Finally a Run!

Since I had written yesterday that I would run this morning, I could not really go back on my word, and I set off a little later than expected (at 6:53 am) with a camera, cell phone and a little money in case I needed sustenance. The weather was excellent for running (cloudy and even a little rain at times), but it was not very good for photos and because my camera wasn't set properly the photos are not good enough to post. Instead I will post a couple of photos of a meal I had with my family last night in celebration of Father's Day in Taiwan which took place on August 8th.

As for the run, the main thing was that I was on my feet for almost two hours. I may have only covered about 8 or at the very most 9 miles. The plan was just to get round a certain course, which involved running around a huge lake, and hence there were few options to shorten the distance. I felt my knee a little as I left the house and again about two-thirds of the way through, but apart from that I have felt fine. Stair climbing at home is fairly OK this evening, though I wonder whether I will feel more uncomfortable tomorrow morning. I'll just have to see. Anyway, hopefully I won't need to use my legs too much swimming except when pushing off the wall.

I figured that since I normally swim close to two hours, to spend about the same amount of time on my feet should not be a problem. Certainly my lungs did not feel tired, only my legs.

The reason for all of this is because I have the opportunity to take part in a running race in Hualien in early November, and I can choose either the Half Marathon or the Marathon. I will need to ask Bree which one I should do, so I am undecided at the moment. The course is apparently beautiful -running alongside a marble gorge as it twists its way from about sea level to at least 2,000 meters above it. There are a lot of good spots for whitewater rafting, too, though I would prefer just to watch that.

I probably won't run again for several days, but when I do I may just run the same course and try to get round it a little faster. I will also try to measure it with a motor scooter or something.

Today I was able to watch just about all the swim races that were held in Beijing live on TV (no time change, here). It was indeed exciting. Phelps and Co. just won the 4 x 100m freestyle, Kitajima won the 100m breaststroke gold medal, and an English girl caught Katie Hoff at the end to win the gold in the 400m freestyle. I watched Natalie Coughlin in the heats for the 200 IM. They were some amazing races. A Taiwanese guy reached the last 16 of the men's 200 butterfly.

The only problem is that life gets a little busy trying to watch all that on top of all the other things one has to do every day.

The beautiful Taroko gorge in Eastern Taiwan. I walked some 19 miles of it in the mid-1980s. Soon I plan to run it.