-Did my first Korean 5k race. I survived and managed to be beaten by little elementary students. It was a fun time anyhow. Running with a couple thousand people mixed with a little competition is much more enjoyable than running with the road and losing against the clock. I’m considering another race next month. And I swear, that will be my last 5k.

Yes, it does. And that is why I don’t do it. I almost died trying to run a full 5k today. Running on the flat road seemed too much of a snooze, so i chose a 5k route that had a little mountain in it. The run up the Buan mountain was just bearable. There were some tough moments where I felt as if my stride was less than a couple centimeters.  I got to the top though, and I was mildly happy. It was 4k at that point and I had a nice view…of the ground. I was out of breath and bent over looking at perhaps the only patch of grass in all of Buan. It was a nice green, similar to the color of my face.

I regained my composure after a few deep inhales, and tried to prepare myself for the upcoming part. The most painful moment for any runner, I’m sure! -Running down an incline, trying to stop the body from collapsing into the ground. I could feel my leg joints being crushed by the weight of my upper body. I wanted to curl up in a ball and just roll down. I think that would of been much faster and surely less painful.

I made the 5k mark with gritted teeth. I was so happy to be done. I will never run 5k again, that is, until this weekend’s race. OK, after that I will never run again.

With a long weekend, why not go the state right next door? That’s right, except this state was China, not Ohio. If I had to describe my four day visit to Beijing in a couple words I would say huge and colorful. The scale was unbelievable. Going too big clearly wasn’t a concern. The city is huge, the buildings are huge, there are huge numbers of people, and the aforementioned are all colorful. Vibrant, rich, active and whatever. -So much going on.

Here stand the guards during the morning flag raising ceremony. It was way too early. I believe is was 5:11AM.

The entire travel crew inside the Fordbidden City.

Salsa dancing in China? (Yeah, never thought I would do that)

Scorpion on a stick. They were actually squirming on the stick. For about five bucks the cooks fry these up for you to eat. And, of course, as tourists and boys, Evan, Herman, and I had to. I had one. Evan, the truely brave one, had three. I wonder if I knocked a couple years off my life for that experience. hmmmm…..

Jumping. It’s an addiction. I couldn’t help it, especially when tempted by the greatest wall of all.