Honey, surprise! We're getting married today....

"I'm the most luckiest man in the world!" declared English-yoga teacher, Marc Mead. He'd better be since he managed to pull off a surprise wedding for his bride, American-yoga teacher Christina Stahis.
I’ve been to all kinds of surprise birthdays but a surprise wedding?!? It’s a fact that every girl's dream is to get married (well, at least, many women) and that being the case, it would be every girl’s dream to arrange her own wedding. I must say that it was a risk for Marc to surprise his bride. However, I actually think its very sweet of him since traditionally it is a woman's role. Maybe what resolved Marc to do it and do it soon is because they are already engaged and in fact, their supposed wedding is set on March 2009 in Palawan with a reception after in the States.
So, on a full moon on December 13, 2008, we all trekked down to Tita’s Phimco beach resort in Nasugbu, Batangas to witness the wedding.
Dinah Salonga and most of the Makati-studio students surreptitiously helped Marc arrange everything from the date, the venue, the dress, flowers, food, and make an appointment with the town mayor to officiate the wedding.
Tessa and I unfortunately didn't see Christina's reaction when she arrived at the resort. Marc told her that they were going to spend a day on the beach with Littal and her husband. Well, we were late because the wedding was moved from 2pm to 4pm, and thus assumed we had time to lunch at Fire Lake, take photos with heartthrob Piolo Pascual who happened to be next door (right photo) and shop at Domicilo.
At least we got to Phimco before the ceremony. When we arrived, the groom and his best man, yoga teacher Ryan, were already in their tux, the bride was hidden and Isa was doing her hair and make-up, the mayor arrived and Dinah was arranging the ceremony, and everyone was all dolled up. Even Tristan who taught the morning class made it on time. Some of the spouses were present and also friends from Singapore who flew in.
By 4ish, Dinah led us to the beach and assembled the entourage for the processional march (members in photo). The bride came out radiant in a white tube dress, a tiara, pearl drop earrings, bouquet and even her elevated flipflops had rhinestones. For an unconventional weddimg, the ceremony had traiditonal elements from the march, to exchange of vows, arrhee (which signifies the groom's pledge of his dedication to the welfare of his wife and children), unity candle, declaration of marriage, introduction of newlyweds, signing of the wedding certificate (the ninongs were Tristan, Tita and Dinah) and of course, the typical pinoy photo op session after the ceremony and the usual throwing of the bouquet and garter (I caught it!) and the speeches during the reception.
Actually he claimed that he'd rather say a poem.. he said "… I happen one day to go to yoga and that took me to LA where I happen to meet someone who helps me be a better version of myself, someone who I am always in awe of... I live 24 hours with my best friend, the most beautiful person I've ever met and I'm lucky enough to say is my wife."
The world is truly a small place. Who would have imagined that Marc from Southend-on-Sea and Christina from Arizona would fall in love seven days after meeting in a Bikram Teacher's Training program in LA in November 2004 and four years later, marry in the Philippines? This is their second term in the Philippines. The first was in 2005. The two will be traveling back to the States to staff in the Fall Teacher Training program and then head off to Australia and New Zealand. Like Marc, I am lucky too, lucky to have learned yoga from the two of them and to witness a truly unique unforgettable wedding of two people who are very much in love.
watch exchange of vows:

first yoga competition in the Philippines

Well, lots of first for me this year. My third 'first' is the first-ever yoga competition in the Philippines called the Philippine Yoga Asana Championship or PYAC (www.philippineyogachampionship.com). The competition was held last Monday at BDO Theater in Makati Avenue. Four bikram studios participated in the event - Tristan's Makati and QC, Joy's Eastwood and Al's Greenhills.
I was actually more into ashtanga before. When I had a rotator cuff problem that wouldn't go away (from Badminton), a friend recommended to do Bikram. She said that the heat will help heal the muscles. Well... since then I've been healed and hooked! i've been sweating out in the 'hot room' for 90-minutes, doing 26 poses twice for the last two years.. I agree with RJ though that the 'competition' is contrapuntal to the philosophy of yoga. i joined the competition to deepen my practice and it was fun training under Marc and Christina Mead.

We were 21 females and 3 men judged according to how well and graceful we executed the five compulsory asanas (or poses)- plus two advance within the timeframe of three minutes. The five compulsory asanas were Standing Head to Knee, Standing Bow, Bow, Rabbit, Stretching and my two optional asanas were- Head Stand and Upward Stretch (right photo).
I'm not surprised that Al, teacher and owner of Greenhills studio, won the male category. For the females, Lintal won! So both will be traveling to Los Angeles to represent the Philippines in Los Angeles. Woohoo!!! As for me, I didn't place, but I'm happy that i did all of the poses without falling and within the specified timeframe and hopefully, inspired peeps in the audience to practice yoga - - be it bikram, ashtanga, hatha, iyengar...

Some post-NY Marathon Stats

Yes I would run a marathon again despite the pain I'm nursing on my left side right now and OD on pain killers last night. I actually empathized with Simon Pegg's character in the movie Run Fat Boy Run who managed to cross the finish line despite odds. One thing for sure, any newbie who plans to run a marathon should train for at least nine months; and please target first half marathons before embarking on this ambitious distance.
Here's some NYM stats: 99%of the 38,356 starters finished the race. Among the fnisheres were two octogenerians the oldest man was 87 year old-Peter Harangozo who finished in 8:00:39 and the oldest women was 83 year old-Yolande Marois who finished in 7:48:46. (Note: According to Doris Nuval, she came out the next day in the Today Show and she said that it was her 56th marathon and 21st in New York). 66% of the finishers were male and 34% female. The top two non-US countries were from Italy with 3,153 finishers and 3,037 from Great Britain (note only 20 from the Philippines).
The event raised more than US$18M for 27 charities and 5,000 runners ran for charity. New York Road Runners Foundation's Team for Kids charity raised over $3.67M for youth health and fitness programs in under-served New York City public schools and Memorial Sloan Kettering's Fred's Team raised over $3.25M for pediatric cancer.
It was the third win for Brit's 32-year old Paula Radcliffe, breaking the tape at 2:23:56 (record in 2007: 2:23:09 and 2004: 2:23:10). The oldest female 'elite' to finish and placed second is 40-year old Russian Ludmila Petrova who set a world masters record of 2:25:42(record in 2000: 2:25:45). Unfortunately, Beijing's Olympic silver medlaist Catherine Nderba from Kenya finished fifth (2:29:14). The top male finisher is Brazilian Marilson Gomes Dos Santos, 2:08:43. To check out results of runners, go to: http://www.ingnycmarathon.com/results/index.php
And lastly, big cheers to the pinoys who qualified for the Boston Marathon - Michael Mesina who finished at 3:12 (1,948th overall)and the Carpo sisters Amanda (3:39) and Leica (3:40). Go Pinoy go!!

Synovium inflammed

thank God that there's nothing seriously wrong with my knee. My sister drove me to Berkeley Ortho to see Dr. Strotz (tel #510 845-3856). He said that my ACL, ligaments, joints are all OK except that there's an inflammation in the synovium.
According to About.com, Synovium is the smooth lining of a joint. Synovium produces synovial fluid, a clear substance that lubricates and nourishes the cartilage and bones inside the joint capsule.
He recommended to REST (off my legs!) and to take 3x ibuprofen tabs per meal or 9 tabs for at least two weeks until the swelling subsides. He also said NOT to engage in any weight-bearing activity for that period. Swimming is okay as long as I don't kick.
Bottom line is, he said that my base training preparation was inadequate for the 26.2 mile distance (or 42-km). He said that minimum of at least 30-miles a week as base (at least 6 months to a year of running) prior to training. Honestly, I only trained after the triathlon in Bali (a week after June 29) plus laid off training for a month due to my heel spur injury. I must admit that I'm no spring chicken that can wing less than 16-weeks of training. I guess it was sheer will power that propeled me to cross that finish line last Sunday.
If I have to do this again, my sister who's a serious biker, said to do periodization and plan properly. And to add weight training to strengthen my quads which will help strengthen my knees. First thing, first.. Let's see how fast my knee heals.