Over the past several years, my biggest change has been running.
In 2011, I used to get sick frequently, which kept me really down. It made me realize how weak I was. I wanted to change this part of me.
In 2012, I came across the book "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running", by Haruki Murakami. The quote "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional" impressed me a lot and encouraged me to start running more, leading up to marathons like Haruki talked about in his book. My first goal was 5 km in a local marathon event, and I practiced hard. On November 18th, I completed my 5 km running in the crowd at Guangzhou. High off this success, I joined a 11 km running event in Shenzhen Mountain Marathon within the next month. These 2 marathons kept me feeling fresh in this first year of change.
In 2013, I aimed to join my first half-marathon. With the belief that "pain is inevitable, suffering is optional", I practised continuously. Running day by day, bit by bit, I raised the bar for myself, in both exercise, and metaphorically speaking. On November 3rd, I completed my first half-marathon in Shenzhen. During this run, the main thought that ran through my head were those iconic words from Forrest Gump, "Life is just like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
In 2014, I won runner-up in a mountain running event in Hong Kong. The distance was only 8 km, but many of the contestants felt that it was much farther than that since there were so many ups and downs in the mountains. I think that this is also true about life. It's something everyone has to go through.
In 2015, I ran in Singapore for the first time. This was my first time going abroad for both running and traveling. It was so hot there that I felt like a melting icecream when running. However, this was just the painstaking part that can't be avoided. I made the run. At the beginning, my friend and me ran together. Later we separated because of our different running rhythms. Thinking of life, it's the same. There's no one that can run to the end with you. To keep on going, you have to keep up your own rhythm.
In 2016, I joined Prague Half Marathon. It was my first time to go to Europe as well. Running in the downtown of Prague for 21 km, I was impressed by both the splendid scenery and hospitable locals on the way. The live music made the running event more colorful.That helped me almost forget the tiredness and tension when running. In the last 400 km, I felt so painful that it was pretty hard for me to keep moving on. At that moment, a Czech female runner passed me by, held my hand and kept me company. Thanks to her help, I made it! We moved together to the destination. It turns out that someone can run to the end with you. What an amazing running experience in Prague Half Marathon!
Thinking ahead, life is full of surprises and you never know how things will turn out. Just go out and explore new things.
Welcome to this new running world of 2017.
