Today I ran the Iron Girl Half Marathon in Columbia, MD and set my new fastest half marathon time, trotting in just under two hours. 

My friend Courtney and I ran the race together, and I am so so glad that I did!!! I had debated just sleeping in the car while she ran because I wasn’t feeling the race. 

I ran two ten mile races earlier in the month and I felt terrible during both. The first was the Cherry Blossom on April 1. It was chillier than I expected, so I didn’t wear enough clothing to the race and was chilled during most of the race. I spent most of the race thinking about how unhappy my stomach felt and a good portion fighting with my shoes. And I wore my Tomtom so I was distracted by the little blipping numbers telling me I was running slowly. The second 10 mile was on April 14, and I started the race hungry and uncomfortable. I wasn’t happy with the shirt I wore and my music wasn’t getting me in the zone. I ran this race with a close friend, and after holding him back for the first 5 miles I convinced him to race up ahead and kick ass. I finished that race tired and sore.

So today, I wasn’t feeling very optimistic. I had only run a couple times since the last race, but I got got plenty of sleep yesterday and the day before. I laid out my favorite Nike Victory V-neck (which has been very sadly discontinued), Nike spandex, Nike sports bra, and Calvin Klein underwear (overshare?). I pulled on my very favorite adidas hoodie. Just before we ran across the start, I threw the hoodie in a bag and checked it. 

I do things differently for every single race, so I’m not sure if it was just ONE thing that made the difference or the combination of everything that made this race so enjoyable, but the first 7 miles flew by and before I knew it I was bopping up those hills and counting down to the 13 mile mark. I felt GOOD the whole race, which isn’t always the case. Sometimes the loser in me whines and I have to slap some sense into myself before I get back into my stride. But my legs felt good and I felt good.

I think a lot of being able to push myself this race was having absolutely no expectations for time. I didn’t bring my Tomtom with me so I wasn’t being constantly reminded by those little numbers what I was doing. The water breas were well timed and the race was filled with mild, rolling hills. I’m freakishly attached to running hills…. I love it! I told my friends I was planning on walking the majority of the race because I wasn’t feeling it. With such little to prove, I could just enjoy the run. 

I also think that the change in shoes/socks helped. I have run 13 races wearing those cotton Champion socks that are unisex and you buy from Costco for 24 for like $15 or something reasonable. I mean really… they’re just socks!! But my younger sister bought me a pair of Smartwool socks a year or so ago. I didn’t wear them until a month ago when I was having trouble with my shoes and I figured I’d give them a try. I ran my 5 mile run in less than 45 minutes (including the traffic lights!!) and my feet felt great. I immediately got home and ordered myself 5 more pairs. At over $10 a pair of socks (with the ones I wore today ringing in at $15) it’s an expensive habit… but I should have known my younger sister’s running wisdom is far more vast than mine. There is a reason she buys those socks… they make a difference!!! 

The run itself was beautiful, and the people that were cheering on the sidelines were all just wonderful people. I really enjoyed running the race and soaking in the beautiful greenery of the suburbs and the nice people there! 

Anyway, I just wanted to share this little piece of happiness with everyone today. I was thrilled to find out that I beat my best time by 3 minutes and that I had felt so strong and happy during this race. Last year, I ran 7 race (1 full marathon, 5 half  marathons, and a ten miler) and so this year I was just so jaded. I’ve been running decked out my GPS and feeling really jaded about running… so today I finally felt FREE running. I had almost forgotten that amazing feeling where you are so happy that nothing is keeping that smile off your face… and that amazing rush when you cross the finish. I ran almost this entire race smiling.

Last year, the day I cross the finish line for the marathon was the best day of my life. Today is another one of those BEST DAYS EVER. 

I think I will try to write a little bit more about my running here, just to keep track and share with you what works for me and doesn’t. I haven’t really read many running blogs that I find helpful… but I wonder if that’s because running is so personal and individualized to each runner.

Here is to happy runs that just set you free. Here is to smiling like goofy through each race. 

xoxo

I live in Baltimore, and more than anywhere else I have ever been I get some very weird comments. I get called “china doll” a lot. Last weekend someone told me I looked like the perfect little “geisha girl.” A week ago someone tried to trip me while I was outside running… and I almost let it go except she yelled after me “fucking chinky bitch.” Well…. and then the gloves were truly off. I had a professor tell me that my English was pretty good for a Chinese kid. My cab driver asked me why I was so tall for one of those “oriental kids.” The list keeps going…

I know there is this belief that most Asian people are passive and will not fight back. They will simply stare at you as you insult them up and down. I know plenty of people who believe that this passivity is their permission to abuse and speak poorly of Asian people. Passivity, no matter what ethnicity, is not permission for someone else to take advantage or abuse the passive person. Passivity is not weakness… instead it is the greatest strength that anyone can have. The act of doing nothing at all is not an act of giving up. It is a distinct choice to not act and demonstrates the kind of inner strength and power that is invaluable. When I was a child, my mother taught me the virtues of being able to sit still and not fight back even when I wanted to. She taught me that the physical, verbal and showy aspect of fighting guarantee losing. My mother instilled in me the value of standing strong and still against the waves of wrongful behavior. She taught me that when everyone else thinks you are being passive, the act of being immoveable is the greatest strength to win the battle because my opponent would tire themselves with their frantic and miscalculated actions.

I’m at the tail end of a dispute with a professor and he has this mistaken idea that because I have been a docile student that I will not fight back when he has unfairly assigned a low grade to me. He has the mistaken belief that my passive and calm demeanor means I won’t fight back. He thinks that he can make up lies and excuses and barriers so I cannot prevail… but what he doesn’t understand that my calmness and ability to be passive gives me more strength and power because his frantic and futile gestures carry no power over the calm and crushing calculating actions that I will bring down on him.  My mere ability to be immoveable in the face of his inflammatory actions and juvenile behavior gives me strength that he does not have. I do not have to dispute this grade or have the grade changed to win. I win because despite his pettiness, I have not resorted to the mudslinging that he has. My honor and dignity remain untarnished because I did nothing wrong and in attempt to cover his wrongs he simply digs himself more futilely into the filth that he is. 

The mistaken belief that passivity is losing is wrong. The mere act of being immoveable in the face of the onslaught of cruelty is the greatest strength and the most dignified way to win. 

So, my dear Professor. Whether you believe you have won or not… I know that in 20 years when I look back on this incident that I did nothing wrong. I acted graciously and with dignity. I did not resort to any derogatory behavior. I learned from this incident and I grew into a more beautiful person. But you? In 20 years, I know that you will not be able to look back on this incident and be able to justify your silly behavior. I know that if there is any shred of decency in your body you will be embarrassed at your inability to shut your mouth and your inability to control your wild emotions. 

Being alone doesn’t bother me. I don’t often feel lonely since I keep myself pretty well occupied. Plus, I have a little fuzzy monster of a doggie to keep me company. 

But sometimes, it gets to me. Like today. Reading week for finals starts in the next couple of days, and this is the time of year when everyone starts to hibernate in the library and study their asses off. I recently got into a bit of an argument with a friend, so my one friend outside of law school and I aren’t talking… you know what happens to people that only talk to law school people?!?! We get all crazy and weird. 

I’ve been feeling less and less happy because it’s the end of the school year and I’m not prepared and to add insult to injury…. I’ve hit a wall with running. I’m just not feeling it. My joints hurt, my feet are bothering me, my new shoes are weird…. my music sounds funny, my watch is beeping too loudly. I don’t know. I’m just not HERE. 

So yesterday, in attempt to smooth all these frizzies in my life and my mind away I went grocery store shopping. I wanted to buy little oranges (I bought them a couple weeks ago) but they were out! Anyway, I came back with a huge haul of fruit and vegetables and spent most of the evening roasting mushrooms and slicing fruits and vegetables. I felt better.

My new thing, as the weather gets warmer and warmer, is salad. And you want to know something funny? Until recently I have always eschewed salad for a burger or pizza or something equally frat-boyish. I just don’t find salad particularly entertaining. However, I recently discovered that I like goat cheese. In fact, I more than like it. My new feelings toward goat cheese are similar to my feelings about butter. I LOVE IT and eat it with a spoon. Did anyone else do this as a child? Eat butter by the stick? Because I definitely did. I used to slice little pieces off the sticks in the fridge and let them melt in my mouth. Sometimes I’d sprinkle sugar on the butter before eating it. Once I figured out how to make toast, I used to melt butter and dip my toasted bread in it before re-toasting the bread. 

Anyway – we’re in a bit of limbo so my salad is just a little too cold for this weather. I’ve been generously dousing my salad with goat cheese and creamy dressing and adding piping hot circles of roasted sweet potato on the side. It’s the perfect meal for half warm half cold weather as spring/summer swirls in. 

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About two years and a week ago, I ran my first half marathon in D.C. Since then I have run several more races, and last July I ran my first marathon. 

My friends always ask me what motivates me to run, because in their minds there is literally nothing worse than running… let alone running for what they consider obscene distances. And to top it off, I’m often up very early or very late getting my miles in. Since I only run outdoors, my friends find this completely crazy (I think I’ve mentioned several times that I live in Baltimore, so the hours of the day where it is safe to run alone are limited to daylight).

The first race I ran, I ran because a bunch of people in my law school were running it. And I though… “if they can run it, so can I.” When I first started training, I was concerned. In high school, my fleet footed running days were cut short when I had a catastrophic fall in 10th grade. I tumbled down a flight of stairs during a face paced run, and before I even hit the ground I knew that it was going to be ugly. It took years before my ankle lost it’s puffiness, and my knees were never the same. So when I set my sights on this half marathon a little over two years ago, I was aiming high. And I thought I wouldn’t ever run a marathon. I watched those marathon runners struggle at the half I ran. In fact, most of them look flat out miserable and pissed off. And I believed that my knees wouldn’t be able to make it.

Then exactly 1 year after my first half marathon, I ran a half marathon and a 10 mile in two consecutive weekends. My cousin, my friend, and I all ran the two races. We all finished, but my cousin and friend were hurting after the second race. And me? I felt amazing… and that was the moment I knew that I could run a marathon. If I could do that… I could run a marathon. It wasn’t until late April last year that I decided to run the San Francisco Marathon. I made a training schedule for 18 weeks… it was going to be a tight training schedule to get ready for the race but I was ready. In May I ran a half marathon for training purposes, but wore relatively new shoes. During the race, my feet felt terrible and after the race I had to sit out for 2 weeks waiting for my feet to feel normal again. Then, the minute my foot felt better I shot out of my apartment for a run (even though it was 100 degrees outside) and I fell. I hadn’t fallen during a run since high school (I’m super super careful when I run) but my foot slid on some sand or missed the curb or something, but I fell!! And I had to sit out another week while the bruises and scrapes healed. And somehow despite all those little things, I ran my marathon with a smile on my face the entire time. It was the best day of my life. 

I’ve run a couple races since, but I’ve been feeling burnt out. I got (REALLY) out of shape after November when I forced myself to take a break from running and now I’m trying to get back in the groove. I really don’t mind running alone, but sometimes I really just need someone to go with. There are only so many 10 mile runs you can do on your own in complete utter running silence before you feel like you need a buddy. And I recently cut all my hair off, so the short hair stuffed under a cap has become more and more irritated. My scalp is unhappy with the little points of hair poking it ruthlessly during our runs. And to add insult to injury? This year my seasonal allergies are the worst yet. I feel short of breath because of all the pollen I seem to be sucking in. 

Anyway, last night I went out and bought myself tons of salad greens, some steak and chicken, and a small chunk of blue cheese to make myself plenty and plenty of salad. This officially starts my campaign to get back into insane running shape. I was in good shape when I ran the marathon, but I plan on getting back into that kind of endurance and stamina PLUS some!

So… my next two years of running will be better than the last!! I’m going to focus on quality time and quality races as opposed to the intense racing I’ve done over the last two years. (Did I mention I’ve run 10 races, all over 10 miles, in the last two years?!)

You know when you get into a fight with a friend… and they are just flat out wrong but they refuse to apologize. Instead they do one of those faux-pologies where they say something like, “I’m sorry that you thought I was behaving that way” or “I’m sorry that you thought that.” You know? In my opinion, those faux-pologies are even worse than just not apologizing at all. It’s fucking (sorry ma, but this needs an F-word to describe my feelings) irritating and it’s annoying and it’s F-ing rude. Normally, after I cool off, I can see the other person’s perspective, but it’s been a week and I’m still ticked off. I’m not one to hold grudges either, so I know for a fact that I’m not being crazy or weird. He tried again to make up with me and then promptly got drunk at brunch and blew me off for dinner. Talk about adding insult to injury. So all I hear when he talks right now is… blah blah blah. rwor blah blah rwor snore. blah. 

Anyway, while I was stewing last week about how pissed off this friend makes me, I made these meatballs. And my soul immediately felt a bit better. There is nothing like a patient and methodical couple hours of patting meatballs together, baking a couple pans of cookies, and letting the pieces fall back into place. Peacefully!! 

I’ve interpreted this recipe from Health-Bent, and excellent website for healthful and fun recipes. 

Thai Basil Meatballs (adapted from Health-Bent) ~ I left out the almond flour (because I didn’t have any) and roasted red peppers (because I find them just really slimey and gross)

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced finely
• 2 pounds of ground beef
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce (I only had a deeply flavored Korean kind, which I know to be very salty, so I scaled this back and only used 2 tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
• 1 bunch of basil, chopped
• 1 lime zested

1. Preheat the oven to 400F
2. Mix together all of the ingredients and pat the meat into golfball sized meatballs
3. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil
4. Arrange the meatballs on the cookie sheet
5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through. 

I have so many delicious things to share with you… but March has been kicking my ass. So many things to do and such limited time… and there are just so many things I NEED to do… and so many I WANT to do….

Be back with some recipes soon.

xoxo