I never was a great athlete. A skinny nerd guy to excel in sport? Hell no. But late in 2017 I realized that I needed something as a coping mechanism as I was depressed as hell. Physical activity might be a perfect idea as it is time consuming, fun and beneficial to my health (physically and mentally). So, running is a perfect match to meet these expectations.
Again, as a skinny good-looking guy I categorized myself as someone who has huge stamina (which is a myth) thus I chose to try running. Another reason I chose running is because I am so bad at other sports.
I remembered my first training turned out to be a mega-flop. I ran around a small playground park and the distance recorded was not even reached 1 kilometer. The lactic acid built up so fast and I felt like someone was poking my chest with needles. I immediately stopped and returned home in pain. First mission aborted and failed miserably. Initially I wanted to run to free my mind from pain as a coping mechanism but I faced another kind of pain which is worst too.
Slowly but not consistently, I ran few times afterwards. I do not have any running goals at that time but for certain I just wanted not to struggle anymore having the burning sensation of the violent lactic acid that erupt like an active volcano. From 700m, the distance built up slowly to 5km - 10km. I started to enjoy running with a great smile on my face. There was no doubt that I totally fell in love with this new hobby.
After slowly improving my performance in running where I can run continuously 3km without hard breathes, I confidently registered 2 events (5K charity run) at Sugar House Park. These two events were significant as they were a milestone for me to be confident running in a official event later on which was Salt Lake City Half Marathon.
April 21, 2018
Alaska Salt Lake City Marathon is the most anticipated event for local runners even for foreigners. It was my first half marathon and I never ran such distance prior this race. Although with lack of preparations, I successfully completed the run with time 2:34:40 which was not bad for a first timer. The race was truly amazing and well-organized. Started at Olympic Legacy Bridge and ended at Library Square, the journey was awesome. Running through Federal Heights Drive to witness beautiful hills and dried creeks, Bonneville boulevard and Canyon Road to experience the cold and thick City Creek plus a very close view to white Utah Capitol or generally known as Capitol Building, South Temple streets to enjoy all those classical buildings and slightly incline before connecting to 84102 familiar housing areas, a cursed 1100E street towards Sugar House Park to get a taste of a very steep and long hill, Liberty Park to calm your mind running in a beautiful park with a beautiful lake and lastly Downtown or specifically Library Square to reclaim the medal that you highly deserve after all the beautiful struggles.
April 13, 2018
A year later, I repeated the same race and achieved a new personal break which was 2:29:05. I was better prepared than last time as I registered more than 4 races to prepare for the Salt Lake City Marathon 2019. I aimed for a new personal break but I doubted myself at that time because I was still not recovered from right foot injury. So basically I ran in pain but I already set my mindset a day before the race that I am going to do it no matter what happen. This perhaps my last time here in States and I am not going to retreat and missed something that I loved some much. This race was more about to challenge myself to exceed my own limit and I cried a lot while running these two races because I was so happy I was still living my life despite all the hardships :)
. . . . .
 |
| Salt Lake City Marathon 2018 |
 |
| Salt Lake City Marathon 2019 |
