Well I guess it is about time. I abandoned my quest a couple months ago. I found that my goal was impossible to reach with the constant moving and several other excuses that I can provide, if you really care to watch a grown man squirm with shame. This will now be a testament to the beauty of the world, my love of running, and a way to please Andrew Dupuis, he is very upset his name hasn’t been added to this record of my stumbles.
I guess Andrew should be the first point of discussion. Andrew has been my running partner/drinking buddy/tour guide/debate partner since I arrived in Beijing. Actually he was cool enough to steal his girl’s car and pick me up at the airport. Andrew and I have accumulated a decent amount of mileage running the streets of Beijing. We are quite the sight. The giant white guy and the…well let’s just say I have a couple inches on the guy, but he runs well and is always up for running a few. My only complaint, not mentioning our ability to argue about any issue, would be that he missed our sign up date for the Beijing Marathon! I guess we will just have to make up for that by running the next one. Photos of our runs included soon.
My last post was when I left Taiwan, my true love. Since that time I have run in Thailand, Macau, Hong Kong, China, America, and even returned to Taiwan. Wow I get around like an easy… I have pics of Thailand that I will add soon, but I have failed to photograph the other spots. The mileage I will also attempt to estimate, but I fear my original goal is out of reach.
I arrived in Los Angeles to hugs and screams of joy from my mother on Tuesday. Since then I went for a couple runs along Hermosa Beach. Let’s just agree that these people know how to live; this place is gorgeous and the locals love running. Then yesterday we went to Joshua Tree National Park. Man that place is BEAUTIFUL!!!! Very fitting that the camera decided to break on the way there. My mom took a couple pics from her phone that I will add soon. I ran 7 miles through the trails of that slice of heaven. Scott we need to do another Cali running trip! I didn’t have a way to take pics so look at these:
http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.joshua-tree.html
Keep running!
Soon I will exit this little magnet once again. I have left this island quite a few times, but I know I will be back. Taiwan and I definitely have a bond. I leave knowing that my little gem is in good hands. A good group of friends came over last night to join me for yet another farewell moment. I would like to say thanks for reminding me that the world is full of really good people. I would also like to take a moment to thanks my hosts, Elaine and Bob. Not every couple can open their house and make eight weeks feel like they went by too fast. I can’t wait to come back and meet their newest member of the household! Don’t want to get too sentimental but I love you guys.
I have to admit that running has taken a break from me or me from it. I have only run 12 miles in the last two weeks. I think my epic battle with Mr. Pink Hat left me in need of a break. I will get my groove back I swear. Thailand and China both offer new running territory.
I have had some notable moments over the last two weeks. Hit the game winning shot in OT to lead my team to victory over last year’s champs. I have also spent more time rambling along the coast with Jason and Honey. Jason is always the man when it comes to knowing the waters of Taiwan. Beautiful tropical fish everywhere. Jason also took me to a temple that prays to a very interesting idol. Check out the pics!
829 to go!
North Coast
Jason loves to put things into perspective!
Well Honey...she just rocks!
So I am sitting there thinking to myself…believe it or not I think on the rare occasion! It is one in the morning and I have to leave at 3:30 a.m. to catch the shuttle bus to the starting line. Finally, I give up and take a sleeping pill. I get my two hours of sleep and rush off to the bus. Busloads of us really crazy people take the hour ride to Yangmingshan National Park…come on who gets up on Saturday to inflict mass amounts of pain upon themselves? As the bus nears its destination, you start to think about the incline of the road; I was about to embark on a 21km run through these mountains. We arrive to join thousands of others who for some foolish reason felt the need to share the pain.
At 6 a.m. a gunshot pierces the air, here comes that damn Taiwanese shuffle again. Thousands of us shuffle uphill and finally I break into a decent stride about ten minutes after the start. This road takes me on a steady upwards climb for the first 3.7 miles! Pain! What goes up must come down. The following 3 miles were straight down and that downhill pace can really hurt the legs. As I hit the halfway watering station, I realize I have to return and conquer the same path I had just battled. PAIN! I struggled back up the hill.
This is when I met the man with the pink hat! It was more of a challenge of manhood, such a sad thing to witness. This man passed me as I struggled to put one foot in front of the other. He looked back at me and gave me the look that has caused men to wage wars and start family feuds. He accompanied his look of disdain with what one might call a little shit talking. In a race? I watched my nemesis disappear into the distance as I struggled with my pace and ego! You don’t lose to the guy with the pink hat! The shame!
I reached the final peak of the race wondering if my legs could handle the rest of the race. I opened my stride and started to pick up the pace. I felt pretty good. Had my ipod blasting, surrounded by beautiful mountains, and the pace was looking good. Then with about two kilometers left I saw a sight for sore eyes. It was him! I would bring much honor to my family. The man with the pink hat was mine! I blasted past my rival with nothing more than a sarcastic smile and a wave. Why does it feel so good to win these minor battles!
I finished the last kilometer with a nice Taiwanese guy who really pushed me to finish strong. Felt good to finish with a high five from a fellow runner.
To the man in pink…until next time I wish you happy trails!
841 to go!
Ready to run!
Starting line! My Taiwanese shufflers!
A little glimpse of the mountains and fellow maniacs before we start the ramble!
The last couple weeks have passed with a few interesting moments. Chris, yet another good friend from the old days, took Bob and I to the Yao Ming Charity Game. We sat courtside as we watched the locals get throttled by some NBA talent: Brandon Jennings, Hasheem Thabeet, Aaron Brooks, Chase Budinger… I guess the kicking of butt would have been flipped had we watched ping-pong or badminton. I strolled over to the bench for some post game photo moments. Felt pretty small!
Took a few days off after the last post. Been playing more hoops and hit the mountains for some river tracing. Take off 15 and we are at 862 left to go…I am behind schedule!
Damn he is tall! I can still take him.
White men can jump!
This picture healed my big guy ego...thanks Mr. Brooks!
Ran in a 10 km race yesterday morning! It was a learning experience to say the least. Some people have healthy pre-race rituals; some people sleep for two hours! I know what my friends and family are thinking…I just couldn’t sleep. I even tried reading a Grisham novel, a sure fire way to put anyone to sleep. Where is the talent or skill in his work? I forced myself out of my brief slumber at 4:30 to make it to the race! Met my old pal, Jeff Kuhel, at 5 to make it to the Sanchong Riverside 10 km Race. Once upon a time in a galaxy far away, Jeff had run cross country for UCLA. Off to the starting line!
I learned a few other things at this race. Taiwanese races and American races no same same. I was concerned when I saw loads of elderly folk lining up ahead of me at the start. Oh man! These old guys must be fast! BANG! And we are off to the races…well maybe not. The first kilometer was ridiculous! As I watched the front of the pack disappear into the distance, I was stuck in some type of herd, flock, school, or whatever the correct collective noun is for a group of shuffling Asians. It was as if we were some group of prey trying to scare off predators by fooling them into thinking we were one massive beast. Wait! What’s that? I saw an opening and went for it. I got into my stride for about a minute when suddenly I was reduced to the Asian shuffle once again. Who wouldn’t include a very narrow pedestrian bridge towards the beginning of a race? Nice one Mr. Race Director. So I spent the following kilometers weaving my comparatively massive frame through the entire population of China. I hit the halfway turn around mark at 27 minutes…SLOW! The second half was much easier and less of a cluster____! Crossed the finish line at 48 and change. Second half of the race was good and all in all still had a good time!
Left the race and relaxed for a couple hours. Then joined an old friend of mine and played my first legitimate basketball game in years. One of the refs walked up and immediately asked me where I had been. Guess I left an impression with my on court antics in my previous days of hooping in Taiwan. The Taiwanese refs and I had quite a relationship back in the old days. Played the entire game!
Left that game and immediately left to play basketball with some other Taiwanese friends from the old days. Not bad for an old guy: 2 hours sleep, 10 km race, full game of basketball, and some more ball after that!
877 more to go!
Mr. Kuhel and I warm up at the start.
I was tough to find at the starting line!
This sounds like fun! Wait for the gun to go bang and shuffle!
Made it unscathed! Look at the playa with the sweet hat off to my side!
Taiwan has become quite the little surfing community over the years. Taiwanese people are very trend aware , and surfing has definitely become part of the culture. I spent last night on the coast in Tocheng, a city just thirty minutes away from Taipei. Ian, my host and friend for man y moons, and I woke at 4:30 to hit the beach. Ian has become quite an avid surfer over the years, and I love sunrises and water. The beach was relatively vacant when we got there, but by the time we left the waves were crawling with surf boards. The waves and sunrise were gorgeous!
I left the crowds and went for a run up the beach and further down the coast. I passed beautiful rock formations, more surf, more surfers, no Urfers, temples, hotels shaped like mosques, ever present stray dogs, and trash…loads of trash. The picture I paint of Taiwan is not a totally fair one. The inhabitants of this isle of beauty are notoriously bad at making sure refuse finds its way to the proper receptacle or appropriate dumping ground. I find my moments of serenity interrupted by the piles of crap I see as I soak in the beauty of this place. I want to look back and remember beauty, but this place would benefit from some environmental education. As I ran along the beach, I kept stumbling upon little deposits of trash left by people that are too selfish and lazy to simply take out what they bring in!
The run was still beautiful; I took four miles off this morning. Add that to the miles that I put in the last few days, and I’m down to 892 miles to go. Pics soon on my new track! Bradford athletes are lucky this place wasn’t in our vicinity.
Ian hunts waves in the sunrise hour!
Looks good! Not too many people.
Might be Ian? Those surfers all look alike.
He must have had the day off! I didn't see any damn bamboo whale.
By 6 in the morning the joint was jumping. Sunrise on the Pacific...what did you do this morning?
This is a post to all the lucky or unlucky, depending on who you ask, students that called me Mr. Urfer for the last two years. I think of all those young adults that passed through my classes or dealt with me as I pushed them to run faster and play harder. I want to say thanks. The last two years will definitely be years that will never be forgotten.
I decided to take a part time position at an intense language institute in Taipei for the summer. I am teaching about 20 hours a week and making more money than I made in America as a full time teacher. I find myself teaching a class of twelve to sixteen year old students the same things I taught in Bradford. That concerns me. The school system in Taiwan is in no way perfect, but Americans need to take a good look and think twice about what we provide our youth.
I have taken another 7 miles off since the last post. Time to step up the distances with the upcoming races. 901 to go! I think I will actually make it!
My students in Taipei.
Their grammar and reading abilities are amazing.
They are this focused ALL the time...and a little camera shy!
Been trying to keep this running on track, but the heat is killing me. The daily runs are slow and arduous…temps keep hovering around 38 degrees Celcius. I have knocked off about 14 more and have a couple more runs planned for this week. I guess that brings me down to 908 more to go! I have purchased a Garmin GPS running watch, so I will be able to upload routes of my runs soon enough. I feel old! I have my first race on July 18th; there should be around 7,000 runners at this 10k! Then I race again on August 8th in Yangmingshan National Park, gorgeous place. Shan means mountain in Chinese. Looks like I will be running 21k, that’s a half marathon, through some crazy terrain!
Life is good, students are great, friends are cool, and here are some pics of my life and the area I run in. Bye.
Part of my run behind Bob's casa.
These guys are all over the place where I run.
Taipei in the distance from the trail. That building is 101 floors of shopping bliss...I mean pain.
Made a quick trip down to Ilan to pick up a car that my dear friend and aspiring artist, Hack, is lending me for my days in Taiwan. You can check out his art at www.flickr.com/hackwelder…not for everyone but take a look. I will post a pic of the little beater soon as well. We then traveled further south along the cliffside highway of the east coast to a beautiful area where Jason, another old friend, lives. We spent yesterday in the mountains swimming in a gorgeous swimming hole. I happened to take advantage of this journey to knock off a few more miles. Down to 922!
These beautiful waters sure felt great after running through the mountains and cured my hangover as well!
Sunset on the cliffs of the east coast of Taiwan!
I made it!!! The flight was long. The food less than desirable. But hey that is why we travel. I arrived to the lovely Formosa, the previous name of this gorgeous little gem of an island, last Wednesday. I did the dance through immigration and customs, and I rounded the final corner that opened into a sea of expectant Chinese faces. I scanned them and felt suddenly very lonely….but wait…could it be? There was Kenny, my Taiwanese brother, waiting with the infectious smile that would make anyone feel at home! Kenny drove me through streets that I had called home for several years. I have since seen so many faces that I wasn’t sure when I would ever see again. These faces quite often joined by faces that have now become members of their families. Wives and children everywhere!!! It is amazing how fast things change. Enough of that! Time to talk miles. Taipei is located in a basin surrounded by beautiful mountains that are shrouded in lush jungle like vegetation. I am living with a good friend in his mountainside apartment. In a few steps, I find myself running through trails that I share with uncountable species of birds, butterflies, reptiles and amphibians of all sorts, FLYING SQUIRRELS, and very few people. In a few steps in the other direction, I find myself running in a concrete jungle that I share with 6 million Taiwanese, pollution of every type, and sccoters…lots of scooters. I have opted to run through the former for the large part. I have run most of those miles with my new running partners, Cooper and Bob. I have stumbled about 22 miles since I have left the flatlands of Florida. This little island’s mountains are sure gorgeous but the running is TOUGH. 931 to go!!
My new running partner, Cooper, after a run that was a little long for his taste.
