It was a beautiful morning for a run! |
This race was incredibly challenging. Sooooo hard. I questioned at one point whether I would finish or not. I also thought that I might faint from muscle fatigue. Luckily both of those thoughts were wrong.
I had a few goals going in:
- Finish. Number one goal: finish the race. (I suppose it's a given that I can check that one off my list).
- Try and finish in an hour and a half. I've done 10k in about an hour before and thought I was giving myself lots of time for the added hills.
- Try and run/jog the whole way.
With hindsight, those goals are a tad naive. I didn't know what I was getting myself into and when it came time to run, I was not fully prepared. The main reason being was that I didn't know the course. I signed up for the race without understanding what type of terrain I would be running. There was a flat stretch through the woods, but then a large portion of the race was up a giant hill, down the other side, run another couple k, and then go up a taller hill and down again. And when I say hill, I mean a ~400+ meter HILL. The Korean word for these particular hills is 오름 (pronounced similar to oh-rem) which translates directly to rise, ascension or climb. Climb. Yes. Very different from running.
While I still think I did well, I did not achieve the full results I wanted.
- Check. I finished.
- Close. I finished in 1h 33 minutes, which considering what happened with goal number 3, is really not bad. And now it can serve me as my time to beat!
- Not even close. I think I walked almost half the race. At least 4k. The moment we hit the first set of stairs for the first orem my legs were done. I didn't have the strength to run up those inclines.
I learned a lot from the experience, and while it was really hard, I do not regret signing up. It was a stunning day and the course itself was beautiful. I ran with my phone (so that I could map my route), and even snagged a couple pictures along the way. Plus, they gave us noodles at the end of the race which made it all the more worthwhile.
I got to the top of the first orem and was in awe of the view. So pretty! |
Across the top of the first orem--you can see the runners running along the other side and down the back. |
Mount Halla in the back left and the next Orem that we climbed in the back right. |
Finished. La Fin. |
Love and Hugs.
1 comment:
You rock!
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