Sunday 5 K Run & Reunion

I ran 5 K this morning.
I ran my favorite 2.5 K circular route twice.
Today's laps were as follows:
1st: 12:12.41
2nd: 11:29.35
Total: 23:41.76.

After the training run,
I quickly hit a shower,
got changed,
and left home to meet an old American friend of mine and his wife
in Central Tokyo.

I was supposed meet them in the lobby of the hotel they were staying at
at 12:00 noon,
but I got there about ten minutes earlier.
No sooner had I called the friend on an internal phone,
than he answered it.
We exchanged a few quick words to express to each other
how excited we both were about hour reunion
after more than twenty years.

He and I first met when I was 20 and he 18.
That's 30 years ago.
We were both students at Purdue University in the State of Indiana
which is in the "in the Mid West region of the US.
I was a temporary exchange students
who took several classes in anthropology and linguistics.
My friend eventually got his degree in agricultural economics.

Soon after I called him,
he came downstairs to the lobby to see me.
He was by himself.
We excitedly exchanged greetings, which was then followed by sincere hugging.
Soon we were joined by his wife,
and soon after that the last of our party, Yoshi,
a mutual friend of ours joined us three.

We left the hotel to head for Shinbashi,
where the American friend wanted to get some help with his pre-paid SIM card.

After visiting a smart phone shop,
we took a walk through Ginza and eventually all the way to Tsukiji,
where we dropped by a Japanese restaurant and enjoy having
bowls of steamed vinegar rice topped with fresh seafood.

Once our stomachs were filled,
I took another short walk back into Ginza,
and made a stop at a mont-bell shop in Kyobashi,
where the American friend's wife wanted to do some window shopping.

After window-shopping briefly in Kyobashi,
we walked through Yurakucho to Corridor Street,
where we dropped in at a bistro and had dinner.

All throughout the walk and dinner,
we just talked and talked
about all kinds of stuff
from our jobs, family, hobbies, health, politics, philosophy, anthropology, agriculture,
to name a few.

Time flied,
and before we knew it, it was late.
Before walking the American guests to the train station,
I quickly showed them to my birth place near JR Shinbashi station,
where a karaoke building now stands.

Then came the moment of farewell.
We promised to meet again somewhere, sometime,
but not too far ahead,
either in Japan again,
or in the US.
Hopefully in the US,
because it seems more fair
as they came to Japan this time.

All in all, it was an awesome re-union,
which lifted my spirit tremendously.
I kept on thinking and speaking in English for 9 hours,
but my mind is more fulfilled than tired.
I felt some of my vocabulary was still occasionally not quite appropriate,
and my grammar a little bit broken,
but 90 % of the time my English was sufficient
for me to get my message across to the old friend and his wife.
I was very happy about my improvement in the language.

Friday Morning 6-Minute Upper Body Workout

On Friday morning, Oct. 14, 2016
I went to Shinobazu Park in Ueno, Tokyo
to do some upper body workout
using some facilities in the park.
Click the link below for details.
After the workout I collected ginkgo nuts there.
I am going to roast them tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTAHrJGaphE

Thursday Night 10 K Barefoot Run

I came home a little earlier than usual tonight
because I went to work early this morning
and I'm allowed to adjust my finish time accordingly.
As soon as I got home,
I had a light meal.
Once the meal was finished,
I put on my athletic gear,
and went for a training run.
Today's goal was running 10 K barefooted.
My last barefoot run was a week before.
I ran 7.5 K.
Though I was in fairly good condition,
the pace was good,
and time was satisfactory,
I got a blood blister in my left sole.
It hadn't completely healed yet,
but there was no pain.
Plus, it had reabsorbed and looked dry.
I believed it would not be much trouble.
I started off at a comfortable pace,
taking short and quick strides
so that the landing shock would be minimum.
I ran the first 2.5 K in 11:48.43.
I carried on at pretty much the same pace for the second 2.5 K,
and finished it at 11:22. 04, a bit faster.
I then took a short hydration break
before getting into the third lap.
The break was 10.60.
I ran the same route in the opposite direction
so as not to lose count.
The third lap was 11:10.41, even faster than the previous lap.
I got right into my final lap without taking a hydration break.
In the final lap I felt light, and my legs were still full of power.
I stuck with short strides and took quicker steps.
Even after increasing my pace, my breathing wasn't so difficult,
lactic acid didn't seem to develop in my legs.
I pushed on and on to finish the last lap at 10:16.46, the best lap of all four!
Total time was 44:47.94, well under 45:00.00.
I am happy.
My next training is this coming Saturday night.
I am scheduled to run 10 K again.
I was originally going to run barefoot,
but I'm not sure.
The blister is back, and it's bumped up again.
The light sole is slightly sore too.
I may put on the "MUTEKI" sock-like running shoes
for minimum protection.
It depends on how quickly my soles will recover.
Let's wait and see.

Sports Day 6.1 K Run in Tokyo

On the night of Sports Day I ran 6.1 K
in Central Tokyo.
It took me 32:40.54.
I was occasionally interrupted by traffic lights
and constructions,
but over all, the roads were deserted
and I was all alone.
It was a pleasant run.
After coming back to my hotel room,
I took a quick shower and enjoyed a small piece of sponge cake
with a glass of Spanish red wine.
It's called MIRADA.
The wine is made from two of my most favorite kinds of grapes:
tempranillo and shiraz.
It's quite affordable.
You should try it.

https://www.google.co.jp/maps/dir/%E3%82%B9%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB%E3%83%9B%E3%83%86%E3%83%AB+%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E6%A9%8B%E4%B8%89%E8%B6%8A%E5%89%8D/35.6859019,139.7758002/@35.6787505,139.7521003,14z/data=!4m59!4m58!1m55!1m1!1s0x6018895430ab646d:0x6b682d5bd2c0efe6!2m2!1d139.7760685!2d35.6862161!3m4!1m2!1d139.7744681!2d35.6844714!3s0x6018895675d748dd:0xfce1fcb23f886e88!3m4!1m2!1d139.7720308!2d35.6800877!3s0x60188bfd42fd96a1:0x2431404ad9c9d9d8!3m4!1m2!1d139.7695914!2d35.6762653!3s0x60188be30f155dd7:0x5236efe1e44dd1c9!3m4!1m2!1d139.7651869!2d35.6775564!3s0x60188bfae001d7ab:0x76eb2632f96c7bcc!3m4!1m2!1d139.7645452!2d35.6802408!3s0x60188bfa2fb7d4cd:0x1ce21be8bddead55!3m4!1m2!1d139.7631022!2d35.6805202!3s0x60188bf9f9887627:0x720f2ec862b08055!3m4!1m2!1d139.7633893!2d35.6816542!3s0x60188bf9c311234f:0x777023d63ae4fae6!3m4!1m2!1d139.7615255!2d35.6805734!3s0x60188bf747446d5f:0xc9ee4d2ad829a1d!3m4!1m2!1d139.7652159!2d35.671556!3s0x60188be67de8a071:0x1763dac1ee0f7a37!3m4!1m2!1d139.7745805!2d35.6850813!3s0x60188955dbdeb529:0x61b9e9f28192987b!1m0!3e2

Thursday Night 7.5 K Barefoot Run

Fully charged with energy after having a 200 g steak at "ステーキハウスおはかいっぱい"
(https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1319/A131901/13042647/)
in Higashi Nakano, Tokyo, I went for a training run as soon as I got home.
I ran 7.5 K tonight, and I ran barefoot.
There were two important goals in today's training.
One was testing durability of my sole when I ran barefoot beyond 5 K.
The other was practicing the so-called "nanba" form of running.
In the most common from of running,
powerful arm swings are encouraged
in order to create powerful strides.
On the other hand, in the nanba form
shifting of the solar plexus comes first,
and your forward strides follow that shift one after the other.
It is a more economical from of running,
and therefore it was recommended by a friend of mine
who is an orthopedic surgeon.

The result in terms of the first goal is rather pathetic.
I got a miserable blood blister in the left sole.
Hopefully it will heal by next Thursday
when a 10 K barefoot run is scheduled.

As for the second goal,
the result was fairly satisfactory.
I was able to keep a good pace
until the end.
The details are as follows:

1st 2.5 K: 10:58.92
2nd 2.5 K: 10:51:68
Hydration stop: 8.90
3rd 2.5 K: 10:18.35
Total 7.5 K: 32:17.85 (avarage 4:18/K)

Weekend 21 K Jog

I ran the route below in 1:50:37.
It was a pleasant run in a beautiful landscape,
though soon after I started running,
I was engulfed in serenity and darkness.

https://www.google.co.jp/maps/dir/%E5%8D%83%E8%91%89%E7%9C%8C%E4%BD%90%E5%80%89%E5%B8%82%E8%A5%BF%E5%BF%97%E6%B4%A5+%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%AD%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A0%E3%83%95%E3%83%BC%E3%83%89%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B1%E3%83%83%E3%83%88%E3%83%BB%E5%8B%9D%E7%94%B0%E5%8F%B0%E5%BA%97/35.7129617,140.1328353/@35.7404153,140.1043274,12z/data=!4m49!4m48!1m45!1m1!1s0x602286faa513c215:0xc5b51e2aba52c06c!2m2!1d140.1325415!2d35.7128895!3m4!1m2!1d140.1187346!2d35.7118503!3s0x602286de80a7821f:0xe046998baf605254!3m4!1m2!1d140.1096316!2d35.763196!3s0x60227de5d9ff7feb:0x821013a974236acd!3m4!1m2!1d140.1259667!2d35.7726898!3s0x60227d95c0e03fd5:0x3d40000d1d9dd2b6!3m4!1m2!1d140.1543657!2d35.7566482!3s0x6022878f8ad1235b:0x245122c8130b2224!3m4!1m2!1d140.1586774!2d35.7453104!3s0x602287beac6a8529:0xa454039c88fc9801!3m4!1m2!1d140.1526419!2d35.7262022!3s0x6022864d92e8f117:0x5e8f3f8b137a02b7!3m4!1m2!1d140.1577077!2d35.7152956!3s0x602286417fbd5065:0xff8a17fba8c28a9b!3m4!1m2!1d140.134676!2d35.7128967!3s0x602286f09a90ba73:0x1034455a10d2b9f8!1m0!3e2

Sunday Projects

Today is Sunday.
I have a number of personal projects lined up.
First on the list is gardening.
My backyard had been a mess for quite a while
as it rained on and off, and I wasn't able to get out and take care of it.
It cleared up today,
so I was finally able to attend to my tomato plants and some other stuff.
In the backyard a number of different kinds of tomato plants are growing.
The mini tomato ones are still nice and robust,
but the one on which large tomatoes grow are getting weaker and weaker each day.
I uprooted some of them.
Also, all of them had significantly grown over the last several weeks,
and the leaves were all tangled up.
I tied many of them on to supporting poles,
while getting rid of all the dead and dying leaves.
The backyard now looks a lot more spacious and orderly.

The second on the to-do-list was making breakfast.
As I may have mentioned before,
breakfast is important to me.
I do not eat a lot, but I eat good stuff.
This morning, just like on many other mornings,
I made miso soup.
I made the broth with dried sardines, a few small sheets of kelp,
and a small bag of fine bonito flakes I got from a student of mine
in return for a DVD I lent her.
I put beaten egg, and strings of 'eringi' mushroom,
some pieces of tomato, and some leaves of  'moroheiya' in it.
The tomato and horoheiya were fresh from the backyard. 
The soup was enjoyed between me and Madam Fumiko.

The third on the list was exercise.
I was a bit sore from the one on Friday,
so I didn't push myself too much.
Especially, I avoided hitting the areas
that were worked out then.
I hit the shoulders and bi-ceps today.
I used rubber bands to create resistance.
I could use dumbbells, but I don't.
Two reasons.
One, they are expensive.
Two, they are heavy.
On the other hands, rubber bands have many merits.
One, they only cost a dollar.
Two, they are light and easy to carry.
Three, they are easy to throw away when they are out of use.
One big demerit, of course, is that rubber bands cannot be used as a weight
when you pickle Chinese cabbages in winter..
Anyhow, I exercised for about twenty minutes,
and felt pleasantly pumped up.

The fourth on the list was buying sushi for Madam.
Madam worked out real hard at the gym this week,
plus she did some significant amount of yard work yesterday.
She looked exhausted last night when I came home from work.
She stilled looked not completely recovered.
I thought fuel injection was important.
And sushi was the best fuel for her.
Luckily, on Oct. 1 the ban on takeout of shellfish was lifted
at Katsugyo Ohedo Ueno Nigohten in Ueno, Tokyo.
So I am going to go there to get some fresh sushi
including some good shellfish stuff that Madam likes.

Later in the evening,
I hope to hit the road to have a training run.
I would really like to burn many calories.
But there are so many different approaches to achieving that goal.
Interval training is one.
Pace run is two.
Or I just go for a long slow jog for many many miles.
Right at the moment many miles of long slow jog sounds like a plan.
The sky is high, the air is cool.
The leaves are just about to turn yellow,
and the whole landscape is charmingly filled with an air of early autumn.
I love running in the changing seasons...
So we'll see.





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