2017 Thoughts

Kiyomi Ran
Dec 31, 2017
2 min read

I'm currently in Beijing, China, in my lonely hotel room without Facebook, YouTube, Netflix, Instagram, Snapchat, and anything else that remotely connects me with the outside world, about to celebrate entering 2018. And I've been thinking, what a year it has been with my running journey.

I remember last December, I had the final run and my longest run ever at 12 km. And then I woke up on New Years 2017 with a pain in my left knee. It took me two weeks to get diagnosed that I had tight ITB that has been pulling my left knee. I'm sure I'll be in pain first year of 2018 with a pain, too, but this time on my right knee, as I have been suffering from some inflammation.

Starting off with my impulsive decision to run a Half Marathon in March to doing really well at my second HM in May to running my first full marathon in November, 2017 has been an absolute blast and a year of growth. But it has also been a year of challenges.

I sometimes hated having to run in the hot, humid, Tokyo summer.

I sometimes hated having to leave my warm bed for a frosty run in London.

I didn't let my body have enough rest.

I made other people suffer because of my training.

I hated my body and the scale.

I lashed out at other people when something didn't go right.

All of these things and more happened. But this year, these challenges have made my love for running even stronger and made me a real marathoner. I can never forget that happiness in finishing the 42.2km in Porto that sunny afternoon. My tears started to fall as soon as I saw Alex and my mom rush towards me after the finish line. I just felt so much love - both to and for myself - and from the people who have been supporting me.

Running is a self-made support. Only I can control how I achieve my running goals. But along the way, I need support and reflecting back on it, I've realized that while I may have been running by myself, my time was not made just by me. I am so glad that 2017 had given me a passion I look forward to pursuing for the rest of my life. But for now, my main resolution for 2018 is a full recovery!!

Happy New Years to you all!