Luxury Sport - Running

I started running, like most people, because I live by myself and I am bored with myself plus the place where I live provide land, space, beautiful view and non-car-filled environment. I can go running whenever I want, just get a T-shirt, a short pants, and a pair of shoes. However, longer I run more time I spend on internet looking for running related articles, more I read more I know running. I begin to start aware of shoes brand, looking for runner friendly and safer shoes, runner friendly recopies and gears.

Running is an art; is a religion. There are things runners need to know. It could become a center of your life. I wear adidas cloth and pants. Am I being compromise by advertisement or brand name, might be. An magazine once offers 100 dollars and buy running cloth and gears in cheap place, such as Walmart and Amazon. The result is runner can find cloth with 7 dollars, running shoes only 27 dollars and socks 10 dollars for three pairs. 100 dollars, they can have everything needed to run. They all come with promising material, color choices. However, 70% are not qualified even to standard. They wear off only a few weeks, uncomfortable, non enough cushion, non enough support. They looks runner friendly, but they don't worth the price. I believe when you buy brand cloth, certainly you paying for the brand name but you also getting what you pay for.

Here are the lists, cost from running:

Magazine cost 13 dollars (optional)

Running gear (watch, sunglasses, mp3, gloves): 0-400 (start up)(optional)

Shoes cost 150-300 dollars a year

Extra washing (assumpt 1 extra load a month, each time cost me 3 dollars to wash and dry) 36 dollars

Extra/Better food and drinks - 100-200 dollars

Extra shower: ---

Run a race: (with travel, hotel) 70+ up to ($1-2000 international) depend on location

Potential get injured cost: 300-3000 (maybe surgery needed)

Other Non-monetary cost:

Time

Energy

Feeling

Emotion

What I lack?

I mentioned before I have joined track running once a week. Actually,
lately twice a week after my race in Lawrence. After that, I decided
to took three weeks off. However, it is difficult, my body and my soul
long for running after the third day. So, I started to go to gym do
light exercising. Today is Monday, I decided to go to run with the
team and have forgotten everything about that three weeks off. I
shouldn't run because my hip is hurt. Might be my body is giving me
unconscious desire to go, might be I feel it is Monday I should go,
might be I don't feel exercise enough lately, but most of all I think
I am a runner freak. So, today I went running with them anyway.
Normally, before we started we wait the couch make annoyment. While I
was waiting, I looked at these people and couldn't help myself wonder
what make these people run so great, why I don't run like them. My mum
always don't want me to run, because she think we Asian don't have the
genetic as the western. It might be truth, it might be the reason that
I can't run like these people. Are these people have strong bone,
bigger liver, might be. But look at these people, (you can't see here)
some are shorter than me, some are very skinny, some are even fatter
than me. Then Luke, my new friend met in the team, said "because we
have the commitment to run everyday" What a commitment! What is a
commitment? What I see their commitment is go to track everyday, train
hard whatever good day, bad day, happy day, sad day, crapy day,
running day, snowy day, freezing day, busy day... I even remember the
time when I looked at these people in a freezing winter, seeing them
only wearing very few cloths and ran on the street passed by me and I
think they were nut. I met one of the girl in a gym one day, I think
her name is Eliza, and she was training hard by doing light exercising
when she had hurt her hip. I ran with them in a evil hot day once,
people came back from breathing hard, sweaty body. Their warm up is
like my 75% effort sprinting even today. I saw people vomit by running
too hard on the field. If I train by myself, I will only find a
comfortable way to train hard. That is why I should go out and run
with these people, these are the reasons make me continue to run with
these people even every time I run the last and chasing them behind at
least 100 meters away again and again. In this moment, I don't know if
I am already having the best body shape in my life already; I don't
know if I will able to run better than my current condition in the
future. Might be I can run, but will never able to run like these
people like my Mum said I just lack of the genetic. I would love to
able to run like them. If they ask me will I willing to make
commitment now to the team and I will say no. It isn't that I don't
think I will able to run every day, running in a freezing day, hot
day, I just not yet ready to cross the line to make that commitment.
That commitment accepting separating of myself, my feeling, run like a
machine and accepting the potential to get injured. That is what I am
not ready for, and might be will never be. There is no shame for that.
However, that is what I lack to become a better runner like them.

New Breakfast Suggestion

A cup of hot milk (medium hot) and add 1-2 sponges of honey.
Bagel with Raspberry jam.

What's now?

After the well performance in Lawrence, I am still very hyper. Its just boosted my confidence. I had time between to complains that I could have run faster and to compete with other runners' result. However, its my very first half marathon I should be pleased. Since Sunday I was sad a little bit, because peoples were generally very pleased I did it, but no one really happy for me or surprise the well performance. Now, I am looking companies to run with me, and I hope I found one soon. With or without someone by me, I will still running, but just that I am tired of doing everything by myself. My coming target is run a half marathon in Chicago or New York. They are ranked one of the tops races in America. Of course, there is something hold me back, it is $$$. I wish that I will be confirmed I got the summer campus job for ESL students from Asia. Otherwise, it is expensive to register, expensive to travel, and expensive to stay in the hostel. I found some pictures on google, I hope you will excited for me and support for my running.

http://limegreens.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/marathon2large-790593.jpg

http://www.zimbio.com/Awesome+Pictures/articles/13/Zimbio+Week+Pictures+Nov+1+7+2008

Electric Lynn Lawrence Half Marathon Review

Info:

Event Participants: 1721

Location: Lawrence, KS

Date: 4-18-2010

Time: 7:30am

Temperature: 45-53 degree

Half Marathon

Number of finisher: 808

Average Time: 2:08:19

Distance: 13.2 miles

Started at:

Shenk Sports Complex

23rd & Iowa Street

Lawrence, Kansas 66044

Finished at:

Shenk Sports Complex

23rd & Iowa Street

Lawrence, Kansas 66044

Rank

Participant: Vincent Wong

Number: 1042

Finished Time: 1:56:57

Overall Place: 278/808

Division Place: 25/39

Age Place: 10/19

Place in Gender: 190/345

Pace min/mile: 8:56

Expected Finish Time: 2:10-2:20

Deviation from expected time: +13:03-23:03

Most memorable things:

1. The sunrise

2. My right leg was so tight and hurt after an hours and half intense salse dance from the night before.

3. People were holding a sign which said: Don't fxxking give up, we are watching!

4. People cheering for me

5. Children were giving you five by the road when you past by

6. Surprise! Found school friends on the road cheering

7. The volunteers and their supports on picking up trash and handing water and supplement to you

8. A guy was peeing on the side and everyone was looking his back

9. I ran at 8:20 min/mile for the first 6 miles

10: A beautiful lake

11. Surprise! Found school friends participating half marathon and outpace me on mile 6.

12. On mile 7, the guy supposed ran in a pace finish at 2:10 outpace me.

13. On Mile 9, I lost sight of the 2:10 pacer

14. Around mile 9, one side of my earphone started not working

15. Outpace by people who are 30 yrs - 40 yrs older than me

16: Between mile 11-13, a half mile devil uphill which took me 5-10 minute to run

17. Running and talking on the cellphone at the same time

18. Nice weather

19. Not much wind

20. The medal which I didn't expect

21. Hotdog and cold drink at the finish line

22. The line up at the finish line and the clap and cheering from people

23. Unanticipated finished time

24. Photographer at the finish line

25. My ipod stayed with me the whole time

26. Even when it was expected or know about, it is hard to not got piss off or felt defeated when group of people passed you again and again.

27.I was able to finish the race even I danced salsa dance the night before

Sam and Teresa Wedding

Spring 2010

Neurolinguistic

This week article from my database (my computer) is neruolinguistic. I remember a video I watched once from TED it mentioned about when people listen people talk different parts of your brain have different part of function. (they were using EMP [Electromagnetic pulse] to test). For instance, when you encounter a new word different part of your brain activity will show up on a EMP monitor. Some are related to listening, some are related to analysis the new word, some are related to memorizing. Once, your brain familiar the word, only less brain activity would show up on the screen. I believe the guy developed the philosophy was J.H. Jackson (at least similar), 1874. Amazingly, people make right philosophy even when they didn't have the technology for it. Neruolinguistic today was study to help people overcome when they have language disorder. I learnt that one of the word for it is " propositionalize", I guess it means people cannot put word into sentence. Most people have language disorder is related to brain damage.

Words related to neurolinguistic: aphasia, psycholinguistic

It is interesting to know all of this. Originally, I was looking an article which might help me learn English easier, somehow I was interested about neurolinguistic too, because one of new recent favorite topic is neuroscience. Another related article in future I am going to look for should be psycholinguistic.

P.S. 1 thing I didn't mention was there is study show that language and memory are interdependent. It make a lot of sense. If you have a good memory, then you are easier to learn and speak a language, but what I wonder is if people try to learn different languages will it help boost people memory. The most useful way to think is if you are interested to learn French and Spanish, will it do better job for people to attempt to learn both in a same time or separately. Or, if you have a baby, do you want only teach the baby your mother language and English, or you want to put a third language on the baby too.

Atchison Half Marathon

Date: April 3
Time: 140 minutes
Distances: 13-14miles
Location: Atchison

Country Road in Atchison

The Mount

Highway 59

River Side Road

Missouri River

Missouri River

500 Point Plus College Level Scrabble

Words I didn't know: Om, runny, avid, nester

Words I should remember: Quad, coil, roam,

Happy April Fools Day - The place I study in Library

I published a book

Just for you information, I published a book call Vincent by himself. A book about being international student and travel aboard. It is not a book very profound. I didn't wrote a lot, but I put a lot of pictures I took in in Hungary and America and talked about the culture and the different among Hong Kong, America and Hungary. If you are interested, you can look for ISBN # 978-0-9965-7078-0

Fr. Steve's Gift

This is the first year blanket Fr. Steve's gave me.

This is the second year blanket Fr. Steve's gave me. I can't believe it. He gave me this beautiful Indian blanket. It is hand made. The reason of giving out blanket was that it was also Indian custom/culture.

I don't really what make this Juneberry Jelly, but it tasted awful good. Is the best jam I ever had.

Half Marathon Count Down

20 days left from my race.
I am getting more concern what will happen on the actual day.
I wish it will be sunny, and not windy.
I am still not convinced that I am going to finish it.

Lately, I went practice with track team.
Might be I shouldn't talk about it. It just too embracing.
I was definitely too slow. They were running 7 mins per mile and I ran
in 9 mins per mile.
The nice thing is that the next day it felt much easier to run a long
run.
The capacity of my lung and cardiovascular just increased dramatically.
This picture actually I took it when I went run with them the second
time.