This week a friend of mine recommended a website to me that helps prepare you for a marathon, http://www.halhigdon.com. One of my life goals is to run a marathon and I really want to run one this year. I have never entered any running competitions before and so I am a bit of a novice. There are two big marathon events in the Beijing area this year; the Great Wall Marathon in May and the Beijing Marathon in October. Perhaps I should aim to run the half marathon in May and the full marathon in October. Anyway the website I mentioned looks very helpful. It has some great features such as training schedules, covering different distances, as well as lots of information to make you a better runner. I really hope this can help and inspire me to complete one of these training programs so that I can achieve my target this year. I shall no doubt keep this updated as to how it is progressing.
Marathon Motivation
Back to the Gym
I like to keep fit by visiting the gym regularly but recently I haven't been able to do this for various reasons. Up until my recent holiday to Thailand in December I was doing a lot of 'spinning' classes. For those of you who don't know, 'spinning' is an intense cardiovascular workout which involves cycling to music at different paces which routines are selected by the teacher. This really is a good, intense workout and I really enjoy it. However, going on holiday and then Christmas and New Year celebrations along with having a cold it has been difficult to keep the consistency of my workouts. Today I made back to the gym and did a nice long run on the treadmill. During the summer I was running a lot and this is something I want to get back into once the warmer weather arrives. Now I want to continue with a mix of the spinning classes and running. If I can do this I can hopefully achieve my goal of running a marathon this year.
Malaysia is booked!
It was only a few days ago that I blogged about my targets for the new year. Well now I have started on those targets and booked tickets to Malaysia. I shall be leaving on August 4th and returning on 14th August. I am flying with Air Asia from Tianjin to Kuala Lumpur. I have never flown with Air Asia before, but they are very cheap, I hope not too cheap. Flying from Tianjin is ok as it's my wife's hometown and it's near to Beijing. It will be my first time to Malaysia and we plan to go to one of the islands, very much like we did in Thailand. It was kind of a spontaneous thing to do, but life is for living, right? I shall no doubt write again when we decide where exactly we shall be going.
The Dust has Settled
So the dust has settled on a new year, 2010. I can't quite believe where the time has gone but I seem to say this every year. Each new year seems to bring out a sense of evaluation to one's life and I am no exception. This year I have set myself some targets that I want to achieve, as follows.
1. Blog more. This was something I wanted to do more of in 2009, but for one reason and another it didn't quite happen. I only managed to blog a handful of times which isn't good enough. So I am going to set myself a target of at least one blog a week.
2. Continue learning Chinese. Although I have started to make a concious effort to learn Chinese I want to get into the high elementary/low intermediate bracket. I consider myself at low-mid elementary at the moment. I do sometimes struggle with motivation and time but when I do learn I feel better for it. This will give me a great sense of achievement if I can do this.
3. Visit a new country. I really enjoy travelling. Last year I managed to go to Thailand for the first time which was amazing. I want to continue this trend and visit more countries. Living in China should allow me to visit more countries in Asia such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos which would be fantastic. The world is a big place and so little time.
4. Run a marathon. During the summer of 2009 I started running a lot which really helped to improve my fitness levels. I would love to make it my goal to run a marathon, possibly the Beijing marathon as this is in October which should give me enough time to prepare. It is one of my lifetime goals to do this, and if I keep putting it off and off I will never do it.
5. Read more. Again this is similar to learning Chinese. I keep putting it off because of time or laziness but it is something I enjoy when I do actually read. I managed to read a few books last year on China, but that is nowhere near the level of books I want to be reading. A book a month is my target.
So there we have it. My targets for 2010. I shall keep this blog updated with my progress as much as possible and have a 6-month progress report in June. I wish you all the best with your targets for 2010 and a Happy New Year to all!
Huludao 葫芦岛
Last weekend I, my girlfriend and twenty of her work colleagues went on a weekend trip to the beach. Our original plan was to go to Beidaihe in Heibei province, but this plan fell short when we were unable to get train tickets (a common problem in China). Therefore we decided to go to Huludao (葫芦岛) in Liaoning province. We hired a bus for 200 RMB per person and off we went early on Saturday morning. The trip was 400km in total, so about 5-6 hours from Beijing which was quite for for a weekend trip away, and I did have my reservations about this. We arrived to heavy rain but this did not deter our spirits as once we had filled our stomachs on some local seafood we headed straight for the beach. By this stage the rain had eased a little and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at the beach. That evening we enjoyed a feast of yet more seafood, and the following day we went to a different beach to be met by glorious sunshine. It was great to be away from the big city for a weekend and in particular enjoying some clean, fresh air which is quite a welcome relief from a Beijing summer, I can assure you. After my initial reluctance to travel so far for such a short period of time I was more than glad that I decided to go. The lesson learnt from this is to bear a small headache for a much greater prize.
Crab Island aka xiedao 蟹岛
Children's Day in China 1st June 2009
'Beggers' in China
There are many things that fascinate me about China, that get me thinking far more than I would have perhaps anticipated. I have been in China for almost a year, so perhaps you can say I am still at the sharp learning stage, but this is an occasion that has really got me thinking. I refer to them as 'beggers' but is this really the correct term? Are they beggers? I mean they are begging for something whether that be money? food? shelter? I'm not always sure. What strikes me the most is the nature of the 'beggers'; families, students (see photo), men, women, boys, girls, people of all kinds. Are what they write on the pavements to be believed? I am skeptical but rightly so? I am sure that not everyone is in need of what they are asking for. During the Spring Festival over the last week I have seen more 'beggers' on the streets pleading their case to passers-by. But why? Because they can? Because people want to help them and do? I understand why some may do it, but what strikes me the most is when I see families doing it (mothers, fathers and child(ren)), often pleading that they have ran into trouble whilst on their travels and therefore have no money, home, or food. Is this to be believed or I am just being very pessimistic? I'm sure they use the children to tap into our emotions to get us to part with our hard-earned cash. I am not here to say whether this is right or wrong, it is just merely my observations and feelings on a subject that has got my thinking during my time in China. Thank you to @sdweathers for the photo.
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