Week of Triathlon Amazingness Part II (see below for Part I)

So now it is Sunday. It's 10am and I arrive at the Yachting Club in Haeundae. When I get there, the youth team is just finishing up their bike workout for the day (it is so amazing to see a team like this - there were like 30-40 kids there, with S, the other elder triathlete H, Coach and S2. After the kids were done, we all took a team picture. I also met one of my to-be students at Dong-Sang Elementary - she introduced herself to me - I think her name is Jin-Sung, but I could be completely off (I actually could be) - she is so sweet - and it is so AWESOME that one of my students is ultimately on the same tri team as I am! Her mother came over after too and said hello, she is very nice as well. What a coincidence!!

After all of the kids left, H also left (I think he had driver's ed), and the rest of us (the five of us at dinner yesterday and S2) went to Haeundae Beach. Enter photos (my photos, not ripped off ones..)

(The photo underneath is of the hotel where we did the swim workout on Saturday night...right on the beach - great view from the pool!)

We get to Haeundae, throw on our wetsuits (me, S and Coach) and hit the water. We swam for 55 minutes. It was amazing! Tough, though - waves can be quite annoying. But that

is the nature of the beast of open-water-pada (ocean) swimming.

After swimming, we pretty much went right into running. Coach's wife stayed on the beach and guarded our stuff, and the rest of us (S2 and son included) went up the stairs to a nice little circular area with a track-like consistency to do our running workout for the day. It was a 40-minute run, at your own pace. I...was...dying towards the end. I think the loops were around 1.1K (around .68mi, maybe a little less) and we did 8 - I was pretty much taking the hills fast and then chilling on the flats, so I would catch up and then slow back depending on the terrain...but I was incredibly tired when it was done. Coach and S both made comments about sore muscles so I didn't feel as bad...haha. (Oh, check out on the picture to the left - on the right hand side where the water ends there is a staircase that goes up around the hill and behind the trees - that is where we did the running workout :) ).

After running, I think we were all beat...which is good though, it means we are working hard! I went for another swim in the ocean, this time just messing around - S and I were riding some waves - and then headed off to lunch of soup and fish and of course rice and vegetables. After lunch (which Coach paid for again - I hadn't paid for a meal with him yet - but starting next week we are going to go Dutch style, thank goodness! I asked if I could pay for the next one but he said no - I am supposed to invite him over for dinner to my apartment (once I get a table), for it is the Korean way to invite people over when you move into a new place - I am really excited about that!) I'll start that sentence over - After lunch, coach gave me the bike bag that he ordered me (I paid for that of course, ha) so that now I can take my bike on the subway and on the train, and then we threw my bike in S's car, said goodbye to my Coach and his family, and S took me home.

You know, thinking about it - whenever people ask me what a perfect day would be like, it would sound similar to the past two days, although different in one major way: I would never have been able to imagine the wonderful intricacies and outstanding people that this weekend was full of. I'm really at a loss for words to describe how happy I am, how happy this weekend has made me. I know the beginning parts are often the most exciting, but I also know that I now have a team for support and comraderie, and I believe that our initial chemistry will only be developed as time goes by through hard work and great attitudes.

For now, I should start studying some Korean so I can use some new phrases on Wednesday at our next track workout!