Bundang Half Marathon

       On some race days everything comes together. On some race days everything falls apart. Sometimes things start falling apart long before race day! All runners know the agony of an injury a week or two before a major race, or some annoying person scheduling a wedding last minute the same weekend as that marathon you had to register for 10 months in advance and had to book non-refundable rooms and flights around. Sometimes it just seems like the cards are really stacked against a race. The Gungpo Bundang race was one of those for me.

       Part of the problem was me. I went on vacation for a couple of weeks and didn’t run a step. I did power walk a couple of times, went kayaking, and swam, but I totally failed at getting a run in. Okay, no big deal, it is just a half marathon, and didn’t I just PR a marathon a few weeks ago? That should count for something. The trip was great, the flight home was rough; it was one of those cheap all-nighters where we left the hotel at noon (10 am home time), had a 6 hour layover in the Bangkok airport, and didn’t get home until 10 am the next day. So needless to say, by Tuesday, April 16th, I was pretty beat.

       Then things started going downhill. The day I got home I heard about Boston and like all runners, it really hit me, I spent the day poring over news reports on the edge of my seat waiting to hear if my friends were okay. Then, although totally trivial by comparison, but no less stressful for me, I found out one of my email accounts had been hacked by someone in Bulgaria who had the correct password. I then set out to change pretty much every password in my life, while keeping one window on the news.

       On Wednesday, we finally got our long awaited orders. For you non-military types, this is the little piece of paper our whole life was on hold for. With this paper magical things happen, you get to arrange dates to have movers come take all your stuff away, for other movers to bring borrowed stuff, what day you will fly, and it all takes a lot of running from office to office and making stressful decisions. The biggest twist with this was that we would be packing up in 9 days, UGH! Not a good weekend to be headed out for a race!

      Next, on Friday, I found out my credit card number had been stolen while on vacation. Thankfully, the bank figured I probably didn’t apparate to New York and charge $5,000 at a chocolate factory so it didn’t go through, but it did mean I had to wait for a new credit card to be sent to Korea. I know exactly where the card was stolen, it was the restaurant I ate in in the Bangkok airport. I guess that is what I get for pointing out that my food wasn’t cooked. I use my credit card like a debit card so I was really hamstrung and worst of all, missed entering the lottery for the London Marathon, ARG! I was only going to have 3 chances to begin with so now my chances of getting in are significantly lower. Anyway…

       Did you catch that part about the food? The veggies in the curry were raw. Okay, no big deal, I don’t mind raw veggies. However, food that has not been cooked, in a third world country, tends to have things living in it that one is better off not ingesting. So yes, the symptoms to Giardia surfaced within a couple of days. I am now up to a 50/50 average on Giardia and third world countries in Asia so I should know better, but the symptoms weren’t all that bad and I hoped maybe it wasn’t really a parasite and I would feel better in a few days. Yea, I know, bad gamble. Besides, I couldn’t get in to see the doc on a Friday afternoon so it would wait until Monday…. I staged all my gear for the next morning and, big surprise, failed to get to bed at a decent hour.

       Saturday morning I awoke to pouring rain and thunder at about 3am. I still got up at 4:30 and my husband who was taking me to meet my ride got up at 5. At 5:30 I decided I felt like crud and it wasn’t worth running in a cold rain storm when I was already exhausted and not feeling well so I called the head of my car pool to let him know not to wait for me. He didn’t answer so I texted another person who promptly texted me back to say the race was the next day! GROAN! My husband shot me one of those looks and went back to bed. I was already pumped on caffeine so I went about my day and again, staged my gear for the next morning since the weather was supposed to be great, and the cherry blossoms were in bloom, and the clouds were farting unicorns and rainbows.

       Race day take two. I decided to take my own car and follow the caravan of cars to the race. This was a very good idea since I was able to follow them right to a place to park that I would never have found otherwise. I was a little queasy from the stomach thing, but otherwise things were looking up. I showed up at the table to pick up my packed and, surprise/surprise, they have no record of me registering. Seriously, SERIOUSLY! I said, “fine, I give up, I’m going home.” The race director went into a panic (this race had really been campaigning to get as many foreigners as possible to run), “Don’t give up!” he says, “write down all your information again and we will reregister you, you just won’t get your back pack (race swag) until you mail us the receipt from the bank wire you sent in to register.” Okay, well, at least I had a bib. I headed off to warm up, check my bag, etc.

       The race itself was lovely. There were cherry blossoms everywhere, the weather was great, and although the course was crowded, the support was good and it was well managed and marked. Bizarrely, I still thought I could run a PR for the day and that is what I fixated on. I supposed with everything that had gone wrong all week, I just really needed a good race. It wasn’t in the cards though. I was stressed, tired, and my stomach was not happy sharing space with breakfast and a host of unwanted visitors. I made it through the race, finishing with a 2:01:53. A good time, but nowhere near a PR. I know, I should be thrilled with that, but I just wasn’t in the mood for it.

       My caravan all decided to go out for lunch and since they are all young, single, military kids and I was exhausted, I begged off and headed home. Or at least I tried to head home. I never did find the freeway entrance and ended up take surface streets, turning a 45 minute drive into a 2 hour fun fest, blarg!

       When I got home, I found that in an effort to begin readying the house for the movers, I had thrown out my receipt for the race. Oh well, I didn’t really need another back pack anyway :-P

      I hung up my medal, logged the race on my Half Fanatics page and then put it behind me. Next up? American Cancer Society 24-Hour Relay for life and a very ambitious goal.

Seoul International Marathon

       What a fantastic and crazy race the Seoul International Marathon was!

Marathon Maniacs group photo, I know we missed at least 2

       The day started early, as usual, and my friends Diane and Rhonda drove up to the finish area, parked the van, and then hopped a cab to the start. The timing went perfectly and we weren’t rushed to get drop bags in, group pictures taken, or hit the porta-potties.

       I wish I had gone with throw away clothes instead of the plastic bag I was wearing over my running clothes because I was shivering violently by the time our wave started. It was about 20 minutes after the initial start so we had been standing around for an hour in too little clothes at that point. I kept thinking about how much glycogen I was burning with all the shivering!

       Once we were on our way I started immediately into the Jeff Galloway run/walk with a 4:1 ratio. It was slow at the start with all the people so tightly packed and dodging runners and walkers was a constant battle that got a little better, but not much. It didn’t take long to be warmed up and in the end I was dressed perfectly for the weather. A few times I started feeling a bit warm, but then we would pass into the shadow of another sky scraper and I was glad for all I had on.

She had too be on the warm side!
This is really typical here, it is all about protection from the sun to stay young looking

       I was so focused on running and following my intervals that I didn’t even see a distance marker until the 14 km sign! I was surprised and happy to be well on the way. The next one I saw was 24! I had my Garmin set so I could glance at it and see how much time I had on my interval, but I purposely didn’t want to look at my pace, time, or distance covered. Once I happened to look down as it flashed 8:23 for my run interval and thought I’d better take it down a notch, but that was the only split I saw. It really helped with the mental struggle I usually fight during the teen miles.

This guy was close to me the whole race, no idea how he ran in that costume!

       Somewhere around 25 km I had to make a restroom stop. I had been looking for porta potties, but quickly realized there were not going to be any on the route. Instead, people were ducking into coffee shops and gas stations. I followed suit into a gas station and stretched while I waited for my turn. I lost over 2 minutes at that stop that I would regret later, but I really had no choice. I’m not sure where I went wrong since I don’t usually have to stop, but I was definitely over hydrated. I was also queasy and my tummy was threatening to revolt one way or another. I really worried that my great start would be ruined by G.I. distress, but I kept plugging on.

I love seeing older runners, it gives me hope that my days as a runner
are not as limited and people would have me think

       Around the 32km point I spotted another Maniac singlet. The poor kid, who I later learned is from Singapore, had totally hit the wall and really fought for the last 10K. I saw a ton of other people I knew on the course from our base, the Seoul Flyers club, Marathon Maniacs, and other runners that have been in many of the same races. It was so much fun to see so many familiar faces! They are all credited with spotting me though. I could run past my own mother and not recognize her because of how focused I am when I run.

       I thought that we would cross the Han River at about 32km, but I was wrong, it wasn’t until 35km, but that 3 km wait messed with my head. Every turn I kept thinking I should see the bridge. I did know once we crossed the river I was in the home stretch, but it seemed like I was never going to get there. Crossing the bridge I spotted a clock. I had seen a couple of other clocks at that point, but since I never knew where I was distance wise, they didn’t mean a thing to me. Not to mention I couldn’t remember how long it took us to get to the start mats.

The octopus hat guy has been in almost every race I have run in Korea!

In classic Korean "not quite right" fashion,
this young woman doesn't quite get that fake boobs and butts are funnier on men

       FINALLY I was crossing the river! As I crested the bridge, I glanced down at my Garmin to see where I was in my run interval and was horrified to see a blank screen! I have never been let down by my Garmin so I was really shocked. I turned it on again and it seemed to work fine and had plenty of battery. Unfortunately, it has lost all the data on my run to that point so I have no clue what any of my splits where as far as my intervals go. I was really peeved about that since that was my first race using Galloway where I really pushed for a time. If I had bumped the off button, it would at least have saved all my data.

Usually when people bandit a race, it isn't so obvious, LOL

       At least past the bridge I knew I was down to my last couple of miles. At 40Km I spotted another clock that said 4:41:xx. I knew I only had less than a mile and a half (brains are not good at math at this point in a marathon,) and that I had a shot at a PR, but probably not a sub-4:30. More importantly, I didn’t want to finish feeling like I could have done better, I wanted to leave it all on the course! At that point I let go of the run/walk plan and just ran. It hurt more to walk by then anyway since I haven’t trained properly for walking (note to self: start power walking a couple of times a week!)

Not sure what the point to this group was,
but they stuck together and had a nice finish time

       As I reached the finish arch, the clock said 4:55:xx. I kept wracking my brain for some shred of memory about what time we crossed the start mats but I just couldn’t remember, was it 18 minutes or 22 or something else. With my Garmin record lost I would have to wait for my text. (One of the coolest things about races in Korea is that every race, no matter how big or small, texts your official finish time to your phone, usually within an hour.) I went through the motions of turning in my chip, getting my snacks and medal and then stretched out on the ground with my feet propped up on a wall to let the blood return to my brain.

Attitude at the finish line :-)

       Eventually I dragged myself up and found Rhonda. She had passed Diane a mile or two back where she found her down to a walk with bad cramps in her quads. I headed on to pick up my drop bag with another Maniac who was in from Hong Kong, he had graciously brought me two Runner’s World magazines from the UK with info on the best races of the year so I can plan my first year in England! Thanks Mike Cartwright!!

       In review, it was over all a very good race. I liked the mental aspect of taking it one interval at a time and not worrying about where I was in the race. I would really have liked to see the breakdown of my splits, but I guess I can get that next time. I confirmed that chattering teeth at the beginning means a comfortable race temp wise and also confirmed that I need less and less GU as I get farther off carbs, but I still need caffeine.

   My official splits weren’t too shabby:

5K 33:19

10K 30:44

20K 30:55

Half 2:12:13

25K 31:42

30K 34:55 (potty break)

35K 33:45

40K 33:12

Finish: 4:32:37

       All and all I was over the moon happy with how the race went. Yes, skipping the potty stop would have but me at or under 4:30, but it was still a PR and leaves the elusive 4:30 for another day. Usually everything falls apart for me if it is a major race so I couldn't have asked for more!



       This finished blog has been sitting in my files for weeks and now, we are several days past the bombings at The Boston Marathon. I can’t imagine the horror of such an event. I know that if my family were hurt because they were waiting at the finish line for me, I would be beyond devastated and wracked with guilt. My heart and prayers go out to everyone touched by this event.

 

New Year's Day: The Marathon that Wasn't

In the blogging world, everyone is quick to post about their successes, struggles, triumphs and utter disasters so we rarely hear about those moments when things just didn’t work out. I had one of those lately and it has taken me almost 6 weeks to finally blog about it, but I still think the tale is worth telling.

Ready to start. The man on the left was headed back to sit in his car, LOL

For 2012, I was riding a real crest, marathoning at the drop of a hat and having a blast. Unfortunately, I got a little burned out when it started getting cold and the only races were on the same old bike path along the Han River is Seoul, South Korea. When I cut back on my mileage, my sinuses acted up, which turned into my lungs crudding up, and then I got the stomach flu that was wiping out the military community where I live (seriously, one afternoon at the child care center 17 kids started puking at the same time, ACK!)

Needless to say, when the New Year’s Day marathon rolled around I was not in peak condition. It was bitter cold, the sky was slate grey, and my head was barely in the game. Then, they changed the course. Instead of 13.1 out and 13.1 back, the marathoners would turn around with the half marathoners and do it twice. Granted, it is the same distance either way, but somehow that was the final blow that took the wind out of my sails. Then it started snowing, UGH! From the start, each step we slipped back half a step so it was battle royal just to keep moving forward. I was toast 8 miles in and decided there was no way my body was going to take this one gracefully, even if I slowed down. I sent my buddies ahead secretly hoping they would decide to quit at the half way point when they had to go back out into the wind. Of course, they didn’t and they handed me the key to the van so I could wait for them to finish.

I kept myself busy. A friend was running the half so I got to see her finish, hobbling because the Yack Trax she was wearing messed with her gait. Then I got the frozen wiper fluid going again so our drive home wouldn’t be as scary as the one there with all the muck splashing up from the road and obscuring the driver’s vision (we also saw a van spin out on the ice and slam into a guard rail, facing traffic by the time it was done.)

One good thing was the fantastic, traditional New Year's Soup being served

All in all, it was a miserable race. Diane, who has run marathons in thick mud and on the beach, said the slushy snow was the worst. So, I walked away without a finisher’s medal for the first time. Fortunately, I didn’t have much invested in the race so I didn’t really care all that much, other than it threw off my marathon-a-month plan. February was a bust too, both available races fall on days that I am already committed to something else, but I have my sights set on the Seoul International in March. I got in a good 20 miler a couple of weeks ago and plan another this week so I’ll keep moving forward!

My buddies enjoying hot soup after their successful finish

Everyone has a bad day once in a while and knowing that something is not the best thing for your body and listening to that inner voice is an achievement of its own. I don’t regret my decision, and I still got in a nice 13 miler.

2 Marathons in 2 Days

The Maniacs of South Korea
(one more was added shortly after this pic was taken, Congrats Cate!)

       Insanity is definitely contagious and the arrival of two more Marathon Maniacs at my base made the contagions overwhelming. Somehow I found myself toeing the marathon start line two days in a row, EEK! I would never have considered this if I had been on my own, but having a veteran of the challenge with me and a buddy to run with the whole way both days, made all the difference in the world.

       The races themselves were not particularly interesting, but doubling is a special event. Both races were along the Han River in Seoul, South Korea, in very brisk conditions. Our first started with the thermometer dipping to 23F. I think it may have made it slightly above freezing in the afternoon since the puddles started to thaw, which slowed my, “Slip and nearly bust my behind” ratio. The second day was warmer, but the wind was a bit sharper so it was pretty much a wash. Both days were very cold, but manageable with the right layers and the cheerful sunshine made it seem a bit better.

       Rhonda and I decided that even though we hadn’t trained with a run/walk plan, we would take it easy on Saturday and take a one minute walking break after each 5 minutes of running. The plan was a Godsend because not only did we manage to keep it up the whole way, we finished way faster than expected (4:48), feeling very good, with minimal soreness and energy for day two. We were served Tofu Gruel with a spicy salty sauce, which I gobble up with alacrity before digging into the food stashed in the car. I ate my 2 boiled and salted eggs with my Salt & Vinegar Pringles, washing them down with coconut water and then green tea with tart cherry juice. Dinner was steak and salad with lots more salt even though I had gone through 10 Salt Stix caps and 4 or 5 gels during the race. I really thought I would need less electrolytes in the colder weather, but I took as many as ever. Perhaps I just finished less depleted than I do during the summer.

       That evening we kept each other laughing with our Facebook messages about ice baths, dinner, and planning for the next day. Having the first race behind us really lifted our confidence. We just had to get to the start on Sunday and let inertia take over.

       Thankfully, Sunday’s race started an hour later than Saturday’s had so we didn’t have to be on the road until just before 8am for our 10am start. Using the same 5/1 run/walk ratio, we managed to keep moving forward, albeit at a significantly slower pace than the day before. There was no published cut off time for the race, but Korean marathons tend to roll up the sidewalks around 5 ½ hours after the start so we didn’t want to be too terribly slow. Our finish time for day two was a pleasant 5:02:58, YAY!! Diane beat Rhonda and me to the finish line by about 15-20 minutes both days. We are very proud of her!

       I did a few things different over the weekend. The run/walk combo felt so good and was so successful that I doubt I’ll run another marathon without walking every 4 or 5 minutes! I’ve heard for years from people that swore Jeff Galloway’s methods made them faster, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. Rhonda and I never intended to finish either race faster than 5 hours so our finish was a real surprise. For Rhonda, it was 12 seconds faster than her previous race, which had been a PR if you didn’t count the one marathon she ran in her early 20’s. I never felt the “I can’t do this” feelings that I usually have during the “teen” miles, and I felt better at 20 than I usually do. I admit, the last two miles on Saturday were pretty stinky, we both were ready for it to be over, but that feeling never hit on Sunday.

       Another difference was my shoes. Obviously, it was too cold to go barefoot, and my last race was a half marathon where I tested my Newtons for distance. I’ve decided I do not like them at all. My foot rolls off the lugs at the front funny and it caused knee pain in a part of my knee that has never hurt before. They also make my arches sore, which is odd since I am so accustomed to running without any arch support. I suspect the make the arch overwork to get up and over the “lugs” on the front. They may have helped keep my ankles from being too sore, but the tradeoff was not positively balanced. For the second day I went back to my old style leather Vibram Treks. My feet were warmer and my whole body was more comfortable.

       My food intake was different pre and post-race. I have cut way back on carbohydrates lately, not necessarily going fully Paleo, but not eating bread or cereal and cutting out carb heavy snacks. I do still eat carbs with dinner most nights and love my spaghetti, but I did not carb load in the days before the race. My breakfast both mornings consisted of sautéed spinach scrambled with eggs and a little blue cheese and a. Despite this lack of classic carbohydrates, I did not hit a glycogen wall of any sort on either race day. I ate most of my breakfast 3 hours before the race start and the banana 30 minutes before, so it all head plenty of time to digest. More importantly, I never felt hungry during the race and usually by about half way through my stomach is growling and my blood sugar is crashing. I also usually go through more gels during the race, but found myself needing less than one per hour.


Notice the nearly deserted finish area and stacked equipment on the right.
 This is what a 5 hour finish looks like in South Korea! 


       For recovery I went with anything I even suspected would help and repeated the ritual after Sunday’s race too. Ice bath, thigh high compression stockings (available at your local drug store under the name of diabetic or anti-embolism stockings) foam rolling and marathon stick usage, antioxidants and natural anti-inflammatories in the form of green and rooibos tea, with tart cherry juice concentrate. I did also take Naproxen right after the race. As wonderful as a glass of wine sounded on Saturday night, I passed on the alcohol and went with water and tea. I may have had a glass of wine Sunday night, but honestly I don’t really remember Sunday night much, LOL.

       Looking back it was a rousing success and I will be willing to do it again if the opportunity to run awesome races back to back presents itself, although warmer conditions would be a big improvement. At least now I know the ropes for a double and will not hesitate to sign up for the Disney World Goofy! I think next I’ll look for back to back half marathons so I can level up in the Half Fanatics

2012 Son Kee-Chung Peace Marathon

My Insane Asylum roomies

       Time for another race report! This one will be short though as it was a pretty typical half marathon.

       The race itself, The 2012 Son Kee Chung Peace Marathon is a memorial race to honor the first Korean to win an Olympic Medal. At the time, Korea was part of the Japanese Empire so he was forced to use a Japanese adaptation of his name, Son Kitei, and be listed for their country at the Berlin 1936 Olympics, but Korea knows who he belongs to!

      When I registered for this race, I was hoping it would be a PR effort, but as is often the case, the stars didn’t line up and I was fighting a head cold, had only run one 5K since the marathon 2 weeks before, and hadn’t slept worth a darn so I was just hoping to finish without embarrassing myself. It was cold and crisp, but really nice after about the second mile when I found myself with my vest around my waist and my hat and gloves held in my hands.

      The course was nice. Instead of our usual route along the Han River, we turned south along a small creek with a nice bike path. Unfortunately, the path was quite narrow and once the bulk of the runners started hitting the turn around, it got very congested.

      It took me forever to warm up, but by the turn around I finally felt comfortable running and my second half was much better than my first. I finished feeling good and happy, which is always my top goal. It is so awesome to finish inside Korea’s Olympic stadium! I collected my snacks and medal, changed into dry clothes, and then waited for two friends to finish the full marathon. They did great, both getting close to their PR times.

The Marathon Maniacs of South Korea post 5K

      Next Marathon, Dec. 1st !

Taroko Gorge Marathon, Taiwan 2012

       There are many kinds of races you can run. Among them are flat road races where you push your limits for a speedy time, trail races where you challenge yourself with the terrain as you careen up and down steep dirt paths, and there are adventure races where you run for the scenery or just to experience being someplace totally new and totally different. Nov. 3rd was definitely an adventure race, following the winding road up Taroko Gorge, Taiwan.

       It was an adventure from registration day forward. The race is limited to 10,000 people because of the venue and it sold out in a few hours. Thanks to wonderful people, I had the help I needed to navigate the website (which was all in Chinese) and get my information in. After that it was settling plane tickets, hotel rooms, and trains. Fortunately, Taiwan is a WONDERFUL place where all the signs are in English, everything is well marked, nearly everyone speaks English, and they are more than willing to help a lost traveler.

Sam and Nancy, without whom
 I would never have arrived at the start gate

       After about 12 hours of bus/plane/bus/train/train, I finally arrived in Hualien, Taiwan where my friend Sam walked me to my hotel and helped me order the best Chinese take-out I’ve ever had (that cost about $1.35 US!) I reorganized my bags and laid out my clothes for the morning when I would meet a group of young runners in the lobby to share cabs to the shuttle busses that would take us to the race start. Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly fresh and bouncy at the start line, but I was excited and ready to roll.

Bus drop off



Nifty red check bags



Miranda, who helped me get

 from the hotel to the shuttles



   

    The race start was a mad house! After being dropped off near the start arch, we had to walk about half a mile up hill to check our bags and then back down again. By this time the sun had come up, the day was looking fantastic, and the sea of 10,000 runners, plus spectators was roiling with anticipation.

 

Sea of runners headed back to the start arch



    

  

      The first 5K was flat and along the coast to give the crowd a chance to thin out before we funneled onto the road up the gorge.

       Like other big races I’ve been in, twists and turns in the road revealed an endless stream of runners pushing up the gentle grade. I had expected a wicked steep climb, but it was actually quite a gentle slope up the gorge since we stayed low, between the towering mountains. It was one of the most spectacular places I have ever seen! No pictures can ever begin to do justice to this place, but I did my best, stopping to snap shots that were dimished the minute they were framed in a viewfinder!



A well lit tunnel, not all were





Runner as far as the eye could see

       As we climbed higher and finally came into the sun, the potential heat was mitigated by a cool breeze that wafted out of the gorge like a welcome blast of air conditioning on a summer day.



The road still thick with runners





Tired smile



       Everyone was having such a good time! Nearly all the runners had cameras out and did not hesitate to stop and take pictures. Every time I stopped for a snap shot, another runner would stop next to me for the same shot, then ask me to take their picture with the background, then offer to take my picture with the background, then grab a third person to take our picture together with the background. Needless to say, it took a lot longer to get up the road than it should have! I didn’t care though. Speeding through a race like this would be like rapidly inhaling a gourmet meal, it would simply be a waste.



Cheering in the native costumes of Taiwan



 



Hard hats in case of falling rocks. Hikers were wearing them, but only one or two runners availed themsleves of the service. Good thing we didn't really need them since there would never have been enough for all the runners



       I was also a bit of a novelty on the course. There were very few Westerners present, fewer of them women, and I could probably count on one hand the number of blondes. Many people welcomed me to Taiwan as we ran and asked me loads of questions. It was so much fun! Once or twice they would run past me very close and then lean in to look inspect my face (or maybe it was the blue eyes they wanted to see up close.) It is an odd feeling when someone invades your space like that, but I’ve gotten pretty used to it and just smile. One of these days I should paint a third eye on my forehead, LOL.

           One thing that really surprised me was the number of barefoot runners! I think there were more people in minimal shoes than traditional trainers and I've never seen so many vibrams. Someone was even in "Invisible Shoes!" In this race though, there were many people with skin on pavement. It made me fell very overdressed in my Merrells. I considered taking them off, but I didn't want to carry them and, in races like this, I tend to get caught up in the scenery and don't watch where I am stepping, so the shoes stayed on.



Where's the runner?



       Since my Garmin didn’t work in the gorge I had my max split times printed and taped to my water bottle. As long as I managed to stay ahead of those times, I knew I could finish before the 6 hour cut off. I watched them closely, particularly with all the lengthy photo stops, and managed to keep ahead of the red zone all the way to the turnaround at the peak at 25K.

I've never had so many pictures of ME on my camera, LOL

A closed off section of road

       When we reached the summit, crowds were taking pictures with the marker sign, excitement mounting as we turned back towards the finish, ready to enjoy the easy downhill roll.

       In an out and back race, you can’t help but look to see who is behind you after the turn around. I was shocked at the number of people that were still struggling up the gorge. In Korea I am generally at the very back, even when I am moving much faster, but I had hundreds behind me this time. All were in good spirits though and excited to be in there.

       Not long after the turn around my left knee started niggling. Usually it my right knee that complains first so I was a little worried, especially since I had about 15K of downhill left to cover. I stopped and stretched my hip adductors and that seemed to take care of it since it never bothered me again. I think perhaps running uphill tightens them so I need to get in the habit of stopping for a quick stretch at the top of hills.

       The 30K mark was deep in a tunnel, again with crowds of people stopping for pictures. Some Army kids I had been running alongside asked if I would join them for a picture so we waited our turn for a quick snap before continuing on.

     

  Shortly before we reached the “Last 5K” sign the clouds rolled in, creeping down the mountain faces, and bringing with them a light drizzle of rain. It was still warm though so we didn’t mind. I was very glad I had gotten all the pictures I wanted early on. By now I had met up with Miranda and Sam, who were down to walking. My body was pretty beat up from traveling and carrying bags so, with nothing to prove on the clock and plenty of time to finish, I enjoyed strolling along for the last couple of kilometers listening to Sam’s stories about the other runners around us. In Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, the running bug is just as strong as it is in Korea. Everyone runs so many races that they seem to all know each other and every third or fourth person we saw greeted Sam or Miranda.



So cool that the medal includes a map of the course!



       When we emerged from the last long tunnel, the finish arch was ticking away the seconds. YAY! Done! Most people that visit places like this, take a bus or taxi, stopping at key points to soak up the view, but when you cover the whole course on foot, twice, you see it all. You absorb your surroundings in a way you never could in a tour group or from a car window. Even on a bicycle, it would all zip by far too quickly. Saying good-bye to the Gorge after such a satisfying and fulfilling day spent with it was easy, like pushing away the clean plate after a wonderful, fulfilling meal. I’ve done it, I’ve lived it, I’ve seen it, I’ve breathed it, I’ve tasted it, I’ve felt it in my soul and it will never leave me.