high-altitude saturday

This entry was composed on the top of a mountain. Pictures from the hike will follow soon.

Today I had one of those "I'm the king of the world" moments, and I just have to share it. Today isn't a "Couch to 5k" jogging day, but I still wanted to do some pretty intense cardio, because tomorrow's my day off. My lower legs, especially my shins, have been a little achy, and I'm desperately afraid of being sidelined by shin splints, so while looking for lower-impact alternative to jogging that would still get my heart pumping, I remembered that there's a mountain in my town, just a twenty minute walk from my house.

I've only successfully hiked to the top of the mountain once in the eight months I've lived here in Naju, and that was with my friend Meghan. It was exhilarating, by which I mean I felt like I was dying the entire time, but disappointingly, it wasn't a very clear day, so I couldn't get any nice pictures at the top. I've tried to hike it three or four times since then, but never made it to the top. (There's a nice little picnic area about halfway up that tends to seem high enough when I start to get tired.)

I'm really starting to believe that spring has finally come. Today was the hottest day of the year so far, at least 65 degrees fahrenheit, so I packed my (too-small) water bottle, my iPod and digital camera, my notebook, my cellphone (to call for help if I dropped dead or broke my ankle), and a Snickers dark chocolate bar as a reward for getting to the top, and set off around 1:30, after giving my lunch a chance to digest. It took me about 25 minutes to get to the start of the trail, but I was still feeling good (gung-ho, even) at that point. The first quarter of the trail is gently sloped uphill, but I told myself to start slowly, and sure enough, my heart rate was definitely near max range before I got to the second quarter. The second quarter is stairs built into the mountain, and this is where I started to feel like I might die. Slow slow slow, I kept telling myself, and miraculously, I just kept going and made it to he halfway point where I had cut my hike short several times before. The stairs portion isn't even that long, but it's steep and exhausting. My heart was racing as I settled (read: collapsed) onto a bench for a rest, but my body recovered much faster than I thought possible, and I set off again. A couple of other hikers were eating lunch at the halfway point, and they invited me (in Korean, mind you) to join them, but I accepted a big, delicious orange from them and declined coffee and spicy cabbage. I thanked them profusely in my terrible Korean and continued.

So, I did the second half of the hike with a huge orange in my right hand. Awesome. The second half alternates between long stretches of flat (and even downhill) bits, and super(ish) steep rocky parts. Overall, it feels much easier, because just as you start to get out of breath, it flattens out. At the top there's a little pavilion-like structure with benches, and let me tell you, as I approached, I felt like just about a million bucks. I wasn't even tired anymore, just thrilled. I ate that big old orange slowly, luxuriously, and it was as tasty as a cold glass bottle of orange soda. It was also almost the size of my first, which according to Diet Book of the Week, is as much food as one needs for a meal. So I even decided to save the Snickers bar for when I reached the bottom.

Yeah, yeah. It's been a good day. So now, I'm just going to relax up here, enjoy the view, and perhaps even take a nap. It's super quiet, perfect weather, and unbelievably peaceful. If only I had a book. This is what Saturdays are all about.

eta: I'm now freshly showered and relaxing in bed, getting excited for dinner. Doing that hike was such a good workout, and so enjoyable, that I'm vowing to do it twice a month until I leave, so note to self, do it again in two weeks.