Just got transfered to Beijing for two years. Should I kiss my running goodbye?

Definitely read Peter Hessler's books on living in "their" China as an American. He's an entertaining writer, and apparently quite a good runner, too.

you say...even if you're a sub-16 guy. where is the cutoff point? sub 14:30? sub 14? sub 13:45? or is that all a bit irrelevant since there are only a select few that really make any money doing it for a little while. or what if you're a 14:30 guy and are more suited for longer stuff and plan to move up to the roadracing circuit? im just curious where people draw the line here in saying "you're not going to do it for a living, so go!".

that being said, it's not even close. even if you were on the brink of being a pro runner, you should definitely go. if you cant go right now, run for another year and then go. if your company won't take you there anymore, then quit, go, and find a new job. there's a lot more out there in the world and you can always come back...

no longer hobby jogging? wrote:

you say...even if you're a sub-16 guy. where is the cutoff point? sub 14:30? sub 14? sub 13:45? or is that all a bit irrelevant since there are only a select few that really make any money doing it for a little while.

I thought that was hilarious as well...as if the 15:30 guys are making a living by running. Newsflash: you can be sub 13:30 and make no money in this sport [sub-13 if you're african]. And even if you do make money, it will be for less than a decade.

As for China, you would be a fool to pass up the opportunity. Asian women are the most beautiful on earth, with the best skin--most don't even need to shave their legs.

In two years, I want you to report back to us that you're fluent in Mandarin and that you slayed a ton of hot young chinese tail.

Wow, no one has mentioned that the Olympic Men's Marathon record was set in Beijing by none other than Sammy Wanjiru: 2:06:32.

I live in Korea and did the 3 day tourist trip to Beijing- running where I stayed was no problem- huge park with trails right across the street- needed the GPS to locate back. Wide sidewalks everywhere. You can follow the pollution index on twitter. https://twitter.com/beijingair

Olympic Marthoner Record wrote:

Wow, no one has mentioned that the Olympic Men's Marathon record was set in Beijing by none other than Sammy Wanjiru: 2:06:32.

Yes, but they'd shut down the factories for months (?) to clear the air to make racing possible.

Your idea of making an impact in the "big-kid world" is having more money so you can buy a bigger house, the newest Corvette model? MEANWHILE IN AFRICA. Lololol, such a good impact you're having on the world.

I go to China (primarily Shenzen and Shanghai, but Beijing as well on occasion) for work very often (~50% travel). Pollution there is massively overblown. LA is just as bad many days. Certainly there are some days it will be too smoggy, but it's not as bad as

Tianjin should be fine but there's less to do there (in general, not running wise).

The comments on running being 'impossible' are also totally overblown. Running in big cities generally means you have to wake up early before the streets are crowded. As long as you're done by 7am, you're fine. There are parks there. China isn't a scary place, except to a large percentage of Letsrun.com posters, apparently.

The only truthful problem I have there is that I've not found many tracks (I've found one in Changshu and it's surrounded by barbed wire.. not kidding) to do workouts on. Given that I run a 17:30 5k, this isn't really a real issue (yes, I'm the one person on letsrun who doesn't run a 14:xx 5k I never even 'back in the day' ran fast).

-Zach

I studied abroad in Cairo for 12 months and had similar worries about how it would damage my college running career. Cairo has a lot of pollution, a lot of traffic, no sidewalks, it's incredibly hot and there were some *minor* problems with being female and running around the city alone. I joined a gym and did a lot of treadmill running and found an expat group to run with outside the city twice per week. Did my running suffer? Yes. But I at least maintained my fitness and was able to get back into it quickly enough when I got home. The experience was completely worth it. I got to improve my Arabic, travel around the Middle East and North Africa, and meet people from all over the world.

Go to China. It's not like it's permanent, it's only two years. Find ways to maintain your fitness (even if that means treadmill... horrible, I know) and have an amazing time!

Two years can go by fast. How do you think you'll feel at the end of that two years if you take the transfer vs. if you don't. As others suggested, it seems as if it's not impossible to maintain at least a good part of your running fitness. And you'll be 26 which is still pretty young in terms of intensifying your training.

Ultimately, you know better than anyone the answer to your question. Go with your gut feeling, I'd say.

simply orange wrote:

Olympic Marthoner Record wrote:

Wow, no one has mentioned that the Olympic Men's Marathon record was set in Beijing by none other than Sammy Wanjiru: 2:06:32.

Yes, but they'd shut down the factories for months (?) to clear the air to make racing possible.

Then, according to your conclusion, every other city holding the Olympics has polluter air the lead to slower times.

China will rule the world in a couple of years. Better be on the good team. The one that wins, despite hardly even going on the offense, war-wise.

When they've turned the US into a slave nation, those with connections in China will be able to work as slave drivers rather than slaves. We ll know China has been on the other side of the balance for a long time, so don't feel betrayed or like it's not right.

That said, perhaps you should try and make the arrangement shorter. By outperforming, or using the job as a leap to a different company, not in China.

Thank you everyone for your advice. I am really concerned about running on treadmills, and I am just a lot more comfortable in America. I can find another job somewhere. So I am strongly leaning toward not going to Beijing. It just sounds too out there for me.

i'm not from china wrote: I am strongly leaning toward not going to Beijing. It just sounds too out there for me.

Too bad. Women in China like American men, a lot.

In Australia, an American accent attracts women like you would not believe.

What I would do, if I were young like you, is go to Beijing for two years. Experience the local life and ladies. Then plan on getting yourself down to the land of Oz.

You won't have to kiss your running goodbye! I live in Beijing-and the pollution is not as bad as it's made out to be! One major issue you will have to get used to is the traffic-Chinese drivers are awful! Issues like bicycles and motorbike riding on pavements and crossing busy roads are an issue-pedestrian right of way does not exist here!Try not to run at night because none of the bicycles have lights-and most of the motorbikes don't either!

Hopefully you will find somewhere to live near a park where running is safer-i recommend Chaoyang Park-but this will depend on where in Beijing your work is.However;be prepared-Beijing has 18 million people!!

Unfortunately there are no running shops here-so try and bring whatever running equipment you need with you.Some running companies are not available here!

Good luck with the move-running here is not easy-but it's certainly not impossible!

You won't have to kiss your running goodbye! I live in Beijing-and the pollution is not as bad as it's made out to be! One major issue you will have to get used to is the traffic-Chinese drivers are awful! Issues like bicycles and motorbike riding on pavements and crossing busy roads are an issue-pedestrian right of way does not exist here!Try not to run at night because none of the bicycles have lights-and most of the motorbikes don't either!

Hopefully you will find somewhere to live near a park where running is safer-i recommend Chaoyang Park-but this will depend on where in Beijing your work is.However;be prepared-Beijing has 18 million people!!

Unfortunately there are no running shops here-so try and bring whatever running equipment you need with you.Some running companies are not available here!

Good luck with the move-running here is not easy-but it's certainly not impossible!

Go.

Or rather, don't not go because of running.

Don't listen to the freakouts about the environment and health problems. Beijing is probably polluted and nasty, but then again those posting such things don't know. I truly doubt your long-term health will be impaired.

You should analyze this from the standpoint of your life and career. This is likely an amazing opportunity to gain connections, experience, and language skills on the company's dime.

You might ask or negotiate for gym access so you can hop on a convenient treadmill. Is that a possibility? Check out google maps. Look for green space where you live. I can live in a big city if I can find a park to run around. Then consider weekend outings for longer runs. This could be a cool cultural opportunity.

You're young, single, and the world is your oyster. My vote is you should go. Best of luck with the decision.

The air quality in Beijing is very bad by US standards. I lived there for a few years and seem to have picked up some kind of asthma while I was there. Outside of Beijing could be better or worse, it just depends how close you are to big factories. I think the areas between Beijing and Tianjin, like for example Langfang or Tangshan in Hebei province, are pretty industrial and I think have pretty bad air. Really early - like 4:30am - is the best time for running in terms of air quality because the smog from the day before has mostly settled. But evening is not bad either.

Other than the air quality, most parts of China outside of the downtown areas of big cities like Beijing and Shanghai are pretty well set up for running. Almost all of the roads (and even some of the rural highways) have dedicated bike lanes separated from the main roadway by concrete barriers, and it's easy to tuck in with bike traffic at a comfortable running pace. In downtown Beijing Chaoyang Park and the Aoti stadium loop road are both OK places to run if you don't mind endlessly repeating a short loop. The loop roads that run around stadiums are popular places to run in cities all around China, and usually give you about a kilometer loop with little or no traffic. Another nice place to run in Beijing is along the canal path by the tonghui river, which you can get on near Dongbianmen at the east 2nd ring and mostly follow all the way down along the second ring and then back up the west side of the city. The Yuetan track (near Yuetan park on the west 2nd ring, close to the Fuxingmen subway stop) has lights, opens early and closes late, and is a nice track to do a workout on as long as you can get there when it's not too crowded.

The main obstacle to running in China is that nobody runs in China, or at least very few people run seriously in the way that most people on these boards run, so you will have a hard time finding people to train or compete with. If you have big feet (size 12 or bigger) you probably should bring a few pairs of shoes with you rather than trying to buy anything there. If you do a little research you should be able to find some track meets but you can't put a season together or anything. Beijing, for example, has championships for each district of the city (think boroughs of NYC) once per year, and I wouldn't be surprised if a Chinese speaking foreigner could hop in on one of those. Other than marathons and occasional half marathons there are not really any road races. You might be able to train informally with a track team at a big university (but not where you're living, probably), and those guys are often in very good shape. Other than college teams the serious athletes seem to all be at government sports academies, and I have no idea how that system works but it's probably not easy to just tag along on their workouts. I could be wrong about that, it's worth a shot. Anyway it will be hard to find people to run with especially if you don't speak the language.