Flight

Over the past few weeks, I've been finding it harder and harder to get excited about going to the gym. The past few days, I've had to force myself to go, and the running has been even worse. Except for one trail that is a pretty far walk/hike, it is a choice between un-runnably steep and/or concrete cobblestones, which my knees cannot handle. So I've been stuck on the treadmill and hate it.

I decided I need motivation - something to work towards. Before moving here, I had started to research running groups and there is a club in Seoul, but their race calendar ended in July and they haven't updated for the rest of the year. Today, I asked one of the teachers who has been incredibly helpful to help me find races in the next few months, and he found the Sunchon Marathon. I guess marathon is a general-purpose term for race here, as there is a 5k, 10k, and 1/2 marathon. So today, I signed up for a 5k on November 12th. I don't feel like I would be able to prepare for a 10k with the time I have (and would stab out my eyes from boredom if I had to run 6 miles on a treadmill) and as I am doing 5k several times a week on the tread at about a minute faster than my fastest race time, should be able to do reasonably well. I still won't set any speed records, but I hope to be able to get in under 30 min.

Unrelated, today the teacher room is mouth-noise central - gum popping, slurping, lip smacking, teeth sucking - and it is about to send me 'round the bend.