Rooftop Grab-and-Go Coffee Night Run Crew — Get Addicted to Road Running After Just One Try

Text & Photos /Fiona Fei

As of March this year, I’ve been running for exactly half a year now!
I already had a habit of practicing yoga, but since yoga is an anaerobic exercise, and I had a membership that was buy two years get one free, this year happened to be the third year, meaning I didn’t have to pay any membership fees at all this year, so I gradually became lazy (how did this happen........)

I wanted to start trying aerobic exercise, and the easiest form of aerobic activity is running, of course. So in March this year, I started thinking about running once a week. At first, I went to the treadmill at the sports center, but after a while, I found it boring. Until one day, I tried running on the green PU track next to Songshan Sports Center, wow!!! It was so bouncy and easy to run on!!! And so began my "one run a week" journey!

Later, it became a fixed night run every Monday, and I formedthe Refersh Running Crew—my group of good friends, the Rooftop Grab-and-Go Coffee Night Run Crew


[In March] At the very beginning, I couldn’t even finish 1 km, I was so out of breath and exhausted, really couldn’t catch my breath. So sometimes I’d run 500 m and walk 500 m. It wasn’t until after a month of practice that my uncle reminded me to take it slow with running, to run slower in order to run longer. (The photo below shows me practicing at Dajia Riverside Park in the early days—you can see from my back view how labored and slow my run was.)


[April]
Once, I set my running speed to very, very slow, and that time I discovered I could run 2 km in one go (this felt almost like discovering a new continent, no wonder everyone says running is about challenging yourself), even though the progress was minimal, but I managed to hit 2 km on average each time, and seeing my Nike Running stats gave me a little secret joy. By then, the Refersh Running Crew had been formed, but there were very few members.

At the beginning, I didn’t know better—I wore my own short cotton pants or beach shorts to run, didn’t wear a sports bra either, and wasn’t wearing proper running shoes. Later on, I really realized how important it is to wear the right gear when running!! The difference is huge~
Essential gear for road running includes:
1) Running Pants　Available from all major sportswear brands, I’ve bought Puma and Nike ones so far, and it’s recommended to get ones with wider pant legs.

2) Professional Running Shoes
I highly recommend the American tech-based running brand BROOKS—runners around me who’ve tried them all give praise. They design three types of platforms based on different foot shapes—straight, regular, and curved—and they’ve even developed a 4E wide last specifically for Asian foot shapes, as well as shoes designed for low arches.
Mine is the pink one in the photo below, which girls absolutely love, and it was also rated by Next Magazine as the “most comfortable to run in.”


3) Sports Bra
When picking a sports bra, you’ll notice that from low-impact to high-impact activities, the shoulder straps of the bras go from thin to thick. Since road running is a high-impact activity, it’s strongly recommended to wear the thicker version of the sports bra (the one on the left in the top photo). Absolutely do not substitute with regular bras or bikinis (you don’t want your chest ending up around your stomach—I’m being dramatic ><)

4) Thick Socks
It’s recommended to wear thick socks that make you feel happy, preferably a bit longer—the pattern should just be something that makes you smile (since you’re not dressed like an office worker anyway), and the longer length helps avoid friction between the back of your heel and the running shoes (the pair on the right in the top photo). Doesn’t this pair of socks just look super uplifting?!

5) Arm Sleeves + Headphones + High-Energy Music
Based on my half-year running experience, I find that listening to music while running helps me keep going, and having arm sleeves also allows me to use the Nike Running app, which is an amazing app, highly recommended!

6) It’s recommended to eat a banana before running
Eating a banana before running helps replenish energy. Every Monday, the Refresh Running Crew meets around 7:30 AM, and I also eat bananas with fellow runners before hitting the road ^^


In my half-year of running, I’ve participated in three road races:
June 2, 2013 – Standard Chartered Charity Run (3K)
2013.8.11 Mizuno Lady’s Running (9K)
August 18, 2013 – Color Me Rad Crazy Color Run (5K)
I’ve realized that road racing can be addictive. Once you join your first race, you’ll start looking for more events. When you have different running T-shirts and towels, it feels almost like collecting trophies. Plus, races usually start very early, around 6:00 or 6:30 AM. Arriving at the venue so early and seeing all the energetic participants in their event shirts gathering from all directions makes you feel super hyped and cool. The photo below is from the 3KM Standard Chartered Run on June 2. .

Check out how brightly and happily the girls are smiling as they receive their finisher certificates ^^ ( Left image below ), the right image below is from the August 11 Mizuno Lady’s Running (9K) race. Signing up for the 9K was actually a bit of a push for me—I usually only ran up to 6K during practice—but I still completed it that day. A really fit and beautiful dentist who often runs half marathons (21K) told me that once you sign up for a race, no matter how long it is, you’ll find a way to finish it. By the time I reached the finish line, I was really exhausted, my feet were numb and weak, but I felt absolutely amazing. I couldn’t believe I’d actually completed 9K, and my time wasn’t too bad either—1 hour, 2 minutes, and 56 seconds. Out of nearly 5,000 runners, I placed around 1,500th. I was just 2 minutes short of breaking the one-hour mark. Next time, I’ll drink water and rest a bit faster at the aid stations...

Since road races all require entry fees, after gaining some experience, I started comparing the freebies provided by different events. Aside from the standard T-shirts and towels, do they offer hats? Any other giveaways? The Mizuno Lady’s Running event had incredibly generous freebies. In addition to thoughtfully providing tampons before the run, there were also cute sun hats. The finisher gifts included Ferrero Rocher chocolates, FIN, Revlon, Pond’s, laundry detergent, beauty drink powders... and more. It was really great. ( Image below)

I never thought I’d get hooked on running. Now, not only do I have a regular weekly night run on Mondays, but my energy and physique have also become healthier. Running with good colleagues and friends is even more fun than going karaoke at Cashbox. Thanks to these dedicated running buddies of mine. Next time, I’ll write an article introducing all my running mates. I suggest doing some core exercises after night runs—we’re currently obsessed with training our abs. Here’s a bunch of butt shots for everyone to enjoy @@

Here are a few great sports-related Facebook pages to check out:

1) I Love Little Mark Mark’s Running Mom (Who Loves Road Races) is definitely worth following.
2)Amazing Crew Running Team There are many such road running guide groups abroad, and this is probably the first celebrity-formed group in Taiwan, sponsored by Nike. Our Refresh Running Crew is kind of learning from them.
3) Sports Note  You can usually find photos of yourself from various runs here.
4) Jogging Club  They introduce all kinds of road racing events.