running in seoul

may has been all about running...i've done some social stuff with rugby people, but i've hardly played at all..i think i've only gone to practice a couple times this month?
sometime in early april i decided to sign up for a bunch of running races during may..i ended up signing up for 4 half marathons, and one full marathon...i don't know what i was thinking, but it sounded like a good idea at the time..i thought it was going to be one half marathon each of the first two weekends of the month, then two half marathons the third weekend, then a weekend off, then a full marathon the last weekend...cheryl and i planned to do the first one together..
midway through the week before the first half marathon, i got a text saying that the location of the race had been moved..judy (my director) looked it up on the website, and she got a little worried..she said that finding the location would be a little confusing..lucky for me, it was the pitch where we have rugby practice most of the time!! in other words, it was easy for me to find..
the first sunday rolled around, and cheryl sent a text saying she couldn't make it because her knee hurt..she's had knee pain off and on the entire time she's been here..so i followed all the people to the pitch and started killing time by watching people..they always want you there about an hour before the race, but that seems like way too much time for me, especially because i don't do any sort of warmup..in korea it seems to be the norm for a stage to be set up, and someone always leads a mini aerobic session for a few minutes before the race starts.. now why on earth would i want to do aerobics at all when i am about to run a race? anywho, around 15 minutes before i was supposed to start, i checked my bag, remembering to use chapstick, and grabbing my ipod and inhaler..i can't imagine running a race w/out either of those, even though i haven't used my inhaler in ages and ages..i'm always terrified something is going to happen, even though i don't generally push myself hard enough for that to happen..the race didn't go very well for me..it was one of my slowest times ever, but that wasn't what bothered me..i ended up walking quite a few times, and not feeling very in control of what i was doing..my mind just wasn't in the right place..and later in the day, i was really really sore..i guess that's what i get for not training at all, other than a few rugby practices..after crossing the finish line, it was easy for me to figure out where to go to turn in my timing chip, collect my medal and bag of food..i don't speak the language, but it's never difficult to figure out what i need to do at these races..there were aid stations every 3-5K, a few of them had pocari sweat, and a few had bananas..nifty..
the next weekend, i did it all over again..only this time the race started and ended in the main olympic stadium from the 1988 olympics..nifty!! again, the race was easy to figure out..there were aid stations and such, plenty of volunteers, and nice koreans cheering me on at various points during the race..the guys who were doing bag check wanted to practice their english, so i spoke with them for a little while..fun, and entertaining for me..my time was slower than the previous week, but i was a lot happier with the race mentally..hard to explain, but...
the third week i received the race packets for both races, and was somewhat dismayed to realize that both races were the same day, instead of saturday and sunday..the race souvenirs for one of the races were the same as the two previous races this month..that is, a shirt and shorts..but the souvenirs for the other race (the one i ended up not running) were totally different..a wok and a fry pan!!!!! crazy, eh? the race that weekend was my fastest of the month, even though it was still nowhere near my best ever..but i was really happy with it overall..there weren't enough aid stations, and a few of them closed down before the time limit, which was frustrating..i ended up finishing ahead of the time limit, but the pacers who were supposed to be running at the time limit were a few minutes ahead of me..that's annoying..pacers are supposed to finish within a minute of the specific time!!! NOT 5-6 minutes ahead of the time!! one of the nicest things on the course though were the tables filled with sponges that had been in cool water..each time i passed one of those tables i put a sponge on my head under my hat, and tucked one into my sports bra..a great way to keep cool..
while i was running that third half marathon, i made the decision that i would try to change my scheduled full marathon to a half marathon..that third race was so hot, and i didn't think i could complete a full marathon if i had to deal with that kind of heat for longer than a half marathon..but when i got to school the next day, and asked my director to call the race people, she said they said i couldn't change races..eeeeeek..so i decided i'd make the decision of what race to run (the half or the full) the morning of the race, based on how i was feeling, the weather, and whether there was a time limit..
the morning of my scheduled marathon dawned cloudy and cool, and there was no time limit on the full, so i decided to go for it..i knew i'd finish, and i wasn't worried about my time at all..the race started at 0800, so i was up early in order to be there by 0720 or so..it was the same sort of set up as the other races..the area has been fixed up in the past couple years, i like it..i ran into a few friends who were running the half, and wished them good luck..they were a whole lot more nervous than i was, as they all had goal times, whereas i just wanted to finish..the race started on time (complete with the normal aerobic style warmup/stretching) and stayed cloudy and cool for the first half or more..as i was running, i realized i've gotten to know the han river rather well..i think every race ive run has gone along the same area of the river, even though they've all started at different spots..i ran past the rugby pitch, and realized i'd be running back by there as the rugby girls would be showing up..i ran by the olympic stadium...i ran by a professional volleyball tournament..i ran by a whole lot of koreans out for a sunday run...i ran by a whole lot of people on bikes, some of whom looked like they had no idea what they were doing..at some point during the first half, i ended up running with a korean guy..we passed each other a few times, then just stayed together for most of the rest of the race..he definitely adjusted his pace to meet mine..amazing..my time overall was a lot better than it would've been because of this total stranger..there were a few times i thought about walking, but he was still going, so i figured i should as well..we split for a little while during the last 10K, but we ran the last 2K together, and finished together..we even got the official race photographer to take a photo of us together:)
i ended up having to speed walk most of the last 10K, because my feet hurt so badly..that's what i get for not training..my muscles were fine, but my feet didn't handle well the pounding from all those miles..ooops..running the last 2K was definitely an exercise in mind over body..the race was incredibly well supported..there were aid stations every 3K or so, all of which had water..a great many also had gatorade, cherry tomatoes, bananas and choco pies..i wanted the choco pies, but i am not capable of chewing while running..as much as i love the choco pies, they're kinda dry to be eating while running..cherry tomatoes and bananas are great, as they can sorta be mushed around in my mouth..i never felt thirsty, and i never felt low on energy..like i said, the race was incredibly well supported..there were km markers every km through the entire race, which was nice..(it was the same in each of the half marathons earlier in the month)..for people who keep track of such things, it would've been easy to keep track of all my splits all month long..howeva, the only time i took a split was during the full marathon, when i split the half..
anywho, in my lifetime i've now run 6 half marathons, and 5 full marathons..the half marathons i've completed on three continents, and the full marathons on four continents..only three continents to go for the full!!

danyang (단양)...buddha's birthday weekend

buddha's birthday is a lunar holiday..this year it fell on a friday, which made for a lovely three day weekend...i wanted to get out of town, so mel, sheila and i decided to go to a town called danyang..originally, i had wanted to go to sokcho, which is on the east coast...but our friend jenna (also on the rugby team) had recently spent a weekend in danyang, and had spoken highly of the place, so plans changed..as it turned out, not only was it a holiday weekend for the whole country, but danyang was having a festival of it's own..the royal azalea festival..i'm not sure that we saw any special flowers while we were there, but that's beside the point..
anywho, because of the holiday weekend, we weren't the only ones trying to get out of the city..the bus ride took a wee bit longer than expected..it was supposed to be 2.5 hours, but it ended up being 6.5 hours!!!!!!!!! traffic wasn't stopped at any point, but it never moved very quickly either..we knew the ride would be longer than expected, but wow, it was LOOOOOONG..anywho, we arrived in danyang, at the temporary bus stop..it was a little shack set up, and the two guys manning the fort said we couldn't make reservations for a bus ride back..oh well..they did howeva speak great english, hand us a tourist map (in english!!) and tell us to come back if we had any questions..that was just the beginning of all the really nice locals we met that weekend..
after wandering for a while, we found a motel we were happy with..not surprisingly, the prices for that weekend were higher than normal..our rooms hadn't yet been cleaned, but they said they had room for us, and told us to come back at 1800..so off we walked..we had to carry our backpacks with us, but none of us had packed much..the first activity was to pick up some snacks..we hadn't thought we'd be on the bus that long, so we were HUNGRY..(our bus arrived at 1600, instead of the expected 1200)..sheila has some dietary restrictions, so we were looking for a particular type of restaurant, but didn't immediately see it..so we asked the cashier at a GS25, and he gave us directions..he even drew us a little map!! (nice local #2)..we made our way to the restaurant, which was awesome..we had dok galbi, or chicken galbi, whateva you want to call it..and it was awesome..according to the menu we were having a type that was particularly special in danyang, but i don't really know if it was that different from any other dok galbi i've had..either way, it was really good, and there was a LOT of it..after dinner we checked in, ditched our stuff, and kept walking..
our motel was along the river, which was pretty, and nothing like you're ever going to see in seoul..so we walked..according to our map, there was a rose tunnel not so far away so we headed in that direction..about halfway there we thought it would be more fun to walk along the river, not along the road, so we made our way down to the water, and the beach..great sand!! on a sunny day it would be a lovely way to spend a day, so we planned that for the next afternoon..that evening, we just enjoyed the quiet, since seoul never sleeps..sheila and mel played around in the river too..while walking we had noticed a series of tents along the river, so on our way back, we decided to walk through the area..it turned out to be part of the flower festival..the tents were filled with typical carnival type games..darts, throw the ring on the stick, bb guns, etc..i tried my luck at one game, and though it didn't go well, i had fun..mel and sheila tried the bb guns, and were very successfull..a few booths later mel tried the darts...she was far more successful than i was...after getting our fill of making fools of ourselves at these carnival games (always with plenty of locals watching us) we got back onto the streets...earlier in the day mel had seen a place where we could do video golf..the idea is that you can "play" a real golf course inside one room..you use a real golf ball, and real clubs, but hit the ball against a screen...lasers or motion sensors or something detect the ball, and figure out how far (and in what direction) you would've hit it outside..the guy running the place gave us a tutorial, which we thought would be over quickly..but no, that's not what happened..he felt the need to "help" us nearly the entire time we were trying to play..mel, sheila and i, well, we aren't um, any good at all...hee hee...we had fun, and that was all that mattered..after 5 holes we decided to call it a night, especially since it was almost midnight..
the next morning we were up and tried to find a local dunkin donuts for breakfast..it turns out danyang is too small for a DD..so we went to 김밥천국..kimbap heaven...a fast food chain on every block all over korea..from there we decided to walk to the train station, and book tickets home for the next day..after having spent so long on the bus the day before, we didn't want to do that again, and we knew a train would take as long as it was supposed to, and would leave on time, and wouldn't require us to wait until the next available train..the walk took us a little longer than expected, but we stopped along the way for fun pictures.. (mel and sheila have learned that i love taking photos)..since we didn't feel like standing, we booked tickets for a train leaving at 0830, as everything after that was standing room only..
danyang is know for "eight scenic sights" and we wanted to see a few of them..they're all natural formations of rocks..we didn't know of any public transport that would take us to all of them, so we opted to hire a taxi..not something any of us would normally have done, but it ended up working quite well..as it turned out, getting to each of the places took longer than we expected..the first was about 15km from the train station!! we got out quickly, took photos quickly, hopped back in the taxi, and kept going to the next spot..he did a good job driving us around..our last stop was to see three rocks coming out of the river, a small temple having been built on one..the story of what each of the rocks represents was pretty funny..the "daughter" rock could also be called "concubine"..we didn't think they had had an english speaker edit before making the sign, as those two words shouldn't ever be interchangeable..anywho, from there it was a slightly longish (we all enjoy walking, so it didn't matter to us how long it was) walk back into town..walking is always good for you..
we were all hungry, so we opted for pizza..i know it isn't korean, but hey, we eat plenty of korean food on a regular basis, so there is no need to eat it every meal while on holiday..we enjoyed our pizza, and met the wierdest group of foreigners EVER..when they walked in, we were guessing a couple visiting their teacher son..we were VERY wrong..as it turned out, it was a single guy (the "dad") who had met up with the married couple (the "mom" and "son") while in town..the "dad" had previously taught in danyang, and the couple currently lives in daejon..they were all just creepy, and for the rest of the trip we kept referring to the wierdest couple EVER..
after dinner we went back to the carnival..mel and sheila wanted more time with the bb guns, hee hee...they did pretty well and ended up with matching stuffed penguins..i threw darts, and ended up with a penguin of my own:).. i also purchased a visor..the best visor ever..it's HUGE and has red/silver sparkles..i don't think you can get any better, especially for only 5000won!! we walked over to the ampitheater, which was being set up for a concert, and sat around for a while, maybe 20 minutes..people kept filling in the seats, but we didn't know when it was going to start, and didn't feel like waiting in the rain..we were under the cover, but the rain was still blowing in..not so fun..plus the penguins were starting to complain..so we went back to our hotel, and played card games..fun, especially because i won:)
the next morning we had to be up pretty early in order to catch our train..the ajumma who checked us out of the hotel was totally awesome..definitely not the normal ajumma..she gave us coffee (i gave mine to mel) and fruit drinky things..and SOCKS!! she gave us socks!!! she said that i would get sick because i was wearing short sleeves while it was chilly/rainy outside..the socks were great because they had the nike swoosh, nike spelled with a backwards N, and the three stripes of adidas..i love those socks:)
the train arrived and left on time, we arrived in seoul around noon-ish..
an awesome weekend out of the city:)..so nice to be in a place where you can actually see green, and mountains..living in the city, you sometimes tend to forget that not everything is made of concrete..

buddha's birthday lanterns

though christianity is growing rapidly in korea, it's still a heavily buddhist country..there are temples in lots and lots of places..buddha's birthday is another lunar based holiday, and this year it fell on friday, 21 may..in korea, the sunday before buddha's birthday, there are traditional lantern festivals..we're not talking the kind of lanterns you use while camping..we're talking paper, handmade, big..anywho, the sunday before the holiday i went to a couple of the biggest temples in seoul, and sure enough they had lots of lanterns..not only are there big lanterns all lit up, but there are tons of lanterns stung up all over temple grounds, all of which have wishes written into them..soooooo cool..anywho, this post is all about the photos i took that day..