Running Journey Thoughts #1

I have decided. I will finally take the plunge. Next year, 2015, I will complete my first marathons. And if things go well, I might even do my second one too.

There. I have said it. I have posted this on public domain and therefore cannot go back on myself anymore.

I have been running since the end of 2009. Having just discovered some new nike running shoes and the Nike+app. However, the main reason I started running was because I no longer want to pay the odd £36/month for my gym membership (which thinking about it now, why did I not?) I completed my first 10k, I think in March 2010, when my mum came to visit, I threw a bit of a fit when I finished over my desired time by over a minute or so. Sorry Mum that I took it out on you, when you stood in the cold cheering and waiting for me.

Then in October 2010, I did my second 10k. Time only improved by a few seconds.

In May 2011, I took part in my first ever Bupa 10k (which I would go on to complete, hopefully, every year - apart from 2014 where I was away working in Rome).

Then a year went by without any races, until May 2012, I took part in the Bupa 10k again, and this year my mum came and saw me again. Although my time has improved since my first ever race, it was still no good. Luckily this time I appreciated the fact my mum came and supported me so I did NOT throw a tantrum. I just sourly accepted my not-so-great time and moved on.

Throughout these time, I have always been running, mostly twice or three times a week. Shifting from a pair of not so famously named Nike shoes with supports, to a pair of Nike Free Run when I was introduced to them. I had no idea about running forms or which part of the feet to land.

Actually, I lied. I did know some. Because of my father.

He has been running since the 90s and had built up his distance and endurance. He didn't compete in a lot of races, as there weren't many in Hong Kong, but for 6-7 years consecutively he ran the Standard Chartered Half Marathon in Hong Kong and my mum, once again would stand in the rain, in the sun, in the cold and in the dark, cheering and waiting for my dad. His best time was 1:33:05.

My dad's only sport was running. He could not swim, he did not have a bike, he never joined the gym. His only activity was pounding the pavement for 30 years or more. I hope I do not jinx it by saying this now, but he has never had an injury. Sure he might had cramps during races or something, but he had never had any other types of runners' injuries. He never really cared much about his footwear either. The cheaper they were, the better. He never really calculated the miles he ran in them either. Only when the sole starts to wear away to the point where you can no longer see the pattern carved in, or that the sole has started to blend in with the rest of the shoe because of how often they were pressed against the pavement would he consider changing his footwear. I admire my father extremely for this. And I listen to him all the time when he is giving me advice about running forms.

Since I was 14/15, he always said the following 'Don't land in front of your knee, always pull your stomach in, bring your buttocks up, and rotate your waist while running. Land on the balls of your feet and now the heels.' 

I never really understood how my dad knew about these, I just presumed that he discovered them through trial and error. I am extremely thankful to him for these tips and to these days, he still goes by them and I can see the a lot of the running communities also.