Photo's!!!

Run Club Shirt

View of the lake near the Temple (4/2/11)

Temple at Bottom of Mt. Seounsan (hike and bike 4/2/11) 

Pic of the different trails up Mt Seounsan (4/2/11)

The Mt Top (4/2/11)

The TOP of the Mt. (4/2/11)

Some of the 1/2marathon Race course - we ran towards the mountain in the distance (4/10/11)

My race swag and medal (4/10/11)

Korean Baseball Game Heros Vs Giants (4/9/11)

Korean Baseball!

Sunday, April 10th, I completed my first 1/2 marathon of 2011. Actually, it was only the second half marathon race I've ever completed. I did my first half last year, I guess after competing 2 full marathons, it was time to try the half distance. Saturday's race was great! It was called the MBC Adidas Marathon. It was a very big event. Maybe 10,000 runners showed up! They offered a full, half, 10k, and 5k. The biggest event I've been to so far in Korea. The race swag was great - an Adidas technical shirt and a backpack. The weather was almost perfect for the race. A bit chilly in the morning, and warmed up as the day went on, topping out at about 17c. I think we could have had a bit more sun, but that's only because I am ready to start on my tan! The course was challenging. It was very hilly and pretty! We did a bit of running along the Han River, some running through a park, and of course, some along the streets of Seoul. I would do this course again! I actually got a PR for the race, however, I set off with a plan - nice and easy! I stuck to my plan through the whole race and finished feeling great with a big smile on my face. In my training, I'm only up to 10 miles, so pushing it to 13 risk's injury, and with the Ironman70.3 on the horizon, injury is not an option! 

After the race was complete, I joined the rest of the Seoul Flyers (my run club) for a little picnic! They had all sorts of fruit, homemade muffins, chocolates, granola bars (all Western food!!!). Some of the things I haven't had in months, so I enjoyed all they had to offer! Considering I had done 50 miles in 2 days, I figured it was ok ;)

Yes, that's right - 50miles in 2 days. I'm ramping up and getting ready for the 70.3, so Saturday called for a 2:30hr cycle. I set off for just under 3 hours and managed 37 miles. Many of which were up and down hills. I am growing to love the challenge of the hill!! Since prior to this, most all my riding had been done in Houston, I pretty much didn't know what a hill was. There was a ride or two done in Austin, TX that had some hills, but they are nothing compared to the hills here. 

I do enjoy seeing Korea via cycling. I am able to travel off the beaten path and see small towns and back country roads. I usually bring my camera just in case I see something that is deserving of a quick photo break. 

Outside of training, on Saturday, I made it to a Korean baseball game. It was similar to a game in the States. The stadium was filled with families and rowdy drunks. The teams played 9 innings and seemed to have the same rules as US baseball. However, they had cheerleaders, a person who stood on the dugout the whole game doing crowd interaction, getting everyone to cheer throughout the whole game. Also, the game moved really slow. I saw a lot of errors, missed catches, things you wouldn't see at a US baseball game. Maybe baseball isn't Korea's best sport. Still a fun evening out!! :)

This coming weekend I have another 2:30hr ride planned, only a 11 mile run on Sunday, and 2500meters in the pool. This weekend is also the Cherry Blossom Festival in Seoul, I'll be sure to head up there to see it! Should be beautiful. 

Ready, Set, Work-out!

This past weekend was exciting... for me! I'm sure others won't see the excitement in my weekend, but I sure did! 

I kept my Friday very low key, and watched a great movie - Without Limits (movie about the great runner, Steve Prefontain). Saturday morning, I was off for a 9 mile run! Took it slow and easy, longest run I've done all year. Shortly after the run was a rest and some food... the I set out running to the gym for a 1 hour weight session. I ran to and from the gym in my nifty "5 finger" shoes by Vibram. I do enjoy the barefoot running experience. I can feel a difference in my stride and feel the effect on my muscles. Great shoes! I followed my weight session with a rest and food then was off to the pool for a 1000m swim. (20 laps). All in all good day, however this was my "easy" day for the weekend. 

Sunday morning, I got up for a little 3 mile run. Then fueled up for a big ride and hike! I cycled out to this mountain, took the longer way there 11.5 miles. Anseong is about 50ft above sea level, the ride took me to 500ft above sea level. This was a little ways up the base of the mountain I was about to hike. The hike took me up a "hard" path to 1,749 ft above sea level. I say it was a "hard" path since it was mostly straight up, lots of trees, not very many people, the grade of the climb was about 55%. I believe a treadmill can provide you with a max grade of 10%. The hike was awesome! At the top, I took some great photos, and had a chat with a few Koreans who just took a different path to the top. They were from Seoul. The gentleman, Peter, and his wife were down in Anseong to buy a kitty cat from a college student who couldn't keep him. :) cute. They were a very friendly couple who fed me some of their massive pear they had. Peter gave me his business card and said to call when I come up to Seoul and they will arrange for me to come over and meet their daughter who's my age, and they will cook for me:) Korean's are very friendly people! I made it down the mountain in 1/2 the time it took me to get up. Then I was back to the bike for a very easy, mostly downhill, 10.5 mile ride back home! I will defiantly do this workout again! Next time I'll challenge myself to go faster or ride a little further before going for the climb. The bottom of the Mountain has an 800 year old Buddhist temple, which I was able to check out and get some photos of. Very cool! 

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and preping for this week. Since I've been bringing my lunch to school everyday, I'm forced to cook something...every night. I am coming to enjoy the cooking. Please message me any healthy recipes if you have any! I am still pretty new to this whole cooking thing :) 

This week at school has been very busy! Thank goodness it's wednesday! I begin teaching 2 new classes next week. One is an afterschool class for children who want to improve their English, the other is of teachers who want to learn more English. It will be nice to have 2 classes of people who are motivated to learn! :) I will up date on how they go... till then I have many many new lessons to plan!  

Winter Blues...

For some reason, the temps here have been abnormally cold! This week, the highs are finally getting into the teens Celsius, (50s-60s F), which is great, but the mornings are still only about freezing, or just above. The trees are still bare. Luckily the sun comes out daily! Looking at weather.com, the lows are usually around 4-5c and the highs are in the teens. This year has been extremely cold for Korea. I blame this on me, the country must have known I was coming and that I can't stand the cold! Looks like for the next few weeks I have to continue to suffer through morning runs and cycles in near freezing temps. Weather is my biggest complaint, and there is nothing I can do about it! 


Dear Korea,
PLEASE GET HOT NOW!
Thanks,
The freezing waygook


(waygook = korean for foreigner)


This past weekend was another race for me! 10k #2, I did much better on this one then my last 10k! The weather was good for running, sunny about 45F. Could have been a bit warmer, but it was good for the run. I was a few min off from a PR, but I am improving. Next race is a 1/2 marathon next weekend. :) 


This weekend I also experimented with "cooking"!!! I picked up a mini blender/juicer/food processor/chopper. So I made some naan bread, strawberry/apple/orange juice, hummus, and the best thing - peanut butter!!! The PB is so good! Last night, I decided to try out making a quiche for the 1st time. I made it the healthy way (low fat milk, egg whites, and no cheese) crust-less of course. It turned out really really well!! I like this whole - trying to cook thing! Please feel free to send me simple low fat recipes to try!!!! If I can get the ingredients here, I will try and make it!!


I have started on doing 2 -a-days in prep for tri season and the Ironman70.3, July 3rd! I got out on my new bike for my first training ride this morning. (vs just a little ride around my house for changing the fitting on the bike). I would like it say it was a good ride, but it was too cold. Every time I got going fast, I froze. By the time I got home, I was an icicle. It was miserable. Their might as well have been a few inches of snow on the ground. Please keep your fingers crossed that it warms up, I don't know how many layers I can wear before I am too bundled up to move. 

Ready to Ride

Yesterday, I spent the day up in Seoul. It started with a short run with my running club, the Seoul Flyers! I am helping a new runner build up to a 1/2marathon and then a marathon! She's doing a 10k this morning, so yesterday she and I did a slow 3 miler. Felt great to be out there running along the Han River. It's an amazing place to run and looks beautiful! (makes me anxious for next year, I will be looking for a job in Seoul near the Han!) 


After the run and a cup of coffee, I set out to find a road bike!!! I found my bike at the 3rd shop I went to! I'm pretty excited about the bike. It is just another "entry level" bike. I went back and fourth for about a month on whether or not to spend the money on a better bike or go entry level again. I am planning 2 years in Korea and it's very likely that I will sell this bike when I leave. That being said, I think going for a lower end bike was the best idea! I think I got lucky too.. the bike shop had a few of the 2010 models left of my bike, so I got a great deal on it. My new bike is a 2010 Fuji Finest 2.0. It does have Shimano components, a mix of Sora and Tiagra. Which I think its great - if I went with the 2011 models, I would have paid the same price for Shimano 2300 components (which is their lowest one). With the bike, I had to purchase pedals, shoes, helmet, and a lock. Those were the absolute essentials to get started. I will need to pick up a tire pump asap, but those you can get most anywhere. The store had 2 people who spoke enough English to help me out. If they were fluent, I would have had a ton of questions about the bike and made sure they did a proper bike fitting, but alas I don't know enough Korean and they don't know enough English for this to happen. I read some very positive reviews about the bike, saying its the best entry level bike money can buy. After a few hours at the bike shop, picking everything out and arranging shipping, they told me they would give me the water bottle cages and lights as "service" aka for free!! Whoo, on top of the overall discount they gave me for buying everything at their shop (about 8% off). I would go back there for sure!!


On my way home, I popped into the New Balance store, and was excited to find they carry my running shoes... so I picked up a pair of those too! I figured I'm due for a new pair in about a month, so I might as well! They we're probably about $30 more then in the US, since they are a US product and have to be shipped. I wish Brooks sold products here, since I have a partial sponsorship from them, and should be wearing all Brooks... boo!


Today, soon as the rain clears up, I'll be headed out for a 10 mile run! Taking it nice and slow, I didn't get in as much training as I needed this week, I was a bit under the weather for a few days due to some bad food! eeek!


The BEST NEWS of my weekend: http://ironmankorea.com/ Ironman will is coming to Korea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whoo!!! Ironman had just made its debut in Texas (Galveston and The Woodlands when I left boo) and now it will be here in Korea! The race was held annually from 2000-2005 on Jeju Island, and this year it will return to the island! I was planning on my first race to be in the Philippians on August 14th, but I'm going to put all my effort into being race ready in time for July 3rd! Its about 15 weeks from now, which means I'm a bit behind on my training. The goal for 2011 is injury free, so I may not be able to compete in Jeju, but I'm going to push to get ready!!! If I can't, I will have the Philippians as my fall back :) If I can't participate in IM70.3 Korea, I will go down to the island to volunteer and cheer for the participants!! :) 


Not too much is going on at school, still only teaching a few classes each day, that will change next month! I have decided that I'll be opting out of school lunches next month, they change me $80 a month and most days I don't eat because they serve food I'm allergic to. Boo! 

Just Relax

Since the last update, there has only been a bit of excitement in my life! Last week, Friday, I went to dinner with all my co-workers. Another school dinner. This time we went out for sushi. It was a little bit different then in the states. The first course was 2 salads, prawns (ones that stared at you) and octopus - something about bit odd about the octopus that was put in front of me... it was still moving. Yes, they cut it up while it is still alive and when you eat it the little tentacles are still moving. I gave it a try, since they really wanted me too... ICK! I don't really eat meat and avoid food on a bone, so it took about 5 min to work up the ability to eat the little thing. The next course was a huge platter of sashimi followed by sushi and gimbap. The sushi was the kind that is the piece of fish on rice, it was not wrapped with seaweed and didn't have any fun things inside. They also served 3 different cooked fish and soup with dinner, by the time that stuff came out, I was stuffed!  

I spent most of last weekend just relaxing! I've had a very busy time since I've been here. I have gone to Seoul every weekend since I arrived, and then some! I wanted a little break. I began reading this book, Once A Runner! It's great!! I did some cleaning and reorganizing, finished up some things to hang in the classroom, and did some grocery shopping. It didn't help that I had begun to come down with a little cold, and did not feel well. I suppose it was a good thing, I spent the weekend in! I did meet up with a friend for coffee on Sunday morning! 

School went well this week, I had my first full week of teaching, taught at least 1 class per day. They all went very well and the kids seem to like me! :) I have a lot of lesson planning to do, so I spend a good portion of my day creating power points and looking up teaching tools and worksheets online. I am always looking for new games to play too, they are a little old for some of the elementary games, but I like to finish class on a good note, specially if the lesson is as dry as phonics. 

This weeks training has gone well. Sunday will be 3 weeks till my next race! Here is what I've done so far:

M - Run 3, Lift legs, Yoga

T - Run 3, swim 2100m

W - rest

T - Run 3, Yoga

Today will be Yoga, Saturday will be a run + swim, and Sunday will be a run! The weather is looking good for the weekend, we should hit a high of 12-13C on Saturday. We have had temps in the mornings of around -1(30F), and highs of around 6C(45F). I'm looking forward to the weekend warm up, and hope the temps are here to stay! 

New pictures coming soon! :)


Oh and I learned something the hard way about mail here in Korea.... if you send something to me, it needs to go to my school not my home. I was sent a package in January that hasn't arrived, and I assume never will. It's likely to have been set outside my door by the mail man, and mistaken for trash by the trash man (then seem to dropoff/pick up in about the same spot). So if you want to send me something I'll have to give you my schools address! I know I receive mail there :)

Back to School, Back to School

The new school year started this week! The school has been filled with children now. Our incoming 1st grade class (aka 7th grade) is very small, only about 30 children. The school is very small compared to other public schools in the area, about 120 students total. I feel like all the students and teachers like me very much! I have been told by my co-teacher that the children are excited for my class and happy to have me as a teacher :) Some of my co-workers have told me that they think I'm great and like me better then their previous foreign teacher (I probably shouldn't repeat that, hee hee). I begin teaching today! My class schedule goes as follows:
M-F 0810-0855 soccer team 
M-T 1535-1620 open class (I teach to any one who wants to come)
M- 1155-1240 2nd grade
T- 1425-1510 1st grade
W- 0910-0955 2nd grade
Th- 1425-1535 3rd grade
F- 1155-1240 3rd grade


I will end up adding in about 5 more classes, in order to teach the teachers. I'm very excited about teaching the teacher, I think that will help me become better friends with them :) no to mention the experience of teaching adults!! My schedule is very light so far, my contract states that I should teach 22 classes a week, and I only have 14 right now! Lots of planning time on my hands, which means my lessons should be awesome! My first lesson is just an intro lesson - pick English names if they don't have one, play a few games, learn the rules... typical 1st lesson! I have been using this awesome site www.waygook.org to get ideas, lessons, powerpoints, games, etc! It's very helpful. I am always up to hear ideas and suggestions for fun things to do!! Please feel free to message me if you have any! 


This week was a national holiday, it was to celebrate the beginning of the Independence movement against Japan. I spent the day up in Seoul (surprise, surprise). A friend and I got coffee, then went to the Contemporary Art Museum to see the Picasso display! It was great! I really enjoyed the art. We followed that with dinner in Itaewon (foreigner area) at a middle eastern place, yum hummus! 


This past weekend I did another race, this one was a 10k(6.2mi) and it really did not go well! The weather on Sunday was terrible! It was just warm enough to have rain, so about 1C (34F) and it was pouring down rain! I am proud that I actually did the race, since I'm such a wimp when it comes to cold weather. I was drenched by the 1k mark. Puddles were everywhere, so my shoes were soaked as well. I finished, which was good. I spent the rest of my day on my couch wrapped in blankets! Saturday was a fun day, got up early and went up to Seoul, I had arranged to meet with some people who were leaving the country that day to buy some of their things, I got a tent for camping and a wireless router! I now have wireless all set up at home :) and am excited to plan my first camping trip! I just have to wait for the weather to warm up. I spent the afternoon with my friends shopping. Stayed the night in Seoul to be there for my race in the morning! 


I am excited for this month! I am buying a road bike in a few weeks, I think I've picked out a Cannondale, I need to test it out of course before I buy! I have another 10k on the 27th. I start my 20 week training program for my 1/2 Ironman on March 14th. And I have decided to dedicate 1 hour a day (M-F) to learning Korean! :)