Fan Death Won't Stop Me!!!!
When I first got back to Korea, I found the fitness regime quite tough! My normal running style could not be maintained. I thought it was a factor of me just getting old… but I am happy to say that after three months of consistently running 5-7km at a pace of 10kph (that would mean 5-6 days a week), I’ve been able to transition to a full 5km at 11.3kph (7mph). The faster pace kicks my butt, but is so much more worthwhile.
There’s something very rewarding about being able to run that fast. In fact, the slower pace (10kph) did give me a good work-out, especially at longer distances, but I always thought I was just moseying along.
The faster pace also shaves a good three minutes off the 5km time and helps with my overall endurance, since the 10km race I want to run in comes to town next month. I’m sure in the week or two leading up to the race, I’ll train at 10kph for 8km to get in shape, but for now, I love the extra speed.
What I don’t like is the heat of the gym and one particular gym member.
There’s this delightful woman who goes to the gym everyday and, well, she’s a workhorse. First she runs, slowly building up to an 11.5kph pace. She does this for about 45 minutes. Then she hops on the stair climber for another 30 minutes. finally she heads over to the elliptical machine to round out her workout. She does this every day (or at least it appears that way).
Most people in the gym like on the warm side… like near 30C (86F). Now, if i’m just lifting weights, it’s not a big deal. I can turn on a fan and work with it. However, where the cardio equipment is located, there are no fans so for me to run, I need the aircon activated to move the air around. Plus it just feels nice, since I sweat so much my shirt becomes see-through.
BUT when this woman is on the other machines… she makes a point to turn off the units and I’m left there in the heat (again).
A few times, I’ve had to cut my cardio session short so I could step outside and cool down. It wasn’t a fun experience and I loathe having to compete with her each day. What I find interesting each day is that most of the people at the gym don’t mind the heat. I, however, do prefer it at least 25C (78F).
I shudder to think what winter will bring, since many Koreans set the internal heaters to 33C (91F)!
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