Training R n (my keyboard is acting funny)

I ran back home tonight. As I mentioned before, evening runs are some of my favorite, as it allows me to zone out from my usual routine. There were times during the run when I really felt 'in the zone', in tune with the environment, unconcerned yet aware of all outside occurrences. Of course it happened on the straightest part of the course, where no dog, no car, no drunken salaryman could bother me. I wouldn't call it a runner's high, which is more physical; I guess it was like meditation, which I have no real experience of.

I took a slightly modified 'dog' course tonight, going up and down the dikes to build up some muscle power for all the ups and downs of the Kyoto mountain race. I kept a good pace for most of the course, and felt good until I stopped for some post-run protein. Walking in the supermarket, my legs seemed to sort of give up, but I didn't really pay attention to it, focused on finding some good looking tofu (this one was called okasan)! As I got out and started jogging again (by then I was in my cool down section), I was quite hard to go forward, my legs having cooled down too much and outside temperature feeling a little cold. But with my December goal in mind, I trudged on until the local shrine, trying to fudge the pain away.

Post run, I did a fair amount of stretching, especially for my Achilles tendons as my ankles hurt me a bit in the last part of the run; I think this was due to some jogging along a horizontally inclined slope, putting more stress on my left leg. The stretching felt great, and I did some focused towards running, some for capoeira, my favorite cross training. After a shower, I had the tofu with some Thai dressing and whole bunch of vegetables (I probably splurged on the celery a little too late).

All in all, it was great outing. I ran at a pretty good pace; I did some extra training by going up and down the dikes 4 or 5 times; and the extra stretching will pay off in the medium-long term. Your turn now, go a little beyond your usual distance/effort during your next training.

Today is a Hashing Day

We had a great r*n with the KFMH3 today. I say r*n because early one, I decided that it would be a good occasion to do some speed training for the Kyoto Mountain race. And since we were in the countryside, it made my efforts all that much easier. Field after field, traditional home after traditional home, riverside after riverside, my train fare investment were much more than compensated.

Running faster than usual, even with little training recently, felt great. Hopefully I can keep it up and break my not so great personal time. But I'm getting ahead of me, it is much too early to even think about that. I leave you with some shots snapped along the course.

Rice drying after harvest.

I liked the wood here.

Me an my main man, Doreamon!

Who lives here, seriously!

Having fun at the Moon Check.

At the KFMH3, we don't just run for the beer at the end...

As kids, my brother and I dreamed of a house were everything we'd want was only a push of a button away; Japan is on the right track.

Our host's home will basically be torn down and rebuilt next year; I hope they keep these great sliding doors.

Run To See This

As some of you know, amongst my many jobs, I help the Osaka European Film Festival, taking pictures, entertaining foreign guests and so on. This year, I'm also in charge of writing the movie resumes in English, meaning that I get to see all the movies before everyone. Life is hard, isn't it?

The last one I watched is The Robber (Der Rauber), a German-Austrian coproduction. It tells the true story of Johann Rettenberger, a.k.a Pump-Gun Ronnie, a bank robber who also won several races, including the Vienna marathon! To say the least, the police have a hard catching him! It's a good movie for all of us joggers/runners, and anyone else who enjoys crime stories and great cinema. It was also featured at the New York Film Festival recently, so there is a chance it will available in some select theaters in North America. As for Japan, you only chance to see it might be at the OEFF, so don't miss your chance when it comes around in November.

Bad, Then Good

Last Thursday was one of the lowest point in my jogging endeavors. I try once a week to jog home from work, a distance of 12-15 km depending on the route I take. And for the first time ever, I could not finish last week. I did walk the rest of the way, but my legs just wouldn't jog. There was total refusal on my body to go on jogging. It was quite frustrating as I felt sort of OK, my legs didn't hurt or anything, they just wouldn't jog. I'm at a loss to explain it. I think it could be due to the fact the during the day, I was drinking lightly apple-vinegared water. But three months away from the Sanjurokumine mountain race, it wasn't something I expected.

So it was apprehensively that I made my way to the KFMH3 run yesterday. The weather was pretty hot, I knew the course wouldn't be short, since returnee Wanda was the hare. We had two visitors from the Tokyo area, In Your Dreams and Where's the Beef. They were visiting Kyoto and came for our run. It's always fun to have visitors from other kennels come to our outings. And as expected, the course wasn't so short, but I did manage to jog the whole course, often going longer at different check points. The moon check was in a park, which luckily had a water fountain, although the water was pretty tepid.

But as previously mentioned, the biggest satisfaction was being able to finish the course jogging. Hopefully last Thursday was just a fluke, and I look forward to jogging home again, something I'm considering doing tonight.