我爱你。
就是，知道你会在9点打来电话，我在7点时已经可以感觉到幸福了。
曾在哪里看到过的，如果你很爱一个人，就不要错过等候他的时光，那些时光会因为心跳的加速而变得浪漫。
这是真的。
Author: Daniel
Una Pequeña Lección
El otro día escuché un podcast sobre la vida de los inmigrantes indocumentados en Estados Unidos. En este podcast Recién Llegados de Radio Ambulante, la periodista visitó a una escuela en California para los estudiantes extranjeros que han llegado hace poco tiempo. Y me acordó un encuentro con un chico joven guatemalteco.
Cuando estaba en Guatemala, después de saber que estoy viviendo en Nueva York, el chico Eric me dijo que uno de sus amigos también hizo el viaje cruzando México para venir a Estados Unidos, y ahora vive en Long Island. Le dije que sabía el viaje atravesó del México es muy peligroso, y me dijo que sí, por eso finalmente él no fue, y consiguió un trabajo en Guatemala. Me contó los esfuerzos de su amigo, que tiene más hermanos para apoyar, y con su nivel de educación, hay muy pocos trabajos en su región, y por eso no había otra salida.
De pronto la conversación con Eric me dio cuenta de que estoy privilegia. Y la verdad fue una pequeña lección de humildad, porque con la mejor intención yo quería relacionarme con ellos, solo pasé mi infancia en pobreidad y la mayoría de mi vida es cómoda y próspera. El privilegio de ser la hija única, de haber estudiado inglés desde pequeña y recibir una beca para estudiar en Estados Unidos. Parece que obtengo todo lo que quiero fácilmente. Aunque no soy estadounidense, mi país China también es cada vez más fuerte en su economía y reconocimiento del mundo. También el privilegio que yo ser la raza asiática por parecer más pacífica o más inofensiva, que hace que no me detengan como lo detuvieron a Eric y los otros de América Latina.
2017 Race Calendar
Last Update: March 09, 2017, added two marathons
2017 will be a year full of challenges. Besides marathons and half marathons, I will also do an Ironman 70.3 (half the distance of an Ironman), start learning Arabic and maybe do a metric century bike ride.
I also plan to do the 9+1 with NYRR* to earn an entry into the 2018 NYC Marathon (which will be on my 28th birthday as well). I get bored easily, thus the biggest challenge for me in the NYRR races is to do loops in Central Park. I can’t loop anything more than once; in the second loop I slow down, lose motivation, and want to drop out. So I will mainly do the 4mile and 5K races that don’t require me to loop.
January
Walt Disney World Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge (1/7/2017 – 1/8/2017)
Due to weather condition, the half was canceled, so I only ran the full marathon. I was of course disappointed, because I took days off and traveled all the way to Orlando for 39.3 miles. But I was happy at the same time because at least I still ran the full marathon.
It was miserable to be standing in the freezing wind in shorts and tank top (under a trash bag) for 2 hours before the race. My fingers were numb even after crossing the finish line. After I finish, I didn’t wait to engrave the medal; I was so traumatized by the cold that I went straight back to the hotel and hid under the blanket sipping turmeric tea for a full hour before coming out to get food. I also had a fever for a few days after the race from the freezing wind.
Does it worth it? Yeah, of course, everyone needs to do a Disney Marathon in their lifetime.
February
Prospect Park Cherry Tree 10 Mile (2/19/2017)
Running three loops of anything is more of a mental than a physical challenge. It was unusually warm that day. I enjoyed running in Prospect Park, though this is probably my only time running this race. I simply can’t loop things.
March
Rock’n’Roll Mexico City Half Marathon (3/19/2017)
Caesar Rodney Half Marathon (3/26/2017)
It’s a half marathon in Wilmington, DE. This race benefits the American Lung Association, and Wilmington is less than three hours away, so I’m in! I drove through Wilmington a dozen times and finally stopped here to check out the town.
May
Five Borough Bike Tour (5/7/2017)
There were too many cyclists at the bike tour. I think it definitely worth it to do it for the first time, but afterwards, this should be a escape NYC road trip kind of weekend.
Airbnb Brooklyn Half (5/20/2017)
Coeur d’Alene Marathon (5/28/2017)
June
IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman (6/11/2017)
Changchun Jingyuetan Forest Half Marathon (6/18/2017)
This will be the most challenging race I ever run. Back in 2015 this guy did a mountain biking race on the same course, and here’s the map. The course has a total 750 meter elevation gain, which is roughly 2460 ft., similar to that of North Face Endurance Challenge at Bear Mountain. I almost never run trail, and it’s absolutely crazy to run this after an Ironman 70.3 and more than 13 hours on a plane. But it’s in my hometown, and I simply cannot pass it.
August
Maratón Ciudad de México (8/27/2017)
This past August I visited CDMX for the first time and cheered the “I” edition of this Marathon, and became friends with some Mexican marathoners. In 2017 we’ll run the “C” edition together.
September
Amish Country Classic Bike Ride (9/9/2017, Tentative)
October
Mohawk Hudson River Marathon (10/8/2017)
I went to college in Upstate New York. This marathon is my homecoming.
November
Rock’n’Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon (11/12/2017)
Marabana (11/19/2017)
I want to do a marathon in November because it’s my birthday month.
I was robbed in Guatemala City
I was robbed today a little while after taking this picture. It was about 2pm in the afternoon, a bright sunny day. I was in Zona 10, right under the Torre de Reformador, at exactly this location. I was waiting for Uber with my phone in my hands and two guys on motorcycle stopped by me, grabbed my phone quickly and went away.
I’m glad at least I’ve synced my photos with Dropbox whenever I can, so I can post this one from my computer. I only lost a couple photos from Museo Popol Vuh. Now I need to either buy a cheap digital camera or a single use film camera, as I’m leaving for Tikal tomorrow. While it is not my intention to speak about the relative safety of other third world countries, except to say that I did not experience similar events in my recent trips to China, Mexico and Honduras. I feel that most Guatemalans are nice, friendly, and honest people who would probably be more enraged what had happened to me in their country than I was. I’m simply sharing this information and hoping other travelers who also plan to visit or already in Guatemala to be careful.
2017 New Year Resolutions
2016 has been an incredible year for me, so I want to have even more in 2017:
- Read 10 books in Spanish
- Memorize a dictionary in Spanish
- Finish an Ironman 70.3
- Learn Arabic
- Run a total of 2017 miles in the year
Best Movies of 2016
2016 is a disappointing year for movies. There are a few decent ones but not as many as before; no even enough for me to make a top 10 list. And here they are:
- Hell Or High Water
- Star Wars: Rogue One
- Arrival
- Nocturnal Animals
For The Love Of The Long Run
I signed up for an Ironman 70.3 yesterday and was in denial for the rest of the day. What have I done?
Even though I’ve been running for more than a year, I barely know how to swim freestyle and I don’t even own a bike. I swam a lot in college but my background is in breaststroke. As for biking, my background is none. I rode a bike to school when I lived in Japan. But it was a commuter bike with no gear, and I have no knowledge of how to fix a bike either. Something even worse is that I actually hate indoor cycling: went to my first SoulCycle class two years ago and left half way because I just couldn’t take it anymore.
An old Chinese proverb says that sometimes people are brave because they are ignorant (无知者无畏). And I’m sure that is my case. I don’t know what it takes to complete an Ironman 70.3 so I thought it’s manageable.
Perhaps this is insanity at its purest level.
The real reason for signing up an Ironman 70.3, besides showing off and being insane, is that I always skip cross training in order to do more long runs, because I simply love running anywhere for more than 15 miles. A triathlon will force me into swimming and cross training more, and it enables me to challenge myself while experiencing an amazing, healthy lifestyle. Having to train in 3 disciplines gives me much needed structure while challenging me to be a better athlete every single workout, every single day. I don’t know what had happened but I fell in love with running after my first treadmill class at Mile High Run Club, in May 2015. At the age of 24, I started running for the first time. Within a year of running, I did my first marathon and fell in love with the distance. While training for my second marathon, I had an injury and that led to my first DNS for the Rock’n’Roll Brooklyn Half. Though eventually I crossed the finish line of my second marathon healthy and happy, I don’t ever want to repeat another DNS like this again, so I decided to run less for some time and training for an Ironman 70.3.
人民币上的毛
这个周末要去墨西哥度假10天，于是今天下午我去换了一些墨西哥比索(Mexican Peso)。
从某种程度上讲，墨西哥和中国其实很相似。墨西哥也是一个历史悠久的国家，是美洲文明的发源地，有辉煌的古典时期。近代同样经历战乱，殖民以及独裁统治，最终成为现在的民主共和国。在墨西哥比索上，有古典时期的哲学家，国王，殖民时期的诗人，近代的革命英雄，总统，艺术家。有男人，女人；有土著人，也有混血儿。我不禁想到，为什么我们的人民币上只印有毛泽东呢？难道中国五千年的历史，到头来只有毛一个人值得印在纸币上吗？墨西哥并不是一个模范民主国家。我们在新闻，报纸上都能读到，它的政府腐败，它的边境上犯罪率很高，失业率也很高 （因此美国有众多的墨西哥非法移民）。但是起码可以从纸币上看到，墨西哥政府对自己国家历史以及文化的尊重。而我们呢？上下五千年，我们有数不清的文学家，哲学家，书法家，帝王以及大臣… 旧版的人民币上起码还有五十六个民族大团结，可是新版的人民币上却只剩下了毛。我真想看看，是不是朝鲜的纸币上只有金家王朝…
2016 Race Calendar
Since I started running in May 2015, I want to complete at least one Half Marathon* in each State, plus D.C. and Puerto Rico, before I move out of the U.S. to another country. Here’s what I have sign up so far for 2016.**
March
QDR 30K Spring Marathon Tune Up (Mar 26, 2016)
April
Staten Island Half Marathon (Apr 2, 2016)
The day I ran my first half marathon of the year started with light rain. It was sunny that same afternoon, but between 9am and 11am during the race, it was heavy rain. Of course I was drenched as I’m always under prepared for any travels, and ended up having a fever and lying in bed for the next two days and missed my training run and Spanish class, I found the race experience with Trimara Sports pleasant.
I woke up at 5am, and spent 2 hours on trains and buses to get to Staten Island, but I had a good time. Now I’m considering signing up the Holiday Half Marathon at the end of this year with Trimara Sports as well.
NYCRUNS Queens Half Marathon (Apr 17, 2016)
It’s a half marathon in my neighborhood, of course I’m doing it. I really enjoyed running with NYCRUNS, they have put up a good race, with lots of post race bagels and fruits. And I couldn’t believe there were more than 1,000 people came out to run on a Sunday with limited 7 train service.
Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon (Apr 30, 2016)
This is my first marathon and my goal is simple: to cross the finish line in upright position. I have been training for the KDF Marathon since January and if I don’t collapse during running, I hope to finish within 4 hours and 15 minutes.
August
Camp Chingachgook Challenge (Half Marathon, Aug 13, 2016)
This course is beautiful but hilly, and the weather was hot. But then I get to swim in the lake and enjoy the best post race food! I always loved Lake George, back in my college days, my boyfriend and I used to spend long weekends here, relaxing and shopping at the outlet malls. It felt great to be back.
September
Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon (Sep 10, 2016)
I love almost everything Amish, so when I found out that the finisher’s medal has a horseshoe and the race course runs along the farmlands of Lancaster, I signed up right away. Everyone who knows me well knows that I travel to Lancaster to spend weekends several times a year. Maybe this will be the start of a new tradition, running Bird-in-Hand Half and then refueling with Smorgasbord.
October
Rock’n’Roll Brooklyn Half Marathon (Oct 8, 2016)
This ended up being my first DNS (did not start) race. On the Thursday night before the race, as I was walking through a door, it closed while I was crossing the threshold and hit my right ankle hard. I was immobile for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I was really upset so ended up eating the entire bag of oreo cookies in Saturday afternoon.
I lived in Brooklyn for a year before moving to Queens my current apartment. I would love to do a half marathon running through Prospect Park.
Runner’s World Half & Festival (Oct 14-16, 2016)
Really happy to be able to run again. The RW Half & Festival is a great event, they even provided shuttles for us who live in NYC. The weather at the start was cold, but then it warmed up after I finish. The course was hilly but beautiful. I would like to come back and do their Grand Slam someday.
Marine Corps Marathon (Oct 30, 2016)
They say money can’t buy happiness, but when I received an email from my bank that my card had been charged $140 (means I won the lottery to enter MCM), I was in fact quite happy, almost ecstatic to be honest. When I told people I will run the MCM, almost everyone told me I’d have a great time and the race is really beginner friendly. I can’t wait :)
November
Cambridge Half (Nov 13, 2016)
My running buddy wanted to do this race because she went to school in Boston years ago, and I’m simply tag along. Why not :)
* I would only run half marathons, marathons or longer distances, because I’m thrifty and usually a 10K costs not much less than a half marathon, but the course is much shorter. To me, it costs more to run a 10K than a half marathon (dollar per mile wise), so I would only do half marathon and longer distance because it’s cheaper “per mile” to run.
**This list will be updated as soon as I sign up for a new race before Dec 31, 2016.
Now I Own A Server
I have finally decided to pay for a Virtual Private Hosting service last Tuesday. I had the standard VPS from Bluehost, along with my Heroku free tier, now I have two platforms to host my weekend projects and be as nerdy as I want to.
I couldn’t help telling my non technical friends about it, and had to explain that getting a VPS for me is the equivalent to receiving Christmas gifts for them.
It’s time to unleash my startup spirit: make great things and actually deploy them.
Blooming Flowers 