Friday 6 K Barefoot Hill Jog

I ran 6 K in bare feet on a hilly 6 K shuttle course in 36:12.22. I thought of running farther, but then toward the end I felt hungry and sleepy, so I called it a day. I had fresh sea pineapple, bitter gourd salad topped with steamed baby sardines, and a rice ball with grilled pork in it.

Thursday Night Intervals: 3 K + 2 K + 1 K

I did intervals after jogging for twentyinutes.

It's 3 K, one-minute break, 2 K, and another one-minute break, and 1 K.

Target pace is 4:30/K in all three sessions. The target time for 3 K therefor is 13:30. That for 2 K is 9:00.

Tonight for the first time I came under the target time in all three:

3 K: 13:07.68
Rest: 1:00.60
2 K: 8:45.71
Rest: 1:00.15
1 K: 4:05.95

I was so happy that I jogged a little longer after the intervals than I originally planned. I ran 26 minutes instead of just 20 minutes, and ran 4 K instead of just 3 K which is how long I ran for warm up.

Tonight I ran 13 K in total, six of which are from the intervals, and seven are from jogging.

Tomorrow I will jog 6 K. And this weekend I am going to skip training, because I have other priorities such as hosting a friend from Australia and going for a drink with my runner friends and so on. But hopefully next Monday I will run 25 K to make up for the absence of training on the weekend.

Circuit Training Followed by 10 K Barefoot Hill Run

I did body weight circuit training on Tuesday night after coming home from work. It's three sets of four exercises: handstand, dynamic arm hang, single-hand push up, and swimmers. Handstand is mainly to hit the shoulders, traps, and core. Dynamic arm hang is for forearms, biceps, and lats. Single-hand push up is apparently for chest, triceps, and core, but it engages inner thighs as well. And swimmers are for the back of the shoulders and back. As you see the training hits pretty much everything but legs, because I was going to run after that. The reason I did such intensive muscle training prior to running is that I wanted to consume glycogen in my body, so that it would start burning body fat soon after I started running.

After the body weight circuit training was over, I hit the road for a jog in bare feet. I was originally planning to run the 6 K shuttle course once, but as I went along, I felt good, so I decided to add four 1 K repeats through a hilly road to cover 10 K in total in 1:04.30.

20.2 K Barefoot Run (Half Of It Being Weighted)

After coming home from a 105 km bike ride, I recharged my body's batteries with a good home-made dinner. An hour after dinner, I felt ready for a practice run. I threw myself in my running shorts and singlet, and hit the road barefooted. Ordinarily running without shoes is challenging enough for me, but today I wanted some additional challenge because I didn't run on Sunday, plus a race is coming soon. My answer was a 2 kg dumbbell in both hands. That's 4 kg in total. Running with this much weight is like running with an additional weight of 4 kg. It's like me weighing 67 kg, instead of 63 kg, which is my usual weight.

I did it in the past, so I knew how hard it was. But it'd been a while since I did it last, and I was afraid my shoulders and bi-ceps might not be able to endure much. But I did it anyway, saying to myself that if it's too touch, I could drop them anytime. But for an initial target, I decided to hold on to them until I ran 10 K.

As soon as I started off, I regretted that I carried the weights. They aren't so heavy in themselves, but running with them in my hands was another story. Each stride felt much heavier than usual. I imagined that that was how it would feel like if I were four kilograms fatter and ran. It's so uncomfortable, and demotivating. But I grit my teeth and bore. I ran the usual 2.5 k loop. After the first lap, I slightly got used to the weights, having discovered a form that allowed me to run efficiently without wasting energy. 

I took a lap time every 5.05 K. The result is shown below:

1st 5.05 K: 27:04.62 (Weighted)

Water break: 15.30

2nd 5.05 K: 28:36.89 (Weighted)

3rd 5.05 K: 28:43.76 (No Weights)

4th 5.05 K: 27.58.52 (No Weights)

Total 20.2 K: 1:52:39

Running 20 K without shoes is now not so difficult if the road surface is not too rough, and the speed is moderate. My biggest concern now is the road temperature on the day of the race, and how an increased pace in the race can affect the durability of my sole...

Weekend Haircut & 200 K Bike Ride

I went to get a haircut. My hair was getting long, and becoming hard to manage. I went to "fleuRir" in Tama Plaza. I went there for the first time almost ten years ago. Mr. Toki, who is the owner of the salon, is my stylist. He and I are of the same age. Since we have lived the same generation, we share many common interests and concerns. I enjoy talking to him while getting my hair cut. The salon is a two-hour train ride from home, but I go there nonetheless. The biggest reason is that I feel comfortable there. I usually go there by train. Since my commuter's pass cover's up to Akasakamitsuke it only costs 500 yen or so. But this time I went there by bike. The reason is that I wanted to go another place by bike after the haircut. 

I left home at 6:45 a.m. although my appointment was at 11:30 a.m. 'cause I had no idea how long it would take to get there by bike. I took a toll road up to the border between Chiba and Tokyo, and from there on went down the regular road across Central Tokyo through Route 246 eventually to Tama Plaza where the salon was. I got there in about three hours including a 30-minute breakfast stop at McDonald's in Muzue, Edogawa City, Tokyo.

When I reached the salon, Mr. Toki and his assistant was cleaning the shop, getting ready for the opening. I pulled into a little open space next to the salon to check if there was enough space to park. I almost parked the bike to get inside the salon to talk to Mr. Toki if it's OK for me to park there. But then I thought they were busy, so I pulled out and rode on to a large park a mile or so away. There I got off the bike and sat in a shade and relaxed for a while. Or should I say I tried to relax, but couldn't, because it was too hot!

So I checked to see if there was a paid parking lot available nearby on my smartphone so that I could read a book in an air-conditioned room. I found one on the other side of Tokyu Tama Plaza Station, where I could park up to three hours for free. 

After locking the bike in the parking lot, I headed to the station, and along the way I found a Starbucks cafe across from the station, so I dropped in and ordered my regular stuff, the iced coffee, short. 

Unfortunately, they didn't have it. The smallest size available was tall. Plus, one glass mysteriously cost 690 yen. I paused for a moment, but soon realized that it's one of those uptown versions where a wider selection of sophisticated blends are offered because of a presumably more sophisticated population of residents, because the employee, or should I say, barista, tried to explain to me three different kinds of iced coffee. I stopped him while he was explaining the second one. I'd had enough of that BS.

I killed about an hour and a half, reading "Live and Let Die" by Ian Fleming.

I exchanged a few casual words and a smile with an old guard at the parking lot as I headed back to pick my bike up. When I got to the hair salon, I asked Mr. Toki's assistant if it was OK to park the bike where I did. He said no problem. I was relieved. 

Soon I was taken care of, and the job was done. Excellently, of course. And I felt like a new man, feeling my head half a pound lighter!

Leaving fleuRir behind, I headed to Chigasaki where my bilingual companion lives. She's an almost b-day girl, turning XX years old in a few days. So I wanted to take her our for a b-day dinner. Though I insisted on going extravagant, she insisted not, suggesting instead that we buy packs of ready-made food and fruits from the mall, and eat them at the food court. I agreed. We enjoyed chatting and dining for an hour or so there.

After the, not lavish, but fun almost b-day dinner there, she and I dropped by a dollar shop to get some toys for her dad. Her dad, who is over 80, used to be a softball catcher. He's a bit out of shape these days, so I thought I was going to play catch with him. I bought a plastic bat, and a very soft soccer ball for kids that is as big as a softball. 

At home he and I enjoyed playing catch. He even batted for about ten minutes. I pitched and he batted. Every time he got ready to hit, I announced his name and position just like a TV announcer would in Japan on a baseball broadcasting program. I could tell he got more and more excited as bases were filled and points were scored. Meanwhile, his wife and daughter who watched us play from the sofa started giggling because they had not seen him so wildly excited for many months! After a while I noticed he was out of breath, so I suggested we call it a day, and he agreed. He literally sank into the sofa, with sweat on his forehead, and grabbed a bottle of water from the coffee table, and gulped it like a marathon runner who just crossed the finish line!

That night I was going home after taking a short nap, but ended up sleeping till the next morning as I was exhausted from a long bike ride and chronic shortage of sleep over the week. 

My bilingual companion and I walked to the city hospital nearby because there is a restaurant on the top floor, and it's air-conditioned! After filling our stomachs, we went to a do-it-yourself store in the neighborhood. She bought a small attachment to the living room door that helps it to be held open. 

I left her home between two and three. This time I took the toll road entirely. I made a few stops at rest areas. First I took a brief water break at Ebina Service Area on the Tohmei Highway. I had a friendly conversation with a Harley rider who was on his way back home in Suginami, Tokyo. He told me that torrential rains were expected around five, so I should hurry to cross Central Tokyo to avoid the rain. I thanked him for the information, because I was planning to rest for a while. I jumped on the bike and left the rest area. About ten minutes later, I saw him coming from behind in my right mirror. In less than a few seconds, he overtook me on the next lane. As he did so, he raised his left arm and waved it at me. I was happy to see his friendly gesture. I bowed and waved back, but I was not sure if he saw me do it...

There was a minor jam on the metropolitan highway, but once out of it, traffic was smooth as cream until I took another rest at Makuhari Service Area in Chiba. I was both thirsty and hungry, and there were a selection of sweets sold at various shops. But after having two small cups of water from a dispenser, I ignored all that sweet stuff, and went to a grocery store that sold veggies. I expected them to be local produce. But most were from other areas such as Gunma. There was 'egoma'. It's wild sesami leaves. A bunch was sold for 120 yen. I thought it deal. They looked like shiso leaves. I don't mind eating shiso fresh. So I thought I'd eat them fresh. I pulled out a few sticks and rinsed the leaves in a sink. I then spread them on my towel and ate them one leaf after another. They were delicious. They have a very peculiar taste, different from that of shiso, but I liked it. Surprisingly, after having ten leaves or so, I no longer craved for sweets. My hunger and thirst was quenched, and I was a happy rider again. 

             

I got off the highway at Takeishi Interchange. I got home shortly around 5:30 p.m. Though I was scared a few times when crossing high bridges near the Tokyo-Chiba border because winds were strong and I felt shaky, but overall it was an exciting ride. I should go for a long ride like this more often so that I can blush up my motorcycling skills. 

Tomorrow I have a corporate seminar in Shin Yokohama. I'm done with mental rehearsal. So I'll go for a slow jog to condition myself physically before going to bed.

Double Training: Total 19 K

I ran 6 K in bare feet this morning in 37:05.38. I also had a practice run in the evening after coming home from work. Together they made double training.

In the evening session I did intervals. I began with a 20-minute jog as usual. After a brief break of 2:32.14, I started off for the first fast run: 3 K @ 4:30/K pace. Should I be able to keep that pace, I will finish at 13:30. But it took me 14:08.69. It means I ran each K at an average pace of 4:42/K. It's far slower than what I aimed at. It's probably because I controlled the pace too much, because last time I did intervals, I did the first 3 K run too fast, and ran out of gas in the middle of the following 2 K run. I didn't want that to happen again. So I tried to save the energy to survive throughout the entire three runs. And I ended up saving too much.

But thanks to the slightly slow pace in the 3 K run, the following 2 K run after a short break for one minute was good. I ran it in 8:54.85 while the target was 9:00.00.

The last ran was 1 K. And although the minimum target is 4:30/K, I'm supposed to kick if I can, trying to go beyond my limit. But as soon as I set off, my legs were heavy due to building lactic acid. I wanted to cry with frustration, but I grit my teeth and carried on, and in the last stretch leading to the finish, I kicked, taking wider strides than before to increase the pace. My watch said 4:14.19 when I finished. At least I came under 4:30. I was glad I didn't give up.

After taking a short break for 2:14.40, I jogged for 20 more minutes to warm down.

So I ran 6 K in the morning, and in the evening jogged 3.5 K, ran 6 K fast (intervals), and jogged 3.5 K after that. So the total distance has reached 19 K today. Not bad.

Tomorrow I will jog for an hour or so if I'm in a mood. If I feel fatigued, I will do some stretching and skip running training to save energy for the weekend.

Recent Training

While I was away on a week-long trip to Tohoku, I didn't run at all. That doesn't mean I was out of fit. All throughout the trip up in the north, I was snorkeling and skin-diving all the time. There was a lot of paddling and cardio activity. So I was not unfit at all. However, swimming and running are not exactly the same ball game, so once I'm back from the trip, I immediately started tuning my body into running mode.

Aug. 21: 4.6 K 26:01 (morning)
Aug. 22: 5 K 29:28 (night)
Aug. 23: 6 K: 37.05:38 (morning)

All three practice runs were in bare feet. In the third one, the sun was already high when I hit the road, and the road was hot, and I got my soles slightly burned. I may need to put on my running socks next time I run in a similar condition. But it will be cooler as fall comes near, so it may be be too much of a problem as time goes by.

Travel Report: Tohoku 2018

I went to Tohoku this summer vacation. Tohoku is the northern part of the main island of this country. It's well-known for its beautiful nature and also for the bounty of the sea and forests it provides.  It was almost a week-long trip, and I covered a total distance of 1,822.6 km by driving. I saw many exciting things, many charming people, and enjoyed having so many delicious local foods. It also got me thinking a lot about life. I would like to write about some of them below as a mental note for myself as well as a future reference for people who might want to visit there sometime down the road...

<Aug. 12, Sun: Departure>
I left home at 11:40 p.m.  The first destination is Kinshuko SA in Akita. I was planning to take a nap when I felt sleepy somewhere along the road. But that time came way earlier that I thought. In less than two hours from departure my eyes started getting heavy, so I pulled into Sekimoto PA and slept there until 5:00 a.m. next morning. As soon as I woke up, I hit the road again and drove northbound along the Johban Highway. In the Sendai area the highway merges with the Tohoku Highway, and from the junction between them, I went up the Tohoku Highway. At Chojahara SA I had breakfast with my company, my bilingual companion.  I had the extra-large beef tongue combo and she had the spicy beef tongue noodles. Both were satisfying.

<Aug.13, Mon: Roadside Station Tennoh>
Although I was originally planning to stop by Kinshuko SA to take a hot spring bath, I skipped it and went straight to Roadside Station Tennoh in Katagami City, Akita Prefecture. It's worth visiting for two reasons. One, there is a tower next to the station. It has a viewpoint on the top floor where you can enjoy a magnificent view of the surrounding areas. Two, there is a store that sells local produce and specialties. Many are surprisingly delicious and affordable. We got there around 3:30 p.m. There we enjoyed grocery shopping for the night and the following day. We also went up the tower and took some photos both from the top floor and also on the floor below where there is a small museum displaying photos and fishing tools of local fishermen from the past who lost their jobs when the former 2nd largest lake of Japan called Hachirogata Lake was reclaimed to make rice paddies. That night we took a hot spring bath at a spa inside the roadside station. It only cost 400 yen per person.

Fisherman in Hachirogata Lake （八郎潟）

<Aug.14, Mon: Cape Nyudosaki in the Oga Peninsula>

I woke up at at 5:00 a.m. the following morning. Thanks to a pleasant night  temperature and mosquito nets from Amazon, I had a sound sleep in the car. The destination for today is Cape Nyudosaki in the Oga Peninsula. It's well-known for a lighthouse, restaurants that serve local seafood, and a large green field spreading from the restaurant area all the way to the edge of the coast line. I have my personal reason to visit this place. There is a restaurant called "Ryugukan". The owner is a local fisherman. Three years ago when I visited the restaurant, he offered me a grilled fish, saying it's on the house. He liked it when I told him I was from Chiba which is almost 700 km away. He said he had once worked in Chiba as a seasonal worker, and his daughter, who now lives in Meguro, Tokyo, used to live in Chiba also, so when he heard that I was from that area, he felt some special fellowship with me. Later on when I was back home from the trip, I sent him a bottle of locally brewed sake and assorted sweets. Three years later when I took a seat in his restaurant, no sooner had I asked one of the female waitresses there if he was in than the man appeared from the back of the staff room. The moment he saw my face, he cried with a surprised smile on his face, "Yamagata san!" I was touched by his warm welcome. Considering the large number of visitors that he has to deal with day in and day out, I didn't expect him to remember me, not to mention remember my name! We had some fun conversation not only about each other's recent up-dates, but also his early childhood which coincides with the occupation period by the US Occupation Force. I was surprised to hear for the first time in my life that the road and parking lot in front of this restaurant was once a runway for the Occupation Force, because Cape Nyudosaki was so close from the former Soviet Union, and for that reason the US regarded it as a strategically important point of defense.

Restaurant Ryugukan（龍宮館）in the Oga Peninsula

After filling out stomachs at his restaurant with tremendously satisfying local dishes, I went down to the beach with my bilingual companion, and I enjoyed snorkeling, and she enjoyed fossicking along the rocks. I caught some fish, which she grilled over charcoal. There was a little more than she and I could eat, so I shared the biggest fish, a black snapper, with a large family that were picnicking nearby. They were wildly excited because there were a few children in the group and they loved grilled fish!

<Aug.15, Wed: Takanosaki Promontory in the Tsugaru Peninsula>

Leaving the Oga Peninsula behind, our next destination was originally Tsubakiyama, Aomori Prefecture. However, our arrival was later than originally scheduled. Plus, there was no public restroom and tap water available there. So we drove on to a roadside station in Fukaura in the south-western part of Aomori Prefecture. It drizzled that night, with intermittent heavy rains. By the following morning, the rain had stopped. But the sky was largely covered with clouds, and the temperature was not very high. As I climbed out of my seat and got out the car, I noticed that the driver of a station wagon parked next to me was an elderly gentleman. His car carried a license plate from Sasebo. I said to him in a friendly tone, "You came all the way from Kyushu!?" (Kyushu is one of the four main islands of Japan. It's the south-most one.) He replied with a big smile on his face, "Yep. And We are going all the way to Hokkaido." He seemed particularly interested in the mosquito nets that I had on my car windows. When I told him they were from Amazon, he said he might want to get one someday. He and I wished each other a safe drive, and parted.

The destination for the day is Takanosaki, to the east of Tappimisaki, the northern tip of the Tsugaru Peninsula, Aomori Prefecture. First my bilingual companion and I stopped by another roadside station along the way in Goshogawara City called Roadside Station Morita. I'd been there three years before, and I had a reason to go there again. It had a good selection of local produce and specialties then. I looked forward to shopping some good food there. And the place didn't disappoint me this time either. I got a ripe melon sold for a nominal 250 yen. I also bought okuras, tomatoes, and home-made sweets like melon cake that actually had real melon in it instead of some kind of artificial flavoring!

Leaving the roadside station behind with our stomachs full, my bilingual companion and I decided to head for Aomori Museum of Art in Central Aomori instead of going straight to Takanosaki because we had an early start and there was still plenty of time.

Aomori Museum of Art is located across from Sannaimaruyama Historical Site. When I went there, there was Marc Shagall Exhibition going on, but it wasn't free, and I wasn't particularly in a mood for surrealism, so I opted to see the "Aomori Dog" for free which my bilingual companion strongly recommended me to see. I followed a series of directions through shaded corridors surrounded with boring grey concrete walls finally to reach a clearing. There filling a vast open space surrounded with three tall concrete walls and one glass wall was a giant statue of a solid white dog with its eyes gently closed. I gaped at the sight, dumbfounded.

                                "Aomori Dog" at Aomori Museum of Art

After a while of fun photo shooting at the museum, my bilingual companion and I left for Takanosaki. It's about 50 km to the north from the museum. A new road was constructed several years ago, so the connection between Central Aomori and there is a lot better now than it was when I first visited the place with a friend of my from my college days. There is a camp site there, with tap water and bathrooms available. There is a grill made of concrete that visitors can have free access to. Geographically, it is a promontory that commands a great view of Tappimisaki in the west, of Hokkaido in the north, and the Shimokita Peninsula in the east. When you walk a few hundreds of steps down, there is a quiet cove, where you can enjoy snorkeling. Compared with the water off the Oga Peninsula, the temperature is a little low for swimming, but with a wet suit on snorkeling is no problem. Because the place is far from everything, there are not many visitors, so the beach is quiet, and the water is clear. Unfortunately, because of the rain on the previous night and also in the morning, visibility was not as good as it was last time I was here because of some muddy water flowing into the sea from nearby rivers. But the deeper down into the sea I dove, the clearer the water was. I held my breath and enjoyed diving at the depth where visibility was not so badly affected. However, shortly after I took a dip in the sea, the weather deteriorated, and it started raining rather heavily, with thunders heard from time to time. With little sun light reaching the depth where I was diving, the activity was not so enjoyable. I soon got out of the sea and got changed.

There are two restaurants in Takanosaki. One is Shinkohmaru, run by a local fisherman and his wife and their relatives. They've been in business for many years, and I've enjoyed dining there many times before. The other is a ramen restaurant. It wasn't there when I visited the place for the first time. When I came here three years ago, it was there, but I didn't checked it out. This year both restaurants were closed. Naturally! Who would come here on a stormy day like today? I gave up my hope that the weather would turn better, and booked a hotel to spend a night in Central Aomori and recuperate.

<Aug.16, Thurs: Sannaimaruyama  Special Historical Site（三内丸山遺跡）>

The following morning saw another rainy day. My bilingual companion and I decided to spend a day in Central Aomori, checking out a couple of museums, instead of going to the sea. The first place we chose was "Warasse Nebuta Museum" where gorgeous floats from the famous Nebuta Festival were displayed. We left the hotel fairly early to get to the museum early, but there was already a long line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot. We changed our plan, and opted for Plan B, that is to go to Sannnaimaruyama Historical Site. I'd been there three years before, but each visit is a renewed pleasure, especially because the site allows us to see excavations from an old age of early hunters & gatherers whose ecologically harmonious life style I most respect. I enjoyed strolling around the site, enjoying taking photos and wondering what life was like for people who lived there some thousands of years ago, hunting wild animals, catching fish, collecting edible plants, and growing plants that bore nuts and fruits... 

　　　　　　　　　　Sannaimaruyama Historical Site （三内丸山遺跡）

That night my bilingual companion and I dined at Restaurant Osanai a minute from JR Aomori Station, and enjoyed taking a walk around the station after dinner that was already filled with an air of early fall. The food was superb at Osanai's. I had a bowl of steamed rice with fresh sea urchin on top. My bilingual companion enjoyed having a soup with locally grown veggies and some small pieces of noodles made from some primitive kinds of grains. She said it's good. I tried a small piece. It was a bit sticky, and tasted like something very very healthy. Other than the dishes just mentioned we had fresh sea pine apple, fringes of fresh oysters, a boiled mountain veggie called "mizu", and locally grown oysters boiled in miso soup with poached egg over it. 

<Aug.17, Fri:  Takanosaki Promontory in the Tsugaru Peninsula>

The following morning saw better weather. But expected daytime highs were much lower than the previous day. Should I hit the sea to enjoy snorkeling? Or will it not be so much fun to take a dip in the sea when it's not so warm? I decided to go to the sea anyway, because when I went there two days before, I misplaced a baseball cap I got from an American friend of mine, and I wanted to search the beach for it. My bilingual companion and I stopped by a supermarket for grocery shopping. We looked for a good source of animal protein to keep us warm in cold weather. We found grilled chicken bought some. 

When we reached Takanosaki, the sky had partially cleared, and the sun shone through clouds. It felt much much warmer than what the weather forecast said. I immediately changed into my snorkeling gear and walked down to the beach from the top of the promontory. My bilingual companion made a fire with pieces of wood collected on the beach so that I could warm myself when I got back from snorkeling. 

The water was murkier than it had been two days before. And waves were rougher. But as time passed, the sun got stronger, and that increased visibility in the sea. Also the sea got calmer. It helped me keep a comfortable posture in the sea. I enjoyed watching a diverse array of ocean fauna and flora. I dove several times between noon and 15:30 p.m. That was more than enough. We put out the fire with salt water and headed back to the car and got changed. 

You don't know how hungry snorkeling makes you. You also don't know how much you crave for salty soup. That's where ramen comes in. Ordinarily, I am not such a big fan of ramen, but today is an exception. I went to a ramen shop next to the parking lot and enjoyed having a bowl of ramen with small oysters and locally collected seaweeds like "wakame" and "funori". My bilingual companion ordered soy sauce flavroed one. It had ground dried sardine mixed in the noodles, and was quite tasteful. 

I had a small chat with the couple who were running the restaurant. Surprisingly the husband is not a local fisherman, but a Tokyo-ite. He was born in Shibuya and later moved to Hodogaya, Kanagawa. His wife, on the other hand, though, is originally from Imabatsu where Takanosaki is. She spent most of her life in Asakusa as a nurse. But the idea was always in their minds that someday when they got older, that they would move to her birth place to live happily without the hustle and bustle of a large city. They got that right! And now they live their dream. How happy they must be everyday!

Another interesting fact about this couple is that they are not doing their business mainly for tourists. The restaurant is there for local people. And they are not lying. It's obvious when you see the prices of the ramen they are selling. My ramen, which is not only super delicious, but has 5 or 6 baby oysters, ans still only costs 600 yen. The one my bilingual companion tried, does not have any artificial flavoring. The broth is made from seven different natural flavorings such as kelp, chicken, pork, shiitaka mushroom, to name a few. Plus, the noodles have ground dried sardine mixed in as I already mentioned. Now that's some piece of work. And yet, the couple only charges you 600 yen for it! Why? Because they are not after money. They are there mainly because they want to provide local retired people a community where they can get together on a daily basis and enjoy having a meal without spending much out of their pockets as most of them are on pension. What a beautiful mind! 

As I paid for the food, the wife asked me if I was interested in buying a bottle of sea urchin. I said, "For how much, may I ask?" She said, "1200 yen." Now that's insanely low a price. It didn't take a second for me to say, "Yes." She said she only bought ten bottles from a local fisherman, and it's one of them. I was so honored that she offered such a rare piece of commodity for such a nominal price to a visitor she met for the first time. Two days later that went into my mother's stomach. She loved it so much that she asked me to buy three more bottles next time I visited there. I was appalled by her greediness. 

After enjoying dining and talking at the ramen shop, my bilingual companion and I enjoyed some photo shooting in the green field on top of the promontory. And around 4:40 p.m. we said goodbye to the beautiful sea and the friendly local couple. 

<Aug.17, Sat:  Going Home>

The total mileage had reached well beyond 1000 km when I left Takanosaki. But to my surprise I was so tired from driving, mainly because I drove slowly. My average speed was around 80 km/h. Only occasionally did I drive at speeds beyond 100 km/h. When you drive safely, you worry little. When you worry little, you don't waste energy. Therefore, I wasn't so tired. I stuck to the same policy on my way home. Another important policy is to take enough rests. Whenever my eyes got heavy, I pulled into a parking area and rested. And I rested well. But at the same time, I didn't just drive for the sake of going home. It's a long drive. And there are many exciting so-called Service Areas, or rest areas along the way. So my bilingual companion and I opted to take a different route so that we could make a few stops at some of those rest areas.  One is Iwatesan SA, where I enjoyed a magnificent view of Mt. Iwatesan. Another is Maesawa SA in Iwate Prefecture. We also make a stop at Kunimi SA in Fukushima, where I bought a box of locally grown peaches. Finally we stopped by Adatara SA, and bought a bag of wall nuts pies made by Sanmangoku Fujiya, a local confectionery company. 

The drive remained comfortable for the rest of the way, mainly thanks to smooth traffic and safe driving. Only once was there a brief jam before crossing the Tone River at the boundary between Chiba Pref. and Ibaraki Pref., but there's always a jam there and it cannot be helped...

At 5:28 p.m. I reached home after driving 1822.6 km. My bilingual companion and I immediately started unloading the car, and at 7:30 p.m. We celebrated our safe return with home-made dishes with Madam Fumiko who kindly let me rent her car for almost for one week for a nominal 30,000 yen. 

That night with a full stomach, and so many fun memories from the trip I slept like a baby.

Friday Night 6 K Barefoot Run

I had a five-hour seminar with school teachers from across Japan. Under the present guideline there is a subject called "English Expression". Learners are expected to build their ability to express themselves both in speaking and writing in various socially meaningful situations. However, the reality is many textbooks have grammar syllabus, and teachers having trouble doing
fun and meaningful communicative activities with a textbook of that kind. My goal today was two-fold:
1) To show a few different types of communicative model lessons.
2) To have participants practice one of the techniques shown in the model lessons.

I received some overwhelmingly positive feedback that made me forget how physically as well as mentally demanding to teach the seminar was. I also got a couple of constructive suggestions that were tremendously useful for revising the seminar for next spring.

I taught a 90-minute regular lecture for advanced learners in the evening. By the time I was home, my mind's batteries were dead. I had to do something purely physical to reset it. So I took off my shoes and hit the road in bare feet, and ran a 6 K shuttle course. I started off slowly, and then gradually picked up the pace toward the end to finish at 33:44.29.

When I took a shower and hit the bed, I quickly fell asleep. Next time I opened my eyes, it was 5:30 a.m. I felt refreshed, ready to go to work to teach the last few lectures before the summer break.

Thursday Night Intervals: 3 K + 3 Sets by 650 M

I did intervals after coming home from work. I taught a five-hour seminar all by myself to a group of 15 school teachers from various parts of Japan. I was mentally so exhausted that I needed to do something purely physical to reset my mind. I did intervals because I thought long slow cardio wouldn't do the job. My training consisted of three parts as usual.

<Twenty-Minute Jog in MUTEKIs>
I started off by jogging in a pair of split-toe minimalist shoes MUTEKIs. I ran very slowly, loosening up my leg joints and checking my form.

<3 K + 3 Sets by 650 M Intervals>
After the jog, I was warmed up, so I got straight into intervals. I was originally planning to do 6 sets by 1 K, but as I started off, I felt strong, so I decided to make my first set a 3 K run. I ran a 880 M loop twice to cover 1760 M, and then switched into a 650 K loop, and ran it a little less than two laps to cover a total 3 K. The target was 13:30 (4:30/K pace), but my watch said 12:48 (4:16/K pace). Way faster than planned. But it only made the next run harder. I aimed at 2 K, but just as the last time I did intervals, I ran out of gas after I 650 M, so I stopped there. The time was 2:48.98. I rested for a minute, and ran the same distance. This time the time was a bit better: 2:39.98. I ran another 650 M after resting a minute in 2:49.85. Then I burned out. So I walked back home to take a pee break.

<Twenty-Minute Jog in Bare Feet>
I took off my shoes after a short break, and hit the road again in bare feet for warm down. Even the legendary minimalist shoes cannot beat the sensation of running barefoot. As I ran, though, I felt slight soreness in my neck and traps. I wondered where it came from. Then I remembered that I did single-hand lying pull-ups in my office holding onto the edge of a long table after all my co-workers left. By the time I got home, I was reasonably recovered, so I thought of dong one more K, but then I thought I shouldn't because I have an early start tomorrow, and I don't want to get myself irrecoverably fatigued. 

Double Training: 20-Minute Muscle Training & 21.1 K Barefoot Run

Today is August 5, my birthday. I turned 52. Though I don't feel as agile as I used to be when I was younger, and though I am also far less explosive than before, I feel definitely much stronger in terms of endurance. I'm not sure about my power. I used to lift 100 kg in bench press though it was one-time max. I no longer lift weights mainly because I work out from home and there is no equipment at my home. I build muscle, but I do so mainly through body weight training. I weigh 3 to 4 kg less now than when I was in my early twenties. My body fat doesn't seem to have changed much, so it's mainly lost muscle that is the cause of my weight loss over the course of 25 years. But I'm not sure if the decreased muscle mass means that I am less powerful. Probably I am less powerful just a little bit, because I remember doing a single-hand pull up once in my twenties. Now it doesn't seem possible. But just because I've become less powerful as I've got older doesn't mean I don't work on it. I do. For a couple of reasons. One, when you keep decent muscle mass, your metabolism remains high, so you are less prone to easy weight gain. Two, when you keep decent muscle mass, you generally look good so long as you body fat level is kept low. Anyhow, since strength and power are, and will continue to be an important part of my athletic life, I did some body weight muscle training today. It was tough! Especially in the scorching summer heat. But there was a tremendous feeling of accomplishment when it's done. 

At night following a couple of hours of nap after dinner I went out for a practice run in bare feet. I ran a 2.5 K loop four laps to cover 10 K, ran a 6 K shuttle course, and then ran the 2.5 K loop again twice, taking a slightly different route to cover an extra 100 M to make the total distance 21.1 K. The details are shown below:

2.5 K: 14:34.36 

2.5 K: 14:04.28

2.5 K: 14:42.35 

2.5 K: 13:49.99

6 K: 36:12.46

2.55 K: 15:57.58

2.55 K: 16:29.42

Total 21.1 K: 2:05:50 

Both soles were OK until in the second half of the 6 K shuttle course where I took a slightly different route to find out that the road surface was rough there and the soles got sore. As a result the last two laps around the 2.5 K loop were rather painful. I almost quit after the first lap. But then thinking of the full marathon in October, I kept saying to myself that the same could happen during the race, and that I'd have to deal with it no matter what. So I decided to slow down, but to keep on running until I hit 21.1 K. 

When it was done, I was glad that I didn't give up. 

APET (Academy for Professional English Trainers)

I taught a 5-hour APET seminar three days in a row. They all carry different titles and are conducted for different purposes. APET (https://goo.gl/6z27xK) is the abbreviation of Academy for Professional English Trainers, and it is the name of the teacher training programs developed by the BizCom Corporation (https://www.bizcom.training/) of which I am a member.

The first one this week, held this past Tuesday, mainly focused on how to improve four English skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Participants focus on effective learning methods, and are encouraged to apply these methods when they teach their students.

The second one, held yesterday, was mainly about teaching methods. The particular focus was on how to make an easy transition from using Japanese to using English as a means of conducting a lesson. The new guideline stipulates that all lessons should be taught in English on the senior high level. The reality is, however, not all are comfortable enough to do so. One reason is that they have had good models shown to them. So in the seminar I demo a model lesson, and show how to make a transition from a traditional approach mainly taught in Japanese, to a new approach using only English.

The third one, which I taught today, centered around the theme of how to manage an English class all in English. I taught a model lesson for five typical classroom activities, and participants practice doing some of them. After the seminar, all teachers are armed with classroom English needed to teach most activities all in English, and they are also confident to teach a couple of them in English in the new semester.

One teacher, who came from Okinawa to take two seminars in a row, yesterday and today, said that she learned so much that she was eager to put into practice what she learned and practiced in the seminars.

I'm scheduled to teach altogether seven 5-hours seminars over a course of three weeks. Five down, and two more to go.

They are held next Thursday and Friday. Once they are done, I have a long-awaited summer vacation!

Meanwhile, I did some body weight muscle and cardio training to reset my motivation for the remaining seminars.