Well, here are my results from the marathon. My goal was to run 4:15-4:30, so I reached my goal and kept a pretty steady pace! I was back to walking with my usual gait by Wednesday - only two days of hobbling!
471 (?? total place, I'm sure...) :)
Christie Barrigar (7390 - running number)
08:20:43am Start Time
08:49:19 5K
09:17:44 10K
09:46:12 15K
10:17:12 20K
10:47:18 25K
11:17:51 30K
11:50:22 35K
12:21:24 40K
10:24:15 Half-Marathon time
04:14:01 Total Time 42.195K
I really felt like running (strangely enough) on Wed., Thursday, and Friday, but I've been too busy with the end of the 3rd quarter, and getting ahead on my graduate classwork, since we have now begun spring break (March 23-April 1).
For spring break, I am headed to Bangalore, India, with four colleagues and a fantastic group of 8 students. We will be spending the week at an orphanage there with more than 100 precious children from Bangalore and even from northern India! We will play with them, make crafts (my duty was to plan crafts), sing and dance, and hold a vacation Bible school over the week. I'm so excited!!
I have a lot to catch up with on my blog, from Lunar New Year weekend, which I spent with friends from church at their parents' home in the country, to my weekend in Hong Kong for a conference. Unfortunately, my pictures will not load onto my blog at this moment, so I'll have to send them another time! I PROMISE!
Friday, March 23, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
The Seoul Int'l Marathon!
Well, I made it, although my lower body is NOT very happy with me at this moment.
Today, March 18, after training since the beginning of November, I ran my first marathon... and probably my last... It went very well, though! Although expecting the jitters I would equate to waiting in line for a monster rollercoaster with a dual sense of excited anticipation and fearful dread, I felt none of the latter. We - April, Virginia, Mike, and I - woke up and headed down to the starting line, which was a 15-minute walk from our hotel. Energetic Koreans were leading aerobic warm-ups for the participants, energy gels and shorts were for sale, as well as traditional Korean snacks (for pre-race??) such as bondeggi (silkworm larvae) and processed fish on a stick). I passed on that. Fireworks started the race at 8am, then approximately half an hour later we crossed the starting line and passed the statue of famed General Yi SungShin, officially beginning our race.
So mind-boggling that 23,000 runners reigned over so many main roads in Seoul! It was a pretty flat course that ended in the Olympic Stadium (awesome!). I felt great for most of the race with the exception of the last couple of kms (but hey, it's the last couple of kms!). Of course, I didn't walk through the water/gatorade stations located every 5 km (3 mi.) after the 30-km mark because I didn't think my quad muscles would allow me to start running again. I'm eager to see my splits and my official final time.
However, the best part of this marathon for me was the fact that I didn't fret about my finish time. Although I wanted to run it between 4:15-4:30, I saw the race as a sightseeing tour of Seoul by foot and enjoyed the many traditional Korean drumming groups that entertained us along the way, as well as the favorite cheer, "Hwa-ee-ting!!!!" (Fighting, Korean-style) I didn't even wear a running watch. Quite a step for me to not be competitive with myself and set high expectations. In the end, I think I met my goal, or even surpassed it, but the official results are not yet posted. My guess for my final time is about 4:05-4:10. WOOOHOOOOOOO!!!! I must say, we had an amazing fan club - Sally, Kirsten, and Jaci, Mike's wife and my co-cross country coach, who had been training with us up until 2 months ago when she found out she was pregnant (hurray, but what timing!). I think they should get medals for being the best cheerleaders of the day and ambassadors of goodwill!!
Pictures to come! And, with this post, I hope it's a start to catch up on the past three months, which include a trip to Germany and Austria, Lunar New Year holiday in the country with a warm and inviting Korean family from church (that spoke little English - an adventure!), and a weekend in Hong Kong for a Spanish conference (ole!).
To bed I go, with hopes of being able to get OUT of bed tomorrow morning!!
Today, March 18, after training since the beginning of November, I ran my first marathon... and probably my last... It went very well, though! Although expecting the jitters I would equate to waiting in line for a monster rollercoaster with a dual sense of excited anticipation and fearful dread, I felt none of the latter. We - April, Virginia, Mike, and I - woke up and headed down to the starting line, which was a 15-minute walk from our hotel. Energetic Koreans were leading aerobic warm-ups for the participants, energy gels and shorts were for sale, as well as traditional Korean snacks (for pre-race??) such as bondeggi (silkworm larvae) and processed fish on a stick). I passed on that. Fireworks started the race at 8am, then approximately half an hour later we crossed the starting line and passed the statue of famed General Yi SungShin, officially beginning our race.
So mind-boggling that 23,000 runners reigned over so many main roads in Seoul! It was a pretty flat course that ended in the Olympic Stadium (awesome!). I felt great for most of the race with the exception of the last couple of kms (but hey, it's the last couple of kms!). Of course, I didn't walk through the water/gatorade stations located every 5 km (3 mi.) after the 30-km mark because I didn't think my quad muscles would allow me to start running again. I'm eager to see my splits and my official final time.
However, the best part of this marathon for me was the fact that I didn't fret about my finish time. Although I wanted to run it between 4:15-4:30, I saw the race as a sightseeing tour of Seoul by foot and enjoyed the many traditional Korean drumming groups that entertained us along the way, as well as the favorite cheer, "Hwa-ee-ting!!!!" (Fighting, Korean-style) I didn't even wear a running watch. Quite a step for me to not be competitive with myself and set high expectations. In the end, I think I met my goal, or even surpassed it, but the official results are not yet posted. My guess for my final time is about 4:05-4:10. WOOOHOOOOOOO!!!! I must say, we had an amazing fan club - Sally, Kirsten, and Jaci, Mike's wife and my co-cross country coach, who had been training with us up until 2 months ago when she found out she was pregnant (hurray, but what timing!). I think they should get medals for being the best cheerleaders of the day and ambassadors of goodwill!!
Pictures to come! And, with this post, I hope it's a start to catch up on the past three months, which include a trip to Germany and Austria, Lunar New Year holiday in the country with a warm and inviting Korean family from church (that spoke little English - an adventure!), and a weekend in Hong Kong for a Spanish conference (ole!).
To bed I go, with hopes of being able to get OUT of bed tomorrow morning!!
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