Comrades Marathon: my first ultra
On June 9th, at 5:30am, I was in Durban at a start line of Comrades Marathon. In the next 12 hours, I needed to cover 53.4 miles with 5700ft of elevation gain. While Chariots of Fire was playing and the…
Mill Town Marathon: My First Sub-3:30 and Negative Split
On March 24, I ran Mill Town Marathon, a local race, which was my third marathon (after Seattle back in 2022 and Philly four months ago). I managed to PR by more than 7 minutes with the time 3:26:43 (Strava…
Running fifty miles a week for a year straight
Over the past year (52 weeks), I averaged >= 50 miles (~80.5 km) of running per week, taking into account all the travel, sickness and injuries. What does it mean in the grand scheme of things? For some people (aka,…
2023 in running and plans for 2024
Overall, 2023 mostly sucked (both “globally” for the world and “locally” for me and people around me), so training was more than a welcome distraction. In total, it was 2537 miles of running (409 hours) plus 14 hours of cycling…
Philadelphia Marathon 2023
Yesterday, I ran Philadelphia Marathon, which was my second attempt at the distance after the last year’s Seattle Marathon, and my A-race for 2023. I got an almost 10-minute PR, improving the time from 3:43:45 to 3:34:07. I’m obviously super…
Running: reflection after two years
Two years ago, I laced up my running shoes and embarked on a path to train systematically for long-distance running. Since that pivotal day, I’ve clocked 3,546 miles, spent 592 hours pounding the pavement, and crossed the finish line in…
Running Seattle Marathon: the toughest thing I’ve ever done
Yesterday I finished my first marathon in 3:43:45 (Strava activity). Super happy that there were no major hiccups leading to the race and I was able to use all my extensive training in order to finish strong. In training I…
Marathon training: summary
My first marathon is next Saturday, but after 15 weeks, 668 miles (44.5 per week on average, 60 peak), 108.3 hours (7.22 per week on average, 9.5 peak), my build-up is officially complete (Intermediate reports: [1], [2], [3], [4]). I…
Marathon training block: 13/16 weeks done
Thirteen weeks of the marathon training are complete peaking at two 60-mile weeks, now entering a three-week taper. Some statistics (see the reports after four, eight and eleven weeks): Ran 60.3 + 60.1 = 120.4 miles (589.5 miles total) In…
Marathon training block: 11/16 weeks (plus a tune-up half)
Eleven weeks of the marathon training are complete, with just five to go. This included a tune-up Great Trek half-marathon, whose course lied in a beautiful UBC campus (Vancouver, BC), more on this later. Some statistics (see the reports after…