Hong Kong's summer is coming. The last race of the season. I love this place.
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Moments of the Week (Apr 8-14)
Jet lag got J. Came home afterschool on Tuesday and crashed to dinner.
Ever leave a phone or lipstick in your pocket and then throw it in the laundry machine? M does. If you see me with streaks of red, now you know.
L & J took advantage of the weekend to hang out with their friends. The former with a sleep over and the latter with 20+ of his friends at a birthday. They come and go on their own and we are thankful for HK’s safety and accessibility.
I cut J’s hair with a high zero fade and he wasn’t happy. Nothing a few days of growth and wax can’t solve.
F’s BFF wasn’t at school for the week so she happily spent her recesses reading books - Kelly Yang’s Front Desk series.
I’m Writing a Memoir
I was wrong to assume people prefer reading digitally.
Are you one of those people that doesn't like ebooks? If so, the print version will be available soon. Same content, just physical.
As a reminder, I'm running a mile for every preorder and I'm up to a baby ultramarathon. Totally doable. 8 days more to tack on those miles.
I just learned that Pre Order is not an option for a paperback and I may make it available sooner. It should balance out because of shipping right?
I featured a few Goodreads reviews on social media and I'll continue to do so over the next few weeks. Here are two:
Snippet #1 from Don
Whether you’re interested in reading a tale of a modern family adventure, or you’re interested in what it takes to flip the table on life and go off on your own journey, this book is for you. It’s both fun and practical, with plenty of inspiration woven throughout.
I’m grateful that James brought us all into the ups and downs of his family‘s life. Strongly recommend this book.
Snippet #2 from Stacey
Do you want to live your life on autopilot? No? Then I think you'll enjoy this book. I did!
I'm not an expat, nor do I have any interest in being an expat, but I really enjoyed reading about James and his wife taking their family on a multi-year expat adventure. This book is about a lot of things:
1. Living life intentionally and aligned with your goals and dreams
2. Doing something different from what was expected of you
3. Parenting three kids
4. Having adventures and mishaps
5. Dealing with Covid pandemic quarantines while traveling and at home
Me, I like "quiet adventures." But reading his book still made me reflect about my life and the choices I make in how to live it. I think anyone would enjoy reading this and comparing their approaches to his.
It's also funny. No spoilers, but sometimes in reading this, I was like, are you serious? There were moments of LOL. There was also suspense. It's a good read.Stacey
Have you Pre-Ordered your copy on Amazon?
If you were an advanced reader, have you shared your feedback on Goodreads?
Thinking Out Loud
Pilipino Ka Ba? Are you Pilipino? Kababayan?
When I do races in Hong Kong, checkpoints are often filled with Pilipina volunteers. As they are helping me fill my bottle with Aquarius, they chat amongst themselves and eventually ask, "Pilipino Ka Ba?"
I grew up in an Illocano household and even then, my parents insisted on only using English. I took a year of Tagalog at UCLA and even spent a summer in the Philippines doing Tagalog on Site. I was the lead in a short play where I was dressed in a Bahag (Loincloth) and all my lines were in Tagalog.
How's my Tagalog today? I haven't used it in 20 years and I'd be impressed if I could introduce myself.
When someone asks if I'm Pilipino, I keep it short and say "Opo", yes. If they push further, I respond with my other line,
Hindi ako magaling sa tagalog and then I proceed to talk in English.
When we were in Dubai, our taxi driver asked if I was Pilipino. He was Nepalese and went on to explain he was often confused as Pilipino. They would be so friendly and make small talk, only to be conused minutes later when he wouldn't respond. Then they would be shocked to learn he wasn't Pilipino and apologize.
Pilipinos are some of the friendliest people. My dad is always encouraging me to reach out and introduce myself to other Pilipinos. I'm shy.
My race on Sunday started and ended at Repulse Bay and was full of Pilipino groups, 99% women. If you are a single male, this is the place to be. Groups were either singing karaoke, learning dance choreography, or just chatting and eating.
What’s their secret?
How do they find one another?
Why are they so happy?
On The Move
Run With Me on Strava - 47.75 mi, 5,935 ft
Not all running is the same.
What's holiday running?
A relaxed pace to explore, take pictures and marvel at your surroudings. Stopping to smell the flowers is encouraged.
After two weeks of leisurely running, I got hit with a KipMovin workout; Pushing at 80-95% and then recovering for 60 seconds so you can push harder on your next interval.
Tuesday - 6 X 1K Intervals with a 90 second recover
Thursday - Rolling Hill Interval with an active recovery
It hurt all over but I could feel my cadence, foot strike, arm movement, forward lean, and breathing adjust. It was a tune up and a reminder that regularly scheduled hard running is needed.
King of the Hills (KOTH) - Hong Kong (Reposted from Strava)
KOTH is 4 local trail races spread throughout the HK winter race season. The November race was postponed to April because of typhon trail damage. The problem is that April in Hong Kong can feel like summer, with temperatures in the mid 80s and humidity approaching 100%. It's hot.
And even though the sun rises at 6:04 the race started at 9:30am. Why? I don't know. It's an act of evil.
I expected the course to be a marathon distance. Two hours before the start, I learned that would be under 20 miles, but still include nearly 5,000 feet of elevation. It goes to show I didn't do my homework.
I got to the start line where runners parted onto both sidewalks to avoid cars. I sized people up. Everyone looked fit and they were dressed the part. It was intimidating.
Last KOTH, I thought I ran a near perfect race with a convervative start and was able to hold on with a finish where I didn't break down. I wanted to do the same.
We started with a road climb and the group quickly stretched into a line. I found myself surrounded by solid runners. Once we hit the trails, we were on a countour path that required quick feet to trip hazards, rocks. With minimal trail running in the past three weeks, I was rusty, but was able to stick with the tail end of a pack.
The first test was Violet Hill at 1400 ft, a climb that never quits. Everyone slowed their pace and it was one step at a time as places shifted. This was all in the first 5k. Everyone was feeling and showing it with their dripping sweat and loud exhales, sometimes with a curse.
As the race went on, I moved up the pack on the climbs, only to get passed on the descents. By 10K, I found myself alone and learned that I was in 4th with runners closely behind and no clue how far the next runner was.
To make sure I didn't burn myself out or slow down too much, I targeted a 165 HR. I had to be careful when climbing as my HR would hit 170. On descents it would drop to 150. I did a good job managing my effort and nutrition.
With 10K to go, I noticed two runners ahead that I passed awhile ago. It's either I took a wrong turn and ran extra or they took a short cut. There was nothing I could do about it now. By how I was closing the gap, I knew my legs had a bit more life that theirs.
I passed the first runner and was confident that in the next/last 5K, I could pass the other. I then got a suprise. The twins with 1200 feet; So famous, they even have their own wiki page.
My legs were tired and I thought we already did this section. I didn't consider pushing. My focus was one step after the other and don't stop. Like Violet Hill, this went straight up. Once I got to the top, the other runner was taking a breather and some nutrition so I flew by, hoping that is was the last I saw of him.
Less than 5 minutes later, he caught up to me on the next climb (it’s called the twins) and we ran together for a bit. I encouraged him to run ahead, but he didn't take the bait. I descended the steps and when I took a quick look back, I thought he was done. All I had to do now was keep a steady pace on the catch water and not blow up.
Not even half a mile later, he was on my shoulder. Where did he come from?
We were fully exposed on the catchwater and I had no idea how long it went. Based on my total distance, I assumed we were almost done and all I had to do was hang on for a mile at most.
I had my headphones on and I couldn't hear him, so every tenth of a mile, I'd take a quick peek and he would be right there on my shoulder.
It turns out that the catchwater was longer than a mile and I was still running on fumes with a 170 HR. I was waiting for him to pass so I could either do the chasing or slow down (aka give up) if he exploded past me. I wanted out. He was smart and stayed on my shoulder, waiting for his opportunity. I would have given up already if he wasn't with me. It was a blessing.
Instead of trying to lose him, I stuck with this uncomfortable pace, mentally saving enough in case a foot race ensued at the end.
And finally, there it was. An arrow signalling the end of the catchwater and start of a trail descent. Miraculously, he backed off. From experience, I know navigating technical descents is tough, and I believe he was suffering. Once the trail ended, it was a road descent and I bombed down the hill fearing he would catch me. He was nowhere in sight and I ran to the finish on the beach.
As I crossed the finish line and stopped, I could feel the heat catching up with me. I wanted to jump in the shower or the water. The former was too far and I still had all my running gear on me. I couldn't control it and I could feel my body relieving itself slowly. I was already soaking wet and dripping so I would like to think that no one could tell except me.
I threw down my pack, emptied my pockets and walked into the ocean. It felt good as the cool water brought my temperature down.
I finished just under 4 hours and got 2nd in my Age Group (40-44) and 4th Overall.
Slay girly!