FIGHTING!

I have been running pretty frequently with the Gwangju Running Club and one afternoon in September, while feeling particularly inspired and motivated, I signed up for a 10k.

I ran my first official 5k four weeks ago, and after multiple promises to myself, never did any training to bridge the gap between said race and the 10k I ran in this morning. The race was in Damyang, about a 20 minute bus ride north from downtown. Damyang is in the country, and the mountain views and Fall leaves made for a very gorgeous race. I had two goals - I wanted to finish and I wanted to run the WHOLE time.

I didn’t break. Not once, not even for water. I knew if I stopped and did anything except run I was doomed. What’s my running secret? DON’T LET YOUR LEGS STOP MOVING.

I sprinted the last .5k and felt like I could run for another 5. These runners, maybe they are on to something. The elation I felt crossing the finish line was amazing.

The popular thing to do in Korea when you see a runner is yell “FIGHTING!” and fist pump the air. This is very amusing and uplifting, and they love when you say it back. After the race, I was greated with water, my medal, kimchi, mauentang (Korean fish soup) and a traditional Korean drink called makgeolli (MAK-GO-LEE), which is a Korean rice wine made from wheat and rice. It is milky in appearance and a bit bubbly, making it rather refreshing.

If I have not said this before, Koreans are SO kind. Amazingly kind. They are ridiculously generous and they are very eager for you to enjoy their country. They are also very communal. When I arrived back at the running club's tent, a group of Koreans were seated and literally shuffled me on to the ground, put a cup in my hands, filled it with Korean wine, and started making me stuffed leaves with what he called, "baby anaconda" (aka: raw eel). If is offensive to deny these gestures, and really, there is no reason to. Korean food is GOOD, and what do you need to say in such a situation except "Thank you!" and "Cheers!".

Next up, I am running a 10k in Seoul on December 3rd, because, you know, paying $40 to run a race in the freezing cold at 10 in the morning is apparently something that I REALLY want to do nowadays. No really, I do. CREEPY.