[{"content":"My fellow organs, muscles, and weary neural pathways:\nWe convene today at a critical turning point.\nFor the past two years, we have confined ourselves to the desk, pouring our energy into economics coursework, data processing, and demanding research. While our minds have expanded, our physical vessel has paid a heavy toll. We have grown sedentary, letting our natural vigor slip away into the glowing screen of an academic grind.\nBut we must remember who we are. This is the body of Hugo Chu—a body that once thrived on the trails and roads as an avid runner, a resilient cyclist, and a heavy-load trekker. The time has come to awaken that dormant strength.\nWe choose to run a marathon. We choose to dedicate the next hundred days to this training plan, culminating in a 42.2km race on July 1st, 2026. We choose to run this marathon, and to tackle every interval and long run along the way, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Because this goal will serve to organize and measure the very best of our energies and skills.\nYou might ask: why choose this? Why demand such immense physical suffering when our intellectual burdens are already so heavy?\nBut then I ask you: Why did Marc-André Leclerc choose to free-solo the most unforgiving, unroped alpine peaks? Why did Eliud Kipchoge stare down the impossible two-hour marathon barrier and decide to break it?\nThey did it because the ultimate test of the human spirit is not found in comfort. We are not just running to build endurance for a PhD or a career in academia. We are running to forge an unbreakable architecture for our entire existence. We are building a resilience that transcends the library and the laboratory. When we learn to breathe through the burning pain of a 32km long run, we learn to breathe through any crisis life throws our way. This cardiovascular engine will not just power our sharpest thoughts; it will cultivate a fierce, undeniable vitality that will carry us through the triumphs, the tragedies, and the sheer unpredictability of a life fully lived.\nThe roadmap is laid out. Heart and lungs, you will face rolling 300s and progressive mile repeats. Legs and core, you must withstand the rigors of dedicated strength days and the ultimate 32km race practice in Week 10. Brain, you must redirect the absolute discipline you use to sit through long study sessions into pushing our feet forward when every fiber of our being begs to stop.\nWe set sail on this new asphalt sea. It is time to leave the chair behind. Let us begin.\nDetailed Plan This is the 13-week training plan Ruuna designed for me on Day 1 (will be updated in real-time).\nClick to download: My Marathon Training Plan Overview (PDF) Online Preview: ","date":"2026-04-09T00:00:00Z","image":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/we-choose-to-run-a-marathon/cover_hu_8894aa35703fa5fb.jpg","permalink":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/we-choose-to-run-a-marathon/","title":"We Choose to Run a Marathon"},{"content":"The cherry blossoms my second uncle planted by the front yard: Your browser does not support the video tag. ","date":"2026-02-27T00:00:00Z","image":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/the-cherry-blossoms-in-my-hometown-have-bloomed-and-its-time-for-me-to-leave/cover_hu_5506cb335379f1b5.jpg","permalink":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/the-cherry-blossoms-in-my-hometown-have-bloomed-and-its-time-for-me-to-leave/","title":"The cherry blossoms in my hometown have bloomed, and it's time for me to leave"},{"content":"The \u0026ldquo;two little ones\u0026rdquo; are Dudu (my nephew) and Shanyue (my niece).\nThe POV shots in the video are from Shanyue and me.\nWhy isn\u0026rsquo;t there any footage from Dudu? Because he usually hides upstairs watching TV; he\u0026rsquo;s too scared of us setting off firecrackers to come downstairs.\nCheck out our video footage: Your browser does not support the video tag. ","date":"2026-02-14T00:00:00Z","image":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/the-two-little-ones-first-day-inspecting-the-hometown/cover_hu_5cd49fc648707fa.jpg","permalink":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/the-two-little-ones-first-day-inspecting-the-hometown/","title":"The Two Little Ones' First Day Inspecting the Hometown"},{"content":"I spent most of this year holed up working,\nbut thankfully, I didn\u0026rsquo;t shut out the scenery completely.\nCheck out my recap video: Your browser does not support the video tag. The video is packed with never-before-seen Easter eggs!\n","date":"2025-12-21T00:00:00Z","image":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/2025-outdoor-year-in-review/cover_hu_c1398ebbbb36a102.jpg","permalink":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/2025-outdoor-year-in-review/","title":"2025 Outdoor Year in Review"},{"content":"My first time experiencing the snowfields of Xinjiang firsthand.\nAll I can say is that the experience was absolutely incredible. It wasn\u0026rsquo;t nearly as cold as I had imagined; in fact, I actually felt quite hot (although the trail difficulty was relatively low). For the detailed video, please look out for my upcoming annual review.\n","date":"2025-12-17T00:00:00Z","image":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/icefield-hiking-in-urumqi/cover_hu_b89fff37a7bf07e2.jpg","permalink":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/icefield-hiking-in-urumqi/","title":"Icefield Hiking in Urumqi"},{"content":"Perhaps the filters used for Lake Brienz in the K-drama were unnecessary,\nbut Kanas in September,\nis a movie in itself.\nCheck out our video footage: Your browser does not support the video tag. A magical scene unfolded at the Diaoyutai (Fishing Pavilion). The weather wasn\u0026rsquo;t cooperating that morning; hail started falling the moment the shuttle bus dropped us off on the mountain. We bit the bullet and hiked up to the highest peak, and suddenly, the sky cleared up. We didn\u0026rsquo;t miss out on this beautiful piece of amber.\nAn equally magical moment happened at the Tuluke Rock Paintings, but it was really strange: why did this trail feel completely abandoned? We didn\u0026rsquo;t even notice the rock paintings, but this has got to be the absolute best viewing spot for Kanas Lake!\nThe next day, we saw another side of Kanas Lake at the Three Bays.\nBefore heading to Kanas, we also visited Baihaba in the far northwest of China, and found the scenery across the border to be surprisingly pristine and magnificent.\nWe only slept in the tent for one night. We took advantage of the time before the cold snap hit to gaze at the long-lost starry sky, though unfortunately, our gear was too crappy to capture how breathtaking it was in person. Anyway, we fell asleep listening to the wind and rain that night, and woke up freezing the next morning.\nThen the cold snap actually hit, so we had no choice but to retreat to a 300-RMB-a-night guesthouse—but I have to admit, it was super comfortable! That evening, we still cooked dinner in the kitchen like a camping meal and watched a badminton final (though I forgot which tournament it was).\nThe funniest part is that the three of us only did one thing across all the tourist spots in Kanas: we ate grilled sausages from every single vendor\u0026hellip;\nOf course, in Burqin, we also had the best banmian (pulled noodles) we\u0026rsquo;ve eaten in Xinjiang in years!!! (Daidai\u0026rsquo;s Lapizi Banmian and Zhuafan )\nDuring this little gap trip (since we had been stuck at school all summer), one person was terrified of getting mauled by a bear, another was walking around blowing vape clouds from his \u0026ldquo;character enhancer,\u0026rdquo; and someone else kept making plans only to watch them get completely derailed by reality.\n📷 Photo Credits (Excluding Videos)\nOops, by the way, all the photos above (except the last one) were taken by Sidney Wong with his beloved Panasonic GX85.\nHit him up on Instagram: @aminoacid.w\n","date":"2025-09-03T00:00:00Z","image":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/a-fantastic-journey-to-altay/cover_hu_29cb1cecb2a7da7.jpg","permalink":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/a-fantastic-journey-to-altay/","title":"A Fantastic Journey to Altay"},{"content":"It\u0026rsquo;s a shame.\nThat day, I was too busy admiring Monet\u0026rsquo;s Water Lilies and Lu Xun\u0026rsquo;s century-old lilacs. Plus, it was cloudy, so I didn\u0026rsquo;t really take a good look at the Forbidden City.\nCheck out the video footage from that day: Your browser does not support the video tag. ","date":"2025-04-13T00:00:00Z","image":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/after-the-strong-winds-are-the-flowers-in-these-photos-still-at-the-forbidden-city/cover_hu_5b28319095bb75b4.png","permalink":"https://www.despairjasper.com/p/after-the-strong-winds-are-the-flowers-in-these-photos-still-at-the-forbidden-city/","title":"After the strong winds, are the flowers in these photos still at the Forbidden City?"}]