+FillUs

If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it... –Rudyard Kipling Anne Dunivin How true that is for the last couple days. First, it was the USMS Nationals swim meet from Friday to Sunday at Greensboro. Long story short, I came in last in almost all my events. But I've learned that I just have to take it all in, whatever life, day, or the moment brings. There were anxiety, nervousness, pain, and breathlessness, but there were also thrill, joy, and satisfaction. The unforgiving minute(s) will pass. What matters at the end is what you've filled it with. With that thought, I dove in to swim my 200 & 500 Free, 200 IM, and a couple relays. The picture on the left is 95-year-old Anne Dunivin. She just set the 1000 freestyle record for her age group and she shall be my inspiration. Secondly, this week I'm doing three consecutive days of 2.5-hour treadmill run for the recovery supplem...

Bill Rodgers After reading so many people's blog on their experience of America's toughest road marathon, the Blue Ridge Marathon, I'm starting to lose my own chain of thought/memory. Bottom line is I had a lot of fun and surprised myself with a sub-4 finish. My estimate was around five hours, or maybe even 5:30 if condition was tough like last year's monsoon. Here's my account of it: Three and a half hour drive from Charlotte straight to packet pickup at Roanoke's Taubman Museum of Art, a modern and iconic building in contrast with the rest of the historical railroad downtown. It was Friday evening and the streets were lively. People were on the patio and on the street with live music playing. I strolled around a little but not too much since I wanted to save my legs. My hotel was only about a mile away. I contemplated on just walking there from the hotel, but ended up driving half a mile or so to park at the Civic Center. Half a mile could be a haul af...

Talk about creativity. If selling vacuum supplies and running supplies in one store is not creative for you, how about watching a drive-in theater movie and running a half marathon? Well, Peter Asciutto from Vac & Dash in Albermarle has made it happen last night. Peter and I The Moonlight Half Marathon & Movie starts and finishes at Badin Drive-In. Race packet pick up began at 7 p.m. and the first two movies began showing at dark. Since the race was going to start at 10:30, I didn't get there till 9:45. Most people were already there and the Hunger Games just started playing. I heard Katniss screamed, "I volunteer! I volunteer!" as I drove in. Have I not seen the movie already, I might have just stayed in my car and watched it instead. At check-in, Peter recognized me from the Idiot Run and came up to greet me. This was only the second time meeting Peter in person, but from our brief conversations and correspondence, and having followed Vac & Dash'...

"Thank you. I really appreciate you doing this," Joey said a number of times during the five or six hours we spent together. He was my runner and I was his pacer. When Elizabeth, the pacer coordinator, introduced us, he already had 50 miles on his feet. That's a total of four loops on the 12.5-mile course, half way for his 100-mile race. I wasn't sure what kind of physical and mental state he was in, so when he started walking, I just followed him. Later, he told me this was his first attempt of the 100-miler, but he had done the 50-miler three times in the past. I guess this is new territory for him and he too wasn't sure how his body would react. After some walking, I suggested some light jogging and we started trucking along. Very small steps, but every step is a step closer to finish. We stopped and walked all the hills, but as soon as we hit some flat and downhill, we'd jog again. I think he surprised himself by how much he could still do. Never been a ...

6118 participants ran the 118th Around the Bay 30K, not counting walkers who started an hour earlier and relay teams. This is a race where there are constantly runners around me, either passing me or passed by me. Not only that, spectators and volunteers lined up almost throughout the course, except on sections where only vehicles were allowed. Hamiltonians go out of their ways to support us: putting up signs, cheering, setting up unsanctioned water stations, handing out orange slices, high-fives, live music...Although Hamilton is known for its poverty and brokenness, I've came to know and experience the most generous and loving people in this city. I arrived and parked with well over an hour to spare only to find that I'm not as early as I thought. Copps Coliseum was packed already. Two of my friends, Christine and Julie from Runner's Den  were running it as well and I met up with them at the 55 section, our usual spot for ATB. I still remember my first run with them a...

This weekend marks my two year run-racing anniversary. Two years ago, I took a last minute plunge - after only two months of running - in buying a 30k race bib from an injured runner. Toeing the line at Around the Bay 30K in Hamilton, ON, I was uncertain whether I'd be able to finish because the longest I had ever ran was 18k. My memory of the actual race is a blur. I remember running with my friend, Christine the whole way and somehow after 3+ hours I finished. I remember crossing the finish line in Copps Coliseum, a volunteer putting a medal on me, and sitting on the floor never felt so good. We sat there for a long, long time. Since then I've done marathons and 50ks but I'll never forget how I felt finishing my first 30k.  It's only truly exhilarating when you finish something without knowing that you can. I miss that. DNF are three daunting letters that impede me from even trying sometimes. This weekend, I am flying home to run the ATB again. Words canno...

Some Pharisees and some Herodians want to trap Jesus by asking him difficult questions. They came to Jesus and asked, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" (Mark 12:14) In their minds, rejecting to pay tax entails a rebellion against Caesar and willingness to pay tax suggests a compromised devotion to God. To their dismay, Jesus looked at a denarius, a Roman small silver coin, and asked, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They answered, "Caesar's." Then Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mark 13:17) When Jesus looks at you, what image will he see? God's? Or Caesar's? The Sunday Long Run Crew was well represented. Corporate Cup half marathon happened last Saturday. I woke up at 5:30 a.m., put on my race gear, fetched everything I needed, and drove uptown to check in for the race. My mind was consumed with everything centered around ...