Day 1, Leg 1

Today's walk was what I thought it was: under 30K as I saved a bit of time and distance by doing my usual straight shot along the Nakdong's east bank. Naver's projection of the bike route also added some bikerly curlicues that added up to that extra kilometer in the calculation. I followed a more direct walking route at the end—the route I'd discovered last year. 

The morning started off at a neutral temperature, neither too warm nor too cold; I got almost no sleep and was out of bed by 3 a.m., out the door by about 3:20, and grabbing a cab that got me to my starting point by about 3:50 a.m. I began walking about five minutes later. After many rest breaks, and after fighting off sleep, I got to Yangsan at a little past noon, around 12:20 p.m. Subtract my rest breaks, and my pace was about 3.88 kph.

A map and stats:

Today's walk was a combination of the biking and walking routes.

over 4900 calories burned (add 1800 for BMR)

And today's ten images:

motel Idea's neighborhood, found after much wandering

Is this really Busan's new slogan?

starting point for both 4 Rivers and Nakdong River

a sinister-looking moon

burd convention

This raised pedestrian walkway is only a couple years old.

"Watch for bikes—check left and right!"

bridge over Mulgeum Station and into downtown Yangsan

Too tired to write much: I finished this post after a 2-hour nap. Feeling much better now. Up at 3:30 tomorrow. 20K trek ahead. My caloric deficit today was around 4000, so that's a pound of fat gone (3500 calories burned = about 1 pound of fat). Runny nose all day, and after the early morning, it was hot enough for me to be sweating the whole time. 29K proved tiring; the hours slip by despite your trying to write a simple blog post while fading away. This might also be my last time at the Bliss: they charged me W70,000 this time, blaming the price rise on an in-town event and my having arrived early (a bit after noon).

I still like the idea of waking at 3-ish and being on the trail by 4-ish, well before sunrise at this time of year. Leaving at sunrise feels late now. But if I'm now able to do nearly 30K and arrive right at lunchtime, I may have to take more breaks during the trek. (Today's walk had over an hour's worth of breaks, so the math was 28.5 km divided by 7.333 hours, leading to the 3.88 kph figure I gave above.)

NB: a few things to note in terms of procedures and self-assessments. Because my feet had been getting achy during my test walks, I decided to pad my shoes a bit by adding back the original insoles that had come with the shoes. So I've got 3 layers now: the original insole, the orthotic insole, and the spongy Odor Eater. As for today's aches and pains, my feet were as achy as I was tired, but a dose of ibuprofen helped with that. Otherwise, the UnderArmour kept my armpits friction-free, and I belatedly rediscovered the benefits of using a backpack chest strap to ease the burden on the shoulders. My feet are Leukotaped up, so I won't know what they look like until it's time to change the tape.

PHOTO ESSAY