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Published: December 3rd 2007
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I DID IT!
at the finish line
The title of this blog is “Jia You.” In Chinese, jai means, “to fill up” and you means “oil.” So literally, it means “fill up your oil.”
After the common Chinese man or woman acquires a house, what is next logical thing on their list? Of course, a car. How many Chinese people have cars? Very, very few. In only several years, China’s consumption of oil and gas will double. They will need another Saudi Arabia just for themselves. Where can we find such a place? It is pretty scary to see the line up at the gas station, as exemplified by the picture Ely took. We drive by this station every night, and every time there is a double wide, hour long wait for petrol.
It’s also pretty scary to think about the point in future when liquid gold starts to get really scarce. Civil diplomatic relationships will undoubtedly turn sour.
I know gas prices are going through the roof these days. To tell you the truth, I hope they go even further. If it takes $5/gallon gas prices for some pissed off consumer to concentrate on some serious and affordable innovation, I guess I welcome it
Gas Line
Every day, every hour with open arms. Well...thats about all I have to say about that. On to a new happier subject
Last year, I trained for a marathon. Unfortunately, I got injured 3 weeks before the race. It was a pretty sad time. I still decided not to take “running a marathon” off my life list. It was something I was definitely set on doing.
About 8 months back, we went to a pub in downtown Suzhou. After a couple of drinks, we took our e-bike home. On this particular frigid night, our bike, Susan, was having some trouble with her power. In order to save some of the battery, I decided to run home while Ely drove. I think I probably went 4 miles or so in my dress clothes. After this, running a marathon was in the back of my mind sooner than I thought, though I hadn’t run seriously for about 6-8 months.
A couple of weeks later, a teacher friend of mine mentioned that he was training for the Shanghai marathon in November. He asked me to go on a long run with him the following Sunday. I agreed, though was a little nervous about running
our defective can opener
this is how we have to open cans...usually a takes both of us to do it. 8-9 miles for the first time in months.
When I arrived at the starting point, he was worried too. Obviously, my portly figure at the time didn’t afford me much credibility as a decent runner. After the 9 mile run, he was surprised at my endurance. So was I. So…I decided to start the training. I knew we had a lot of free time, and it was sort of like knocking down 2 birds with one stone. Living abroad and running a marathon at the same time.
Training for a marathon is pretty intense. It takes loads of time and dedication. Fortunately, I had both of these this time around. At the start of my training, I was a ballooned figure of myself. Obviously fried Chinese cuisine and a lack of exercise had gotten the best of me. This was another good reason for me to work on an exercise goal.
The high point was definitely crossing the finish line in under 4 hours, which I felt was a respectable time for a first time marathoner. I had many low points though. The summer months in Suzhou are sauna-like. I specifically remember 1 run where I could
hard at work
getting ready to do some serious carb loading only finish about half of it, needing to walk the rest and take an ice bath after in order to avoid passing out from heat exhaustion.
The actual marathon was a great experience. Figuratively, “Jia You” is a popular motivational metaphor used like, “You can do it,” or “Hurry Up!”
This phrase will forever be ingrained in my mind, because I heard it about 10 times per minute throughout the duration of the race. All along the way, the organizing committee had set up bands of old ladies who would play the drums and scream, “Jia You,” when you ran by them. It was so fun and definitely motivating to have people constantly cheering me on.
I was really surprised by the number of extremely old people running the race (more surprising were the loads of them ahead of me!). My Chinese friends noted that they are the ones who have the time to dedicate towards exercise, so it is only fitting that they do something like this. Many of them wore terrible shoes, looking like the cheap Keds women can buy at Wal-Mart for 5.99. Several others went barefoot. Unbelievable. The cliché that a marathon is
99% mental really is true.
The course was nothing special. Lots of it was just running alongside the traffic, which made me a little lightheaded at the end because of all the fumes. What can you expect when you run in the middle of a metropolis of 20 million people?
So…I can’t complain. I had 2 big goals these last few months. To take the GMAT and compete in a marathon. I accomplished both of these, with a lot of the credit due to Ely, whose support and encouragement definitely gave me more than a few extra points on the GMAT and a few less minutes in the marathon. Next up….maybe a triathlon. These days, more and more common men/women like me are competing in marathons. I wonder if people like us can go a step up to a triathlon. We will see!
We have a little over 1 month left on our contract. During this time, we will try to put forth most of our energy towards planning a fantastic year end voyage. We have been daydreaming about this sort of opportunity for basically the entirety of our relationship. It feels strange that it is so
near.
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friend on marathon race
very funny