Some of you may remember this…
In July 2008, Koryo Family Taekwondo master instructors competed in the 2008 World Taekwondo Hanmadang which was held in Anaheim, California. Below is a short slide show/video which highlights the Hanmadang as an unforgettable experience for Koryo Family Taekwondo Center.
Today’s temperature (lows in the mid 60s, highs in mid 90s) wasn’t ideal for a long run, but I had to make do. I know I can no longer deal with running later in the day when the temperature gets too high. So I woke up early, real early–about 4:30 am! By around 5am I was loosening up.
Based on my own estimate, I figured today’s run was going to take me around 3 hours. I took it easy, with the goal of basically just finishing this long run.
At the onset, my legs felt somewhat heavy. By mile 10 they were getting sore; and by mile 15 they were hurting, and the hot weather didn’t help either.
I finished the run in 2 hours and 56 minutes. This put me at an average pace of around 9 minutes 20 seconds per mile. Not too bad.
Overall, I’m glad I was able to run today.
Next weeks run is going to be even tougher–20 miles!
Right now as I type this, I am reminded of this morning’s run as my legs are still sore. I might just take 2 days to recover; I’ll know by tomorrow.
1. To build true confidence through knowledge of mind, honesty in the heart, and strength in the body.
2. To keep friendships with one another and to build a strong and happy community.
3. Never fight to achieve selfish ends, but to develop might for light.
Avenue of the Vines
Last Sunday, 16 May 2010, I completed my first run that has the word “marathon” on it. It was the Kaiser Permanente 2010 Avenue of the Vines 1/2 marathon run.
I have run many races before, but nothing like this one. Most races I’ve run (5Ks, 10Ks, and 12Ks) would involve tens of thousands of people (like the San Francisco Bridge-to-Bridge or the Bay to Breakers). The Avenue of the Vines run only had around 650 runners! Probably because it was held on the same day as the 99th Bay to Breakers run.
Anyway, in the large races I’ve attended, there is a spectrum of runners from the very beginner to the elite. So, when I find myself close to the finish line, I always was able t find a bit more energy to kick harder at the end by picking off people that were running much slower closer to the end. A lot of runners typically do this to help them kick at the end.
At mile 8 to 10 of the Avenue of the Vines (AotV) I realized that I was running with 600 plus of the most “die-hard” runners of the Central Valley. Why? Because in bigger races I’ve been to many people start to drop off late in the run. Not at AotV! As a matter of fact, people in front of me were actually picking up speed, and people behind me were starting to pass me–never mind that this is a 13.1-mile run!
My overall experience in this run was pleasant. I arrived there at around 6:40 am, parking about 3/4 mile away from the starting line. I used this opportunity to warm up with a short 3/4-mile jog. Every runner knows that they need to may a quick pit stop minutes before race start. So as soon as I got to the starting area, I lined up for the rest room. It took a few minutes of waiting, and was able to relieve myself with about 5 minutes to spare. I put myself close to the back of the pack.
When the start signal was sounded, people took off in joy! In the first 3 miles, it was a bit crowded. By mile six, people were starting to spread out. At mile 6.5 people were gauging whether they can get a negative split in order to beat the 2hr time. Note I was running with the goal of beating a 2hr time. The guy next to me said that we had 4 minutes to spare. This same guys would soon pass me and disappear in the pack of people ahead of me. At mile 12, I started to pickup speed and was able to see the finish line banner. Having already run 12 miles it was kind of tough to maintain a faster pace since I definitely slowed down on the second half of the run, and my legs were tired. With about 0.2 miles to go, I did my best to sprint to the finish line–making sure to smile with a thumbs up sign at the camera man. I wanted to make sure the last seconds of my run didn’t reveal the pains I was suffering! I was able to pass one person at the suggestions of one of the cheering volunteers, but then a guy came sprinting past me seconds before I crossed the finish line. I’ve never tried so hard to get to the finish line in my life! I was breathing hard and moving my weary legs as fast as I can.
As soon as I crossed the finish line and heard the beeping sound of the sensors, I stopped my timer and saw that I had beat the 2hr time! Woohoo!
One thing stood in my mind in this race…
The runners here are “die hard” runners of the Central Valley. It was an honor to have run which such dedicated bunch.
At the end of the run, we were guided to some water bottles and some recovery drinks. I picked up my wine glass and went to get my lunch and fruits.
Next to the announcer, there was a van where they posted the run placement. I found my name at 214th overall place with a time of 1:58:52.3. For my age group it showed that I placed 47th. The official placement and time were posted on the web a couple of days later. It turns our my real placement was 219th, with the same time split, and with age group placement of 48th.
I’m not sure if I’ll run this again next year. I might just do the Bay to Breakers since I’ve never done that before. We’ll see.
Koryo FTC kids just having fun at the 2010 Golden Gate TKD championships
We wish you could all have been with us at the 2010 Golden State Taekwondo Championships . Everyone had exciting and fun times cheering on and supporting the kids.
Here is how our kids did:
I would like to express special thanks for the parents for being there to support their kids. This was an all day affair; we didn’t get out until roughly around 6pm!
Special mention should also go to the parents and kids who came there to simply watch and support our team. THANK YOU:
Check out the picture and video compilation below.
It would seem that training for long distance running (anything 10K and above) has some downside to it.
I’m finding that my body takes some serious beating after long runs, and it would take me about 2 to 3 days to recover from it. The beating comes in the form of sore knees, hips, and foot.
One of the first things I noticed after I started my marathon training is that my right hip would start to get sore. Then after watching some videos on proper running form, I made some adjustments. Then my knee started to get more sore; I would look at some more running form videos and make more adjustments.
I thought I was able to find the right one until I did my recent 16 mile run and a follow on 5 mile run (one day after). I discovered that my foot (the bottom part) was sore. Apparently I been landing more on my forefoot than my midfoot, causing my muscles there to get overused. Now I’m down for at least 3 days.
I’m going to have to pull back on my long run this weekend as I have not been able to keep up with the running plan this week.
On 31 Mar 2010 I signed up for the “Avenue of the Vines Half Marathon” event. This will be my first running event that has the term “marathon” attached to it. I’m hoping to do this in around 2 hours. Depending on how I feel and how my legs are, I may be able to do just that.
Maybe I’ll be able to document the event with my phone and post it here for everyone to see. Don’t worry, I’ll only show the highlights.
Here’s a quick tour of the Chicago Marathon course:
Here’s a very motivational and inspiring documentary about common folks and elite runners, and the challenges they faced in the quest to do a marathon.
I got this from Runner’s World web site. It gives you a view of the entire Chicago marathon course.