OK, it was 9.9 according to my Garmin, but I did have a little trouble reading the Garmin because it had switched to Chinese characters. (I’m joking…Garmin worked beautifully.)
Determined to reach Tiantan, I followed the correct route this time, West on Guangqumenwai Road, then South on Qinian Dajie. The major arterials in Beijing are all clearly marked with pinyin, so they are easy to read and follow. Moreover, there are signs alerting drivers what the next upcoming arterial is…
I left at dawn — 5:30 am — and traffic of all types (pedestrian, cars, bikes) was light. When I arrived at Tiantan, however, I realized I’d messed up by not bringing money along. Stupid. Whenever running in a foreign country, always bring money! There was an entrance fee, and I couldn’t get in…all for the lack of approximately 45 cents…
So I circumnavigated Tiantan Park, which is quite large (a few miles around), and headed back to the hotel for a total of 9.9 miles. The return trip was not quite as peaceful, as the morning traffic was well underway. I have been to Tiantan before (in 1984), so it wasn’t a huge loss, but drat, anyhow. As the sun came up, I didn’t feel like I needed my sunglasses, because the particulate matter in the air provided somewhat of a shield from the early morning sunshine.
The following couple of mornings I ran a few miles on the hotel treadmill. It was obvious from the 27th floor that the particulate matter in the air had increased, so I thought it was fine to stay indoors.
I hope nobody reads this hoping to get tips on running in Beijing, as I really got only one decent run in, plus was unable to make it to any key sights from my hotel (which was a bit off the main drag, in East Beijing). I guess the one takeaway was to recommend running prior to 6:30am, when traffic worsens.
On the run, I saw quite a few men (especially older men) jogging. I saw men carrying bird cages (to go to a park and meet their friends who also have birds in cages…), and quite a few people doing some morning calisthenics, including this weird form of push-up I’ll call “waves.” Very impressive!
And I encountered my first “Speed-Up Guy.” When running a long run (in “normal” weather, perhaps 65 degrees or so), I run a leisurely 10 minute per mile pace. Many people run quite slowly here, so 10 minutes means I’m passing a fair number of people, albeit slowly. So, as I passed this one fellow, I guess he didn’t like that idea much and speeded up and made sure he kept ahead of me from there on out.
Some Speed-Up Guys are able to hold the faster pace, while others start lagging again, and then I have to pass them again (sigh). I don’t like to play this back and forth game; I just want to run… The reason I mention this is because practically every run features a Speed-Up Guy.