Racing vs. Drinking

While enduring my post-race hangover this past Sunday, I found myself wondering why, though I had not drunken a drop of anything more potent than Pocari Sweat,  I felt like I'd just downed 4 shots of tequila. It just wasn't fair. Afterall, running is a 'good' thing to do, so why did it leave me feeling like $%!# ?  


The simple answer is, of course, ELECTROLYTES, but the question itself got me thinking about the parallels between drinking and racing, and in turn, the similarities between the people who undertake these two activities.  For me, contemplation leads to blogging, and so I present to you:

Racing vs. drinking

A (very) concise comparison

1.  It's better with friends. 

2.  Improper pacing often leads to disastrous results.  

3.  It always starts out with good intentions, but somewhere along the line, what once seemed like a great idea starts to seem like a death trap and you vow to never, ever, EVER do it again.... until next weekend.

start:'my body is a temple'

finish:  'i can't feel my legs'

start:'this could
 be really good'

finish: 'there is no
good in the world'

start:' pretty happy my wife made 
me do this'

finish: 'divorce'

I like you, Pohang!

The stars were aligned this mid June (how is it mid JUNE already?) weekend for a really great trip to Pohang, a city on the east coast of Korea.  Pohang is about a 90 minute easy bus ride from north Busan, and is home to POSCO a giant steel plant (2nd largest in the world!) which looks pretty ugly in daylight but is actually quite snazzy when lit up with cosmetic lighting in the evening. 

POSCO, by day.

Tim and I travelled with our good running buddy, Matt, and arrived in the city early afternoon on Saturday.  Love motels were plentiful in the bus terminal area so we price shopped for about 4 minutes and settled on the Ilbeu-jang Motel for 30,000 won.  Our rooms were decent sized with clean bathrooms, A/C and flat screen TVs - can't ask for much better than that. 

The three of us set off on a walk to explore and possibly find the race start.  On our travels we each had some very traditional Korean snacks:
Tim: KFC Snacker
Matt: Starbucks tea and scone
Me:  2 Dunkin Donuts

After finding the stadium where the race started, the boys got their minds set on renting bikes, so we asked at a bike shop which had rental-looking bikes out front.  We were first denied because they weren't rental bikes at all,  but the owner then decided we could take 3 bikes  for a couple of hours in exchange for one of our IDs.  What trust!!

didn't work quite like I wanted.

And cycle, we did.  Through the seedier side of Pohang and along the Hyeongsan River we took in the sights of the city including the POSCO plant, Songdo Beach, and Bukbu Beach from afar.  

Bukbu Beach

On our return to the motel, we happened to run into 4 more Busaners and joined up together to rustle up some grub.  In retrospect, looking for beef barbecue on a beach widely known for its raw fish was maybe not the easiest way to go about it, but we persevered and found a barebones BBQ restaurant with tasty beef indeed. 

On race morning, the atmosphere in the stadium was buzzing.  Drums, dancers and thousands of people were gathered on a fairly hot and sunny day. Races started at 9:30, which is relatively late and made the warm-up especially warm. 
We reconnected with some familiar faces, and even ran into a friend who I have crossed paths with at St FX and UNB.

As for my personal race story, which I know you can't live without, I had originally planned this race as a 'fun' run, back when I knew it was only a week after the Gimhae half marathon, and didn't expect much from myself. However, since running can never be 'just fun', no matter how much I tell it to, I took it a little more seriously than I had planned. 


The race was a flat and fairly straight out and back on the road.  The way out was pretty windy which slowed people down quite a bit.  I had some fun running about 6 inches behind a woman for 2km, allowing her to shield the wind for me before I took off past her.  I ran as the 4th female for most of the race, trying to stay positive but honestly feeling pretty dead.  At kilometre 7 or so, a lady passed me.  My first thought was           'Oh well, there goes 4th place, good for her'. Then I grew some guts and said "No! If she can pass me, I can pass her back". I did, and left her in the dust after a small hill and 2km to the end of the race. 


Though it might seem minute, at the moment I decided to kick it up a knotch, I made a difficult choice between being complacent and being a competitor.  Maybe there isn't much difference between fourth and fifth place, and my time was really nothing special, but I feel awesome about deciding and pursuing my own race today, and not letting someone take it away from me just because she could. (She also wore high heeled boots to the race ceremony, so I'm extra glad I beat her.)

Post-running, the buzz in the stadium continued.  The on-stage entertainment included K-Pop dancers and Belly Dancers, while the Korean Military band put on a a pretty good show on the field.  Free Makgoli (Korean rice Liquor) and noodles were some more perks and this impressively organized race. 

In truth, I was not expecting much from Pohang, but it went a long way in proving me wrong.  Now it's 'so-long' to racing for a couple of months, and 'hello' to training hard for the next one. Here's to breaking 40:00, attempt #2......

P.S. Tim also ran a fast and furious race in the 5km - that's my boy!

the ups and downs of up and downing.

And....... we made it. 

the destination.

Highlights:

• An easy subway ride to the end of the line in Daejeo.
• A cheap (30,000won) and decent (clean) love motel.
• Female cab driver who understood our destination the FIRST time we told her, without calling her buddy or using GPS.
• Getting to share a tent with the Diablos Running club from Daejeon.
• Overcast skies and sub 20 temperature race morning.
• An easier climb than anticipated with a few mini downhill relief sessions on the 10.5km uphill.
• Seeing a man running the half while wearing the purse (murse?) that was given as a race registration gift.  
• Water stations every 3km.
• The 'Roller Skating Link'  sign en route.
• Finishing. (4th female, with little hope of 3rd, at a time of approx. 1hour 45 minutes)

filling our kimchi quota.

Tim getting pumped up.

tenting it up post-race.

Lowlights:

• An attempted rip-off by the cabbie from subway to Gimhae (10,000won for a 10 minute drive?)
• Trying to give the Love Hotel ajumma a 50,000won bill for 10 minutes, then realising it was a 5,000 won bill in my hand.
• I'm not as good at running downhill as I thought.
• Man with K-Pop (not even good K Pop) playing full blast from his cellphone while running past me/around me at 9km.
• Getting passed by the 3rd place female at 17km without a hope of even trying to chase her down.

Overall, a pretty fun race that did not kill me (yet) nearly as much as I thought it would. I'm still walking without a limp, and managed the uphill/downhill commute to work 3 times today without undue stress. 

Next week: Pohang 10km for another new Korean city and more good times with good people.

:)

Tim gets caught mid-sneeze by the timer. AAAAACHOO!

Crazy/Stupid.... the line is fine

Tim and I have just returned from a mountain 'run' on our backyard mound called Jangsan.  We managed to cover just over 8km in just over 1 hour.  A little depressing considering 8km on any other day would take either of us between 35 and 40 minutes. However, due to our race next weekend, it's time to switch our minds over to mountain running mentality. 

On Sunday, June 12th, I (we) will be embarking on the Gimhae Mountain Race, which takes place just outside of Busan on.... you guessed it: a mountain.  Of all the races I have under my belt so far, this will be of the greatest magnitude.  Of the possible 5, 10 and 21.1km distances, Tim and I have committed to the silver tuna - the Half Marathon. 


For some reason, when registering us for the race, Tim's statement that ' If we are going to do a mountain race, we're going to do the half' made perfect sense.  In retrospect, it makes very little sense.  


Having done mostly 10km road races in my time, I have also dabbled a bit in track (one season with the Ottawa Gee Gees),  cross country (with UNB and also the Gee Gees) and have found my way through a total of 3 half marathons.  In a realm I consider separate from these running/racing experiences, I have also done a few 'trail races'.  Two among these stand out  - for different reasons. 


#1 - Conquer the Canuck Trail Race, 2007, Fredericton (Crabbe Mountain)


I signed up for this race because it sounded different and a little bit crazy.  I chose the fairly conservative distance option of 12.5 km and at the time it was the longest race I'd ever signed up for.  I figured that making my way through the trails surrounding Crabbe Mountain would be fun, no matter how long it took.  


Thinking I wouldn't be running much longer than 70 or 90 minutes, I set off at full speed, whipping through tree branches and sprinting up and down hills, nearly losing a shoe in a patch of mud along the way. "This is so much FUN!" Was all I could think. Until I reached an aid station where the friendly race volunteers told me ' uhhh.... 12.5km? I think you made a wrong turn. This is the 25km course."


Faced with the decision of waiting indefinitely for a rescue vehicle, or making my way back via the 25km course, I decided on the latter and an arduous 2 hours later, clomped back down the bunny hill and to the finish line of the race.  By that point my mental ticker had changed to " That was the hardest thing I have ever done in my LIFE".


#2 - Ultimate XC Trail Race, 2010, Mt Tremblant, Quebec. 


After a 3 year hiatus from ski hill running, Tim and I signed up for the 13km trail race on Mt Tremblant in Quebec, not far from Ottawa.  This race was/is part of a series of trail/mountain races in Canada put on by Ultimate XC with all sorts of fun sport combinations and distances (http://www.ultimatexc.com/races.html)


With more experience and some more fire in my race furnace, I was a little better prepared for this one.  Starting out at the village below the ski hill, the race course slowly climbed up the mountain and eventually gave way to switchback trails filled with rocks, routes and many portions that were just impossible to run.  The climb was tough, but something about the loamy, piney smell, and the small group of fellow racers that were never far away made the journey that much more tolerable.  After reaching the peak and flying back down the mountain, I found myself in a nearly neck to neck battle with another female in the race.  I eventually outkicked her on the last kilometre of the race which took us through the ski village along a cobble stone path lined with enthusiastically cheering spectators.  I came through the finish as the second female and as a cherry on top, got to run directly into the lake that was about 10m from the finish line.  


Tremblant was, without a doubt, my favorite race ever. The funny thing is, I have no idea what my finishing time was.  Which brings me to my fundamental point, and the real reason that I love trail races ( and therefore the real reason why I crazy/stupidly signed up for a mountain half marathon).  Running through woods, up and down hills brings a kind of primal joy that I have never found anywhere else.  Unlike road races which require almost mundane pacing, and constant pounding on asphalt, concrete and - if you're lucky- running paths, the real key to trail racing is using your instincts.  You have to know when to run, and when it makes much more sense to walk.  You need to be constantly aware of what's under your feet - and what isn't.  You also need to gauge when you can pass someone, based on the width of the trail and how long you can keep up your pacing without letting that same person pass you again. These things are all virtually absent in road racing, along with a number of other things, nature often being high on the list.  


So, to sum up, yes, I think it's borderline stupid to try to run 10km up a mountain, and another 10 back down, and it's also probably crazy.  Yet, somehow, clipping along a wooded trail through trees and rocks and who-knows-what, the superlative feelings about the race : 'most fun' and 'most hard'  kind of turn into the same indescribable thing. 


I may be walking pretty funny (if at all) on Monday, June 13th, but I'm pretty sure I'll also be smiling. Famous last words? We'll see.

 full speed to the finish. Last kms don't get much better than this.
(Tremblant, 2010)