Running with Sand

Well, as Matt pointed out, I really need to post something. But to be honest, there's not much happening these days. Time has been passing quickly and part of the reason is that I'm quite busy. My days have been filled with class hours, both teaching and Chinese class, tutors, meeting with students and lastly running.

I'm happy to report that training for the Great Wall Marathon is going pretty well. I just did long run of about 1 hr 40 minutes this past Saturday. I had been nervous about the marathon since I had a little bit less than 3 months to train for it, but I've had a nice time running in Jilin. I have a pretty good running path for my long runs along the Song Hua River, but I'm unsure of the distances, so just to be safe I've designated a mile to every 10 minutes that I run. While we've had some bouts of cold and snow, the weather hasn't been too shabby. Unfortunately, we are the throws of "sand storm season."

The way I look at it is that Mud Season:Vermont :: Sandstorm Season: Northeast China. So instead of seeing mud flaps everywhere, I'll see random people, especially children, with their heads engulfed in a weird pantyhose-netting type thing to block out the sand. I actually could use some sort of mask, since sometimes after finishing a run, I'll feel like I've tripped over someone buried in the beach and fallen face first into the sand. You know that gross feeling of bits of sand in your mouth, getting stuck in the crevices of your mouth and rubbing against your molars and gums, ugh!

Anyhoo, the run is less than 2 months away, yikes! I'm looking forward to it and hopefully I don't trip and fall off!