Bret

PM - up early and off to the airport to travel from Shanghai to Beijing required me to delay my run until we arrived at our hotel in the afternoon.  A good bit colder (in the 20's) and extremely poor air quality conditions - literally like fog - the sun only looked like a white disk in the sky. The index showed 181 on the twitter app - which is "unhealthy" - meaning people with allergic sensitivities should avoid being outside ete.  But when we were running it was clearly much worse.  I checked the index about 30 mins after we ran and it was 481 - which is listed as "dangerous" - "the entire populations is likely to be affected." 

In any event - undeterred by the cold and air polution we ran from our hotel through an upscale shopping square and down the main drag in front of Tian'anmen Square.  Huge number of people out side walking, and on bikes and other conveyances - with a number of them smiling and kind of looking at us in bewilderment.  In fact when we got to the Square - Richie was taking a photo of me - in my running clothes - (long sleeved shirt - bright red top shirt and shorts) and a woman came up to me in a heavy Eskimo-looking coat and asked if her husband could take a picture of us together - I guess either to document the contrast in clothing or just how out of place I appeared.  Indeed - others with cameras began taking photos of us too - which got a bit comical.

It was a fun little run.  Richie was clearly having difficulty with the pollution and frankly by the time I got cleaned up in my room - I felt a little ill from it too.  I may stay indoors tomorrow if it is this bad.

AM - really bad air quality and cold temps kept me inside on the treadmill this morning in Beijing - Had a really good progression workout covering 8 miles in 56 mins. 

PM - 7.5 miles in Seoul Korea from our hotel through town and along the Han River - quite chilly outside and windy -- however compared to truly disappointing weather in Beijing where it was either dangerous air quality or socked-in due to snowy conditions and we did not see the sun for pretty much the entire visit, I was happy to get outside in the sun after arriving in Korea today.  I had hoped to have some time to run in Beijing near the Forbidden City and perhaps the birdcage -Olympic Stadium, or even drive out to the Great Wall - but the conditions pretty much kept us to our office and then hotel rooms the entire time. 

PM - after a full day of work and meetings in Seoul, I finished up after it had already gotten dark outside, so I ran on the treadmill in the hotel.  Very warm and crowded.  I was amused by the fact that all of the people in the exercise room were wearing white t-shirts and blue shorts - I guess issued by the hotel.  I was the only one wearing something other than the standard issue - It looked like either a high school gym class or a military training group.  I noticed later that evening when walking by a fitness club in town, that everyone in there was wearing the same clothing with the name of the gym emblem on the front of the shirts.  So it appears to be a local custom.

Anyway - felt a bit crappy on the treadmill but ground out the 7 miles or so just the same.

AM - early morning before heading to the airport to go to Tokyo - I wanted to get some air - so I did a short 3 miles close the the hotel before breakfast.  Will hopefully have a chance to run in Japan later today.

 PM - This afternoon, late in the day we did about 6.5 miles around the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. It was a cold dark and rainy run and we got a little lost until iPhone helped us back to the hotel.

AM - easy 3 miles on the treadmill at the hotel in Tokyo - cold and rainy outside.  Will hopefully get time later today for a run around town in daylight.

PM - 5 miles easy around the park that surrounds the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.  The rain/snow mix cleared out by about 2 pm and it was sunny but cold.  Unless I get up early tomorrow, this will be my last run on this trip before heading home tomorrow.