I tried to capture this great weekend of Julie’s graduation from UCSF Medical School.  CONGRATS JULIE!  Both of my sisters are now doctors– it’s not too hard for me to get a second opinion when it comes to medicine.

Click on the image below to experience the weekend!

I have run a half marathon in 3 of my 4 years of undergrad.  The latest race occurred yesterday morning in the Santa Barbara wine country.

Starting in Freshman year, Kai Lukoff, a dormmate, and I drove up to Hombolt County to participate in the Avenue of the Giants.  It was a beautiful and fast course, which was slightly inclined on the way out and then slightly declined on the way back.  It was mosly all paved and fast.  Covered by enormous redwoods, the Avenue created an almost perfect environment for running.

The logo from the Avenue of the Giants:

Kai and I after finishing the Avenue of the Giants!

During sophomore year, another group from my freshman dorm, Drew, Kai, Linh, Steph and myself all tried our hand at the Nisene Marks Half Marathon.  This course was much more challenging than the Avenue because at around mile 4 or 5, there were these switchbacks that continued to climb for a time that seemed like forever.  Then, when that climb was finally over, it was dangerous to go too fast on the down hill because of the numerous roots and rocks that covered the trail.  Let’s just say that Nisene Marks provided us all with quite the adventure.

Logo from Nisene Marks:

The Nisene Marks brave group:

Finally, the race yesterday near the end of my senior year was in the Santa Barbara Wine Country.  This one definitely rivals the Avenue in terms of being both a beautiful, fun, and fast course.  The first half began with some rolling hills (although nothing too horrible), then there was a long stretch of flatness, which lasted until about mile 6.  At this point there was a bit of a hill for about 1/2 mile, followed by mostly downhill with some undulating hills.  Those brave enough to travel down to SoCal for this race included PJ, Paco, Linh, Diane and myself.

Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon Logo:

Although the challenges of the  Nisene Marks Half Marathon proved challenging on my race time, I was able to slightly improve from my freshman year time to my senior year time.  To put this in perspective, for none of these races did I train appropriately.  I would go on several runs a week for 3 weeks to a month leading up to each of the races.  My philosophy is that these races provided the motivation for me to run at least a little bit more than I usually do (which happens to be very little).  Freshman year, I ran a 2:02, and yesterday, I was able to pull out a 1:56, breaking that 2 hour barrier.