Tag: running

Photos: The Spartan Race

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

This year, I ran in my first-ever Spartan Race.  Zombie runs are tiresome and the chasing nature of them leads to take away from the physical challenge of obstacles, since it caused people like me to blow up before any obstacles.  And after the debacle of the Georgia Run For Your Lives event, I was actually a little eager to redeem myself from such an abysmal time, even if my group and I were screwing around the entire time, due to the fact that it was an uncontrollable mud pit.

As a whole, I really liked the Spartan Race.  Not being chased by overzealous fake zombies led me to concentrate on the task at hand, and manage my endurance to traverse four miles as well as numerous physical obstacles.  I realize what my strengths and weaknesses are in general; when it comes to running, I’m pretty comfortable and right at home, but when it comes to sheer upper-body strength, despite how much I workout, I’m absolutely terrible with stuff like monkey bars and having the sheer strength to lift myself over an eight-foot wall.

Continue reading “Photos: The Spartan Race” →

Photos: Cupid’s Undie Run Atlanta

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Well howdy there.  If you’re reading this, you’re either one of the seven people that regularly visit my site, or you’re an inquiring Google traveler who happened to put search for the query “undie run atlanta” or something along those lines, because why else: you’re looking for pictures of yourself!  After all, there were many, many people taking pictures throughout the event (including questionable, kind of pervy old people not a part of the event with cameras); why couldn’t there be the possibility that some of them end up on the internet?  Well lucky for you, I’m in the habit of sharing the random photos I take from the events I do that I take pictures at.  And hopefully for your sake, you find one of yourself.

Who was I?  I was that weirdo Asian guy with the championship belt that came to the run like a creepy perv, showing up to an event where people are all in their underwear all by myself.  But it’s because I’m gangster like that, not (entirely) because I wanted gawk at women.  As hard as it may be to believe if you recall seeing me, I’m actually a pretty avid runner, and for the record I finished the mile run probably within the first 15-20 runners.  But yeah, I like to take pictures and post them up on the internet.

Continue reading “Photos: Cupid’s Undie Run Atlanta” →

Peachtree Road Race great success

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

According to the timing chips, I completed the Peachtree Road Race in 58:45 this year.  I am pleased by this number. Even more so because the last time I ran it, the chips said that I ran the race in 1:03:04, which mortified me that I was then incapable of completing 6.2 miles in under an hour.  But such a fluke has been rectified, and I’m back to under an hour, right around the pace where I think I should be running.

As I said, I am happy with my result.  Especially considering how blown up I felt during the ascent up Cardiac Hill, making me think that I was ill-prepared this year, but the key is that I never stopped running regardless.  And despite feeling like I didn’t have the late-race adrenaline rush like I had in the past which has usually served to hoist me through the final 0.2 miles of the race, when I saw the finish line in sight, it came through once again, and was a big contributor to shaving off at least half a minute from my time.

I always have unusual and lucid dreams at my parents’ house

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Maybe its the ambient noise from the dehumidifier in my old basement, or maybe it’s the fact that I’m in completely pitch black darkness.  Maybe its the old blankets I used to use when I lived here nine years ago, on top of the mattresses which used to be my old bed.

Apparently, much like how I’ve signed up, or planned to be participating in many more runs and obstacle courses, in this dream, I had been running in several different zombie runs.  For all I know, this girl might have been one of the actual zombies I ran past just a few weeks ago.  But for intents and purposes, I had apparently run in zombie runs in Virginia, Toronto, Miami and Boston.  Each time, I noticed that I came across this one girl who was always participating in her own right, as a zombie.

The encounters were always brief, since I always in escape mode most of the time, but with this girl, I always lingered.  Whether it was because I was playing possum, or it was a one-on-one encounter, leading me to take my time and attempt to get up in their grill before trying to get around them.  The fact of the matter was that I kept running into the same girl several times over, and she was apparently appealing to me, even all dressed up as a zombie.

Continue reading “I always have unusual and lucid dreams at my parents’ house” →

The aftermath, in statistics

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

One hour, 44 minutes, 25 seconds – my official time in the Atlanta chapter of the zombie run.  Yikes.

That’s 66 minutes and one second longer than it took me to finish the course in Maryland.  Sure, the mud played a gigantic inhibiting factor in the Georgia run, but who am I to kid that I probably couldn’t have done way better than that time, if I had actually tried, instead of dicking around with my friends?  To put it in perspective, literally only 29 people “survived” with slower times than I did.  522 people “survived,” and I ranked 493 out of those times.

The fastest survival time was 39:37:10, which was actually 1:13:80 slower than my Maryland time, to put in perspective just how grueling the mud made the Georgia run.  A 41-year old man bettered that time by five minutes, but had apparently lost all his flags, therefore not really “the winner.”

I don’t regret my course of actions during the run, and I still declare that I had more fun this time, screwing around with the zombies, but this is quite an eye-opener for me.  In contrast to the Maryland run, I was rarely winded, and my muscles often fatigued before my stamina did, and I know I could have easily crossed in under an hour if I actually put forth the effort, state of survival up for debate.

Upon completion of the Atlanta zombie run, a part of me would be content at never participating again.  But a competitive part of me wants a degree of redemption; I don’t have anything to prove, but I still kind of want to end on a really high note.