Raw Food diet?

It’s been about two weeks after my marathon and I am just so happy to have a life again! I'm relieved to take a break from running and focus on other things, like I'm getting really into cooking. I've been discovering all of these vegan and vegetarian websites/recipes and trying to make my diet more of a raw/ natural diet. Each day, I make something new. It's a lot of fun! Also, I'm starting to learn how to play the guitar, I’m still studying Korean, and I'm also swimming, doing yoga and doing boot-camp. Besides that, school is coming to an end for me in a few weeks and Keith is currently getting his scuba diving certificate here in Jeju. He has one more day in the water...but there's supposed to be a typhoon and thunderstorms this weekend so it might be held off a week. Also, we booked our tickets for our 1 yr anniversary trip to Sri Lanka in August! I'm so excited! I can't wait!

Here are some vegan/healthy websites if you’re interested:


http://www.rawmazing.com/

http://www.naturallysavvy.com/

http://steamykitchen.com/recipes

http://www.thehappyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/

http://www.veganchef.com/

Even if you're not a vegan or vegetarian you can still get great ideas and substitute some of the ingredients.

Enjoy!


Next time, I’ll try to post some pictures of what I’ve been making.

2011 Jeju Full Marathon!!!

WOW! The marathon was incredible! It was truly the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life and; therefore, I feel so accomplished right now. :)

Let me tell you about the race day...

Keith and I got up super early on Sunday, around 6am. I immediately ate a bowl of oatmeal with a little bit of banana and peanut butter and then did some stretching until our ride arrived. We went to the race with our friends Sarah and Brady. Back in January, me, Brady, Keith and a few others were sipping on some hot chocolate at Chocoart Café and had that day made a pact to run the Jeju June marathon (everyone running different distances). Unfortunately Keith got injured and other things came up for the others who were originally going to join, but Brady and I were able to keep our promise! And so, the day had finally come and we were so prepared and excited to conquer this goal that we had been training for since the winter!

Well, the race was at Gimyeong beach, which is about 45 mins away from our place. It was a little hard to find the start location because it was so foggy out! But as soon as we arrived, we saw hundreds of people stretching on this big track field and preparing for the race. The whole event looked as though we were at a festival. There were clowns on stilts, kids dressed up in traditional Korean costumes, mascot animals walking around and posing for pictures and people marching around the track while playing musical instruments.

Keith and I made a few laps around the track (just walking) as a warm-up and then I did lots of stretching and last minute preparations before the race started at 9am. I saw a lot of people running laps and sprinting which I thought was a little silly. Why would you use up your energy?? Right before the start of the race, I drank a sip of OJ and had a bite of my last cliff bar (my parents sent over a dozen of them for my long training days), and also made a quick trip to the bathroom. Then, at 9am after many long Korean announcements (haha) the race had started and we were all off! Hundreds of people were all slowly running (actually walking for a few minutes!) while balloons were flying over our heads and people were cheering and taking pictures in the stands. I felt a great burst of energy in the beginning, but of course, I made sure to quickly find a good pace so as not to go too fast. I had a looong way to go!

I was pretty worried about how late the race time was considering it's already June and the weather has been pretty warm. However, the weather was absolutely perfect that day!! It was overcast, misty, very foggy and a lil breezy since we ran along the coast. But it was also very very humid that day so I was sweating like never before! The mist and breeze really helped and they were handing out cold wet sponges at the food/drink stations and that felt AMAZING!

Well, the race overall felt excellent. I knew that all my hard work during training days had paid off, but don’t get me wrong, the race was still not easy and by the end I had to walk a lot more than I had expected. One thing that made the race seem SOO much longer were the signs at each km!! There are 42 km in a marathon (26.2 miles) so yeah, seeing 42 signs made the race super lengthy. I listened to music but had a hard time letting my mind drift off like it usually did during my long training runs. I think this was because I was enjoying the coastal view and was excited and engaged in the people that were cheering me on at the sidelines. They were all yelling "fighting"...a popular expression they use here for ..."don't give up". I actually wrote it in marker on both of my arms for extra cheering! haha

The view of the scenery was amazing that day. Since it was so foggy, it felt mystical running into the clouds with a view of the ocean and the jeju black rocks along the coast. Although there was not the crazy amount of spectators like at my half-marathon in Chicago, there were a small group of about 4 or 5 Korean students at every 3 km cheering the runners on. This was perfect for me because it made the race more relaxing and similar to my training days, allowing me to focus on just enjoying the moment, as well as reflecting on the journey that I was about to end.


About halfway through the race I realized that most of the students that were on the sidelines cheering the runners on were MY students from my middle school! I was so surprised! And so were they when they found out their foreign teacher, Tina Teacher, was in this event that they were volunteering at! I found out later that those students are part of a volunteer group that sign-up for events (like the marathon) each year to help out at. It was so great to not only have Keith and Sarah rooting me on at different points in the race, but also to have my students who I am so close with!


All in all, I would describe the whole race as peaceful. I very much liked how after the turning point for the half-marathoners, I was pretty much running on my own- all runners were at their own pace and pretty far apart from one another. I did meet a few really nice Korean and Japanese runners during the race though. We all pushed each other when we ran for a short distance with one another or slowly passed one another.
I also loved how even though people had passed me up a lot at the beginning of the race, after the half-marathoners and 10-k runners had turned around, I started passing some of the full-marathoners.

I wasn't that fast, I finished in 5 hrs, but I am more than happy and satisfied with that time, since my main goal was to just finish the race. My friends and Keith said that I was the only one who sprinted as fast as I did at the end so I was pretty happy and proud to hear that. Most people were walking the end or jogging very slowly by that point. Also, I felt good after my run which means that I trained really hard and ate/drank the right amounts during the race. Keith was a wonderful trainer! I couldn't have been luckier to have him helping me throughout the whole thing.

It felt wonderful to finish strong and then to see Keith, Sarah, Brady and even my students at the finish line, greeting me with congrats and hugs! I chugged a huge bottle of Gatorade afterward and then quickly stretched and stood in absolute awe and amazement at my personal goal that I had just achieved!!! Words can't describe how happy I was. It had taken me a few years, yes a few years!, to find the time, commitment and health for training and completing the marathon. In 2008, I had started my training and then had to stop for 3 months because I had needed shoulder surgery. Also, last year when we had first arrived to Jeju, Keith and I trained for several months but since we had not found an indoor gym that first winter, it was so difficult to continue training on cold winter days, rainy days and during vacation days while we were traveling. And then we got engaged and started planning a dream wedding! And so as you see, I feel very fortunate to have finally found the time, commitment, motivation and health to reach such a difficult and time-consuming goal.

As of right now, I don’t know if I would do another full-marathon. I think a half-marathon seems more practical because of the long training commitment and also because it isn’t as hard on your body. But who knows what I will want to accomplish next. Maybe a tri-athlon or half-ironman will be the next big obstacle…. we will see.

Thank you for everyone's support and encouragement throughout the entire journey! You have helped me get to where I am today!

2011 Spring Jeju Fury Vball Tourney

Updates here...

We just had a 2 day vball tournament. It's a fundraiser vball tournament that happens here on the island each spring and fall. Do you remember from last year? We were once the champions for a smaller tournament that was after the big one last June. The event is run by our friend Dan Nabben who's friend Canada. About 400 people (foreigners and Koreans) attend (some who fly in from Seoul) and it's pretty much the best weekend of the year. There's music, food, drinking, partying, camping out, beach v-ball games all day and just a lot of fun socializing. Keith volunteered and was the MC (announcer) and kept count of the scores/ranks for all the teams. He worked so hard helping out since he couldn't play because of his ankle injury. But things are looking up for him. He has been off his crutches and has been going to physical therapy and will be starting to swim soon and build up his strength. :)

But yeah, our team did pretty good and it was just an overall amazing and sunny weekend with nice weather (70s.

It's those days when we're sitting on the beach with tons of friends, playing v-ball, drinking a beer and watching the sunset, feeling really relaxed with no worries that we just can't believe where we are and know how lucky we are to experience all of this.


Anyways, I only have only 4 more weeks of teaching until my students have their final tests and then soon after they will have their summer vacation. Also, Keith and I will be starting to swim and bike more after my marathon (in only 1 1/2 weeks!) and might (if Keith's foot is better) start taking a salsa dance class.

We're also going to start exploring all the beaches on the island, as well as the other islands nearby. We also want to do more hiking and camping and photography around Jeju.

Right now we're in the middle of planning a 1 yr anniversary trip (hopefully) to Sri Lanka (near India). The island looks AMAZING....7 UNESCO sites, beautiful national parks with wild animals like leopards, many ruins and ancient cities, beautiful beaches, etc..... I had no idea until I did the research.


We're still trying to figure out vacation dates but I will let you know if we end up booking the trip. And if we're not able to, hey, we will still have an amazing Aug 7th celebration here in beautiful Jeju filled with laughs and love.


-Tina

Marathon training

I am at the peak of my marathon training and I'm feeling very accomplished and proud of myself! Last weekend I ran 22 miles, although I'm not gonna lie, it was really difficult. First, it was very hot and windy that day and I have been running most of my runs later in the day, so it was new for me to get used to the morning and midday heat. Second, the day before Keith and I were at the beach all day so I don't think I ate as many carbs that day as I should have. And then, third, because it was so hot I was drinking tons of water during my run...too much I think. So, my stomach was hurting a little and it made my run a challenge. Nevertheless, I did finish the 22 miles, and then collapsed on my bed for a nice long nap. ha

Yesterday, I ran 24 miles...the most I have ever ran before!! This run felt a lot better because I made sure to carb up the day before. I also only sipped water during my run but did it more frequently and I added lemon juice to my water which helped. I was so proud of myself because I felt strong by the end and it took me a little less than 4 hours. :)

It's pretty unbelievable when I think of it that I was running from 8:15 in the morning until 12pm! How did my legs do it? I would never have imagined in the past that I could actually run that long. But I did thanks to my consistency with my workouts and thanks to my lovely husband, aka my personal trainer! He helped me design my marathon training program and he is giving me advice almost daily each time I have a question or concern. He is amazing! One thing that helps is getting a lot of rest before and after my long runs, and making sure I stretch a lot by doing yoga a lot during the week (especially the day before and the day after my long runs). Plus, I have been doing weightlifting, doing shorter runs during the week which focus on increasing my speed and also I have been doing bootcamp workouts and running hills. All of the off-training days and shorter quick runs definitely help for the marathon training.

Now, it's all tapering from here. This means I begin to decrease my running distance so that I can repair my sore muscles and rest my body so that I can have full energy the day of the marathon. The marathon is on Sunday, June 12th, which means I only have 3 more weeks to go! I am so pumped and just want the day to arrive.

Next weekend we have the beach volleyball tournament. I'm really looking forward to it. My team's name is Spikes n Spam and we have 3 guys and 3 girls on the team. I don't know my team members too well but I am looking forward to meeting new people and socializing during the weekend. There will be games playing all day + food, drinks, music, little contests, camping all night, partying, etc. Good times ahead! I will try to take a bunch of pics.

Other things...only 6 more weeks of teaching for me! (but this is also sad because I have to say goodbye to my students and school after working there for 2 years). Also, Keith and I are currently looking into booking another trip to Japan for the summer. Our India/Sri Lanka trip didn't end up working out because it conflicts with the start time for our training for our new international job. However, this may be a blessing in disguise because we found a great deal to Japan and we still have to see Tokyo, a sumo wrestling match, and see the beautiful northern national parks. Oooh, I'm getting excited just thinking about it.

Ok, well that's all for now. Have a great week!

-T

F.Y.I The blog website hasn't been letting me upload photos, so I will be adding photos to "Children's Day" and "Jihee's dad's farm" soon!

Children's Day

Yesterday was Children's Day here in Korea, which is a national holiday so there was no school! (Why don't we have one of these in the US?) Also, instead of having Mother's and Father's Day in Korea, they just have Parent's Day. I'm not entirely sure what date that is though.

So, after ordering a special gift for my mom for the upcoming Mother's Day this weekend, I then went out with Keith for an adventure since we were home from work for Children's Day.

We had just read in the Jeju Weekly (English) newspaper about an article advertising the new Maze Land/Museum. We had been to the original Maze Park the past year and loved it! It was pretty difficult but small and took us 45 minutes to figure out. Since this new park showed that it was three mazes put together, including one huge stone wall maze, we were pumped to check it out!!

It was a beautiful day- sunny with a lil breeze- and we took a 45 min. bus, then a ten minute taxi ride to the museum. We were surprised (although we should have expected it since it was Children's Day) to see TONS of children there with their parents. We even ran into a family that we had met from Rho and Simon's fundraiser dinner.

Since it was a holiday, there was fun Korean pop music playing, balloons being handed out to the kids, many kids games, including the traditional Korean Yunari board game (but with HUGE toy sticks for them to throw), hoolahoop contests and limbo contests. They even had Winnie the Poo and Tigger costume characters walking around. Of course I had to get a picture with them! They also had ice-cream at every possible corner of the park. haha Keith and I felt like kids that day. It was so much fun! We walked through all of the mazes, although we felt like it was more of a walking path. It was definitely not as hard as the original maze park, but this didn't distract us from our exciting day. No, we just went through the maze quickly, then made it to the end where there was a kid's party going on...the hoolahoop and limbo contests. And the best part was that it was all being recorded by the popular TV program, KBS. So I'm sure all the students at our school, along with their parents, will see the funny tall looking foreigners walking quickly through the maze, then trying to hoolahoop around our necks! We tried it this way, since we had so much trouble hoolahooping around our waists. haha

After the hoolahooping, we saw a field near the surrounding forest, orum and beautiful plants/flowers. In the field there were about 5 HUGE colorful balls. They looked like balloons and even had the end of the ball tied like a balloon. Keith and I ran around and played gigantic soccer with them. Again, we felt like we had taken a trip back into our childhood. We then took a walk near the orum and bamboo trees. All around the park there were really interesting and traditional Korean statues. Take a look at my pictures.

The final thing we did at Maze Land was visit the museum. The museum was really interesting too. I was shocked. It was filled with information about Greek Mythology and explained the significance that it had with the story of the Labyrinth/ original maze. But what made the museum really unique was that each showcase that was set up had a display, which had sound playing telling the story, and then there also was a story illuminated onto the stage. It was as if a 3D animation movie was being played right in front of your eyes. The characters seemed so real life. It was really high-tech and cool!

There were also many 3D images/ artwork on the wall for you to try to figure out the images. Also, there were other mind-games/mazes for you to play or original games from different countries in display cases. Keith and I had fun playing "Where's Waldo?", except that they called him "Wally". haha That was hilarious to see. Well, there were about 10 of the pictures on the wall so we made it a race to see who can find him first. Keith won by 2 points! meh


The whole day was so much fun and one thing that I love about Keith and about Jeju is that Keith always plans and encourages us to take fun lil adventures around the island. And thanks to Jeju, there's ALWAYS some fun, new, random place to check out.




Ok, talk to you soon. I am currently reading the book, "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman. It is one of the books that KIS ordered us to discuss at our training. It's really interesting so far and is about the incredible improvements in technology that our world has made in the past few decades. I'll be reading the rest of my day since Fridays I have no classes! :)

Have a great day and a nice weekend! Keep in touch~

The evil yellow dust from China!!

Well, it's that time of the year. The time during spring season in which China's sand storms picks up toxic pollutants and showers them into areas in South Korea and parts of Japan. Jeju is one of the victims. We were hit pretty bad (the worst it has been in a few years) this past week by the yellow dust.

Let me describe to you what the experience is like. The sky looks yellowish gray, very polluted and foggy. There is also yellow dust on the streets and it gets blown into the stairway of our building. You see many Koreans wearing protective masks around their mouths/noses to help them to not breath in the air. It's actually a scary thing to see if you have not seen this before! Actually, I've seen it before but it was still a lil eery for me. I felt like I was in a horror movie or something when I was walking from the bus stop to my school and I couldn't see clearly in the air and then there were these people walking towards me with masks over their mouths! ha I will try to take a picture sometime, without feeling rude!

The yellow dust is really a horrible effect that South Korea gets from China. The worst part is though, they say you should not be outdoors much during this weather. And so, for the last few days, I have had to do my long marathon training indoors! It can be very mind-boggling to run around a small track 12 times just to reach 1 mile, then to do that 228 more times to reach 20 miles! haha It seems much longer than when you run outside.

Even though I took the safe route by running inside, I still think the yellow dust got me sick again. This week Keith and I have had a cold that just won't go away. I also have a sore throat (felt like a golf ball was in there!) and had a small fever. Keith made sure to go pick up ice-cream to help cure my sore throat though so I'm feeling about 90% better! :)

I had to take a few days off from training; however, I am still running strong and doing amazing with my schedule! I ran 16 miles on Monday inside, and will be running 20 miles this upcoming Sunday, hopefully outside. It is supposed to be really warm on Sunday- 24 degrees Celsius, which is about 77 degrees Fahrenheit and no rain. So although it's been rainy the last few days, I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed and hope for good weather so I can enjoy this ocean-view run outdoors.

I only have about 1 more month of training! I'm so excited for race day on June 12th and will be working my hardest this month...weightlifting, doing yoga (which is great for stretches before and after my long runs), bootcamps, running hills and of course doing my short, medium and long run days. My goal is to get stronger, faster and run up to 26 miles (a full marathon) 2 weeks before the race date. Then, the week before the race, I will take off my long run to rest my legs. This will give me SUPER speed for race day, I hope. :)

Jihee's father's farm

So this past Sunday, we went to our friend, Jihee's father's farm to celebrate her birthday. We were so surprised and we had not expected it, but her father apparently owns tons of beautiful land, pensions, a restaurant, a mushroom farm, animals and the list goes on!

We went to a beautiful area, very close to his house, right next to a restuarant that he owns. In the restaurant, there's a jijabong (a singing room)on the top floor, plus there's a huge inground pool surrounding the two parts of the restaurant. Then, if you look at the scenary around you, there are miles and miles of beautiful forest areas, mountains and flowers. In the distance, we could see deer near the forest. And in the yard of the restaurant, there was a horse, chickens and tons of cute lil white puppies. It was an amazing place to be if you wanted peace and quiet.

Our friends, Sean and Jihee had arranged a potluck style dinner, so everyone brought different dishes. Jihee's father was grilling meat on the grill right outside near all the picnic tables. Then, her extremely nice father had everyone get in a car and drive about 5 mins away where we walked in the forest and found a hidden mushroom farm! There were about 8 of us there and we all had a fun contest picking the biggest and most white mushrooms that we could find. It was a really cool experience considering I've never picked mushrooms right off the trees like that and it was interesting to see how big some of them were!

They were also extremely delicious. We took the mushrooms back to the restaurant and Jihee's father cooked them on the grill. IT was a lovely afternoon high up in the mountains in the open air surrounded by pure beauty!

We had to leave early though and wish Jihee a very happy birthday. Keith, Tim and I were then off to Rho and Simon's fundraiser dinner! We always look forward to our friend (and now my co-worker...he comes to my school this semester to teach each Friday) Simon's cooking. He is probably the best chef I have ever met! He is from England and learned to cook gormet meals from his mother. Unfortunately, Simon's mother passed away a few years ago from a rare disease called Motor Neuron Disease. Since last year, Rho and Simon started an annual memorial/fundraiser for his mother and for the MND organization. What a great idea for them to have. There were about 20 or so people that came, including Simon's father from England! I was surprised to learn that he has traveled to Jeju 4 times to visit the couple and their 2 year old daughter. It was a great dinner and great way to raise money for a good cause.



Next up...

I will talk about the deadly yellow dust that has invaded Jeju, leaving me to do my marathon running in the ...OH NO...indoor track!