At the beginning of 2012, I put my focus back on training after
the frustrating result in Tucson Marathon. I don’t think I was training very hard for
Gansett since it was just a few weeks after Tucson, but the training still pretty tired me
out. I usually train and race hard, I hit
PBs in pretty much every 2011 races during the spring season, but not in 2012. I didn’t get to run a personal best till Cherry
Blossom, but the task of PBing stop with another disappointment in Narragansett
RI. But, I still placed within the top six finishers within MCRRC team in the RRCA Ten Mile Challenge.
Other than that, there was not much going on for that first
part of 2012. It was time for recover
and regroup for the fall marathon. I
took some time off from running hard by spending time with parents to travel north
of border, traveled west to celebrate a birthday for some-what-distance-family-member,
and became an assistant coach in MCRRC half marathon summer program; which does
help me learn more about myself in running and personal life.
After returning from west, I thought I was out of shape, but
still ran Riley Rumble, and then Going Green 2-mile five days later; I surprised
myself with a new personal best with a time of 11m’39s’. Spin forward into September – a good month of
racing, I venture up to Frederick and ran my first ever road mile in the Market
Street Mile. The next day, I ran a new
personal best in Parks Half Marathon with a time of 1h’25m’34s’.
Two weeks later, I drove up to Westminster to completed in
Bachmann Valley Half Marathon and finished with a time of 1h’26m’45s’, but unfortunately,
I arrived to starting line late due to my silliness and the race organizer only
counted gun-time. I worked off that
terrible problem and ran my first ever 15K road race in Falls Road, finished
with a time of 59m’53s’ and good enough for 4th overall.
Time comes and goes into November; I celebrate my 34th
birthday by running a 26.2 in Charlotte.
Before the race, I was in great condition, training was in place, weight
was low, and mood was good; but wind was picking up as I ran solo for the last 17
miles. Then finished with a somewhat disappointed
time, but I still ran a very smart in the last 10K. However, the weather condition is out of
control by all of us. I ended the year
with three more races afterward and very relaxing time away from MD in Johnson
City with Lin.
Looking back 2012, I learned the preciousness of life and we
all should treasure people around us. 2012
may not be the year of end-of-the-world we were expecting, but it is the year
for my personal experiences gain. I need
to give my special thanks to teammates in Georgetown Running Company; when I first
joined the team, it was the lowest point of my life.
Running got me out of that hole and develops stronger over time, put
hope back in horizon, and cure the pain of that terrible event. Special thanks to J Klim, P Murphy, K Dusen, C
Ban, R Jarrin, A Sovonick, and Coach Jerry for encouragement over the years. I truly wish Georgetown Running Club Racing
Team grow stronger in 2013 and beyond.
Starting January 2013, I join different race team in the DC region. I think it makes more sense for me to
leave GRC, since I hardly joined any weekday’s workout with the team due to work
schedule. I know for sure, GRC will be
in my heart. Let’s have a wonderful year
in 2013!
