Incheon Walk, Day 1 assessment

Some pedometer data first:

482 min of walking time
50,833 steps (105.5 steps/min)
27.34 miles walked (dubious)
4620 calories burned (gross)

According to Naver, today's walk was only 32.43 km, which strikes me as a more accurate reading than the generous figure shown by my pedometer. Had I really walked 27.34 miles, I'd have been traveling at a rate of 3.4 miles per hour, which is absurdly fast for me: my normal speed is a flat 3 mph.

Now that I've done a thirty-kilometer chunk of the trail going west, I have to report that the going was almost entirely flat. Coupled with the pleasant weather, the terrain made for easy trekking, despite my having trod over 50K steps. Tomorrow promises to be a bugbear: the total route will be around 40 km (about 25 miles). As achy as my feet are today, they'll be screaming by tomorrow afternoon.

A rain had just ended when I set out this morning at 6AM; very few bikers and walkers were out, given that most of these folks are of the fair-weather variety. But the path began to fill up as the sky brightened and the sun dried the surroundings; I soon had plenty of company, including scads of old people who blasted past me, power-walking.

When I hit the island of Yeouido, which sits on the southern side of the Han River, I found myself taking the south-side trail around the island, away from the main river. This was the longer route, so when I had the chance, I cut north through town and picked up the north-side trail, which allowed me to hang closer to the Han. This in turn let me reach a major landmark: the Yeouido Cycling Path Certification Center, where I got my first of three stamps (I'll get the other two tomorrow).

I didn't take too many photos before that point because I had already done that portion of the walk back in March of this year with my friend Brian. For your sake, Dear Reader; I took more pics after the Yeouido Certification Center.

The path had one particularly flowery section; I was at pains to capture a few images as I passed through. I didn't see any recumbent bikes today, but I did see an old man on a unicycle. That was interesting.

I successfully made it to the Dream Hotel (the map lists it as a motel, but the actual building's signage clearly says "hotel," although I paid a motel price for my room, i.e., W40,000) a little after 2PM; my walk had been slightly over eight hours long. Of course, the room's plumbing sucks: the toilet has a weak flush, and the broken drainpipe behind the sink allows water to flow out onto the tiled floor. But that's par for the course with cheap motels, so I just accept it. The room has a computer, but the monitor doesn't work, so I'm left with no choice but to type this entry on my phone.

I had an early dinner at a pork-cutlet restaurant up the street; two guys speaking Russian also came in. Once dinner was done, I swung by a convenience store, bought some soda and junk food (one perk of long walks = eating with impunity), hand-washed my laundry, uploaded photos, then began writing this post while charging my phone.

And that's where things stand. I'll wake up at 5AM tomorrow morning and be on my way by 6. The sea beckons.