Check out the full album on my Flickr.

For the geographically unaware (like myself), Taiwan is a tiny island off the coast of China, about 7,000 miles west of California. And for some odd reason, I thought that the island was similar in size to that of Japan. However, it is actually closer (in terms of sq ft) to that of Maryland, while Japan is more like the size of Montana, just a little bit smaller than California! This is your online education in geography for the day! The good thing about going to a smaller area is that we would have a better chance of going to all the main hot spots within the 11 days we were in Taiwan, which I think we did a pretty good job at.

I had a different perception of what Taiwan was really like. But when I got there, I realized it was a lot more developed and in some cases more technologically advanced than what we are used to in the states. But because of their limited space, high rises are common throughout the city.

Taiwan is known for what they call Night Markets, basically food stands and shops all centrally located in one area. There are night markets all around the city and are open late, it’s like the Asian version of Time Square!

Easy pre-meet run before tomorrow’s 13K at Taipei Zoo.

Most unorganized race packet pickup…EVER!

Taipei 101: former world’s tallest building (currently #3)

Busy MRT subway station, very New York-esque.

Photoshoot with the New Balance mascot before our race.

The 2011 Taipei Zoo 13K Run

I’m the one in the back. I can summarize this race in a few words: challenging, humid, and an experience. I definitely didn’t prepare for this race, I didn’t even know there were going to be hills and honestly, who has ever trained for a 13K?! But it was fun to be across the world to find other dedicated runners working their butt off to get to the finish line!

Most likely the finishing stretch of the race..

Post race pic with our finishing ‘cards’. I actually placed 81st, but flipped my card around to have it say 18; I wish!

Relaxing while pedal boating at the lake.

Trying to stay active with some one-on-one basketball with a local. Unfortunately, his mom made him leave to get to school..

I’m looking surprisingly happy even though I’m standing over a river on a pretty shaky bridge!

A random hot spring that we found while hiking at Taroko Gorge. And when I say hot spring, I mean HOT! Everyone else is smiling, but I’m cringing, trying not to move..

And just a couple of hours later we get to the peak of the mountain which was pretty cold according to the sign (7.3 C, 45.2 F)

We did our best to smile and keep our eyes open while shivering to death!

But it was worth it, this is probably the best shot I took during my trip. Such a beautiful sunset!

We took a gondola to the top of another mountain and had tea while enjoying the view of the city.

The engagement brunch took place on the 2nd to last day we were there, it’s the main reason we traveled 7,000 from California. Definitely worth it though!

Everyone dressed up and ready to go before lunch.

Final group pic outside our hotel before heading straight to the airport, 10 hours on a plane and back to the states.

You actually made it to the end! I’m so glad I took the time off to take this trip, it was the most memorable and enjoyable vacation I’ve had in a very long time. Every day was an adventure; although we had some idea of what we wanted to do, there was always something new to enjoy and laugh at. A question I had been asked since then is would I go back again? The short answer is yes, but I’d definitely want to explore a few other countries before, but I would not mind a 2nd trip here again.

As far as races go, I’m still scheduled to run a 10K in the middle of February. I actually signed up for that race because my brother had been running it for the past couple of years and this will be the first time I ever run in the same race as him (we both ran in high school, but he graduated right after I joined and he was always faster than me). There are a bunch of old high school alumni that will be running it, so it’s a pretty big race. It’s sad because when I registered for this race, I was still in pretty good shape so I felt confident I would run well. Now, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to compete, let alone finish!

My cousin also decided to run his first marathon, so we both signed up for the LA Marathon last week. The day we both registered, there was only about 53 days left until race day. That’s definitely pushing it as far as training time goes, but I think I should be able to at least get into semi-marathon condition. My cousin, who has never even raced a 5K before, will be in for some hurtin’, I just hope he finishes it (which is his goal).

Hopefully, I’ll go back to a more consistent running schedule, get back into the blog again and maybe even start following the other blogs I used to read before too. We’ll see what happens!

Resource
If you’re too busy to update your own blog, Article Writing Services provides free, quality articles tailored to the character and topic of your site.

I think when other people know about your race, it just to add to that pressure. I never talked to my old boss that often, but one day he asked me what I was doing for the weekend. Other than races and visits back home, I never have anything eventful planned. But my boss happened to ask the week before my first half marathon, so I told him. He wasn’t necessarily a runner, but he had ran a marathon the year before and he did work out pretty often. So knowing that my boss knew about the race and would most likely ask how I did made me feel pressured to do well. The same for my upcoming race. I just found out one of my new co-workers is a frequent runner and was training for her first marathon, got injured but still managed to run a half while training for the full. So the Friday before my race, out of nowhere she asks me when my next race was. I mean, what are the odds? So I’ll be going into the race with more pressure than I would have wanted.

That’s why when I read about runners who ‘had so much fun’ at race xyz, I’m thinking, ‘Really? Was it really that fun running so hard, being so tired?’. But I think that’s just the pessimist in me thinking out loud. Or else, why would I keep doing it? Why put yourself through so much pain for months at a time all for one moment, one event, which itself is no picnic? Because I can. And I will keep doing it until my legs give out. End. Rant.

Update: Apparently the pressure didn’t get to me and I rocked my Half marathon the next day, 1:28:53, 6th AG, 102 Overall. Full race report of the Carlsbad Half Marathon.

My 2009 year end report according to DailyMile.

I took a couple of days off to recover from my half and then didn’t really follow any training plan after that. I have been trying to continue to run so that I didn’t get out of shape and maybe even run more miles to build up my base. What I learned from my first half is that I definitely have the speed, but not the endurance. To compensate for that, I have been trying to run more miles than I did from my last training. One way to help is by running 7 days a week, instead of 6. Another thing I did was just have a regular run instead of intervals since that is usually 3-4 miles total.

Since I started my new job, I have had the opportunity leave for work later since the office is just down the street. But instead of sleeping in, I actually wake up earlier to get my run in for the day. I have gone back and forth about running in the mornings and running at night and although I do prefer to run in the evening, it just makes sense for me to run in the mornings. I’ve noticed that my runs have been a lot slower lately, which is probably because I’m not fully awake in the morning and because I don’t have any food in me. I’m hoping that if I continue to run in the mornings, I’ll just get used to it and finally be able to pick up my pace. My goal for my next half (1:35) is slightly less aggressive than my first half (1:30). I’m not completely sure if I would have been able to run that time (1:35) in my last half (when I was actually training hard for it), what makes me think I can hit it now? There will be a pacer there again, so all I can do is try my best to stick with them and see how long I can hang on.

Just looking at my calendar, I noticed that the half is in a little over two weeks away. I know I have not prepared for it as well as I should have, but it was a very stressful time for me. Practicing and preparing for interviews for a new job and then making sure that all of my current work was completed at my old job took up a lot of time. But, that is part of being a responsible adult and putting your education to good use. Although I was still able to run during most of that time, really focusing on the runs was really difficult. I guess we’ll just see what will happen come race day.

Runners I Met And Liked

Writing about this book gave me the idea to talk about running in 2009. I ran for a short time in 2008, but it just got too hard and I wasn’t really motivated or had much support. I tried again early this year and was on a running forum and someone mentioned a website where you can post your runs and talk to other runners. Runners on DailyMile were very supportive and provided me with that bit of motivation needed to keep me running. That, integrated with Twitter really got me into running and racing for the first time in years helped push me over the top. Since then, I have ran 3 5K’s (including an AG win), a 10K and my very first half marathon. That half marathon was my greatest achievement to date; I never thought I would be able to race that many miles. With that under my belt, I know that a full marathon is just around the corner (Rock n’ Roll San Diego). I have quite a few half marathons planned throughout 2010, admission into the Brooks I.D. program and like I just said, my first full marathon.

I’m not necessarily going to name runners that I met and liked, mostly because I haven’t really met any runners, per se. I have gotten to know, received support, and talked to many runners in 2009 from: DailyMile, Twitter, blogs, forums, Meetup.com and Nikeplus.com. I probably wouldn’t still be running today if it weren’t for all of the people from these great places. I have also received many running products from some generous companies for me to test and review. Although that is very nice of these companies, I have to say that getting to know all the runners is the best gift I can ask for. I feel very thankful this holiday season; I know not everyone can say the same. It has been a very tough year (economically) with so much happening around the world; you’d think it’d never stop. 2010 is a new decade, which can mean many things: a new year, new job, new running season and just a fresh start all-around. Hopefully everyone enjoys their Christmas and New Years to get 2010 started off right.

Keep on running!!

SDrunner

After my first year of running cross country, I had one of the senior XC captains (also a friend of my older brother) sign my yearbook. What he said was pretty encouraging and got me to train really hard that summer and improve that very next cross country season.

My old high school cross country coach did this thing at the end of the season where he got a picture of each of the runners from a race, wrote something about that runner, framed it and gave them as gifts during our cross country banquet. And behind that frame, he wrote a more personal note that only the runner got to read, I decided to share what my coach said to me.

I’m hoping I could think of more of these types of quotes, if not, at least put up some other ones that I remember from high school cross country or even now. I do get daily running quotes from Runner’s World, it shouldn’t be too hard.

Maybe this will help encourage others to either start running again or continue to train and work hard at whatever they’re trying to achieve.

This is what my business card would look like if running was my job.

If running really was a job that I got paid for doing rather than just a hobby/obsession that I do on the side of my actual job, then I would be able to do all the things that professional athletes and coaches suggest to do as a runner. What I mean is, there is so much great advice from other runners and articles in magazines and online that will give you tips on how to be a better runner, but who really has the time to do all of that? From what I have read from runners on twitter, DailyMile and on blogs, it does seem like a fair amount of people do dedicate a lot of time to running, but for others (like myself), it’s hard to be able to follow through on all of the great advice that other runners provide. With that being said, if I actually got paid to run and could focus on it 24/7, I would do/focus all of the following:

• How you run: form, stride/cadence, breathing, workouts (how hard, what pace, when to hold back/push it) – all of this is important to focus on, if only I had a coach to tell me what I’m doing wrong.
• Get enough sleep: it’s recommended to get 8-9 hours for proper recovery of the muslces – I’m lucky if I get 6.
• Eat right/healthy and at the right time: before, during and after a run – I sort of try to eat healthy, but not really
• RICE: ice/heat injuries, ice baths, stretching – I don’t really do any of this, but should.
• Running Gear: shoes, socks, shorts, shirts, garmin/nike+, etc – Although it seems like running is a pretty cheap sport compared to others, if you actually go out and buy all of the stuff mentioned, it adds up!

But I seem to be getting by with the amount of time and effort that I have been putting into running. Hopefully in the near future, I will be able to dedicate even more time to running, but for now I can’t complain.

Here is the quote that I got from my daily Runner’s World Quote of the Day:

“Nonrunners cannot see how they can afford the time to run every day. But runners cannot imagine getting through a single day without it.”

Kevin Nelson, The Runner’s Book of Daily Inspiration

…yeah, that shut me up

Image courtesy of Zazzle.

This is a tiny little cabinet where we store random stuff that we don’t use anymore.

Can’t be any more obvious than that. This box previously stored a bunch of Star Trek: First Generation trading cards (my brother’s not mine!)

There is quite a variety of cross country and track and field medals in here, including huge invitational meets, league championships and more. There was a track meet that our high school ran called the “Meet of Champions”, it was a fun race!

In my post-high school running career, I have accumulated 1 medal so far, which I am very proud of, since it was for winning my AG. I know most half and full marathons give a participatory finisher medal, so I should be expecting more as time goes on. I’ll keep them around my room as a reminder and inspiration as I’m training for my next race. But I’m sure once I’m old and grey and can’t run anymore, those same medals will go in a box just like this one. Hopefully that won’t happen for a long time!

The interview is linked at the top of my blog, but click here to read the running interview.