Running

I’m trying to get back into it! I have completed two 2+ mile slow jogs here in Seoul so far.  For those unfortunate souls who know, a few days without exercise can make me a bit grumpy.  After a lazy and busy summer (two illegitimate excuses) along with a knee injury and the stitches incident (two legitimate excuses) I haven’t been exercising nearly at all.  I haven’t gone as crazy as I thought I might and have secretly been enjoying having to take it easy, guilt-free.

I scoped out a few gym memberships, but since I’ve never paid to use gym facilities ever, I wasn’t so keen on joining up quite so soon here.  Plus, the weather is really great to be exercising here this time of year and I much prefer being outdoors.  The city is really too dense to be running around the streets, however, the parks provide a little more open space and there are many of them. 

A sidewalk/track hybrid runs the perimeter of most of the parks I have seen here.  The park nearest my current apartment, for example, has a ‘hiking’ trail, basketball courts, playground, badminton courts, and an amphitheater all inside the track.  All parks also seem to have surprisingly nice public restrooms.  But the coolest part, at least for me, is that there is equipment in all the parks I’ve seen, such as a free-weight bench press and a elliptical type thing.  They aren’t top of the line, but I can definitely work with some of it.  (I’ve also been perusing Craigslist here so I can snag the next 7kg dumbbells that pop up.)  Some of the public equipment that I see the old ladies use I would consider useless, such as a wheel that you spin rather effortlessly.  In general, Koreans, young and old, seem to be very active.  I see them exercising in the parks at all times of day, including late at night since it is quite safe to be out at any time, even alone.  Hiking is also big amongst Koreans, but that is unchartered territory for me so far.

So, until the brutal winter hits at least, I hope to familiarize myself with several of the parks.  I think I will have the time to stay active, assuming my students don’t wear me out.  I just hope my knee will cooperate!

A peek at some of your equipment choices