Racing in Hong Kong: a blow-by-blow recap.

Today I ran a race in Hong Kong, at the Pak Tam Chung Country Park.

Carolyn and I both made the journey from Guangzhou for this race, and we arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday night. We took a new train, and it was fast! Our top speed was a cool 200KM/H!



(Remember, click on a picture to make it bigger. It will open in a new window.)


I'm happy Carol came along, even though she wasn't racing. It's the worst when you finish the race and there's nobody there to welcome you back! We got a nice hostel room with two single beds and a washroom attached. This trip we opted for the smaller bed size, as it saved quite a bit of money. My feet hung off the mattress, but it wasn't bad at all. I think in the future it will be worth the money saved to sleep in a bed that is just a tad short.

The race was scheduled to start at 9am, with registration beginning at 8. This meant it would be an early morning for us, because we needed to navigate all aspects of Hong Kong's public transportation to get there. I knew what buses we could take to get to the Country Park, but didn't know how often they ran, where to get them, or any of that. So I printed off the rough directions provided on the race website, and planned to keep them close for the entire journey. We would need to wake up at 6:30, and leave by 7.



First, we took the MTR (subway) for about half an hour from our hostel to a stop on a different line, so we had to transfer. Hong Kong has 9 subway lines, so it's a good bet you can get near to where you're going using the MTR. From there, we took a Green MiniBus (number A1) for about 20 minutes to a marketplace with a transit terminal. Before we got on the MiniBus, we saw some other people with helmets and no bikes, so we figured they were going where we were, and began to follow them. Turned out they didn't know where they were going, so Carol and I led the way to the Green MiniBus (still number A1). When we got off, we began to chat with them, and decided to share a cab to the race start. All in all it took about an hour to travel from the hostel to the Country Park race site.



I registered for the race, got my bib and pins, and looked around at all the runners. I would say there were about 150 people there, and Asians were slightly in the minority. I heard a lot of accents from both the UK and Australia, and one from America. There were lots of foreigners there, and it was nice to chat with them. The race organizer/director/convener was a foreigner without an accent that I could place, so maybe he was from Canada or the United States. He summoned us and we gathered at the start.



We all donned our helmets and prepared to race. The race organizer gave us a briefing of the course, beginning by questioning us as to who had not run this course before. Without looking around too much, I'd estimate half the runners, including me, had their hands raised. The organizer chuckled into his bullhorn and said "Well, you're in for a treat then!" He then told us what the treat was...the race was about 13KM in length, with the first chunk being all uphill. First, we'd run up a two lane paved road for about one kilometre, and then start climbing to the top of the hill. He mentioned that last year, the fast guys completed this climb in about 20 minutes, with everyone else coming in around 30 to 45 minutes. Yikes! I realized that this sounded like more of a mountain to me, and figured it would be more of a grind than I had expected! The race was almost an out and back, but with a loop at the top. If you mapped the course, I figure it would look like a needle. The start and finish would be the sharp end, and the eye would be the loop through the gorge. The director expected the top runners to finish the entire race in 1hr 20minutes, based on previous years.

So, we lined up and waited for the start command. I didn't really want to push my way to the front of the starting scrum, since there were a lot of serious looking runners with big calves there. I figured I'd begin in the middle of the pack.



We were counted down from 10, and set out. My start was poor...I should have jostled a bit more on the line. I made up for it though, by passing quite a few people in the first kilometre of open road, which had a tough but not insane uphill grade. I knew I wasn't in the best position to start, because there were lots of people in front of me with lumbering strides, awkward gaits, and other types of poor form. I felt I had more experience than they, and wanted to get in front of them. I turned it up a notch and was able to keep that pace going until we were funneled off the road on to a flight of really steep concrete stairs.

By the time we got to the stairs, I had reached a single file line of runners, so I was happy with my strategy. It could have been quite a bottleneck there, but I was in a good position and wasn't held up by anyone in front of me.

We began the uphill slog. It was all very steep, too steep to run really. Everyone I could see was walking up the trail, and would jog a bit when the terrain levelled out for a few meters. The trail was about a metre wide, and wound its way up to the top of the hill/mountain. I could see the leaders in the distance working their way up the hill, way ahead of me.

The pack spread out a bit here, and I tired to keep contact with a group of 4 runners a head of me. It was another good bit of strategy, because I opened up gap behind me. Running fast is easier when you have people to focus on, so I was really wanting to stay with them. We had left the tree-line behind, and were running through grasslands with no shade. It got pretty hot up there, but I don't remember thinking it was unbearable.

After a solid half-hour of climbing we came to the crest of the hill, and began running down. A lot of the trail was really steep with loose rocks, but in the steepest spots stairs has been made out of concrete. Running downhill is really tough, and I kept stubbing my toes on big boulders, and stumbled a few times. I never went down though, which was good as I'd be picking gravel out of my wounds for weeks if I had. The stairs were really tough to negotiate because they were short and steep, so I had to take really small steps while trying to keep speed but also keep control. I thought it best to hit every stair, rather than go every other, so that I wouldn't get going too fast and lose my footing. Out of nowhere an Asian guy passed me going mach-noodle down these stairs, his feet pumping like pistons. I don't know how he kept it together, but he did somehow. He conquered those stairs like he runs them every day! He kept his speed and disappeared down the trail into the woods and I never saw him again.

We got to a plateau and began running toward the river gorge. This section was relatively flat, with short uphills and downhills. The trail cut around trees and over boulders, and it was a fun section. By this time, there were three of us running together, and I passed the two guys and took the lead of our small group with a burst of speed. After a few minutes we arrived at the halfway point that signaled the start of the river gorge leg of the race. There was a water checkpoint here too, and about four volunteers were running it. We weren't allowed to take bottles from the checkpoint with us, so I stopped and drank a whole one since I wasn't wearing a camelback like some other runners were. The bottles were all floating in the ice-cold river water, and we were to go and pick a bottle out of the water on our own. I did that, and chugged as fast as I could. When I was drinking, the two guys from before passed me again, so I took off in pursuit. We picked up another runner at the checkpoint, so now there were four of us running in a line. My time at the halfway checkpoint was in the 45 minute range.

Before we got to the checkpoint, the running was fairly straight forward. You could get a pace going, and keep it fairly easily since it was just rough trail we needed to negotiate. In the river gorge though, there was no trail. We were running through a creek-bed of sharp slabs of rocks, and it was pretty well impossible to run. There were often times no flat spots to place your foot. This was my weakest section. The guys in front of me gained time, and I fell back.

Soon, the creek bed started getting really hairy, and we needed the aid of ropes to keep going forward. It was very intense...now, we were scrambling up sharp pointy rocks! The ropes weren't necessary, but I made liberal use of them. At one point, the rope was strapped to the side of the cliff, and the "trail" was about one foot wide with a rock wall to my right, and a 50-foot drop to my left. I got pretty nervous! I had to keep going though, since I was feeling pressure from a guy behind me, and was still trying to catch the two guys in front. At one point, the two guys in front of me took a higher route with the rope, and I took a lower one without it. My route was faster and I passed them easily, and was soon in the lead of our foursome again.

The rock climbing got worse. The ropes used to be there to help us while we scrambled along, but they soon became necessary for forward travel. The trail, marked by red flagging tape, went straight up, and up, and up, and we needed to climb up by pulling ourselves up with our arms while finding footholds. The rope had some friendly knots tied in it to help, and that made it possible to keep going. I got nervous here, and one guy passed me. We got to a small pool, where there was no way around. We had been told about this pool, and I was ready to wade across the waist-deep water. It was about five metres long, and we all just waded in. The bottom fell away suddenly though, so I needed to swim about three breast strokes to get to the other side.

When I awkwardly climbed out, the rock climbing wasn't finished. The trail continued its ascent straight out of the pool, and to make things more interesting, I was now soaking wet, with wet shoes that squished and squeaked every step. The sharp jagged rocks were also wet from previous runners shedding water all over them, so it got downright dangerous! I was pretty nervous a few times, I mean the whole time, but didn't think about it too much because I kept my mind on the guys behind me. The last bit of rock climbing was really steep, and was a couple of ropes long. To finish, we had to surmount a nearly vertical slap of rock by getting a good grip over the top, and hauling ourselves over.

This river section was definitely my weakest part of the race. I didn't feel confident in my speed or agility over the rough and jagged terrain, and wasn't fully confident in my rope-climbing skills either. A slip or a fall would have been disastrous! So, I was very happy when I emerged from the gorge into the trail network again. A friendly marshal encouraged us telling us it was all familiar territory from here to the finish, meaning we were back on trail that we had already run in the opposite direction.

I was happy to feel safe again, and pushed my pace now that I could run. I dropped the three guys from the gorge, and set my sights on a guy ahead of me. The rest of the race was running down the huge uphill we had run up at the beginning of the race. It was very steep, and it was a chore to keep my speed at a manageable level. I caught up to the guy in front of me by grinding up some shortish, steep sections, and we were soon running pretty much together. I was happy at this point that I had been doing a lot of hill reps in my training, because I knew how hard I could push and for how long.

I led him down the stairs that led to the road and the last kilometre of the race. As soon as we hit the road, he took off and I figured he was gone. I kept my pace up though and didn't quit. I soon found I was gaining on him, and was able to take him with about 300m left in the race. I really had to dig to pass him though, and kept going fast all the way to the finish line because I didn't want to be passed at the end! It was so painful...I find when I need extra strength, yelling encouragement to myself helps a lot, so I was doing that down the final stretch. Carol saw me coming, and said that she heard me coming from far away too! I kicked it home, and almost fell over after I crossed the line.





I was so happy to be finished! The timekeepers took my number and name, and I struggled to stand up straight and had to catch hold of their table to keep myself upright. I finished the second half of the race in about 50 minutes, bringing me in at about 1hour, 35 minutes. During the race a marshal told me I was in 23rd place. I figure I got passed twice after that, but couldn't keep track. We'll wait for the final results, but I believe I came in around 25th. So I'm very happy with that!







It was an amazing race, and I had so much fun. As intense as I found the gorge section to be, nobody seemed as surprised as I was. This race would definitely not be run in Canada, because it's too dangerous. But in Asia it's a different story I guess! This race, and the mountain trek in October, have showed me the different standards that Asia has...what is considered dangerous, and what is considered acceptably risky. Asians are hardcore, and ready to take on anything. I'm pretty happy that I've had to challenge what terrain I thought to be race-able. Now, when I come up on a tough section in a race, I'll know I can handle it!




Thanks to Carol for taking all the pictures!

Game On!!

I'm registered for the race tomorrow! I've also secured a room at the trusty Cosmic Guest House, but might have to deal with small Asian-sized beds this time since the bigger beds were all booked. It's OK though, since it'll be cheaper.

Yesterday I went out and bought a helmet. I knew exactly where to go to buy it too, since I'd been in the store a few times before. The store is a shoe store that you can't see from the street, and you pretty much have to go through another store to get to it. The first time I was there, I saw a box of shoes addressed to an Aldo store in Burlington, but was ripped open showing the packed shoes. So that was neat...definitely a case of some product that "fell off the truck." This store also had some bike helmets for some reason, and I remembered.

Here's my helmet! It cost me 50RMB, about $7.50CAD. It's pretty light, and pretty cheap. I wanted to buy a nice helmet since I like to have nice bike stuff, but I figured if I buy a cheap one, I won't have a problem leaving it here. Plus, adult-sized bike helmets are hard to find here since nobody wears them. So I took what I could get.

I didn't like how the helmet looked out of the box (actually, off a nail in the wall...it didn't come in a box and was all dusty) so I dug into my teaching supplies and decorated it with holographic stickers! I figure that if I'm running in a helmet and feeling like a dork, I might as well go the whole way and look like one too. You can't see the robots since they're on the side. Notice the pineapple in the middle. For speed.





I'm pumped! Carol is coming too, so I might be able to post some shots of the helmet in action, once the race is over.

I checked out some pictures of the terrain I'll be running in, and it looks pretty awesome. Trees, trails, mountains, water...I'm really excited. Come back for a full recap once the weekend is over!

Running in Helmets?!

I found a race to run in Hong Kong this weekend!

I'm pretty pumped about it, although I'm not 100% sure I'll be able to run it. I'm concerned about same-day registration, as the website didn't specifiy anything about it. I won't get my hopes up too high in case I can't run. I've emailed the race organizer about signing up on race day, and I hope I get a reply soon.

It's a cross-country type race, and about 12K long. It involves fording a small creek, and scrambling down steep rocks with the aid of ropes. Because it's semi-dangerous, all competitors must run in a helmet! When I first saw the website I was really confused why everyone was running in biking gear, but then saw the helmet rules. It's either going to be the most intense run I've ever completed, or it's going to be the run that makes me feel silliest at the finish line, since I'll be wearing a bike helmet!

Here are some pics I gleaned off the event web site. They're not the best, and they're a bit blown out but I don't know how to fix that. They give an idea of what the race will be like though.





Carol may come with me, and if that's the case she can take pictures and I'll have some real ones to post.

It's a five-race series, and the first one has already been run. They're all cross-country races, and runners who participate in three or more qualify for series points. Since my weekends are pretty much open, I'm thinking of doing as many races as I can. They're pretty frequent, with one race happening every two weeks. It would be sort of expensive going to Hong Kong twice a month, but totally worth it if the races are good.

I feel I'm in racing shape too, so this race could tell me if I'm right or wrong about that. I've been running a lot lately, and am feeling good. I haven't been running more than fifty minutes at a time though, so this race could challenge my endurance as it's expected to take between 1.5 and 3 hours. The winner last year ran finished in 1 hour 20 minutes.

It turns out Hong Kong has a good running community. I gather that most people run around mountains, because that's the only place where buildings haven't been built yet. I've seen the map of this course, and it takes place in a "Country Park" and has some hills in it. I'm up for anything, since half my workouts have been hill repeats.

Hopefully I get to run this race. There are some pretty heavy sponsors lined up, including Volvo, so I expect it to be pretty good. If same-day registration is an option, I'm good to go!

HK 5.0?

Here's a quick note to keep you interested and reading.

I might go to Hong Kong on the weekend, again. I have some money matters to take care of there, so whenever I go for that reason it's usually pretty satisfying.

While I'm there, I may head over to the Adidas factory outlet and buy some soccer shoes. While I was searching for a soccer jersery for Erik, I met a guy in a soccer store who wondered if I wanted to play on his soccer team, and maybe watch some Premier League games. I don't feel comfortable calling him until I have the necessary gear to play if the option comes up. I need to buy the soccer shoes in HK because I've seen pairs that fit me there, while I have yet to see a single pair of shoes, of any kind, that fit me here in Guangzhou. So, if I buy the soccer shoes I'll be prepared to call him back.

I'd love to get some touches on the ball, and some time on the field...in China especially! That'd be pretty fun. I wonder what their skill will be like, and I wonder what mine would be like since I haven't played in an organized game for something like 4 years.

Another thing I'm thinking of buying in Hong Kong is a camera. I still don't own one, and want to buy one before I leave China. More importantly though, I need one for Bali and wherever else I go in Asia afterwards. I'm looking at a cheap ones, and am not interested in a lot of features or mega pixels. I'll see if I can find what I'm looking for in Hong Kong. I have priced cameras here in China, so I know what different models are worth. I wish I could have afforded to buy one in Canada, but I decided to buy some new shoes instead!

This Hong Kong trip will be an in and out. I'll leave Guangzhou as early as I can, and hopefully be back before dark. I know the transit system there and know exactly where I need to go for my different errands, so hopefully I won't waste any time wandering around lost.

I'm going to try a new train to get there though, so that will add some uncertainty to the whole trip. I have always taken the Guangzhou-Hong Kong Through Train, which costs 200RMB (30 dollars) for the 2 hour trip. It's called the Through Train because it zips right across the HK/China border, and stops right downtown where you go through customs. I want to try out the Guangzhou-Shenzhen train, which costs half as much, and takes about an hour. It also leaves every 15 minutes. The catch is that the trip ends in Shenzhen, a city on the China-Hong Kong border. I will have to get off the train, go through customs at the station, then take the subway downtown. It's apparently pretty convenient, as the Guangzhou-Shenzhen route terminates at the beginning of the Hong Kong subway, so it's just a short walk across the station and through customs. I'm anxious to try it, as the train is apparently so fast that cell phones don't get coverage. I've never been on a super fast train before.

That's my plan for the weekend. Happy shovelling everyone!

Flags

Here are some thoughts on various countries' flags. I have a place-mat that I got at the teaching supply store in London that features 150 flags. I look at and study my place mat every day while I eat, so that has got me thinking about flags again.

Today, I'll post some of my favourite flags and will write a few comments about them. My aim is to make more flag posts in the future, but if I don't end up doing that, this is still a post that stands well on its own.


^^^This is Nepal. When the rest of the world is thinking right angles and rectangles, Nepal defies convention and gives us two oddly sized triangles. I like it mostly because of the shape. When confronted by a page full of flags like that of my place mat, Nepal's flag is the first to draw my attention.


^^^Bhutan. This is a small country in the Himalayas that shares borders with China to the north and India to the south. While many countries elect to feature soulless geometric shapes or bands of colour, Bhutan opts to feature its national symbol, the complicated Thunder Dragon. I imagine young Bhutanese children groan whenever they're required to reproduce the flag in school!



^^^Lebanon. I love the green cedar tree in the middle. In the days of wooden ships, the tall and straight Lebanese cedars were a most coveted material, prized for their use in sail masts. I like how they've featured it on their flag.



^^^Kenya. This flag depicts a Masai shield and two spears. I like how they have symbolized their cultural heritage this way. Unfortunately, Kenyans may be on the verge of fighting a civil war, so the flag may soon become too literal a representation of the country.



^^^Brazil. I love this flag for its colours. It uses geometric shapes well, and I like the sphere in the middle. An added bonus is that the Brazilian flag can easily be mowed into a soccer pitch!



^^^Canada. I like our flag. It's easily recognizable, and has a touch of originality because of the leaf. Drawing a good Canadian flag is a challenge, and one is rewarded with a feeling of great accomplishment when it turns out well.

Time for bed. Hopefully I'll do another flag post tomorrow.

This is the site I used for all my flag pictures. They have a handy index that makes finding flags easy.

Arughhh! *crushes cue-ball in fist*

So I'm frustrated a bit today.

I've been on edge because there is lots of talk going around the school about making Carol stay an extra two weeks to make up for the time she missed due to her ear infection. I guess the school sent out a letter volunteering her time, and the parents are in favour. Carol was never asked about it though.

So that's frustrating me, because they might want me to stay too. I want to leave on July 4th and go to Bali, as the school schedule says. It seems they are manipulating the school's schedule, and anyone could be a victim. Carol has said she's leaving on schedule and won't stay the extra two weeks.

Carol has heard that they might fight back and say we owe them for our plane ticket because we're not staying a full year. We came in August to teach in September, and the school year will be over in July. There is a summer session that we never agreed to teach, but maybe now they want to claim we're breaking the contract if we don't teach it. So, there's talk (not official talk, just rumours) about making us pay back the $1000ish that they gave us, which represented one way of our round trip tickets.

It's a bit frustrating. Anyway, the point of this post isn't to talk about the politics at school, but mention how they affected my teaching style.

It's Friday, which is usually a good day to teach. But I've been frustrated today, so I've been edgy. We play Letter Bingo on Fridays, and it's fun. We got though that OK, then the kids started being bad. Guo wasn't in the room, so they were a bit more misbehaved because of it.

I asked them to take their chairs to the circle, which most did. One boy tried to steal a girl's chair, and they ended up fighting over the chair, each grabbing two legs and trying to pull it away from the other student. We have fourteen students in the class, and about twenty chairs, so there were lots of extras. They were fighting over the chair, and yelling, and I was upset.

So, I grabbed the contested property from them, opened the classroom door, and threw it outside. I told them we have lots of chairs, and they shouldn't fight over them. I thought it wasn't the best move, since I lost my temper. But then I reasoned that it was fine since class was in session and all the other teachers would be busy teaching, so nobody would know. And at least I wasn't yelling, beating the kids, swearing, or anything like that.

When I went out to retrieve the chair a minute later, I saw the head teacher and another teacher standing about ten feet away from the chair, chatting away as if nothing happened. It must have been interesting for them a minute earlier, talking about school or pregnancy or relationships, or whatever, and a random chair comes flying out of my classroom.

So, that's the story. I threw a chair out of my classroom. I regret it, but the guilt will pass I'm sure.

I think it already has.

Swimming

I started swimming today. My hope is to go every day that it's nice outside, in an attempt to prepare myself for surfing in July. It's a struggle at this point though, as I find it hard to go even twenty five metres without stopping. I understand now how hard it is for some people to start running, if it's not something they're used to doing. I went on my two hour lunch break, when the children are napping and the other teachers are watching over them. I usually nap as well (what else am I going to do?), but today I opted to go for a swim and will go to bed earlier tonight.

If I take my swimming slowly and don't expect results too fast, I will hopefully see improvement. I find it a struggle to regulate my breathing and getting used to breathing out under water, and inhaling some water along with air. Today I only used the front crawl, because I want to get my upper body used to paddling a surfboard. However, because I haven't swum in more than fifteen years, I got tuckered out in less than twenty minutes. I think if I supplement my front crawl with some breast stroke, I'll be able to last longer in the pool and get a better workout. I will try that tomorrow if it's nice outside. Maybe I'll even go out there if it's raining, to prove my mettle! Of course I'll only go if I feel up to it. Maybe by tomorrow my body will feel like I got hit by a cement truck, and if that's the case I'll give it a rest before I heard to the pool again.

Back in Victoria I bought goggles with the aim of going swimming, for a full body workout. The pool was full the first day I went, and I couldn't get to the other end of it without stopping. I was embarrassed and never went back. My swimming fitness isn't any better five years later, but I have the whole pool to myself here in China, so I'm not as worried about how my flailing looks. In a month, if I'm able to stick with it, I'm sure I'll be smoother and my form will be better, and I won't have to stop every thirty seconds to catch my breath.

If I can continue to combine swimming and running workouts on a regular basis, I will be in good shape for surfing. The hardest part is getting out the door...so I must make those first few steps.