I'm in China

I'm in China!

It's hard to believe that less than a week ago I was running with my Saturday group in the cold at the Cotter. Today, I finished my second run along the streets of Beijing in the world's most populous country. It's just a short work trip. I flew up on Wednesday and arrive back in Canberra on Saturday after the red eye special from Beijing, via Sydney. To complete the surreal experience, I will be running in the Canberra half on Sunday.

My two runs in Beijing were along the broad avenues of this massive city, amid the multitudes, bikes, cars, taxis and the city's smog.

Ah the smog!

I don't know what I have been breathing in since I arrived. My throat certainly feels a little gritty. I read in one of the newspapers that the air is especially bad at present because of dust storms in Mongolia. That's Genghis Khan territory. Think I will blame him for the way my throat feels.

I was talking to some Beijing-based diplomats about Beijing's bad air and my early morning run here. Of course, they had their horror stories. One told me about a friend who was zotted off to hospital with some severely polluted lungs. They said he must be a smoker; he said no, he had simply been gulping in the crappy air during his morning run. I felt the grit in my gob get a bit lumpier when I heard this! I also noticed some dirty blobs on my running shirt and shorts. This was a bit strange as I don't remember running through any puddles. I was told I probably didn't. The little dirt bombs more likely came down with the light rain that fell during my run. Umm....thanks. Are they really going to hold the Olympics in this place??

Still, life's too short to get hung up over Beijing air. I was really pleased with the two runs that I did in this place. I felt strong and relaxed and enjoyed the jaunts. Beijing's streets are very flat, with never a hill to be seen. I tried to get the heart rate going by running the rise to a pedestrian overpass. I also had some fun stepping down off the footpath and mixing it with the bicycle riders. Must have been a million or so of them on this particular street. I'm sure they thought they were seeing things, this tall white guy - with a gritty throat - amid a cocophony of wheels and other moving things. I got a real buzz when I outran one lady on her bike. She tried to keep up, but I was too quick. Yeeha! I got some really strange looks for doing that. (I'm modest, REALLY! I do try and keep my competitive instincts in check. I just can't help it sometimes).

Think I have some new visualisation techniques to try out during my run on Sunday. I will imagine all the runners are little old Chinese ladies peddling furiously on their bikes, trying to keep up with this mad white barbarian! (I've enclosed a picture of that mad white barbarian just after he had finished this run).