I have a number in my head for Seoul in March 2027: under three hours. It is a very specific, slightly uncomfortable number, and I think that is exactly why I like it. I did not start with a perfect plan. I started by running, and then I adjusted. That is how I have always learned things, by starting before I feel ready, seeing what breaks, and fixing that. Marathon training suits this habit well. The road tells you the truth quickly. Some of the truth came on long runs I chose partly because they were interesting. In Tokyo, I ran the Yamanote Line loop, roughly 30km, as part of my marathon training. I lived in Japan for nineteen years, and running the loop was a different way of seeing a city I thought I knew. A train line becomes a route, and the route becomes a long conversation with your own legs. In Singapore, where I have lived since 2017, I ran the whole Circle Line, 49km, to celebrate the three new stations. It was a ridiculous distance, and I enjoyed almost all of it. Nobody was timing me. That mattered, because a goal like sub-3 can make every run feel like an exam, and the runs that are just curious keep me honest and keep me coming back. I also like to get off the pavement. I have wandered the trails around Buangkok, and I have run the hills of Kamikamagari Island in Hiroshima. Hills do not care about your target pace. They ask for patience, and they usually get it eventually. I find I come home from trail runs a little humbler and a lot more awake. This is not my first big, specific goal. I ran the London Marathon to raise funds for BackCare, and the lesson from that one has stayed with me: a goal feels different when it is tied to something beyond your own finish time. It gave the training a purpose I could not argue myself out of on a cold morning. So what does chasing three hours teach me? Mostly that a big goal is not one decision, it is a thousand small ones made on ordinary days. Start, iterate, adjust. Some weeks go well, some do not, and the plan bends. I have also learned that exploring on foot and training are not two separate things for me. The exploring is what makes the training sustainable. I do not know yet whether I will get under three hours in Seoul. I would like to, and I will be honest with myself about it either way. What I do know is that I am already richer for the attempt. I have seen two cities from a new angle, and I have spent a lot of quiet hours thinking. The starting line is still months away, but the next long run is not.