Run, Rabbit, Run

Hello, Hi, Welcome, Bienvenido, Ni hao, Konnichiwa, Bonjour...so on, so forth.

I'm going to level with all of my viewers here: I got completely bored of the blog. Which is why, once again, it's been over two months since the last post. South Korea gave up on me. China gave up on me. Even David gave up on me. We haven't had one of his snarky comments in a long time (which, by the way Dave, you're off comment probation. You can come back now).

I ended up running the half marathon here in the great St. Louis city on Sunday April 10th, 2011. It was exciting, terrifying, electrifying, mind blowing, etc. etc. For those of you who are even the least bit physically inclined, I STRONGLY recommend running in any sort of race like this. It is an unforgettable experience. Yes, there is a lot of pain and hard work involved, but it is worth it. People are constantly cheering from the side lines of the race. You're running with thousands of other people who also trained and worked hard to reach this point, and there's a sense of unity. You're not racing against them but with them. The only thing you could be racing against is time and yourself. I guess that's the reason I never liked team sports. You're always working against somebody, and for me in gym class it was generally more against my team mates. Super competitive people made me feel inadequate. That's the reason why I hate playing football. I could never understand the game, we always played it in gym class, and I was always hounded by meat head jocks when I missed the ball (if they even bothered to throw the ball at me, that is). But I'm not bitter or anything. I think I'm pretty much over it (says my psychiatrist).

Running, biking, swimming...this are things that don't need competition. You can just do them. I guess you can just throw a ball back and forth instead of playing an actual game, but I'm going to be honest here and just flat out say it gets a little stale after awhile. At least running and biking have some change in scenery.

I'm getting a little off track. Enough about team sports and my scarred teenage years.

Yes, the race was great. I finished in 2 hours 28 mins. I regretfully didn't drink enough water along the track, took one of those Gu energy packets (these make you sick and ruin your life. Especially when you need something sustaining like water) around mile 8 and started to lose stamina a little after mile 9. I had trouble just moving at the same pace and ended up walking the rest of mile 9. After that I intermittenly ran/walked until the last mile. I had to finish that last mile strong, so I ran it and sprinted the last hundred feet or so to make it in under 2 and half hours. I didn't get my sun shirt out of the deal, but I got a lot of snacks, a neon green shirt, and a medal, which was good enough for me.

Other than that, things have remained pretty quiet. Not a lot happening and that's not okay but I can deal with it. Summer is here, or at least in my professional opinion. So, no more snow storms with ice, no more chapped lips, no more dry knuckles. Just sweat and sunburns for me.

That's all I have. I didn't really have anything loaded for this issue of The Living Blog. I'll whip up some good material for next time. Thanks for stopping in.

Going The Extra Mile

As soon as I welcome South Korea, they don't even bother to come on to the site again to look at their personal welcome. Come on, South Korea! I know I didn't stay up all night putting together this amazing welcome, but I at least considered you in my writings! You should be so proud and fulfilled. First it's me. My last name is Lee. I'm pretty much Korean anyway (except for that part where all of my ancestors came from Western Europe, the makers of measles and colonialism). And second, I love you guys. Really, I do.

But, I'm not completely abandoned. Another country has made a number of visits this week. And that country is...

CHINA!!

Yes, the will-be Successor in the global market (least, that's what I've been hearing all these years) has actually put forth the effort to visit my site. So, in this installment of "Revenge of the Living Blog" I give a big, WARM welcome to our Chinese pals. Thanks China for giving up your time to read some crazy American's blog. I really appreciate it. Keep it up too. It'll get really interesting here on the blog, I promise. Also, Happy New Year! Year of the Rabbit. I'm sure it will be a good one. I'll eat a lot of vegetables, hop around, and when an animal or human sees me I'll remain perfectly still with my eyes wide open and nose twitching in an effort to celebrate properly.

And South Korea...you can scroll down to see your welcome. If you wanna come back to the blog. Whatever. I don't care either way.

Recently I started training for a half-marathon. I officially started training little over a month ago right after I registered. It cost $85 to register. I know I was entering late, but that's a lot of money to run for a couple hours. I mean, I obviously didn't have too many qualms with the price since I paid for it in full. But I better get a couple bottles of free Gatorade and a really rad shirt. One that's neon blue with a cartoon sun wearing hot pink sunglasses doing a thumbs up. Then just below this cartoon sun it says, "Way to go, dude!" If I don't get that, this whole endeavour is going to be a complete waste. COMPLETE...

This half marathon I'm participating in is of course leading up to one of my life goals, to fully run a whole marathon without stopping. It would be a big deal to me, especially since there was a time in my life when I was fat and tried to do sports. 12-14 was the era of "chubby". Dark, awkward days those were. I had a bowl cut, which my mother cut WITHOUT a bowl (she's a skilled artisan. She doesn't need a straight edge. Her eye is a straight edge. In Apocalypse Now when Marlon Brando talks about a dream with a slug crawling across the edge of a straight razor, he actually speaks of my mother's eye. A slug crawls across her eye without being cut). My cheeks puffed out. My face and belly were very round. Yet, when I was 11 and 12 I participated in Cross Country. Becoming winded very quickly and the force of my belly weighing down my little 4'8 (approximately) body didn't stop me from running with the big leaguers. I was an athlete. I may have come dead last each time I competed, but I FINISHED.

So now that I'm older, taller, and drink less Dr. Peppers a day, I feel like I owe it to the little pudgy fellow of my past to finish a marathon. He put forth his all even thought he didn't have much and for that I thank you. You brought us half-way little buddy, and I'm going to finish for us the race.

Monday I did about six miles without too much trouble. I'm hoping to do at least six or more today. I have to be able to do about 13 miles by April 10th. Pray me some prayers.

That's all I've got. China, once again thanks for visiting. Hopefully we can get together sometime, drink oolong tea. I've got some yixing tea pots, maybe I could come over and stay for a few months. Bike across your beautiful country side, eat some great food, drink some fantastic tea. It'd be great. Hit me up sometime when you've got the chance.

Korea, you can come too.

Peace.