what i talk about when i talk about running by Chris S. '11

“At the core of many of his stories was a distinction between success and excellence. Success was ‘having:’ money, awards, status. Excellence was ‘being:’ living your values, having them guide your daily life. Pursue excellence, Coach would say, and success will follow.” – Deena Castor, Let Your Mind Run

Last year, I ran just over 1200 miles. I have never hit that kind of mileage before. In Chinese, we say “people beyond people, horizons beyond horizons” (人外有人，天外有天) – this kind of mileage is still trump change among those who really run.

As the years go by, I see a lot of life reflected with each mile that goes by. I am not a bestselling novelist, but Murakami wrote an entire book about life and running, so I might be on to something? 

HIGH SCHOOL

I started running during my freshman year. Honestly, I was not a great, or even a good, runner. I signed up for running mainly because I was not coordinated enough for team sports. Even though I am six feet tall, I always found basketball confusing (it is still, to this day). How are you supposed to know where to be on the court? How do you set up plays? Volleyball was better, but arbitrarily it was a women’s sport in our school, while the men did soccer.

So, I joined the track team.

My distances were 800 and 1500 meters. Later, I realized that this is where the coach put all of the people who weren’t naturally talented and weren’t “serious enough.” Putting folks like me in the middle distances freed up the shorter distances for the gifted sprinters, and us “amateur hobbyists” were less likely to get seriously discouraged or injured compared to training for the longer mile+ races. However, as anyone who did varsity track knows, the middle distances are HARD. 800 meters is sprinting 2 laps, the first lap at 80%, the second starting at 95% and ending at 110%. While I was quite mediocre – I never cracked a 6:30 mile in high school – I did enjoy the meets. My goal in all of HS track was to scrape by and qualify for the away meets, with traveling being the best part.

What track did teach me was discipline and mental visualization. When the racing got tough, I broke the track down into 100 meter segments. I soon learned from running hundreds of laps around our high school track that the first 100 meter curve has a slight incline, but then it’s quick dash down the straightaway for the next 100, followed by the second curve which usually involves running against some headwind. The last 100 was pure adrenaline, flying down the straightaway in front of the bleachers. 800 is 2 of these sets, 1500 is (almost) 4, rinse and repeat. When I was on the track and the pain is setting in, I always told myself, “If I could do this 100, I can do another 100.” Much later I learned that the famous running coach Jeff Galloway talks about the importance of having personal “mantra” in pushing yourself through the tough parts of a race – this is exactly it. Also, Winston Churchill paraphrased it well, “if you’re going through hell, keep going.”

“running running as fast as we can, do you think we will make it” – running, no doubt

I used to circle the track with this song on repeat in my brain. In high school, the future was uncertain. I went to high school in Taiwan. Which college was I going to land at in the US? I had a girlfriend then. We would probably break up, because that’s what happens, right?

(yes.)

MIT AND MED SCHOOL

I did not run much at MIT or in medical school in NYC (see the “I am not a great runner part”). I ran about once a month. However, the Charles River is so beautiful for running. Even Murakami talks about this in his book. I had a terrible sleeping schedule at MIT (I still do – unfortunately I am also now the father to 2 young children). I usually went to bed at sunrise, and got up sometime around lunchtime (looking back at it, how I got through undergrad missing the vast majority of my morning classes is remarkable). I loved doing a ~5 mile loop from New House, up the Charles River until I could see the Harvard brick buildings, cross the bridge, and then run back on the Boston side. It frustrated me to no end that I always crossed over the Charles on “Anderson Memorial Bridge.” I never understood why that couldn’t be called Harvard Bridge instead (since it led to Harvard Square!), and Harvard Bridge renamed MIT bridge. Heck, even Boston University has a janky bridge. Justice for MIT – equal bridge naming rights for all!

The MIT to Harvard loop, very flat, very scenic.

Anyway, I used to time my run so that I would see the sun rise behind the Prudential Center on my way back on the Boston University Bridge. Sunrises over the Charles are so pretty (especially in the winter, but I saw the most sunrises in the summer when the sun rose earlier). The beautiful purplish-orange sunrises remain some of my fondest memory snapshots from college. My dorm (iHouse in New House) had a little terrace that overlooked the river, and I would often go out there right before I headed off to bed around 5-6 AM. Yes, I ran this loop mostly around 3-4 AM after wrapping up studying for the night. I used to tell people that I lived on Hawaii time at MIT, because my 5 AM bedtime was a very reasonable 11 PM or midnight bedtime…in Hawaii.

Then, I moved to NYC for med school. My dorm was on Madison Avenue just north of 96th in “East Harlem” ONE BLOCK from Central Park. Looking back, I severely underappreciated my proximity to this world-famous park. I usually entered the park on the East Meadow entrance, immediately north of the 97th St. traverse, link over to East Drive, and then proceed to run the 6 mile Central Park loop. Sticking to my bad habits, I often ran this at 10 PM. The doormen always looked at me curiously when I headed out in leggings and a running jacket, “Everyone is just coming back from studying, and you’re going running?” My roommate (a native New Yorker) informed me, more pragmatically, “You’re gonna get shot one day.” (Recognizing my male privilege), I am quite impressed at the number of runners in Central Park after midnight. I am never the only one, and I usually pass about a dozen or so on my loops around Manhattan.

The Central Park loop, highly recommended if you’re visiting NYC and have time to run!

“if you had one shot, or one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted, in one moment. would you capture it, or just let it slip?” – eminem, lose yourself

This song summarized medical school. In the hypercompetitive environment of gunning for grades and a good residency, everything felt like the “one shot” or the “one opportunity.” It became my new mantra. With more years behind me, however, I now consider opportunity to be less important than the preparation to seize the moment. In Chinese, we say, “the stars align, the conditions are favorable, but most of all, the person is ready.” (天時地利人合) There’s another great quote, “the more I practice, the luckier I get.” You get the gist.

RESIDENCY AND FELLOWSHIP

January 7, 2017 (NYRR Joe Kleinerman 10K) was the day when my “modern era” of running began. Residency was still in NYC with a few life updates. My then-girlfriend/now-wife Kathy ’10, moved from San Francisco to New York in 2015 to start her residency with mine, capping off 4 years of cross-country long distance dating after MIT. I moved out of my dorm to a 650-square foot 1-bedroom apartment, 8 blocks south, 3 blocks east.

After a year of living with me, Kathy noticed that I never exercised.

“You should get out more. How is it possible that you never need to exercise?”

“Meh.”

A few months pass.

“I’ve looked up these races in 2017. If we finish 9 of these races in one year, we get to run the NYC Marathon next year!“

“Okay.”

I joke to Kathy now that this is one of those watershed moments of your life where you look back on, and say, “Well, if I just never said anything that day…”

The beginning of it all!

That 10K was my first race in a very long time. Between high school and January 7, 2017, I half-sprinted, half-walked the NYC Half Marathon 2013 with Helen ’12 who came down to visit me from Harvard Medical School with absolutely no preparation (2:13). I said half-sprinted, half-walked, because I went out way too fast and spectacularly imploded after mile 10, walking the rest. It is quite remarkable that through my foolhardy approach I ended up injuring my left knee, with residual pain for months afterwards. To this day, my left knee is still wonky compared to my right.

Helen ’12 and I at the 2013 NYC Half! She’s now a full-fledged critical care / ICU physician :)

In 2017, I rediscovered the forgotten “runners high” that was the reinvigorating reward after the hard interval/tempo days of high school track. I quickly became addicted. I ran all of the longer races with Kathy, but couldn’t help letting loose at some of the shorter races. It was fun, and my times started dropping quickly. I ran my first marathon in New York, on 2018, just like Kathy and I had promised each other we would do. However, I did it solo because Kathy became pregnant before the marathon (and our first daughter was born a month after the marathon). We ran the 2019 NYC marathon together, dropping off our baby with one of our friends. Notably, I had a major cramp at Mile 24 and Kathy could have beat me by probably 20 minutes, but to her credit, she opted to stay behind and finish together.

We had the great foresight fortune to move out of NYC before the COVID era, and we landed in Ann Arbor in August 2019. Before Michigan, I never lived in a freestanding house. I spent my entire life in dorm rooms and apartments. I never saw any stars in the concrete jungle of NYC, but there were plenty of them in Michigan. Similarly, my running routes took on a distinctive rustic tone. 10 minutes after exiting our house and crossing the highway overpass, I would be running next to cows grazing in the field on the local farm road. Winter running was challenging, but I discovered I could tolerate down to about 15 degrees, when running became too extreme as I stopped feeling my face after 45 minutes. I tried to keep up the momentum, although 2020 was a challenging year for everyone. My favorite race in Michigan was the Capital City River Run out in Lansing. The course follows this beautiful woodland trail in Michigan’s capital city (I have a thing for capital cities). I ran it annually from 2019 to 2021, and I was very pleased with my 2021 time of 1:51 which was my half marathon PR for some time.

This 12-mile loop I used to do while training for marathons. The best thing about Michigan is that people are so courteous to you when you’re running on the shoulder!

“come on Eileen, oh i swear, at this moment, you mean everything” – come on eileen, dexys midnight runners

My favorite running memory happened at my third marathon at Chicago in 2021. Chicago is known for its fast course and it culminates with two straight miles on Michigan Avenue coming into Grant Park. Out of nowhere about a mile to the finish, I hear the strains of a fiddle, and a full-blown Irish folk band comes into view, striking up “Come on Eileen.” I will never forget the rush the build-up to the chorus gave me as I surged into Grant Park (almost getting a spectacular cramp right before the end).

“THE REAL LIFE”

We moved from Michigan to Seattle in mid-2022. We love it here. Yes, it rains a lot, but it does not rain nonstop in the winter (the locals say that to scare you away). We live on a hill fairly close to Puget Sound, so on my daily runs I can often spot the container ships heading out of Seattle into the Pacific. Seattle is very hilly, unlike every other city I’ve lived in. It makes for great running practice, but makes me hate life sometimes. I no longer run at night, but opt for the late afternoon (I still cannot get up early).

In 2023, I amped up from the 500-odd miles I’ve been running annually, incorporated some speedwork, and ended the year with about 750 miles. Addicted to the progress I’m making, I increased my annual mileage above 1000 in 2024. I also trained for my marathon last year by actually following a plan to the letter for my first time (unsurprisingly, it makes a big difference).

Now, I race 3 half marathons and 1 full marathon annually. The goal is to beat my annual time targets (for 2025, it’s 1:36 for a half and 3:45 for a full) by the end of the calendar year. By the way, I have no interest in ultras. With kids, I’m always finding ways of being faster so I can get home faster, so why would I want to run longer? 🤪

Yes, I’m holding a condiment bottle. Interestingly, I found they make for very nice reusable cups in the now popular “cupless” races.

My ultimate goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon, however long that takes (duh, what else did you expect I would end with?). That will be my ultimate homecoming. I don’t think I can do it with the qualification times before 40, but maybe in 10 more years after I hit 45? 😉

“Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest. If you’re going to while away the years, it’s far better to live them with clear goals and fully alive than in a fog, and I believe running helps you do that. Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that’s the essence of running, and a metaphor for life—and for me, for writing as well. I believe many runners would agree.” – Haruki Murakami

Half Marathon PR
2024 1:41:45 (Seattle)

Marathons
2018 4:58:51 (NYC)
2019 4:58:36 (NYC)
2021 4:40:21 (Chicago)
2023 4:26:27 (NYC)
2024 4:01:54 (SF)

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