TIME CAN BE FELT AS INTENSELY during a three-minute Bikram yoga competition or a grueling five-hour New York marathon. I have never been so conscious of time as I have during these two sports events I participated in this year.

Time has always been an issue with me, as event organizers know when they see me arriving nanoseconds before my hosting gigs are supposed to start. But with sports events, time waits for no sea princesses. I had to set ample time to get ready before both events, to ensure that my outfits and gear would be ready at the starting blocks.

At the NYC Marathon, my mind-set was to finish the 42K run in less than five hours, and even perhaps approach the revered four-hour mark of Oprah herself. My longest run though had been the 30K at the O3, which I completed in three and a half hours, so 42K in four was almost beyond comprehension.

As I crossed the 30K mark in the Big Apple in 3:40, I knew that even the sub-five target was fading. At 35K, my legs were refusing to move. How could this be? Didn’t we use to dance all night? I had to slow to a jog, determined to just keep moving to avoid getting cold.

With over two million spectators, including several bands playing entertaining music from rock to jazz to country to gospel, the marathon was one big party! The awesome musicfest made it impossible to stop. Aching muscles, truly felt or imagined pain, the windy cold of a New York autumn morning, all these were worth it to be at the pinnacle of marathons.

Seeing my beloved friends who had flown in for the event, like Rajo Laurel, Nix Alanon and Malu Gamboa, was so delightful. It’s amazing that I saw them among the sea of spectators. Cheering with them in full family force was my Assumption high-school classmate Monica Francisco, who captured my run on video and stills.

Some of the awesome Pinoy sub-four performances included my cousins Jon-Jon Rufino and the three Carpo sisters, Leica, Amanda and Chesca. I am so proud to be related even if I finished two hours after them, along with the youngest Carpo, Margaret.

The after-race parties were absolute fun. At the Waldorf Astoria Hotel suite of Rajo, a merry and gay party was in full swing in honor of the finishers. Thanks to our gracious Pinay hotel manager Becky, we were pampered like Hollywood celebrities.

One of the guests was Robin Tomas, the son of comedienne Tessie Tomas, who filled in for me judging “Celebrity Duets.” Her “Tessa Pinirito” impersonation of me is so funny, complete with feathers, lashes and humor.

My gracious aunt, Mary de Leon, hosted a lovely dinner at her Park Avenue apartment, as she was so proud of her two race-finisher sons, Jon-Jon and Vicente Rufino. At that party, I met the fastest Pinoy runner, Mike Mesina, who clocked 3:12 and looked like he could run all the way home. He is also the son of close family friends Tito and Linda Mesina.

Super triathlete Sen. Pia Cayetano dropped by and we exchanged fun stories about our run. Together with Vicente, Pia and I are all trainees of Ani de Leon, the first Filipino to finish the Kona Ironman triathlon. It was a proud moment for all of us!

Circus-inspired suit

If I was time-conscious in New York, I was even more focused on the three-minute limit at the Philippine Yoga Asana Championship (PYAC). That is the time allotted to complete five standard postures and two advanced poses during this Bikram competition. Contestants are judged on movement, general appearance, gracefulness and performance of postures.

With this in mind, of course I focused on general appearance, with a special Cirque-du-Soleil-inspired suit made by swimsuit maker Ketty Estrella (tel. 0917-5330260). Two artists painted colored tattoos all over me. And as a finishing touch, I tattooed the name of senior judge Ren Soriano on my thigh, hoping that might entice a couple more style points.

The weekend before the competition, Ren conducted posture seminars that helped me tremendously. He is a senior teacher and faculty member of Bikram Yoga headquarters in Los Angeles.

Though he deepened my understanding, I had great difficulty focusing on my postures during the competition proper because I could sense the air of excitement of the audience. I giggled as I couldn’t block out the crowd.

The overall experience was total happiness. I performed at my yoga best, even if I had a shaky start. Congratulations to Al Galang of Bikram Greenhills (tel. 7218350 or www.bikramyoga.ph) and Lital Isaacs of Bikram Makati (tel. 8890126 or www.bikramyogamanila.com), who were the top male and female winners.

Hockey-happy

One company that knows time perfectly is Speedo, whose tagline is “not all good times are measured on a stopwatch.” The Speedo folks recently sponsored the 2nd Asian Underwater Hockey Championships, at which my hubby, Dennis, participated.

Dennis says that in underwater hockey, time is measured in seconds. That’s really all that anyone can hold one’s breath while swimming at full speed and handling a lead puck with a wooden stick at the same time. His teammates in the sport took three out of the four gold medals at stake during the tournament, so clearly this is a sport Pinoys can excel in.

The hockey players came from Japan and Singapore, with Australian expats in the latter team. All the players were home hosted by their Pinoy competitors, and the camaraderie was evident at the Championships Awards Dinner held at Warehouse 135 afterward. Those hockey players can drink like fish!

Silver anniversary

Time flies even faster when you’re having fun. Swatch celebrated 25 years in the Philippines with a Chilling with Swatch icy party in Greenbelt 5 in time with the opening of another shop at The Gallery, GB 5.

Director and Swatch Man Award Rowell Santiago created a fabulous video collage entertaining the chilling crowd. My icy Snow Queen gown designed by JC Buendia won me the Swatch Female Fashionista Award. My white fluffy brilliance was only surpassed by two massive Alaskan Malamutes. Those lovable doggies are my new gigantic accessories!

Swatch endorsers and celebrities like Martin Nievera, Christian Bautista and Billy Crawford all grooved with Swatch AG COO Reto Stoeckli, who flew in for the very special occasion. He popped champagne and blew out the silver candles along with Swatch Queen Virgie Ramos, who is clearly a master at continuously reinventing and coming up with innovative marketing strategies.

But that’s an easy task when one checks out the new Swatch collection, clearly one of the best Christmas gifts for this season. Give me the gift of time anytime, perfect for those intensely obsessed with it.

E-mail the author at seaprincess@inquirer.com.ph