My Journey to Running

I was never active. Growing up, I lived where there were very few opportunities for outdoor activities.? My day-to-day life was indoors, reading books, doing math, and playing board games with friends. By the time I was a teenager, I was overweight and useless at most physical activities.??

?I started to lose friends due to my incompetence in their sports, which included basketball, volleyball, gymnastic, track running, etc.?

Changing Direction?

As a freshman in high school, I felt the need to have at least a few close friends, so that I would no longer be the loner in my school. I also realized that I needed to be stronger, so that I could fight for myself.??

The father of one of my classmates was a good Kungfu coach; he had won several competitions in our city. So, I asked him if his dad would teach me Kungfu. He said, “If you teach me math, I will teach you how to fight.” We had a deal! I started to practice Kungfu and free style fighting.??

When we started, I was weak and out of breath. His dad recommended that I start running, so I began to run 4-5 times a week, starting from 1 or 2 laps on the track. I was so out of shape, it was painful. But I did not give up, and before long, I was able to run 20 laps without stopping. This is very encouraging to me, so I kept running through the rest of my high school year – as a conditioning exercise.?

At college, I started to train with the track team, mainly at 400m and 800m where I learned a lot about good running form and how to run fast. I was not talented at running, but I tried to learn everything that I could about running, and I practiced whenever I could. I did not win any trophies, but I did improve a lot. My 100m time went from 13 seconds to 11.7 seconds, and my 400m went from 59 seconds to 52.?

Slipping Back into Old Habits?

After college, I got my first job, which is very exciting and I devoted most of my energy to work and learning new things. I enjoyed work, was learning a lot. But, I noticed that I sometimes lacked energy and felt tired.??

“What’s going on and what has changed?” I asked myself. I was eating healthy and I slept 6-7 hours on average. I weighed myself and immediately realized the problem - lack of exercise! I had gained 8 pounds the previous year, and if I took the stairs, I was always out of breath.??

I dug out my running shoes and started to run again – starting with 3 times a week and gradually increased to 5-6 times a week. Very soon, I felt energized and fit again.?

Getting Serious: Training with an Olympic Athlete?

A few years later, I moved to US and continued my running. At that time, I was only doing 1-2 miles a day, about 20 minutes. Then, I met a guy in my company who was an Olympic triathlete, who had represented Mexico, and continued to compete well into his forties. He asked me to run with him during lunch break. I agreed and went out with him running. During the run, he told me this is his daily route, which was 3.8 miles. I knew I would not be able to finish it, as endurance was not good. Sure enough, I had to stop twice along the way, and it took us 34 minutes. I felt embarrassed.??

I made it my mission to be able to finish the loop without stopping. In about a month, my mission was accomplished?

We signed up for a 5K run that was 2 months away. To my surprise, I finished my first post college 5k run in under 20 minutes! I was 33 years old, and that time was almost as good as when I was in college, when I was training harder and a lot younger!??

I continued to train, and improved my 5K to 18 minutes 30 seconds. Three months later, I finished the training loop I had struggled to complete in 34 minutes, in 24 minutes.??

I was eager to improve even more.??

But it took another two years, when I met a formal US marathon Olympian – Jeff Heffner. Jeff taught me a lot, how to train for distance running, nutrition, recovery and training method. Based on his recommendation, I upped my weekly mileage from merely 25 miles per week to about 60 miles a week. My running time just kept on improving. Over the next couple of years, at the age of 40, I have run a 5K in 16m32s, a half marathon in 1h17m52s, and my first marathon in 2h53m, which qualified for Boston marathon by over 20 minutes.?

The Many Gifts of Running??

During the years of training and running, instead of making me tired, running boosts my energy, and enables me to handle the stress of both work and life. Despite running 60 miles a week, I find I can handle my daily work with ease. I feel fantastic, and my weight is the same as I was in college -with 8% of body fat throughout my 30 plus years into my late 40s and early 50s.?

The thrill of running and competition has continued to motivate me, while allowing me to travel the world.??

In 2019, World Marathon Major (WMM) started a new challenge, which is age group world championship, they invite the top performers in each age group to compete for a limited entries based on rankings in qualified races. I registered for the California International Marathon – one of the qualifying races, at the end of 2019 as my goal race and finished in 2h50m.??

I was invited as a 3:00 pacer for the Houston marathon, which just became the 4th golden standard marathon in US and I finished in 2h58m (As a pacer, I have to finish the race within 2 minutes of the pace time, which was 3:00). Upon finishing both, I placed 4th in my age group ranking. As other marathon competitors got their times from other races, I settled as 13th in my age group. This qualified me for the 2021 WMM age group world championship.??

Through it all I was a Technical Product Manager and Solution Architect in a major commercial project at One Network Enterprises. It is a demanding role. But I’m convinced that my running actually eases the stress, makes me more energetic, relaxed, and more efficient at work. That’s why I continue to train, travel, and compete. My next marathon is the BMW Berlin Marathon in September, 2022.??

?That’s just some of what running has given me. If you haven’t tried it, what gifts could it have in store for you? If you are a runner, what have you got out of it? Let me know in the comments.???

By Kim Mang