Hearing your stories: Rosalie Chan

The first in a series in which we get to know the runners + readers of THM

Morning, friends! ☀️ You may remember a few weeks ago, when I put out a call to share your stories about how you became a runner and where running has taken you. I heard from many of you and today I’m sharing the first of those, by longtime THM reader Rosalie Chan.

I’ve loved reading each and every one of your stories, and I’ll be sharing them here over the coming days and weeks. Some will be in written format like this, while others will be in audio/video. So, stay tuned!

If you feel inspired after reading Rosalie’s story, please don’t hesitate to reach out — I’d love to hear from you too! All you need to is reply back to me 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 a journalist based in San Francisco, and I'm 30 years old. Originally I'm from the Chicago area. Outside of running and work, I enjoy cooking, reading, and martial arts.

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

It really depends. Currently, I'm training for a marathon and 50K, so I'll run 3 to 4 times a week, along with cross training. Since I'm training for some longer distance races, long runs can be 15 to 20 miles while medium runs can be 8 to 10 miles. When I'm not training for a specific race, usually I run 4 to 6 miles probably around 2 to 4 times a week. Besides running, I also go to a martial arts gym.

Courtesy Rosalie Chan

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

I was definitely not an athletic kid growing up. I was the kid in PE class who would run away from basketballs and soccer balls to avoid having to participate that much and hide in the locker room when we had to swim.

However, in middle school, I participated in cross country and track because those sports have a relatively low bar to get into, as in, no need to actually know the rules of a sport and learn the specific skills of that sport! Just gotta run. I was going to join track in high school, but high school P.E. kind of ruined running for me at that time, although I did join the badminton team.

Anyway overall, throughout childhood I really did not enjoy P.E. at all and always dreaded it, although now I see the importance of having it everyday in school.

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 joined cross country and track in middle school because they had a relatively low bar to join. I wanted to participate on a sports team, but I seriously was so bad at all the other sports. In middle school I absolutely loved track, and I thought relay races and doing the long jump were so much fun. However high school P.E. ruined running for me for a bit.

When I got to college, I picked up running again because I realized I actually found it relaxing and stress relieving. I would go running late at night, around 8 or 9 p.m., and I would jog along the lakefront and just soak in the stars in the sky and the skyline view up ahead. It was amazing. I've been running regularly ever since.

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

I am even more into running now, and I run much further. Since moving to California, I've gotten into trail and mountain running. I used to think I could never run up mountains (especially since I'm from Illinois, where it's all flat) or never run long distances, but it's something I do regularly now.

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?

I balance running with work and daily household tasks. I'm married and don't have kids yet, though I would like to in the future. Besides that I go to a martial arts gym regularly, so balancing the time and energy between that and running can be a little tough.

Usually, I don't find it difficult to balance running with my other daily tasks, but training for long distance races is a huge time commitment as you might need to block out 3 to 4 hours at a time for a long run and 1 to 2 hours for a medium run during the week. To do that, I plan out my week at the start of each week so I can strategically plan out when I want to do my long, medium, and short runs as well as when to take rest days — those are so important!

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

Overall I'm proud of my drive and consistency. I did my first marathon last year, and it was on a mountain trail. It's something that a few years ago I never thought I could do, but setting a goal and following a plan to achieve that goal really helped. Even if I'm not training for anything specific, I think it's important to be consistent and just stick to it.

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

So many things. First of all, I realized that I actually really enjoy fitness and working out. Like I said, when I was a kid I hated sports, but today, most of my hobbies are active activities.

Second of all, running takes you on amazing journeys. I'm a trail runner, and I'm constantly in awe of the amazing nature in the San Francisco Bay Area I get to run through, from mountaintop city views to lush eucalyptus forests to the ocean side to blooming flowers on the side of trails. Running and being in nature has been enormously beneficial to my mental and spiritual health.

Finally, I've learned to be consistent and stick to my plans to achieve my goals. Most of the time, I run pretty slowly, but just running consistently has helped me get faster over time.

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?

Right now I'm training for my first 50K. I'd like to try to run a marathon each year. The process of training for it is sometimes painful, but I find that having a goal and a plan is really beneficial.

I also love to travel. I'm not sure if I need to do races in other countries, but I'd like to take time every time I go on a trip to go running and use that as a way to explore the city I'm visiting.

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 just love running. It's as simple as that. I don't know if I'm great at it, but I definitely enjoy it, and that's what keeps me going. I love running outside, and I love how it's a stress reliever for me. When running outside, I never get bored, and I don't even listen to anything with headphones while running.

This tends to amaze people, but there's so much to see when you're running outside. I will say that I find running on treadmills really boring, but sometimes I've had to do it when the weather was bad. I think finding new races to train for or exploring new trails will keep me going. I also think being proactive about athletic self-care practices like stretching, taking rest days, eating healthily, etc. can help keep me going long term in the sport.

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?

This is a great question. So I vividly remember my first day of cross country practice when I was 10 years old. We had to run on a 2-mile path around a lake at a park. At that point, I had never run that far. I remember being so tired and having to walk sometimes just to get around that lake. When I finished, I was so out of breath, I thought I would collapse.

Yet here I am 20 years later, still running, and running much further. So I'd probably say something like, "Surprise! You're gonna actually love running and get better at it. And guess what, you're going to end up becoming a lifelong runner." (Hopefully!)