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Why I Run - Why I Run - Yvonne Cheng
Club: Vainquers, Montreal
Yvonne Cheng is a professional programmer, runner and a blogger who runs the Dragons Rouge blog and runs for the Vainquers Club.
After reading the two previous "Why-I-Runs", my mind meandered down memory lane to recall how and why I started running and why I still do it (despite having been injury-ridden for the past 5 months!). It brought a smile to my face as I read both your stories as mine is a little bit of a hybrid of the two of them. The first time I remember running was in grade 3 (I was 8 years old) when the school I attended (The Study) made it mandatory for all students in grades 3 and 4 to run the Halo Road Race (sound familiar, Ian?). Twice a week we would head out to the mountain to train for the 1km race (seemed so long back then). I was a hockey player at the time and quite a poor runner. I think I placed 48th out of 90 girls that year, but every year, I would train for it (in Gym class) and race the Halo until one bright sunny day in grade 6, I ran the 2km Halo to finish 5th out of 142 girls. The following years in high school, I ran cross-country but I don't remember actually being concious of the training I was doing.
Fast forward now to my 19th year... Growing up in a chinese household was a little different than most of my friend's lives. Sure, every family has their quirks and issues and I don't pretend to understand the intricacies and the dynamics of every family but I had a hard time growing up in western culture (school, friends etc) and living under my parent's asian philosophies. I started going to the track a mile away from my house to run every morning just to clear my mind, to get out of the house, to be alone. To get away from the family. To be free from the pressure. (Sound familiar, Denis?) I entered a West-Island circuit race for the first time that fall (Valleyfield, 1997) and ran my first 5km in 24:36. Not great especially for someone as young as I was (now I feel old!) but I loved the experience.
During the summer of 99, I trained pretty hard and ran most of my pb's that year including a 1:36:30 half marathon, and in 2003, a 20:40 5km. Since then it's been pretty much classic... you know how life gets in the way, moving in with my non-runner (ex) boyfriend, work demands, starting a career etc...
So here I am, in 2006. I have since broken up with Fred and moved out, I've been working at my current job for a year now and despite the momumental efforts I need to put in to jump-start my career as a software developer, I've promised myself that I'm not going to take the easy way out. I'm going to wake up early to train, give my 200% at work, and keep on running...
I realized a lot of things through my injury this year. (This is where I get to the WHY I RUN part). Running has always been my way of dealing with life, dealing with the frustrations (I'm impatient by nature so I'd make a bad distance runner!). No matter what kind of pressure I was under at work, I knew one thing for sure. Come 4AM, I'd be out with my running shoes and it'd be just me, my thoughts and the road. Once the injury kicked in, I no longer had that mecanism to escape my mind and body to, the frustrations built up, the work pressure got to me and I nearly caved. I think I love to run, to train, to compete, but one of the reasons I spent so much time and effort on rehab/physio is to get myself back on my feet chasing the sunrise - that single one consistency in my life right now that I hold on to and need so much. I sometimes wish i was a kid again to relive those moments I took for granted. That's why I love the morning when I can be 12 years old again for a short hour before I put on work clothes and head into the office.
So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Thanks for reading! And see you soon on the road.
Yvonne (the reddest dragon! ;) )