by ·Comments Off on CIM, Here I Come

CIM stands for the California International Marathon.  It is held on the first Sunday of December.  This year, I’m training for it, and I’ve already signed up; so there is no turning back.

I’ll be logging my training on this blog to highlight key experience that may help other beginners get through their own challenge of conquering a marathon.

Note that I’m already almost one month into my training plan.  It has not been perfect, meaning I’ve missed some days of cross training already, but fortunately, I still have about three months to go.

Lately though, I’ve had some rough and sluggish feeling in the morning.  I don’t feel very fast, and my feet are starting to get sore.

In the next post, I’ll tell you what I do before and after a short training run.  When you are as old as me, these things really matter a lot.

by ·Comments Off on Ouch! Why Does It Hurt When I Run?

I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV.

But from my own personal experience and common sense (a rare thing now-a-days), when a body ages, muscles that used to stretch easily and with no effort become less pliable.  The beating muscles have taken over the years become scars, and scars, as you know, are harder to stretch.  

When you run, your muscles incur micro injuries; however, they heal if you give them time to rest and recover.  The recovery make your body stronger.  BUT if you continue to run every day, those micro injuries don’t have time to recover and heal, and over time get worse.  So, instead of getting better, you get worse!

There could be other reasons why parts of your body hurt when you run, but barring any existing injuries or other problems, the main reason is age.

Again, I am no doctor.  I’m speaking from experience and common sense.

Why do you think it hurts when you run?  Let me and our community know.

by ·Comments Off on My First Bay to Breakers
Crossing the finish line at the 100th Bay to Breakers!

Crossing the finish line at the 100th Bay to Breakers!

On May 15 I ran the 100th running of the Bay to Breakers.  I have never run this foot race, and the only run that I have run close to this foot race is the Bridge to Bridge run–also a 12K run.

On this run, I decided to break in my new Saucony Progrid Mirage.  This shoe is categorized as minimalist as reviewed by Running Times Magazine.  It seems to feel tight, but I didn’t really notice it much during the run.  Because it has less in terms of heel compared to the traditional cushioned running shoe, I really felt my forefoot landing more often than before.  I also noticed that I was able to coast on the downhill portions of this run.  Because it felt light, I didn’t really feel like I was getting tired.  The run felt fast; as a matter of fact, having been stuck in the C corral made it difficult to cover ground fast early in the run.

Nevertheless, the temperature was just right, and it was a fun experience.  Here are the results of my run:

Results of my 2011 Bay to Breakers Run

Results of my 2011 Bay to Breakers Run

by ·4 Comments

As some of you know, the speed kicking record was held by Luan. It stood at 202 kicks in 60 seconds. He set this record several years ago, back when the school was at Lower Sacramento Road.

Well, most recently (about 3 weeks ago), Patrick smashed that speed kicking record–delivering a whopping 214 kicks in 60 seconds!

Congratulations Patrick!

by ·1 Comment
Finishing Stockton Half Marathon in record time--1:56:57

Finishing Stockton Half Marathon in record time--1:56:56

Stockton premiered its first half marathon on 14 Nov 2010. The run featured a 5K fun walk/run for all and a 13.1-mile half marathon run for the die hards. By this time, I consider myself a running die hard. I ran the half marathon.

The day was perfect for running–around the high 40s.  It started and finished by the Stockton Hilton.  The course was nice, as it had some slight uphills and downhills.  It also took us to the better part of Stockton–Brookside.

In the race were 638 finishers–373 females and 265 males.  The average finish time was 2:18:15.  This tells you that this run had some of the most die-hard runners, as that time is pretty good time.  I finished 186th overall with an official time of 1:56:56.

by ·1 Comment

Last Saturday, 06 Nov 2010, all 5 Koryo Family Taekwondo Center kids claimed gold at the 2010 All California Taekwondo Championships held at Bethel High School, in Vallejo, California.

Here are the breakdown of results:

  • Angel:  sparring (1st place), forms (2nd place)
  • Diego:  breaking (1st place), forms (3rd place)
  • Ivan: breaking (1st place), sparring (2nd place), forms (3rd place)
  • Jordan:  breaking (1st place), sparring (3rd place)
  • Sofica: forms (1st place), sparring (2nd place), breaking (3rd place)

Congratulations on a job well done!

Below is the second round of Angel’s 2nd match:

by ·Comments Off on Koryo FTC families and friends raise $2400 for charity
St Jude Childrens Research Hospital

St Jude Children's Research Hospital

A million THANKS to all the students and instructors who participated in our ‘RUN for a CURE’ fundraiser at KORYO Family Taekwondo Center, and a huge THANK YOU to all their families & friends who supported them.

With your help, we raised a total of $2400 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Great job, everyone!!!

This is one way we can give back to the community, whether it is local, national, or worldwide in scope.  What we give comes back to us tenfold, in some positive way or form.

by ·Comments Off on 2010 Chicago Marathon: I made it!

The date, 10-10-10…the event….the 2010 Chicago Marathon.  After about 10 months of preparing for this run, I finally made it.  I completed the run with a time of 4:57:14.  My goal for this run was to simply cross the finish line with a descent time.  This time isn’t bad considering the temperature.  That day had a relatively warm or hot temperature for a long run.  The temperature range for that day was between 60 degrees and 82 degrees.

I ran this race with my sister-in-law.  We stuck together for the first half.  As a result her half marathon time and mine were exactly the same:  2:25:31…not bad.

As part of a charitable effort, I ran for a cause–St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  Some of my friends supported me there.  My wife contacted others and was also able to get pledges.  I estimate that the total pledges comes out to be around $1000.  I will be happy if this effort will make a difference in the life of one child.

There is one thing very different from this run–many people running are running for a cause.  I don’t see this on 12K or lesser runs, and I’ve done many such runs.  I think a marathon is different and that it takes a special dedication and determination to complete such a challenge.  Drawing from my own experience, the dedication and determination were definitely there.  Since December of 2009, I have been training for this run, waking up at 4:30am and running at around 5:00 am.  Not too many people can do this.  Sometime during the training, I suffered through multiple injuries:  plantar fasciitis, knee soreness, and maybe even IT.  I rested and recovered.  As a matter of fact, I was still recovering from a knee sprain/soreness/inflammation when I ran this marathon.  The good thing was that my knee didn’t even bother me during the run!

Observing the crowd, I saw many people from different walks of life, some people stood out in that they obviously had some form of injury or disability as can be seen in the way they run, yet they are there doing the marathon.  That is very inspiring.  I have never seen this kind of determination in any race I’ve been to.

Running a marathon has been an experience.  Knowing that not many people can complete such a challenge makes one feel somewhat special.  Now that it is over, it seems that I have caught the marathon bug.  Which one should I do next?  Someone suggested the NYC marathon.  Hmmm…maybe.

by ·Comments Off on 2010 Nor-Cal Taekwondo Championships Results
Koryo Family take

Each of our kids take home a gold medal!

This Saturday’s tournament made for a long day, but it was well worth it! Our kids–Ivan, Sofia, and Partick showed indomitable spirit, determination, and courage for the events where they competed.

Ivan, Sofia, and Patrick all did forms and sparring. Partick also did board breaking. In forms, both Ivan and Sofia took home the gold. Patrick took home the silver in his group. In sparring, Ivan took home the bronze, Sofia and Patrick took home the silver. In board breaking, Partick’s advance breaking technique got him the gold. Good job kids!

Here’s a summary of the our team’s efforts:

  • Ivan (forms: gold, sparring: bronze)
  • Sofia (forms: gold, sparring: silver)
  • Patrick (forms: silver, board breaking: gold, sparring: silver)

Please make sure to congratulate them for a job well done.

by ·1 Comment
Members and family at the anti-bully campaign

Members and family at the anti-bully campaign

Family and members pose for a picture after a successful demonstration by the members.

On Saturday, 25 Sep 2010, a group of students and family members participated in a community sponsored anti-bullying campaign.  The event was held at the Impact Teen Center, 725 N. El Dorado, Stockton, CA.  The kids performed to show their various skills in forms, weapons, self-defense, board breaking, and kicking combinations.  Awesome jobs kids!  You looked good out there.

Thank you to the students, the parents who supported them, and Sabumnim Jamie for putting the demonstration together.  This is just one of the many ways the kids are learning to support their community–especially for such a good cause like this anti-bully campaign.

By the way, this event would not been possible without the coordination efforts of Mrs. Forlanda, Koryo FTC Program Director, and the support of Gloria Allen, our local Stockton Unified School District board member.  So a big “thank you” to both for making this opportunity possible.

Here’s a video of the demo: