Hearing Your Stories: James Hsu

'I was always the C student in gym class... what I did find out, as many runners do, was that the 'I can do this' moments came from within.'

Evening, friends! 🌜

One of the coolest things about writing this newsletter is hearing from readers far from where I live (in Atlanta, Ga.). It’s just amazing to me to hear that someone in Brazil, or Israel, or Jamaica, or Costa Rica reads it along with us — and I’ve heard from readers in all of those places.

So when a reader named James Hsu shared a comment in a recent post and let me know he lived in China, I knew I’d love to hear his story.

James grew up on Canada’s West Coast but has spent more than a dozen years living in China, where he works in technology by day and gets out to run trails on the weekends, sometimes running as many as 100 kilometers a week.

As impressive as that is, he wasn’t athletic at all growing up; “I was always the C student in gym class,” he says. These are the stories I love to share, because I was like that too, to be honest — I love to see how far we all can come when we try, you know?

Also — please know I’d LOVE to hear your story too, if you’re interested in sharing it. All you need to is reply back by email or in the comments below, and we’ll go from there. — Terrell

So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

I’m James Hsu. I grew up in Vancouver, Canada on the West Coast, but I have been living in mainland China for the past 14 years. Life and work, in no particular order, has taken me to China and given me some interesting paths along the way. Now I’m based in Shanghai.

I’m turning 44 years old this year, which is pretty wild in some respects. On most days, I feel younger than I actually am! I have to credit running with helping me stay young, or at least feel young.

I’ve worked in the tech industry, in product management roles, for most of my career. Today, I’m a freelancer and entrepreneur focused on helping others achieve their personal and business goals.

My three buckets of work today are creator, trainer and executive coach. Due to my background, I have clients who look to me for insights on how to communicate and work effectively across cultures.

Courtesy James Hsu

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

Canadian here, so I’m using kilometers, not miles 😀

My running routine consists of a LOT of low intensity, easy runs. I try to incorporate one tempo or interval workout per week, one long-ish run of 25 kilometers or higher a week, and the rest is easy miles. I tend to run five to six times a week, and my runs typically range from 12 km to 25 km.

All in all, it adds up to about 60 to 80 kilometers a week, on average. On some weeks, when I’m feeling adventurous and strong, I might top out at 100 kilometers. But in recent years, I’ve adopted the mindset of “go one less,” especially if it helps with recovery.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

I was absolutely NOT athletic. One of my earliest childhood/teenage memories was high school gym class, where our coach gave out grades on a bell curve for completion times — if you were one of the first 3 finishers in a 10 kilometer run, you received an A, if you were in the next 5 finishers, a B, etc. I was always the C student in gym class. Gym class was tough.

For most of high school, I struggled to run six laps around the school track. I mostly played basketball with my friends, or with the kids around the neighborhood. Wasn’t good enough — or fit enough! — to play on the school team, I just enjoyed shooting hoops.

Aside from those memories, I remember bike rides with my dad and brother.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

I wish I could say I knew about running as an international sport back then, or was inspired by a certain athlete, but that was not the case. I “found” running by identifying it as an accessible sport that didn’t require a lot of gear or personal investment.

After high school, I was looking to lose weight and gain self-confidence to talk to girls, and figured that running was the easiest way to exercise regularly. I didn’t need a gym membership; all I needed were running shoes and willpower.

I started back in the late 1990s to early 2000s, and had no concept of what running gear was, nor pace, nor the concept of owning a running watch. My earliest runs were entirely based on feel.

What I did find out later, as many runners do, was that the “I can do this” moments came from within. It came from a place of earned self-confidence as we realize that after a slightly longer, harder and/or faster run, we’ve pushed ourselves just a little bit harder... and we’re still standing. Over the years, those gradual moments have been amazing for me.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

First of all, I’m definitely more invested in the sport. I’ll follow the marathon event in the Olympics, the Hakone Ekiden (Japan’s most prestigious relay race, where half-marathon records are unofficially smashed on an annual basis), and even subscribe to a few running-related Substack newsletters.

As far as my own running goes, I’ve been running half-marathons for the past 20 years in a recreational sense. I never ran them with any serious goal or training plan in place; the “goal” was always about completing the races.

It’s only in the past two to three years that I started down the path of running full marathons. I’ve run six marathons since then, all of them in China, and I’m finally at the point where I feel that I can comfortably finish them now. I’m working on getting progressively faster, but at the same time, I’m patient with my process.

That being said, I do have some goals to run farther and faster. Completing a 50K trail race is also one of my goals for 2026.

Courtesy James Hsu

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

These days, I balance running with my freelance work and spending time with my spouse. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to make time in my life for running, due to a flexible work schedule that I’ve designed for myself.

My extended family and relatives are not in Shanghai, and I do make time to visit them throughout the year. Those visits turn into fun opportunities to run in cities that I’m not used to running in — also a fun diversion.

On a personal note, I believe that life is about prioritization and that true balance is impossible. There will be times where I can make more time for running, and times where I can’t, and that’s okay. Over a longer time horizon, I’m happy so long as I can prioritize the things that truly matter to me.

I’ve also struggled at times with finding the true “meaning” in running, but those struggles have allowed me to reflect meaningfully on how important the sport is to me, in the long run (pun intended).

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

I’m proud of my consistency and getting myself out the door most days. The consistent slow mileage comes with so many benefits, including the task of staying injury-free.

Consistency, combined with a rational sense of what my abilities are, has helped me run faster than ever in my forties.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

The biggest learning I have about myself, since starting my running journey, is to put the concept of “good things take time” into practice.

There are a lot of cliches in sports, and elsewhere, flying around. Phrases like “trust the process,” “take it one day at a time,” and so forth. Since starting running, however, I’ve found all those phrases to be 100% true!

Running rewards patience over years and decades. It’s humbling as a sport, but also incredibly rewarding so long as you’re willing to stick with it.

To go along with that sentiment, I do feel like I’m a more patient person now. Not only when I’m running, but in general. I feel like I’m not “chasing” things that are realistically out of reach for myself. Running taught me that.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I’d like to get progressively faster over the next five to 10 years, and run some marathons outside of China. Nothing super specific in a quantitative sense, just enjoying the journey and seeing where it takes me.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

I’ve definitely had the “runner’s blues” a few times a year, especially after an underwhelming race or tough periods in general. What helps me get back on track is telling myself that running is a privilege, running is a part of what I do, and running is hard work.

There are lots of things in life that we don’t always want to do, but they prove to be beneficial to us in the long run. That being said, incorporating new shoes and workouts tends to be an effective “carrot” for my own self-motivation.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

“Be kinder to yourself, and believe that things will work out. At the same time, you have to make mistakes to learn and grow.”

Maybe a little corny, and I’m not sure 10-year old James would believe all of it, but I’d sure as heck try!

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Courtesy James Hsu

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