Kay oh Ray

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Last

At the risk of sounding sentimental or cliche, I do have to write a 'goodbye' post.

This is our last morning in Korea and in a few hours will be boarding a plane to Thailand for a little vacation before eventually going back to Canada.

I want and need to say thank you to everything and everyone that has made this year what it was in every way.

Thank you first of all to a country where I've been able to pursue my three passions of children, teaching, and running. I've gained experience with kids and learning in ways that I'd never even considered. I've met children I will never forget and who I hope never forget me. Korea has shown me a new culture with new and different ways of living. The people here are like none I have ever met and have taught me a lot about respect, honour and generosity.

Because I HAVE to talk about running I must say that I've been able to participate in more races in one year than the rest of the years in my life combined. I've been lucky enough to stand on the podium with race times that at home would barely place me in the top 20-30 finishers but here have allowed me to be a 'SUPASTAR'. I'm sure one race at home will be pretty humbling:). I've met kindred running spirits that have become amazing friends and who I have no doubt I will make an effort to see again... Ottawa Marathon 2012 anyone???
Running in Korea was more than I ever thought it would be and I can't imagine the year without it.

Secondly, thank you to the people I've met here. Without you, this would have been nothing but a trip to another country. With you, it's been a life-changing 13 months. Every single one of you has taught me something and given me a new perspective on friendship. For my own sanity I have to believe that I will see each and every one of you again and I refuse to admit that that is probably a pretty high hope. If you ever find yourself in my part of Canada, know that you have a place to stay and a willing host/tour guide!

Finally, thank you to everyone at home. Leaving you was hard, missing you was hard, and coming back to you will be one of the happiest, most exciting times in my life (I haven't slept in weeks!). When I needed you, you've been there and made sure I never felt forgotten or left out and I can't tell you how valuable that has been.

With that, I'm signing off. Thank you for reading my posts, and please please please, KEEP IN TOUCH! If you're one of those ' oh... I'm horrible at keeping in touch!' people, then it's time to change. These are modern times and there's no excuse :)

Thank you, thank you and thank you all.

teachas goodbye!!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

First and Last: Magique on the bridge

The day is October 3rd, 2011. There are only 3 full days remaining for me in Korea ( and 3 sleeps! ) and it's unreal how quickly the time seems to have gone, in hindsight.

Yesterday I got the awesome opportunity to re-run the Busan 10km that takes place on the 7km long Gwangan bridge. This race was the first one I ran in Korea a year ago and it seemed pretty fitting for it to also be my last.

The 10km race course begins on the bridge then crosses on the top level, goes down a ramp for a turn around then comes back along the bottom level of the bridge for a nice downhill finish near the Bexco Convention Centre. The course is perfect, I think, because it has a good variation of up and downhills - and you can't beat the views of the ocean.

I was a mixed bag of emotions for this race. On one hand, I really wanted to go out with a bang and redeem myself for my poor performance last weekend, but on the other hand I wanted to relax and enjoy my last race and not hold myself to anything too serious. In short: I had high hopes and low expectations.

just in case...

A few of us took the secret short-cut to the start line atop the bridge (thanks Ian Doyle!) and were among the first at the start line. We all did the usual group stretch, 'FIGHTING' and countdown before finally taking off.

I felt pretty good from the get-go and went through a nice flat/slight uphill first km in just over 4:00. This was followed by a few fast kilometres with some awesome downhill sections that gave me a couple of kilometres at 3:37 and 3:50. I was flying high! By the time I got to the turn around I was feeling confident and found myself as the first female of the race. Unfortunately a little mix-up at the turn around (I didn't grab my halfway wristband quickly enough and had to double back a bit for it) caused me to lose my lead to a familiar Korean woman who has often beaten me before.

At the 5km mark, my time was abut 19:50... well on my way to a great PB!
I was ecstatic, cruising along, composing facebook statuses in my head all the way. I looked down at my Garmin (GPS watch) which told me I was running a 5:00/km pace, but knew it was because we were on the lower level of the bridge and satellites were not getting picked up. I decided not to look at my watch for the remainder of the race.

As I wondered just how far under 40 minutes I would be, I kept my sights on the woman ahead of me, but wasn't too worried about passing her. I had never expected to place in this race and if I was going to go sub-40, I would not have cared if I was the last person to finish.

The downhill finish started around km 9 and I gave er as hard as I could. When I neared the hairpin turn to see the finish line I was about 200m behind the first place woman. I kicked it up another notch and just missed beating her, probably by about 5 seconds.

When I looked at the clock/my watch, I saw no '3's.... meaning I had not gone sub 40. I was a bit confused, because I was pretty psyched to come second, and I had raced an awesome race, but still hadn't attained my holy grail of coming in under 40 minutes.

In the end, I was pretty pleased overall. 'Running a great race' comes first for me, with 'placing' and 'time' a close second and third.

I was lucky to participate in my first medal ceremony in my 'hometown' of Busan and even got interviewed by the local paper:)

my partner in crime, MrMcCue with a second place for the men!

The rest of the running crew also fared really well with a few PBs in both the 10km and half marathon. It was a perfect day for racing and I could not have asked for a better morning/course to call my last.

Thanks to all of the crew who have participated and encouraged running in Korea. I couldn't have done it without you.

Mr Collins rolls in for the half.

Philly after a great half marathon.

Here's to many more PBs in the races to come.... fighting!

POST SCRIPT: Almost forgot! I don't have my official chip time yet, but according to my Garmin, my first 10km was in 40:26, while the course was a bit long (10.16km)so my time at the race finish was 41:00s.

post post script: Official chip time: 40:53. TWO seconds off the winning time.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Race fail: the amazing race that wasn't.

We've just returned from Daegu where we ran in the Smiling Dalseo 10km road race this morning. I had pretty high hopes for this one (less than 40 minutes), it being about 12 weeks out from my last race back in June, and close to our departure date from Korea. My training went really well and all of my times showed proof that I was getting fitter.

But! As Usain Bolt has shown us all.... sometimes things get a little bleeped up on race day.
Nothing in particular went awry for me this weekend. It was a beautiful day, a bit hot, but nothing serious. I wasn't nervous, and was actually pretty excited to put myself to the test. All I need were some 4:00 minute kms (ten, to be exact) and maybe one of those under 4 minutes just to make it true.

After a regular warm-up, I headed to the start line for a course that was basically one giant square, all on asphalt. When my watch beeped after the first km, I saw '4:00' and was very much satisfied with my perfect beginning. For whatever reason, the next two kilometres were not so perfect- a little under 4:10- and my mind started doing tricky running things.

In a race, especially when racing alone, your mind is often all you have to focus on, and the mind can be a great buddy, or an evil villain. As you may have guessed from the title of this blog, I ran with the evil villain today. I quickly calculated that I would need a speedy miracle if I was going to pull off my goal of a sub 40 minute 10km and I didn't feel any miracles in me. In short, I gave up.

Chances are that if I had told the little devil in my head to 'shut up' and just focused on doing my best, I probably could have pulled off a pretty decent time, even if it wasn't a record for me. Instead, the race turned into a grueling 'please just end, or let me pass out so I don't have to finish' type race. Not fun!

But! As the kids say ' Teacha! That's ok!'

And it is ok!
Races are never a sure thing, and that's part of their allure. You go in with your training and hope that some magic happens between the start and finish line.
Sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes it does!

It's a sure thing that when that magic does happen, it makes all the other times worth it.
And that, my friends, is why we race.

The day was by no means a total loss. We got to spend time with our dear running friends (one of the last times we will all be together, sadly). Also, in an only-in-Korea kind of way, because I came 5th of the female 10km runners, I netted a cool 100,000 won and got myself a nice new pair of mizunos on the way home.

I'm looking forward to the race next weekend, not just because it's another chance to prove myself but for all the other reasons that I love racing, and especially racing in Korea. It is without a doubt one of the greatest factors that has influenced my life in this country and for that I will always be grateful.

Here's to a magic day on the 'Diamond Bridge' next weekend - and an post-race afternoon of fun with great friends:)

dinner of pig neck, pre race.

On the way to the race.

gettin' psyched up.

ready to go....

Tim is now officially Korean.

my buddy, Minju and her coach.

some pretty flowers.

yeah. i did.

Some great photos, with credit going to the great Mr McCue:)

the little girl asked me (after obvious mom-induced practice)
"what did you think of this day?"

love this guy:)

this guy too! And so does his lady:)

The Great Bailey Collins.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Dinner Party...... Korean style

Yesterday we were invited to our good friend Tracy's house to see her new (and first!) house. Tracy is one of our Korean co-workers who, if you'll recall, also invited us to her nieces' first birthday party back in February.

Tracy in her new kitchen!

Tracy has always been great about including us and explaining Korean intricacies to us. She is also an amazing cook (along with her mother and mother-in-law!).

not one... but TWO really cool fridges. with all the kimchi and fruit you could ever want!

the famous STONE bed.

Last night we got to see a genuine Korean home and were lucky enough to be served an AMAZING meal of jjim -dak (a sort of hearty chicken stew) with all the Korean side dishes we could ask for.

jjim dak.... best ever.

enjoying.

finishee!!!

Tracy then took us to the near by Beomosa temple for a moonlight walk among the bamboo.

It was a super special night and we can't thank Tracy enough for being such a lovely hostess. We'll miss you Tracy Teacher!!

bamboo by streetlight.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

downsizing and upgrading.

Although we now have less than a month left on our contract in Korea, it was not too late for us to try out a new neighbourhood in Busan!

Last week, due to the relocation of our school, Tim and I were moved to a new apartment in an area of Busan a few kilometres away from Jaesong dong, where we spent just over a year in a...... ' well-broken-in apartment' :)

We have been in the (brand) new apartment for a full week now and are really enjoying getting to know a new neighbourhood, while still being close to the same bus routes (and the gym!) that we used before.

The new apartment is a bachelor, and about a third of the size of our old apartment, but with only a few weeks left, it's more than enough, and is just that much easier to keep clean!

The school is also brand new and is not even finished yet, though we have been working there for almost a full week at this point. The walls are clean, classrooms are bright, and it's a good fresh start for the school.

What follows are some pictorial comparisons of our apartments as well as some shots of the new school. Note the giant plants/trees that were given to the school by students and friends, a common occurrence for new businesses in Korea.