2025 – Week #47

I was supposed to run my first marathon tomorrow — Hong Kong’s STREETATHON - but I’ll be skipping it.

Karen and I just got back from a weeks-long Japan trip with our friends Regal, Jen, Joe, Adrianne, Milano and Liz. Japan has always been a special place for me - endless inspiration, good food, a weak Yen, and somehow always tied to some of my closest friendships.

This particular trip was especially special because it was Joe’s first time in Japan, and, unbeknownst to much of the group until that point, Liz and Milano got engaged mid-way through! Lots to celebrate.

Blurry nights fueled by cheap yakitori, ginger highballs, lemon sours and a few darts here and there. And maybe a few midnight combini ice creams to finish things off every night. On top of my non-existent training for the past several weeks, all this “adult playtime” settled my decision not to run on Sunday.

That, and my right calf violently cramped out of nowhere mid-way through the trip, and there’s still a small, tender lump in it a few days later. I haven’t had a cramp that bad in probably a decade. My age is really showing on me.

Although there were great times had and clear signs not to run, I’m still a little disappointed in myself. Skipping my first marathon doesn’t feel very "Mamba".

But another part of me knows this: greatness is also about choosing your battles. This season looked like making memories with friends who knew us before the fame, celebrating old relationships and new beginnings, soaking in a country I love, and getting a break from the beautiful chaos of parenting.

The sweet is outweighing the bitter. I’m sitting with both - the sting of missing a goal, and the gratitude for everything I gained instead.