Goodbye Korea…..Catch up NZ and Hello UK!

Our Korean stint is over.

In terms of running success it’s been fantastic….and I feel that I’m well on track to getting back to a quick marathon time! The past 6 or so weeks have been very bright. June was my biggest running month for a year and also injury free. May, I took part in 3 races, also injury free! Therefore heading back home for 5 weeks of a very busy mid-season of running I’m feeling really good!

I have signed up for the Frankfurt Marathon, end of October, that’ll be my long term focus. However, while in NZ I’m running in the Canterbury Cross Champs (my first Cross Country race since primary school days over Riccarton Racecourse). Queen Charlottle Trail Run will be another real highlight, and just what I need after a year surrounded by heavy industry! I’ve also signed in for the Taupo Half Marathon, and fingers crossed, I may get a spot into the NZ Cross Country Champs!

So leaving Korea is sort of bittersweet. We are ready to go, but it’s also hard leaving good friends. I don’t know if I’ll ever live in another place which has such accommodating, welcoming and friendly people…..especially the running community. I can’t imagine people in NZ or the UK cheering me on while I do a normal training run down the footpath! Runners build up a connection with other runners. The chap I would always see doing the same old routine each morning at 4.45am is a prime example. It’s people like that who make you appreciate why we run and why the simple act of waving, smiling or saying “good morning” is a brilliant way to start the day.

Other things I’ll miss…….Korean Banks/ATM machines – I should elaborate…..ATM’s you can wire money to you foreign bank account! Banks – super service! I’ll also miss water coolers everywhere, and free of charge! Perfect when battling on a longer run, pop into any store and top yourself up. I’ll miss pre-peeled garlic…..so much time of my life has been saved thanks to this outstanding idea! Side dishes, Korean restaurants love them! And lastly I’ll miss the clear and consistent seasons/weather. Just like a switch, the seasons change before your eyes. I’d read about this before but was always doubtful, but now I see, understand and marvel.

I won’t miss the weather we have had over the past 3 weeks. It’s monsoon season here. This brings hot, humid, and wet weather! As if you have just jumped out of the shower humidity, making the important things like hydration vitally important. Running has been very challenging. So the idea of running in a mild 5 – 12 degrees in Christchurch is amazing!

As school’s out for summer I’ll keep tabs on this more often! Next post will be post Canterbury Cross Country.

Cheers and cheers Korea……don’t know if I’ll see you again but it has always been swell! Thanks for looking after us!

Haman Half Marathon May 2013 2nd 

Staff Olympics Day II - Photo Scavenger Hunt (me playing musical instrument)

Korean gold!

Team Asia/Oceania at Olympics

Team Asia/Oceania with DSME (Shipbuilding company) workers. 

Cutting down to the chase….

Blogs that I read always put that it’s has been a while since my last post. Since I’ve already put this in you’ll understand that it is very true so I’ll ‘cut to the chase’ and attempt to fill in the missing gaps and write about what’s on the horizon!

Firstly; Seoul Marathon

This is a IAAF Gold Road Race so it’s a big deal and one would expect it to be well organised, which it was. Around 20,000 people took part, and around 100 elite men and woman. For the share amount of people I was quite surprised how the start was, I didn’t feel swamped or overwhelmed. Everyone stayed where they were meant to be making it an easy experience.

I couldn’t say much on the course as I never really take in much else than 20 metre’s in front of me in a marathon. Mind you running into the Olympic stadium was cool, some real spring in the track! I could imagine John Campbell (2.14 marathon) and Lorraine Moller (2.37) would have felt amazed with it being full for their last 400 in the marathon.

My race unfolded really well and I can say I was stoked to come home in 2.31, for 5^th place in the non-elite category. I was striving for below 2.30 but faded away in the back end of the race (the most important). However, I have to look at how the previous 4 months have gone training wise and put that into perspective. The main thing I can take is experience. While running that last 15km’s I was really focused and mentally felt strong, although the body was telling me otherwise!

From here; Jinju Half Marathon

This is on the 28^th of April, then a couple of other races close to where we are that I’ll also do. These are half marathons, so I’m aiming to get that time down around 68 for the half (fingers crossed).

Looking forward;

Once time is finished here in Korea it’ll be a month long trip back to NZ, taking in some cross country, Captain Cook’s landing and Taupo half marathon (50/50). Then to the UK and I’ve been looking into an Autumn European Marathon……..very exciting and establishing myself in a club (missed the regular club fixtures)!

Some photos of Seoul, trip to Japan and a 10km in Ulsan (Korea).

Guttered to miss out on what seems to have been an incredible NZ summer!

Seoul Marathon Training weeks 2 and 3.5

Sitting here on a brisk (-3) Sunday morning, thinking that I should be out there, or should have finished a long 

session. However, a series of events have occurred this week which do not allow me to do so.

Incident 1: 

Towards the end of last week (training week 2), I notice a pain in the Achilles. Me being me, I decided to continue on but would ice frequently after training. Please note I did not reduce. The pain then gradually built and built until on Wednesday it got the point of no more running, and I needed to walk a long descent at the conclusion of a painful training session.

Belated response to incident 1: 

No running Thursday until today (Sunday), maybe tomorrow. Yesterday I went to the hospital to see the Doctor about the problem. Where I am in Korea there doesn’t seem to be the equivalent of sports physiotherapists (lots of Thai and Chinese traditional massage, which I’m going to this week). Anyway, off I went. The doctor’s English is very limited, although to be fair miles better than my Korean. I went in, motioned that I run, and pointed to the problem area. He felt it and said ‘injection, no run’. I was swooped off like a wailing starling to the next room, where an anti-inflammatory jab was popped into my bottom. Hold for one minute was my next instruction, and then it was further along the conveyor belt. My next stop was a large room with 20 wooden beds, set at about knee height. I was laid down and my food wrapped in a warm cloth. This was for around 20 minutes and felt very good. After this the cloth was replaced with 4 suction pads, attached to a machine that monitored time. Time was set to 15 minutes, and the pads felt very similar to ultrasound therapy. Following this a nurse came and gave the area a good old rub. So all of this totaled around one and a half hours and cost 6 New Zealand dollars! Cheers. It does feel much better today but that could be the injection still masking the pain.

Incident 2: 

Sick. Maybe to do with the cold, or a little too much running.

Response to incident 2: 

No running until I return to full health. And a strip down of my training system! Like this blog, brief. I’m going to try a less is more approach to the next 2 phases of my Seoul marathon training. Currently I’ve been looking a variety of ideas from online articles. Hopefully by mid-week I will have something in action!

Enjoy those km's!

Week 1 Seoul Training

Brief be the aim, so brief will be the game! Writing this bog...not running

Really pleased with how my first solid week of training has gone. Managed 10 sessions, with a variety of tempo, speed, hills and recovery. My body has pulled through quite well, although my right ankle did feel slightly worse for wear after my final run this morning. I just put this down to the 25km road run I did yesterday, and not running that far on the road in quite a while.

Here are the token stats for the week that was:

Avg Distance:	14.39 km
Avg Time:	1:11:09 h:m:s
Count:	10 Activities
Distance:	143.90 km
Time:	11:51:35 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:	3,625 m
Avg HR:	142 bpm
Calories:	7,382 C
Max HR:	192 bpm
Avg Elevation Gain:	362 m
Max Time:	1:54:34 h:m:s

This week the aim will be to build on from here. Just a bit more mileage, but more or less similar kinds of sessions.

This week it'll be 2 months until the Seoul Marathon. Today I managed to spend 4 hours getting the necessary flights sorted out, so just need to confirm a place to stay and we'll be ready to go!

Lowest running temperature this week....minus 9! Cheers Korea

Happy New Year

It has been bang on a year since I started this blog, and it’s fair to say that as the year went on, the posts tailed off! However, due to the lack of racing and consistent training because of injury, writing things became quite difficult.

So for the New Year I’m looking at some new goals for the blog. Keeping it brief is something I’m going to try out for the first 3 months. No need for a quirky story or background information on some place. So I’ll just focus on running and training.

 However, away from this I have just recently finished a book which is in serious need of a mention; the book is Running with the Kenyans. The book is about a journalist/free-lance writer (Runners World, Guardian and Times), who has a soft spot for running so packs up his family and heads to Iten for 6 months of training with the ultimate goal of successfully completing the Lewa Marathon. Along the way he also aims to learn as much as possible about what makes the Kenyan athletes so World Class. Initially he goes seeking something that many a reporter seeks, a one word explanation of how and what makes Kenyans such amazing athletes? But as the story progresses he understands that one thing alone doesn’t make the athlete, a variety of things do. To conclude, a very interesting read if you’re in need of a lounger for the beach or lake this summer.

My running is now, well as of this morning, back into the consistent cycle. One run doesn’t quite make it consistent but I do have a serious plan and long term target of the Seoul Marathon. There will be more to follow on this.

This morning’s run was a shock to the system as now I’m back in Korea in the depth of winter (-2 degrees). Coming from spending the past 2 and a half weeks in tropical bliss in the Philippines, running without a top and swimming at least 15 times a day, this was tough. However, the sun was shining today, making the world of difference.

So into the year with a bang! Brief and informative will be the aim on the running front!

Happy New Year!

Back into it!

I can’t really remember much about my previous entry all I know is that plenty has happened since. Being very busy is probably one of the major things, minors things include a pretty full on Korean style tourist visit to China, being struck down with a bout of Gastroenteritis and yeah a half marathon!

Here in the Southern part of Korea winter has started to hit and the temperatures have really reduced. Bright, clear and sunny days are great but the wind can be icy at times. We really noticed this around 3 weeks ago. Not totally sure if this is entirely normal for this time of year as we’ve heard various reports and point of views. However, rain is rare making trails hard and fast.

No idea why I started talking about the weather, it’s such a load of nonsense and shouldn’t affect people the way it does. But obviously I am someone who feels he needs to share this information. Throughout my time of injury I did struggle to write about my on-goings without running, now I’m running and I’m talking about the weather?!

Running. Ok.

Everything tastes better, looks better and feels better with it! Sleeping is mad. Yesterday I feel asleep in the bank. The lovely security guard woke me up and I informed her that I was waiting for the teller to help me with a transfer. Here in Korea the banks, well my bank, are fricking brilliant. They close at 4pm. Not great. But, you get in there at 3.59pm, they’ll get you sorted, even if you’re there until 5pm, then give you some toothpaste and say sorry for keeping you waiting! Yeah, so falling asleep in random places is really maximising resting time for training. When waiting grab 5!

Sunday the 11^th of November dawned with big ol’ fat rain! Large drops that quadruple in size once they slap into the concrete jungle of Busan. Busan was the location for my first race since the Christchurch Marathon, June. The week before I was sick and only managed a subtle 7km. However, weeks before, I’d managed to build a good routine, and was confident going into the race. Almost magically as we made our way to the start of the race the skies cleared and the rain ceased. I was very excited and very unsure how things would unfold. My plan was to keep on or around 3.30 min/km over 4 5km sections. I had completed some track sessions which gave me the confidence that this was achievable.

Korean races, well my experience is very limited so I shouldn’t generalise but I will, seem to be very well organised. Everything was sent to us well in advance, loads of things going on before and after the race and good support at aid stations.

From a personal point of view the race unfolded really well. The start was slightly chaotic as the usual heads raced off and went balls to the wall for the first km, classic moves! Once we settled into it was easy to pick who was up for it. I nestled in behind a group of 5 guys which diminished to 3 by the 3km mark, and then 2 by the 5km mark. Looking forward I could see first and second running well. The paced dipped for a km so I decided to push on at my desired speed, urging the guy to keep it on. Well, I used weird circular hand actions which could universally mean ‘let’s go, keep it on, we can catch them if we work together’, or ‘I’m using a whip’, or ‘my wrist is very tight and feels a little bit uncomfortable’. I’m assuming he had run his race as we dropped away leaving me to chase down 1^st and 2^nd. I continued to gain on them and felt stronger as the raced progressed. At a 12km turn around section I clocked them about 20 seconds on me. The runner in first then decided to burst and put around a 10 metre gap on second. I tried hard to push on each km and did move my way into second place. However, I didn’t have the speed to catch the first placed runner and finished in 2nd place with a time of 1.13.32.

Pretty stoked really!

What next? Well, racing done for the year but 2013 seems to be building with some great possibilities.

I’ll aim to be more frequent for the end of 2012.

Kepler next weekend, good luck to everyone who's running, racing or walking!

Enjoy the roads, trails or whatever surface you run or roll on!   

Momentum

Being currently based in Korea I thought I’d share a little bit of food related information for you. As a runner, this is always very close to my heart, the more you train, the more you get to chow down!

The particular dish I’m going to mention here is the first I tried in Korea and is still my favourite. It’s called Bibimbap. This dish is based with rice, and served steaming in a hot bowl. Layered on top are stacks of local vegetables (mushroom, carrot, spring onion (lots of others too), seaweeds, an egg and a very small portion of meat. Although most Korean dishes have meat they only eat a very small amount (unless it’s a BBQ).

Anyway you mix it all together and eat. Simple and tasty every time. There are also a variety of options you can mix into your bowl and some places even let you select what you want, with restrictions. Great to smash down after a run, yes a run, which I’ve been doing a little bit more of lately!

This week has been awesome! Two great trail runs, finding more of the local area and beginning to get some bearings in the hills. The flats seem to be treating me well also with two double days, and waking to early morning sessions with a spring in my step. Now with this in mind I’ve started to look seriously at the possibility of some racing in the middle of November. More to follow soon.

Few Stats and food pictures to wet the appetite

Avg Distance:	12.12 km
Avg Time:	1:00:59 h:m:s
Count:	7 Activities
Distance:	84.83 km
Time:	7:06:51 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:	2,365 m
Avg HR:	139 bpm
Calories:	4,471 C
Max HR:	172 bpm
Avg Elevation Gain:	338 m
Max Time:	1:39:38 h:m:s

Bibimbap can be served hot or cold

Mix it up and chomp it down