Running

I started running a little after 6 a.m., when Shenzhen was still half asleep. From Nanshan, I headed south along familiar city roads toward the coastal area, letting a 16.33 km morning run gently set the rhythm for the day. The route ran almost straight north to south, cutting through the quiet early-morning city and gradually opening up toward the coastline. Traffic was minimal, the air was cool, and the rhythm of footsteps echoed against empty sidewalks. ...

A review of my 2025 fitness record — walking, running, and half marathons, measured one step at a time.

1. Along the River, Starting from Wanguo Stadium Golden Week turns Shanghai into a softer city. Traffic thins, the air cools, and the river path near Wanguo Stadium feels like it belongs to the runners again. On the first morning of the holiday I slipped onto the trail, followed the water south until the path ran out of concrete, then traced the same route home. The pace settled into something meditative—steady breathing, steady cadence, just the splash of waves against the embankment. The only real obstacles were the holiday strollers drifting three abreast, chatting as if the path were their living room. ...

Weekdays lately feel like a sprint between meetings, so the only way to keep training is to embrace the office treadmill. Surprisingly, I don’t mind it. I leave the headphones in my locker and listen to the belt hum in rhythm with my footsteps. It’s a stripped-down kind of focus. On September 25, I logged a solid session before the day fully kicked in. Because treadmills can feel forgiving, I nudged the incline up a notch to mimic pavement. ...

Sometimes the best tour guide is a pair of running shoes. Before 6 a.m. on a September Saturday, I stepped out for a 21.34 km half-marathon loop through central Shanghai and let the city unfold in silence. I started near Zhongshan Park and slipped onto the Suzhou Creek path. The city was still yawning awake: museum facades mirrored in the water, Jing’an’s skyline stretching its shadows. Around the 6 km mark the Oriental Pearl Tower appeared, its pink spheres glowing softly through the haze like lanterns waiting for dusk. ...

I set off near the Amber Museum in Palanga, letting the path pull me south. The forest smelled like pine needles rinsed in salt water, and the run began as a quiet conversation between footsteps and the Baltic breeze. Then a sign appeared. A wolf silhouette. Maybe it was just a warning for hikers, maybe it was serious. Either way, I wasn’t planning to test it. The pace quickened on instinct. If the splits looked sharp, I could thank the imaginary wolf pacing me from the trees. ...

Budapest wakes up slowly, but the Danube is already busy with light. At 5:02 a.m. on July 12, 2025, I slipped out of the hotel, shoes squeaking faintly on the cobblestones, and followed the cool air toward Margaret Island (Margit-sziget). The island sits like a park set afloat between Buda and Pest, and at dawn it belongs almost entirely to runners. The lap is familiar on paper—two loops of the red track that wraps the island—but it never feels repetitive. The surface has just enough give, and the trees form a tunnel that lets the sunrise drip through in thin ribbons of gold. ...

Back in 2010 I dove into WordPress, spent weekends tweaking themes, and posted whenever inspiration struck. I also tinkered with the server far more than I wrote. Inevitably the machine crashed, backups were missing, and the archive vanished in one swoop. (Lesson learned: backups are dull right up until they become priceless.) I attempted a few comebacks, but work ramped up and two small kids arrived, so the blog went into hibernation. ...