Still alive…

I know, I owe you stories of Vietnam and Cambodia.  I owe you news of what I have been doing in Hong Kong.  As my year in Hong Kong is rapidly drawing to a close, details and stories just keep piling up undocumented and unrecognized by my digital self.   I’ve simply lacked the energy to blog it up.  Hopefully, this will launch a series of posts that will fill in some gaps.

This morning I ran the 3rd Shatin Mixed Terrain [Cross Country and Road] Race.  It has been raining for a few days, so the trails and mossy stones were sufficiently coated to make them slick delivers of death.  The race started with a brutal uphill that continued until around 2 or 3 K.  This massive climb was broken up by stony stairs and occasional muddy straight paths that lead to more stones.  Thankfully, this oppressive section ended around 4k – leaving me to open road paths but with tightened and strained leg muscles.  I forgot my watch so I don’t know my time.  Around the 3rd time I had to stop to wait my turn to travel up the stone steps I resigned to the fact that time was not the most important part of this race.

Humorously [in hindsight], Hong Kong rules about stairs and MTRs applied even in running and on the trail.  Simply put, someone may push you, bump you, or whatever they need to get right in front of you.  This inevitably causes you to almost step on them, start to trip, and almost wipe out.  This is annoying in any form, particularly when it is a really old Chinese lady who you can’t even really be mad at.  I experienced this in my first race in Hong Kong.   Tired and weary, I nearly ate it when some guy decided to pass me and clip in immediately.  While I thought the slippery stones and the impossibility of being able to pass me because you would simply be stuck behind the next person would cause these men [and it's always the men] to chill a little – I was sadly wrong.

I was really dreading the race since I hadn’t trained for it at all really.  But, the old body carried me through it surprisingly well.  Updates soon…

Fitness and 10k Tolo

Hong Kong has resulted in a wave of fitness from yours truly.  Coming here topping out at around 245 to 250, I didn’t realize how hefty I had gotten before traveling here.   While I had made efforts to run while in America, the reality of my lifestyle wasn’t conducive to health.  Taco Bell and the local Mexican restaurants waged battle on my waistline and were definitely winning.  Though I wasn’t smoking regularly, cigarettes burned a little too often on these lips.  Humorously and perversely, every drag and shovel was followed by guilt and resolved resolution to get my rear in gear.  I’d work out and make heartfelt efforts – but slowly and surely slip back into sloth.

Who knows why Hong Kong did it.  Perhaps it’s the sheer amount of walking I do here, or the change of scenery, or the lack of my favorite fast food chain?  Either way, nothing I own really fits anymore and I’m already down to low 220s.  In February, I decided that I’d train for a race. 

So, I ran the 10k Tolo Harbour Run Sunday morning.  It poured rain and we were all soaked before it even began.   A friend and I shaved mustaches for the race – a awkward looking sign of our solidarity. I had a goal of getting under 55 m – but I was going to be disappointed if I didn’t at least get in under 60 m.   Practices had me clocking in at 57 to 60 m.  I knew the times I needed to make and every time I passed a marker I was right below them.  It hurt.  During I thought – why am I doing this to myself?  And then I finished at 53:01.  I knew I could do it, I wanted to do it, but doing it just made my day.  Part of me said, “Next time  you can run under 50 m.”

Like getting fat, I think fitness can run like a train too.  I find that I want to do another race, so I’m registering for one in April too.  The training for something seems to make me push a little harder and more regularly.  I ran from 7th grade to second year of college.  If you told me then that at 27, I’d return to running and racing – I would have scoffed.  I have a long road to go to get back to the speed and times of my youth but I’m actually looking forward to giving my younger self a run for his money.  The best part – I can only get faster and his records stay the same. 

That’s the spirit!

Every now and then, a day and event align with the cosmos to create a perfect moment of life.  On Saturday, I participated in the first ever 5k International Beer Dash on Lantau.  The event was to raise money for the Lantau Buffalo Association and the Protection of Animals Lantau Society.  A run, plenty of beer, and a good cause – what more can someone ask for?  Given my love of the brew and my recent newfound efforts to get in shape, this event offered the perfect objectives.

People came dressed as cows, as medical staff, in kilts.  In short, many seemed to be, like us, more there for fun and beer than the race per se.  A moment epitomizing the race came after Station 2.  At Station 1, we were given cans of beer [San Miguel].  At Station 2 we were handed cups of beer.  An ETA and I were a little disappointed as we ran toward Station 3 and commented about whether or not we could just ask for a bottle.  As if by divine providence, a runner in a huge Carrot top fro turned and said, ‘Man…you can take two or three bottles if you want.  I mean, you are wearing a boa, man.  You think there are rules to this race?’ 

Indeed.  I was wearing a feather boa while talking to a man with a huge fro and glasses.  I’m running a race where I am expected to stop and drink beers.  In public. I suppose there are really no rules.  Joy.  The beers were pretty standard Hong Kong fare [San Miguel, Carlsberg, Tsingdao] but one beer, a New Zealand brew, was quite delicious and a pleasant surprise.  So, find yourself some Monteiths.

Mostly, I’m sad that this race would never happen near my hometown.  This was possibly the greatest idea ever had by any organization on the planet.  People in costumes, drinking beer, laughing, and running.  It was a blast.  Here are  few pics:

More photos are here.