It had always been a plan of mine to get into more trail-y running once I got to Korea, and there is really no excuse not to, when I have a perfectly mountainous mountain beneath my feet.
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| Jangsan in the am |
This morning, I bundled up in my tights and my giant garmin and trekked up the hill.
The first part of the hike is through city streets which are about 75 degree hills (I have no idea if that makes sense but on the protractor in my mind it does).
When I finally reached the trail I had to stop to walk a couple of times and tried really hard not to worry about my pace being infinity minutes/km.
It's hard to trail run and NOT get philosophical. I've read several descriptions of it and though I'm trying to not be cliche, there really is something magical about it. Flying over rocks and through trees when you might twist your ankle/knee/crack your head open any second is a pretty fantastic feeling. It scares me like nothing else, but at the same time I can't get enough of it.
As someone who finds it nearly impossible to live 'in the moment', trail running may be my cure... when you are focusing on every single step, branch, twig and surface your toes touch, you really have no choice but to live in the moment you are in.
I made it a ways up the mountain, then decided to turn back for the downhill ride.
Just when I was half-wishing that I had a flat road to lay it all out and sprint down, I realised that I didn't recognize anything around me and I was actually very lost. Given my sense of direction, I was not surprised and had suspected I wouldn't have an easy way home.
But! After finding 2 mountain-side graves, a few dead ends, circling around in 3 parking garages, and ending up in a school in a neighbourhood I didn't even know existed, I made it back to my front door with Mountain Run #1 under my belt.
Thank you Jangsan.
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