spikes

So! My new cleats work like magic. They're easy to strap onto my shoes, and just as easy to remove. They grip the ground with a vengeance, allowing me to traipse along iced-over paths with no danger of slippage. I had to use the cleats only twice in order to navigate the treacherous trail connecting Dongguk University's campus to Namsan's perimeter route (it's miscalled a sunhwan-gil in Korean, a loop or circular route, but it doesn't actually loop all the way around the mountain), which means I spent most of my time carrying my cleats with me. I attached them to my coat's zipper by using a twist-tie.

In the end, I stopped my walk early when I reached 29K steps. Despite the warming temperatures during the day, things actually turned quite chilly at night, and I began to regret not having worn an extra jacket under my coat. I had also heard some very depressing news from home (can't write about it here, sorry), which drained my determination further. So I cut things short and headed back to my yeogwan, trusting that my having done more than the projected 35K over the past two days would buoy my three-day average somewhat.

I'm going to try for 25K steps on Christmas Day; I'd planned to visit relatives in Garak-dong, but as it turns out, they're going to be spending all day at church (a fact I should have anticipated, as this is the churchiest branch of my Korean family, and Korean Protestants often do the all-day thing). Suddenly finding myself with free time, I've decided to do dinner with my buddy Tom, and possibly with his wife and son, in Jongno. So whatever walking I do will be done before and/or after dinner. Mostly before, I reckon.

Nice to know the cleats work. Good little spikes.


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