My First 10k Race :) :) :)

Bonjour mes Amie,

Saturday was my 1/4 year anniversary here in South Korea. It's hard to believe that I've been here for three months already. Although when I talk to my friends and family at home it feels like I've been gone forever! So, that means 9 months to go and as I described it to some of my close friends in Ottawa the other night it just like having a baby, 9 months of good and bad!

So on Saturday I ran in a 10km road race. It was part of a bigger run involving a marathon, 1/2 marathon and a 5k. It was such a cool experience. The week leading up to it I was super paranoid that I wasn't going to able to do it. So I set and attained the goal of finishing without walking. The course was fairly easy with a few up-hill and downhills but nothing to serious.

I've ran all my life for soccer or just to keep in shape (oh yeah and the couple years Lisa Haddow and I ran x-country, purely b/c our coach was cute..hehehe) but never have I ran under the scenarios of this passed weekend.

The race started and finished at the World Cup Stadium 15 minutes from my house. It was so exciting as the full and the half marathon took off before the 10 and 5k. The races were started with fireworks! There were probably about 10-15 foreigners running in the race and I ran with a Korean and a American friend for most of the time. When it was time for our race we got ready at the start line by everyone giving one another massages. I got the best 10 second massage to turn around and see that is was from a sweet older Korean woman.

Once into the run we were greeted by many cheers mostly Koreans yelling 'highting' which is fighting and sorta like us saying Go - Go - Go . They had marching bands all along the course as well as water/tomato/joe louis stations!!! The Joe Louis looked so good but as I ran by them trying to grasp my breath I could not fathom putting a chocolate cake into my mouth! It was neat as I ran with friends at the beginning of the race and then finished by myself. I felt well most of the race until the final uphill which was at about 7kms. I just kept thinking left foot-right foot-left foot-right foot and then the urge to stop passed. The last 500metres was a loop of the World Cup Stadium track and that was the most exciting part of the race for me. Running into a huge stadium felt really good and seeing the finish line and my friends on the side lines was sweet.

I had written on my msn before leaving home 'off to run my first 10k I hope someone is at the end with cold beer' and in no way did I think the cold beer would be there. BUT, two of my guy friends had come to cheer on our group of friends and they had BEER!!!! It was fantastic! Plus, they had a bunch of massage stations set up so we all got free leg massages! I ended up doing the race in 1:04:51 so now I have a time to beat for the next run :) :)