Ni Hao! in Magical Realism

We are in Beijing, China!!! A few snags in getting here in a timely fashion due to travel delays via Hong Kong, but we got to Mainland China on Wednesday, went to the Great Wall for an inspection/walk on Thursday, then sight-seeing on Friday to the Ming Dynasty Tombs and a Cloisonne factory, and then today (Saturday) we woke up at 3am local time, drove to the Great Wall again and ran the 2014 Great Wall Marathon!

It was difficult, and it was amazing. Some preliminary thoughts...the scenery was fantastic, and every minute on the Wall itself was inspiring. The run was grueling...started off with ~5k straight uphill, then onto the Wall with lots of ups and downs. Then a long loop on well-trafficked roads, mountain paths, and gravel trails. Lots of townspeople came out to look at the crazy sweaty foreigners, and they were very sweet. So many kids especially saying hello, presenting us with flowers, adorable. It has been hard for me here being so helpless, not being able to read or speak the language, but the people are so nice. There were also so many animals...pretty horses, lovely well-cared-for dogs, chickens, and bunny rabbits! Green/blue rolling hills, a reservoir stocked with fish...so much to see!

At about 20 miles in, you go back onto the Wall, and do the same section again, this time backwards. It was really rough. The steps are so steep, there are so many of them and it was mentally extremely tough. The same section of only about 2 miles seemed to take forever. One we reached the top, we had some downstairs and rolling stairs sections, which felt great on the legs. Then we were finally off the Wall and got to do that initial uphill 5k downhill this time which was glorious. Then another blessedly flat mile and we were at the finish line!

It felt so good to finish - this was A's dream that I'd gotten for him for Christmas this year, and after being really nervous about the cutoff time, we were thrilled to finish sooner than we'd thought. (They say take your most recent marathon and multiply by 1.5, but thankfully we were able to finish in less than that multiple of our best marathon which was a few years ago.) This was not so much a running challenge, but more a general endurance/mental strength exercise. I cannot in good faith make an overall recommendation for this run, but if you are a bit crazy and willing to suffer twice as much as a normal marathon for a "bucket list" experience, I say do this race.

After the marathon, it took us like three hours to get home in intense Beijing traffic, but then I just had one of the top 5 best showers of my life (I think after Kilimanjaro takes the cake but after English Channel, Key West, and Inca Trail are also contenders) and am holed up, damp and clean, with my love. So proud of him and happy to have him with me, side by side, for so many fantastic experiences.

And now for some "Great Wall" Chinese Cabernet, posed with our medals and some Chinese coke..surprisingly decent and what a well deserved treat! (We set up this shot to send to A's parents to let him know we were done and now relaxing.) Happy Weekend Everyone!