About running I want to start with the first city that made me fall in love with horse racing, San Francisco.
Ever since I ran across the Charles River in East Boston, New York’s Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge, I probably wanted to be like my idol Forrest Gump, the male lead in "Forrest Gump", rambling. The destination is running down this land. Running is a part of life, a part of free will. Later I went to San Francisco. On the first day after I arrived, I didn’t wait for dawn, so I headed into Ocean Beach, a large beach in San Francisco. I ran along the beach near Cliff House for what seemed like a long, long time before I met someone coming out. While fishing and diving, an old lady walked by me and unexpectedly greeted me and said, Look, the dolphins are there! You are so lucky. In my memory, it was my first time running on the Pacific coast, and I actually saw a beached giant whale. I only saw its huge back, and sadly thought that it would never return to the sea. That morning, I ran like this all the way, and the moisture caused my bangs to stick together. I ran all morning until I was exhausted, and then I climbed up to the seaside high ground with satisfaction and returned. The reason why I miss this place so much is probably because of the Sunset Boulevard nearby. I have had endless reverie since I was in college. I didn’t expect that I would actually visit this place many years later.
San Francisco is not suitable for running to some extent. The neighborhoods connecting the seaside and the city are like a roller coaster. When I told my friends that this was the first city I ran in, some people were surprised. It is said that the San Francisco Marathon is difficult. Compared with most events, its road is not smooth.
Part of the reason why I chose this city is that I like the Golden Gate Bridge very much. I once watched from the other end of the bridge as night fell, a seaside city slowly turned into a sea of ??stars, and it was impossible to see the sunset under the afterglow. The gentle description turns this city into a dream. So I have always wanted to come to the west coast again and run along the sea. Another reason was that I met French friends here who encouraged me to try horse racing. I remember that one morning on the way, I quietly got up from the Hostel room to go for a morning run. This friend saw me, so we agreed to go for a morning run together the next day. Later I learned that she quit her job to travel and had already traveled half of the United States. When I met her, she had just finished hiking in Yosemite National Park and injured her left leg. Under such circumstances, she still insisted on training, no matter what. Give yourself any chance to be lazy and take a breather. It was my first time to run with a professional. I was affirmed and encouraged by her. She said, you must participate in a full marathon.
In fact, I believe that as long as anyone wants to run a full marathon, she can definitely do it, because horse racing is actually a race of the mind. After running marathons for four years, I can say this with confidence, but that first decision was entirely based on the affirmation and encouragement of my friends. I had no experience or experience to refer to when it came to marathons. I still remember the conversations my French friend and I had along the way about our views on female roles, pursuit of life, social media, religion, China, France, etc. I cherish the opportunity to have fun conversations with friends from different cultural backgrounds. Therefore, I canceled the activities in San Francisco on the last afternoon and moved with her to another Hostel. As a thank you, she invited me to drink Taiwanese food with her that she couldn’t stop drinking. Milk tea, she was sarcastic about her coffee-addicted friends, while complaining that she blamed herself for not falling in love with milk tea that contains too much sugar.
That afternoon also gave me a different feeling about travel and cities. Sometimes, we need to follow our own will and intuition without hesitation and put everything aside, and sometimes, we also need to slowly reflect on every moment of life and every lightning-fast decision, because of this.
After that autumn day, I decided to run the San Francisco Marathon, and I didn’t know how much this marathon would change my life...