Enter The Dragon... As A Monkey - Kevin

Here is my unfiltered verbiage for going into 2012. Call me a scatter brain if you will. 2012 is the year of Dragon according to Chinese zodiac. While the symbol can be significant, it is just another year of life. As much as it is down played, each year of life can be significant, if that makes any sense. 2011 no doubt is a big year for myself in many ways. Depending on how I choose to look at my year, I can say that it's either a year of roller coaster or a year for digging deep into life. But I would like to choose the latter.

Although my personal life had been affected in 2011, the result from the affect eventually became my encouragement and motivation to drive toward my journey to find the meaning of life.  It also allowed me to seek out for happiness and my new desires. Whether it meant hitting the lows of the year and getting out there to focus on how lucky I was to be selected to run Western States 100 or simply visiting my family in Hong Kong, I embraced and enjoyed every moment of it.

Did I mention that it has been two years since I've met the Coyotes? Since then, the New Year holiday became a holiday close to my heart. On New Year's Eve of 2009 moving on to 2010, the other Vita Panda, Louis Kwan, introduced me to the SoCal Coyotes. The group has been a blessing to my life. It has given me dreams I had never dreamed of (i.e. WS100). It has taught me lessons for life and for running, which I'm sooo thankful for.

Although the Coyotes New Years Eve run is only on it's third year, it is already feeling like a tradition for myself. As a group, we question each other and learn about each other for what we each experienced in that very year before moving on to the next. What is that one thing that you have failed to accomplish in 2011? What is one of the proudest thing you've done in the year 2011? What is that one thing that if you were to have accomplished, it will fulfill the year 2012? Often times, it's nice to share these feelings and experiences of our past, present and hope for the best for our future.

There are many things that I truly embrace from the year 2011. Most of which has nothing to do with running. Although Western State was definitely a feat I'll never forget and that I'm forever grateful for. What I learned in 2011 is that whether we fail or succeed, we should embrace it all. Yes, even at the lowest of the low. In the end, there will always be someone that's going through a tougher time than you are. Make the best out of every situation. Try your best to never take anything for granted because nothing is forever.  Many of these bases were discovered while I spend my time running throughout the year.  Sometimes, one needs to take a step back and look at the big picture. In my case, take many many steps forward relentlessly. That is why I'm so grateful for running and to have found myself enjoying all this at this day and age (mind you that I used to hate running).

As far as my running career goes, I'm pretty happy with what I have accomplished in 2011. Western States 100 sure enough was an epic experience. Miwok 100K was probably one of my favorite / most enjoyable race of the year. That may or may not have anything to do with my huge bonker at The North Face Endurance Challenge San Francisco back in December of 2010, which overlaps a great portion of Miwok 100K's course. I'm also pretty stoked about getting faster. It was great to PR at Santa Monica Boardwalk 5K followed by my very first DNF at Los Pinos 50K.

2012 is going to be a great year. Now that it's 3 weeks deep into 2012 and I've raced two half marathons.  One on trail, the other on road (my first road 1/2). It certainly feels great to train hard again entering the new year. 2011 have prepped me for a more aggressive 2012. The way I see it is, let's not take my gift for granted. Go big or go home. Live like you mean it. So long Bunny. Hello Dragon.