10,000 Meters (12/2)

As I saw some wushu folks leave the wushu hall building I showed one of them the schedule I had on my camera and asked them what the slot for this afternoon said.  My inclination that it was running outside, just like last Wednesday, turned out to be true.  So I headed over to the track to wait for my comrades in arms.

Perhaps because the weather was so nice (blue skies and lots of sun!) or maybe it was already on the schedule, but there were quite a few groups out on the field today.  One large Sanda group was playing soccer and another smaller group was doing 800 meter sprints around the track (ugh!)  There were a few rhythmic gymnastics girls doing a few laps and about groups of wushu children playing tag and getting some exercise.

When my group got there some of them looked surprised to see me.  I think it was because they were impressed that I would show up for what was supposed to be a very hellacious workout.  After we warmed up our joints together they started off on their jog around the track.

For the first 600 meters (lap and a half), I stayed with them, but then I walked a bit and started my own progression of jogs and walks.  This was the final tally for myself:

Run 600 / Walk 200

Run 200 / Walk 200

Run 200 / Walk 200

Run 400 / Walk 200

Run 200 / Walk 200

Run 200 / Walk 200

Run 400 / Walk 200

Run 200 / Walk 200

Run 200 / Walk 200

Run 200 / Walk 400

So, the total for me was 2.8 KM running and  2.2 KM walking.  5.0 KM total.  Each of my 400’s I did with the rest of the group, as it took them exactly two of my 200/200 rotations to catch back up with me.

Yue Xiao Yu was having knee issues so she stopped around the same time I did. We used the opportunity to practice some English.  It turns out she has an English test on the 19th of the month.  What I’ll usually do is say something in English and give her a moment to process it.  Then I’ll say it again in Chinese and then again in English to reinforce the sentence.  She seemed to be enjoying the opportunity to speak some English.

I found out from her that the other athletes were running much more than last time.  Before they ran 16 times around the track.  This time it was 25 times!  10,000 meters.  A 10K.

They weren’t running super fast (as you can see from the video down below) but they kept up a good clip the whole time.  It is impressive to me that they can just go off and run a 10K in the afternoon, but then I’m not much of a runner so my standards are lower.

After they finished they did some stretching on the side along the fence and then it was time to go.  Unlike last time there was no stretching in the wushu guan.  Class was finished and so I said goodbye and caught the bus home.

Coach Zhang wasn’t there again.  I heard from Xiao Yu that he was taking a class with another coach.  She wasn’t sure what they were learning, and wasn’t sure what his schedule was.  I guess athletes really don’t ask for information from their coach unless it is absolutely necessary.  Gotta keep those boundaries intact.

Tomorrow, according to the schedule, there is no training in the afternoon.  So that means I will have a day of rest before heading back to the Sports Center on Friday for some more strength training work with weights and conditioning.  Most likely I will be sore all weekend again.  Fortunately Ruhi found a back massager that is working wonders for me so I’m using that while I work and it has been helping immensely.  Thanks Ruhi!

Here is the video I took today.  As you can see, the weather was beautiful.  Hard to believe all that smog and fog from the day before.  But weather in Xi’an is nothing if not unpredictable (except perhaps to someone who looks up the weather reports online).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNdoXHYhNMI