training update #1

hm.
well. things are going as well as i had planned.
but that's no big since i'm still getting some training done.
plus i haven't really started work yet so i think i've still got the 'vacation' mindset.

pretty much every run i've had so far has been a tempo run.
i figured right now is when i need to work on my base for a couple or few months.

i do have until march so i think a few months of base is cool.
especially since i'm running my first marathon.
i mean i'm not trying to compete with pros but i do want to do well for me.

this isn't an exhaustive list of my training so far but entails the most recent of my training.
(shawn lasusa, you'd like this. i'm showing improvement. i did have a 75 min. run before this week listed.)

friday = 45 min.
saturday = 60 min.
sunday = off
monday = 60 min.
tuesday = off
wednesday = 60 min.
thursday = .....

so thursday i decided to do a little test.
i wanted to run about a 5k.
so i ran half of one of my current tempo routes.
judging by the tempo times i've put up i figured half of one would be a 5k.
well either i'm getting fast or i'm getting slow.

i ran my '5k' in 18:08.
which i've never done in my life.
i don't think i've ever run sub-20 on a 5k in my life.
i'm pretty sure i'd remember.
but than again i haven't run very many solo 5ks.

i felt good. i maintained a good k-by-k pace.
finished feeling great.
not completely dead but certainly like i had put forth significant effort.
haven't busted out the HR monitor yet cuz i haven't unpacked it.
but that will come out on the next test.
or should i say 'test.'

anyway.
i don't know what to make of it.
like i said. EITHER i'm getting a lot better.
with the training i've done back in alabama and what i've done here.
and the incredulous amounts of rest i've amassed this summer.
OR i sure as hell didn't run a 5k.

i'm going with the latter.

critique/comment/coach/complain/rip it apart.
any words are appreciated.
especially from other endurance athletes and/or those with marathon experience.

more to come soon about more training as it progesses.
and lots coming about life over here.

lots of love,

jo

entertainment update

hi.
my name is jo.
and i'm an addict.
i've now watched the first 3 episodes of lost.
and the 4th is waiting to be watched in another tab of this window.
i can assure you as soon as i finish this post i'll watch #4.
so what if i'm a few years late?

no big.
i'm also a few years late on the Hellogoodbye album,
Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! and More!

hate if you will.
i find it quite refreshing to my ears, inundated with much heavier music.
slightly pop, slightly electronic at times.
sufficient emo mixed in to satisfy me.
i don't care about most of them, but the 'and More!' version has a million b-sides.
in case that's your thing.

but, i'm not late at all on the newest Thrice album.
as my friend aly b. put it, 'thrice never ceases to amaze me.'
one of the best bands of our day.
by the time they're done, maybe one of the best bands ever.
if you haven't listened to any of their stuff, please do.
i can almost assure you one of their albums will hit the spot.
now on their 5th studio release (i believe), they've run the gauntlet of sound.
not to mention recording methods, with this latest effort being self-produced.
in one of the band member's garage, to boot.
Beggars is at the least a good rock/alternative/post-hardcore/experimental hardcore/experimental rock/what have you album.
and it has such a great message from dustin kensrue, the lead singer.
look into it if you have a few minutes.

i think i could go on for quite a few posts just on thrice.
especially since i think they don't get as much exposure as they should.
but i'll stop here with just a few words about their newest album.

and i think i'll go.

i've got a chinese website with 'walkabout' locked and loaded and calling my name. ^^

lots of love,

jo

god, send me dancers

oh lord.
seriously.
grant me patience.
at the very least.

yesterday i went to suwon (a little ways away from seoul) to check out my school.
after getting lost and finally finding my school, i was suprised.
both in a positive way. and in negative ways.
the korean workers were pretty nice.
the other foreigners were nice.
the facilities were great.
they even feed us a lunch and an afternoon snack each day.

but there were like a hojillion kids.
and you might know this about me.
you might not.
but i've always had this diametric opposition to the idea of kids.
i've hated kids for some reason for the longest time.
either me raising a kid or even dealing with kids.
so i'm not sure why i even took this job.
but it's too late now.
i'm already here.

i mean the kids are all super cute and stuff.
but going to my school yesterday put me face-to-face with the actual kids i'll be teaching.
and i don't think their cuteness will outweigh the fact that most of them are beyond control.
maybe i'm a control freak.
i feel like i'm really not but now i'm starting to think it's situational.

yikes.
i shadowed a guy for half of a day and i'm already griping/stressing out about my job.
my job i haven't started yet and won't for 11 days.

soon enough you'll be reading post after post of me either loving my job and the kids.
or me on the verge of korean fan death.
maybe a little bit of both.
only time will tell.

lots of love,

jo

i'm going to mess with my format

(blogger, if you're reading this, you need fix the uffing spacing/return issue!)

great weekend.

i've been staying with my friend natalie in seoul since i've been here.

and many thanks to her for putting up with me and letting crash for a while.

saturday we went to myeongdong to do a little shopping at a big shopping district.

good stuff.

sunday i tagged along with natalie and her co-workers and went to lotte world.

go wiki it. it's pretty sweet.

i mean it's no everland (check my facebook photos) but it's still pretty cool.

it did have a freaking ice rink so we did a few minutes of freaking ice skating.

that was awesome.

i might have to go back soon and take advantage of the foreigner discount they offer.

no joke.

i forgot how exhausting entire days at theme parks can be.

and i can't be grateful enough for the owners of natalie's school.

who payed for everything for us all day.

much thanks to them.

no running this weekend.

but a note to add to my last run session.

i've been running with a shirt since i got here.

because last time i was here i had learned koreans don't run shirtless (guys, of course).

at home in the states, i never run with a shirt, unless it's cold outside.

i hate running wearing a shirt.

but friday when i went running, i saw a guy with no shirt.

i was a little confused.

but the next time i see a guy running without a shirt, i'm doing it too. for good.

which would help make things a little more comfortable this summer in weather that's just about as hot and humid as sweet home alabama.

anywho.

back to a couple small errands/favors to do.

lots of love,

jo

getting along.

i'm learning a lot here.
everyday.

i can't find a pepper mill, but whole peppercorns are more readily available than already ground black pepper.

i saw a beggar on the subway who wasn't covering his face.
for korea, this is quite exceptional, as far as i know.
the beggars i saw last time i was here are so ashamed of having to ask for money they cover their faces so nobody knows it's them.

i started my training yesterday.
on some nice, wide, paved riverside pathways, with water fountains and shelters conveniently and consistently placed along the route.

for those of you who know i do triathlons, i'm not training for a tri.
i'm actually training for the seoul marathon.
my friend yurie from japan whom i met at alabama via the tri club wants me to go to japan and run a 100K.
(i'll do the math for you: that's 62 miles.)
i have to respectfully decline, considering i've never run anything more than a 10K (6.2 miles) at one time, in a running race.
i want to work my way up in races. some people say to work up, some say not to work up.
i don't know.
i guess i'm skippping the half-marathon in this procedure.
oh well.
i decided a couple weeks ago i'm going to do it.
i've got until march 15th. plenty of time to train and prepare.

i'm just going to be missing the pool and the saddle a lot. T_T (azn crying face)
but hopefully not too much. i've found some bike frames that are dirt cheap.
i just need to find a TT/tri frame and hope it's not a ripoff.
then i can build my own bike. ^^

last night, after a missed metro stop and a few minutes of searching, i found my friend from texas, chanse.
too bad it was way too hot and crowded last night.
but we got to check out some of the shopping in seoul.
they have a forever 21 here, which i didn't know has guys' stuff.
and we found the american apparel, just to name a couple.
a great, fun girl. we should be hanging out a lot once i start work in my city, which is closer to hers.
big ups to chanse.

anyway.
i've got more training and, most importantly, more learning to do.

lots of love,

jo

mom, i made it

kids.

don't try this one at home.

don't ever go out drinking hours before a 14 hour trans-pacific flight.

because you'll probably pass out before the plane even taxis to the runway.

and sleep for nine hours.

and wake up extremely dehydrated and dry and not to mention quite confused in the coach section of a 777.

well actually.

go do that.

because thanks to a dear friend i had one of the best nights of my life.

big ups to anne werner.

if you happen to run across this.

we will meet again soon.

sooner than you think.

i promise.

well. i'm here.

chilling in korea.

waiting on my friends to get off work.

as i sit here and enjoy my big ass $1 bowl of delicious ramyun and my 75g pack of kimchi.

i definitely need to get my korean language wings back.

this might take a while.

but i still managed to make my way on my own with minimal problems.

anywho.

i've got a whole lot of nothing to do right now until my friend gets off work.

i guess i can read.

or study korean.

there's an idea!

lots of love,

jo

a new life. or a mere continuation of one.

goodbye, the united states of america.

in a few hours i'll be en route to south korea.
i'll move there to start teaching english and as of right now for an indefinite period of time.
but i guess we'll have to see how everything works out.

i'm pretty excited about this.
i've wanted for a while to move to korea.
so hopefully it'll be okay.

plus, i'm starting a new blog to kind of go along with all this new life changes stuff.
(also note the addition of punctuations i've purposefully omitted in my previous blog.)
blog number three for me i guess.
from livejournal to myspace to blogspot.
interesting posts along the way.
i need to go back and check out my lj.
ill probably post a link to my lj too.

my folks are a little sad to see their first kid move out of the house.
though not im not the first-born im blazing the trail.

i don't feel like there's too much to say at this point.
i've already said my scores of goodbyes.
and they all feel extremely temporary at that.

anyway, follow along as i blog about my new life in korea.
as an ESL teacher.
well, i say new life, but i guess it's really just another portion of this one i live or what have you.

anyway.
off to the airport.

until another day, u.s.a.

lots of love,

jo

blog.myspace.com/squintasty