Jeju Ultramarathon

I was irrationally distressed about letting 18,000 JAL award miles expire on March 31. When I learned that the organizers of the Jeju Ultramarathon were offering my team free race registration and 2-nights of free hotel accommodations and I could journey to this South Korean island for next to nothing I was ecstatic.

There was just one catch - I had to run 50-kilometers.

50 kilometers is a long distance to run for me. (I know, I know, it is long for most people to run). In my case I have been doing 10k/half-marathon oriented training, and 50k dis

tance is about my average weekly running mileage. I was terribly concerned about suffering some over-use injury and taking weeks to recover. So I decided that I would emphasize survival and use the technique of alternating between walking and running which has been proven to reduce stress on the body. I repeatedly reminded myself before the race - walk early and walk often. As it turned

I got off to a very slow start - my stomach was full from eating a big break

fast, and much kimchi the

day before, my teammates and I started at the back of the pack of 500 runners; and so the first half of the 50k was a socializing and sightseeing event, punctuated by oddly frequent bathroom breaks.

Through it all, I was very disciplined about following my plan of doing 5 minutes of running, then 45 seconds of walking, then 5 minute running, 45-second walking, etc. I sensed th

at my run/walk technique drove the Korean competitors crazy as I passed them, then abruptly started walking. I was convinced that they were all thinking "look at this lazy American who keeps stopping to walk". Meanwhile I was thinking how darn much discipline the technique required and how it would be simpler to just run.

But the run/walk technique worked really, really well for me again. I kept feeling s

tronger and stronger as the race

went on, and begun to run faster at around the halfway mark - after each walk break I burst out into to a faster pace. It felt like a triathlon in the sense that I just

kept blowing past other competitors. At 35k I thought to myself that I should have taken the event more seriously as the start as I could have broken 4 hours, which struck me as a worthy goal. At 40k, I figured I sh

ould attempt to come as close to 4 hours as possible (though I would need to break 39 minutes for the last 10k). Yet still I adhered to the run/walk format all the way to about 47k before running it in. I was rather astonished that I actually did run under 39 minutes for the last 10k despite the walk breaks (not to mention that I had run 40k already).

Here are my rough splits for each 10k -

10k - :56:10

20k - 1:49:31 (53:21)

30k - 2:38:01 (:48:30)

40k - 3:20:56 (:42:55)

50k - 3:59:48 (:38:52)

I seem to have achieved the main goal of walk/run - minimal stress to my legs and minimal interruption to my triathlon training schedule. My right knee was sore the day after the race but I have felt good the last few days.

And it was a great opportunity to experience South Korea. I enjoyed a fine 35k bicycle ride along the Han River through central Seoul.

The Ultramarathon was a great chance to meet people from all over the world.

In addition to

free race registration and 2-nights accommodation at a 4-star hotel, we received a particularly s

harp-looking hot-pink jacket. This came in handy since it was surprisingly cool on the "Hawaii" of Korea. Matthias and I both wore our lovely pink jackets the day before the race as

we strolled along the waterfront near the hotel. Apparently Jeju is the number one destination for Korean honeymooners and the "pair look" concept of the newlyweds wearing matching outfits is quite popular. Matthias and I received a particularly disapproving look from the Catholic nun whom we asked to take our picture posing in front of the rocky coastline.