Run & Brunch

8 miles along the Han in the company of NPR’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me”, was exactly what I needed to shake off the past busy yet inexplicably cumbersome week. Of course the sightings along the river also work well to distract anyone with too much on their mind.

Weather was beautiful and perfect for running, although the shaded areas and the sporadic breeze rankled me a bit. As I crossed the Hangang Bridge, I came across a picturesque scene of my beautiful city… The taxi driver that just needed to relieve himself, yep… Just park and take a piss. Sorry no picture.

After the run, I had a lovely breakfast at Paris Croissant and I accidently stirred my cappuccino with a shoestring French fry *sigh*… Less than a month in the ROK.

Chuncheon Marathon - Strike 2

Last year I wasn’t able to run Chuncheon Marathon due to an “issue” with my ankle. Notice that I do not call it injury but an "issue", because I cannot call it an injury as the doctor cannot tell me what is wrong with my ankle. Although he did gave me crutches and percocet for to deal with my "issue". I honestly believe is RA related, therefore all I can do is “deal with it”.

 Courtesy of Ajumma's Journal

Any who… I began marathon training with my guys and it was going well. Of course it was going well, it was the first time that I was actually training for a race! :)

Unfortunately a job interview / opportunity came up and I had to travel to the States on the same day as the marathon.  Fortunately, because it was a great opportunity… Unfortunately, because I really wanted to run with my guys, I was not able to run Chuncheon last year, and the interview did not go to well.

 My guys, they rock!... :)

Bittersweet… Definitely! But I’m just happy that my guys did great on their first marathon :)

Back On The Road

With Chuncheon Marathon around the corner and my new year’s resolution to train for races, today I ran my long run… And this is important, because of my resolution to adhere for the first time to a training schedule in order to avoid injuries and not feel like crap after the race.

Here’s the kicker, a couple of weeks ago I had surgery which put me out of commission for a moment. Prior to the surgery, I was not feeling up to much activity and afterwards the pain was “a bit much”. I learned today that as much as I love to run my old bones did not bounced back as I thought they would… At least I was not able to push as much as I wanted to.

Running is an intrinsic part of me and regardless of my training faux pas,  I am happy to be back on the road. Let’s hope I can hang.

2011 Book List

Lamb by Christopher Moore

Who Moved my Cheese? by Spencer Johnson 

Sock Yarn, One Skein Wonders by Durant (publisher)

The 6th Target by James Patterson


The Good Soldiers by David Finkel


Stitch N Bitch The Handknitters Handbook by Debbie Stoller

The Book Seller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad

Donga Seoul International Marathon - 20 MAR 2011

Seoul Flyers... Fighting!

 
Finally Donga Seoul International Marathon arrived to be received by a gloomy, rainy and cold Seoul. The heart of Seoul was crowded with runners wearing disposable raincoate and tons of energy to be left in the course. I arrived and was happy to see all the Seoul Flyers (or the majority of them) in one of the train exits avoiding the rain and cold. I also met with Bruce!!! I have not seen him since last year... yikes! He was as pleasant as always.



 

With friends

Pictures, pictures and more pictures then we headed to our respective corrals. I made sure to stay close to edge so I could wave hi to my Mom on the way out, it warmed my heart to see her standing under her umbrella waving back at me. I took it easy, but I wanted to take it REALLY easy so my intent was to listen to podcasts. As we took off, I was too excited to be running my first race of the year that I just decided to listen to music.
 

Killing time before the race

At mile 1, I felt a little twinge in my ankle... Nothing big and it went went away. I was feeling pretty good and was happy to be racing again. Love the energy of all the runners on the course. It was really nice to see Seoul Flyers along the course, I could not believe... It was very sweet of them. 

With some of the Seoul Flyers!

Throughout the race I was feeling good, but at mile 18 my ankle began to bother me and after a couple a miles I knew I was going to be hurting big time.

When I grow up I want to be a Korean entertainer at marathons

Waiting for the race to begin

I cannot say that I hit a wall, because I wasn't tired or in physical pain (other than the ankle). But after mile 20 I slowed down considerably. In mile 24 I had to stop and stretch because my right quad was a bit tight. After that I was even slower. 

Cute drummer girls in the back

More drummers... but these were more mature

I "ran" in and saw a couple of more Seoul Flyers and I tried to pick up the pace but I couldn't. Finished and was elated as always and as I changed in to warm and dry clothes, I remembered why I love running long distances... They are a journey of self reflection and a reminder of all that you can accomplish if you put your heart in to it.

Marathoner changing or lounging in the "recovery field"

After the race

Time: 4:24:32
Distance: 27.04 mi
Pace: 9:47/mi
BPM: 177/min

Longest Solo Miles

I have run a myriad of distances from 1 mile, when I was breaking in my Vibram Five Fingers, to 50 milers, but I have never run more than 8 miles on MY OWN.  So today I ran 12 sweet miles along the Han.  I was ready to roll, I know this because as I waited for my Garmin to sync with the satellites the cold weather was not bothering me and the temperature was 10 degrees, “feels like -3”. 

I headed off to the river and my left arch was killing me.  I really think this only happens when I wear my Nimbus…  I stopped twice and fidgeted with my shoe, this was a futile attempt as I knew it had nothing to do with adjusting the shoe.  I guess I just did it to stop the pain for a little bit.  I decided to keep on running as I have experienced this pain before.  After 3 miles, the pain subsided.

I was long away from Banpo bridge but not far enough… I still had a “minute” to go.  Weather was not too bad… or maybe it was the many layers and mask I was wearing.  I decided to drink some water, since the night before had been a rough one.  Sadly for me, the water in the hose of my Nathan hydration pack was frozen… The good part??? It was not completely frozen, so I was able to melt it enough to get a drink.  I told myself that I was to drink water every 10 minutes in order to prevent it from freezing and I stuck the hose in my sweater to prevent it from freezing again. 

As soon as my Garmin met the 6 mile mark, I turned it around.  I quickly realized the reason why the weather was “not that bad” on the way out… Hmmm… Perhaps because the wind was on my back?... Bingo!  I also realized that the water hose was completely frozen this time and I had to drink out straight from the bladder.  Needless to mention that I only did it once since it was too cold to stop, remove my mask, mittens, the bladder from the backpack and then drink… Yea… I don’t think so.  Therefore there was no more water for me on the way back home… 5 miles approximately.

The last 2 miles were just brutal.  The wind was blowing hard and for a moment I thought my nose might fall off.  I got home and never been happier to be there… But feeling accomplished for finishing the longest solo run I have done!

Short Run, Men and My Life…

Today, I managed to sneak another run in the middle of my workday.  It was short this time…  Reeeal short.  I don’t really like “short runs” because I’m not a fast runner.  I can run forever, but don’t ask me about running fast.  I don’t see the point of running fast… Not unless the devil is chasing me.

I digressed… I ran from Camp Coiner to Ichondong, the long way (I thought).  But it was only 5 miles round trip, exactly what I needed (though).   I put on my earphones and my Garmin (which is held together with 100mph tape).  I was happy and giddy, skipping around the patches of snow and ice and thinking to myself I better watch out or I may slip and slide in to the street, get run over by a car, a bus and a moped and nobody will know what happened to me because I wasn’t wearing my RoadID.

I kept running… Stopping… running… Red man… Green man…   Listening to NPR, A Prarie Home Companion to be exact.  Then I my mind drifted to something I should have added to my “New Year’s Resolution List”: “No more worrying about relationships” or what Dane Cook lovingly calls “relationsh*ts"…  *sigh*  That man inspires me!

Honestly, I don’t care to be in a relationship, but many times it seems that if I was in one, many things would be easier.  I know as soon as you finish reading what follows you will be quick to say “NAH, that doesn’t happen!”  But anyways…  I think if I had been in a relationship the gossip of me being with a million and one men could have been easily been avoided.  Heck… I once was told “I thought you were one of those girls, because you work so hard and don’t have a boyfriend.”… giggle giggle.

Truth of the matter is, that I tried.  I seriously tried looking around, meeting, befriending… yadayada.  And truth of the matter is that I don’t care.  I’ve dated younger, older, and same age.  And if we talk about diversity… My menagerie kinda resembles a box of Crayola crayons.  One thing they all have in common is their inability to “man up”.  They just “up and leave”…  Yep, all of them!  Which is ok with me, since I don’t have to do the dirty work of telling them that “it’s just not working out.”  But I would still like the courtesy of a “good bye and a why?”  Oh well… It is what it is… C’est la vie… Asi es la vida.

So as I headed back to Coiner all I could say was…  Forget about it.  I am happy alone, if others are not happy with my status… Well, too bad… soooo sad.  I am happy and that’s all that should matter…  I looked at my Garmin and 5.11 miles were done…  And it’s all that matter.

I was happy to have finished my short run… and made a mental note to have some music in addition to the podcasts, just in case my mind becomes too active and I need to shut it up :).