Continued from How six friends whipped a couch potato into a half marathon runner — all online (1)
The day I ran the grand total of 45 seconds before I almost puked on the cold Embarcadero was Jan 14, 2019. I knew I would be bad with my first run in decades, but not this pathetic. I kept between 25–45 seconds “running” and long walking recoveries before folding up quickly.
On the way home, I sent a message to the group chat room with friends ridiculing how pathetic I was. My good friends were laughing with me but also were kind to encourage me. That was the start. There was something fun about sharing how bad and awkward I was for this new adventure.
So the next time I went out for running (but mostly walking recovery from a 45–60sec jog), I reported the equally embarrassing short run to the group chat. To my surprise, my friends rallied about the very fact that I went out again despite the epic failure earlier. That was another something.
Soon I found myself telling my friends over the chat that I went out for running in spritzing rain, or that I wore short sleeve t-shirts for running thanks to chilly-but-not-freezing NorCal winter. My friends commented, joked, and attached emojis and giphys to my run selfies.
Over January and February, I went out running about 2–3 times a week. At first, it wasn’t more than jogging any duration I could do (1 min or less) and walking 4–5 minutes for recovery, then repeat for about 10–15 minutes. While I was still plodding, gradually, the jogging duration became 2 min, 4 min, 10 min, and 15 min without stopping to catch a breath. It was fun to report the slow but consistent gain of running distance, but at times I complained I didn’t know why I was doing it when others are twice as fast all around me. My friends were quick to point the pattern of improvement to me.
Each time I was done with running and walking home, I took a screenshot of the Strava app synced with my Fitbit watch. It showed the beautiful map and stats where I ran and how I did. And my routine was posting that screenshot to the group chat with friends. On Jan 25, I shared the Strava screenshot with friends for the first time — 2.2 miles at 15+ minutes/mile. I ran the frozen Reykavik waterfront (Feb 4, 2.43 miles), the tropical-showered Singapore Marina (Mar 29, 6.2 miles), mostly to show the running route on Strava map to my friends.
These friends were also good at daring me to take new challenges with running such that I would’ve never taken by myself.
Jan 29, 2019
Friend A: I saw this on Twitter just now and am hoping you’d produce something like this.
Me: LOL
Mar 2, 2019
Me: My other friend posted about the Presidio 10K race that crosses the Golden Gate Bridge. The course looks so enticing. *sigh* But I am even scared of the 5K race I signed up for coming in two weeks.
Friend B: Why not?! Go for it! You can do it.
Me: No, I haven’t even run 5K yet. In two weeks.
Friend B: Imagine your family cheering at the finish line!
Your photo of crossing the Golden Gate Bridge framed on your desk!
The cold beer after the race!
And the smile on your face while soaking in the post-race hot tub!
Isn’t that exciting?! Good job, Hisun!!
Friend E: Wow, you are so talented in cheering!
Friend B: But the most important is not getting injured. Make sure you train slowly.
Me: (Already sold and pressing the register button for the 10K race) OK, I created “10k_and_me” channel in our Slack.
Friends: Yay!! (emojis flaring around)
May 3, 2019
Friend B: Hey, I brought something even stronger.
Me: Hur? What’s that?
Friend B: Curious?
Me: Sure.
Friends B: The ballot for the London Marathon closes today! See the link!
If you are a runner, you’d like to run a full marathon at least once in a lifetime. This ballot is very crowded, so you are not likely to be picked. But entering is free. See? Nothing to lose!
Me: Wahhhhhhhhhh…??? (Ended up signing for the ballot for the London Marathon 2020 even before I could run a half marathon, and still waiting to hear back.)
So with these casual pushes and enthusiastic cheers from friends (in the group chat) this year, I have done with running so far….
Mar 15: First time I could run 4 miles without stopping. Planned to extend the distance by 0.5mile each week.
Mar 17: 5K run at St. Patty’s Day 5K Race. Friends outbursting with cheers in the chat room.
Mar 20: Signed up for 12K Bay-to-Breakers race.
Mar 29: First full coverage of 10K(=6.2miles) during the Singapore trip. Ran in the tropical rain and got showered with friends cheers afterward.
Apr 8: Signed up for the SF Half Marathon in July. What did Hisun become?? Friends wondered.
Apr 14: Ran 10K at the Levi’s Presidio 10.
May 3: Signed up for London Marathon 2020 ballot
May 19: Ran the Bay to Breakers 12K
May 24: First 10 mile run
July 6: First 13.1 mile (=half marathon distance) run
July 28: Ran the Biofreeze SF Marathon’s 1st half
Aug 25: Ran the Bridge-to-Bridge 12K
Sep 8: Ran the Giant Race Half Marathon
Nov 3: (Will be running the Golden Gate Half Marathon)
July 2020: (Will be running the full marathon at the Biofreeze SF Marathon 2020)
