Jogging Haiku 51: Excuses Schmexcuses

I have excuses

All mostly irrelevant,

Time to get moving.

Yesterday I didn't jog. OL, so I ran a little to catch a train, but that doesn't count, it was well below a kilometer. So when I went out this morning, I decided to extend my usual 6k course, and it ended up being 7.5k. Actually, I preferred this course so I might do it again in the future.

As I was thinking of my haiku, It also occurred to me that I could have a second jog today to try and compensate for yesterday's laziness. And so, with my 5 fingers, I jogged from work to Kyobashi station, a distance of 3.5km. I stopped at a park to do a littlecapoeira, and the 'shoes' are fantastic for it.

Durind the jog my right ankle (not tendon) felt tight, and after my left Achilles tendon flare up. I guess it's to be expected in the beginning.

They're here

Well, I went ahead and splurged some yen on a pair of Vibram Five Fingers. The durability issue was my main concern in view of the price, but from what I could read online, the soles last a loooong time. Something I didn't know, the coupon I got at the event the other is reusable until April 30th! As i couldn't find the model I wanted cheaper online, that's goog news for you and me if you want some. By the way, ladies, Costco has a female model these days, but hurry up, there aren't so many left...

I got off the train one stop early and jogged the 1.4k back to my place. I didn't have the time to get into my groove, and they didn't feel bad either. Looking forward to experimenting with them some more.

Day 20: Groove Out

My ankle is still flaring up from time to time, and nonetheless I went for a longish one, 13.6k. I focused on putting in practice what I'd learned on Saturday, and after a while, it felt fine and I was in the zone, feeling as if I could go on for hours, especially in the last segment along the Yodo river, between the Midosuji line and Juso.

But as I got down from the dike, I started to lose my concentration. This got accentuated when I saw the time, past 10pm. Mind you, this was normal, but I thought I'd finished work at 8:00, not 9:00. It got me confused, and more than anything else, I lost my groove. It might sound strange, but it's the best way I can explain it. Afterwards, I was able to start jogging again, but my ankle felt weird - although not really hurting - and after getting stopped by a train at a crossing, I wasn't really able to start again.

On the good side, even if I used my legs differently, today Tuesday I have no muscleache, except for my Achilles tendon that feels like it has for about a week now.

Jogging Haiku 50: Close Call

Out barefoot jogging

A patrol car cruises by,

Would've been funny.

I went for a sub-2k barefoot jog tonight. I packed my phone to get a phone number (no, it's not what you think), but forgot my wallet. Luckily I wore a tuque, concealing my gaijin-ness.

Officer: What are you doing?

Me: I'm jogging.

Officer: Where are your shoes?

Me: Haven't you heard of 'hadashi running'?

Officer: Can I see your passport or Alien Registration Card?

Me: Uhh, I forgot it at home. I live near; my wife and baby are asleep, please don't wake them up.

Luckily, they just cruised by and let me (us) be. I felt a lot safer running in the middle of the street than in the park or on the sidewalk; the surface was more even and past rains should have cleared the surfaces better.

Day 18: 'Barefoot' Running

Today I joined a 'barefoot' running clinic held by Vibram Five Fingers and Tokyu Hands. As I might have mentioned before, I was going to buy a pair a few weeks ago when I saw a poster about this clinic. I thought I could wait a few weeks to actually get the chance to try them on first. Sadly, quite a long time was spent resuming 'Born to Run', which is partly the cause for the increased interest in barefoot running (guilty as charged).

When we finally got up, the instructor proved to be very kind and attentive to the large group of people (25-30) who showed up for the event. We tried several exercises to give us an idea of how to change our style of running to the one prescribed for this type of exercise. All were excellent, building on top of the previous one, and I hope to remember them all when I give barefoot jogging another go. I also tried a little bit of capoeira with the shoes, and they felt much better than any other type of shoe I've had before.

So in other words, even if the event was in some ways one long plug for Five Fingers, they did prove their point: I understand the benefit of this type of jogging, the shoes will be useful when doing capoeira outside, and with the small coupon we received, it will make the deal even sweeter. I just hope the soles are long lasting because this kind of 'shoes' are the cheapest around (it's like a bikini I guess: the smaller, the more expensive)!

Day 17: Out with Kaz

On this brisk Friday morning, I bundled up my kid, put him in the baby carrier, and off we were for a jog that ended up being 6.8km. Along the way I met this friendly lady who was surprised to see the jogging stroller, Kaz played in a park, and I tried as much as I can to stick to unpaved paths, even if it made progress a little harder. While at first Kaz was pretty quiet, our meeting with the jogging lady seemed to have woke him up, and he was pretty 'chatty' thereafter. And even with the previous' days adventures, I still had enough power in the legs for capoeira in the evening! I'm a little surprised I must admit.

Jogging Haiku 49: En français

D'un pas plutôt vif
Je me lance sur le chemin,
Jeudi occupé.

(11km, at a relatively intense pace)

For some reason today the haiku came to me in French. It basically goes like: With a rather brisk pace / I'm off on route / Busy Thursday. And busy it was. After my morning jog I wanted to spend some time with Kaz. But as fate was to have it, he hadn't returned from the clinic where he got vaccinated when I got back. I even had time to shower and eat lunch, and still no sign. Reluctantly I left home on my bicycle to go to my friend's home in Hanaten where I'd forgotten a toy before heading to my afternoon work. After work, I went down to Honmachi to meet my friend at his bar to discuss a little Mexican evening we're planning next week Saturday: I'll be cooking tacos and chili for the evening. So in three legs, I rode an additional 38k. So yeah, it was a busy Thursday!

Day 15: You Don't Stop Running Because You Get Old...

... You get old because you stop running.

This is a quote from Born to Run, which I reviewed last month. I don't think I agree with it completely, but a fun run is certainly a way of staying young. Although for many the words 'fun' and 'run' couldn't possibly go together (and I used to belong to that group, and still do on some days!), once you start jogging regularly the effort isn't that bad and you can actually enjoy yourself.

I did just that this morning on a 6.9k jog along the Kanzaki river by jogging up and down the river dikes like a snowboarder in a halfpipe, treading on narrow brick ledge, sprinting up slopes, jumping over cement and from stairs, and so on. For a good part a group of joggers were following me, and although most probably thought I was crazy, I bet one or two thought: that looks like fun! On top of being fun, it also strengthens peripheral muscles which are used while trailrunning, so for me it doubles as training! Great!

Halfway through the month, I'm up to over 83km. I somewhat slowed down this week, partly because I didn't have a super long jog this week, also because my legs (especially around the ankles) are feeling a little weak. This challenge is a marathon, not a sprint, so I prefer finishing it and enjoying it, rather than overdoing it and not completing it. On I go!

Day 14: Happy Valentine's Day

I was planning to jog back and from Costco this morning, but the rain changed my plans. Rain won't stop me from jogging, but it does stop my son from going to the park. So instead we brought him to one of his favorite playground, Costco. He had a blast pushing the cart and walking around, some good healthy exercise combined with free fruit tastings!

So instead, I opted to leave a little early, get off one station early, and jog the remaining 2.7k to work. It was funny to do so with an umbrella, but it kept me relatively dry, ready for my first class in 20 minutes. Holy cow, some students have already arrived! Well, see you next time!

Jogging Haiku 48: Red Lights, Grey Morning

A few ohayos
But mostly deserted paths,
Grey Monday morning.

(9.7k at my regular pace)

I did manage to go out this morning for a longish run, although it took me a good 55 minutes after my alarm before I actually got out of bed (might have fallen back asleep). Rain is predicted later today, which explains why I wanted to go out in the morning. The covered skies meant it wasn't so cold, which is always welcomed in the winter. I took a modified course that I used to go on often when training for the Sasayama marathon and Trailwalker a number of years ago.

All was well and swell until I hit a red light near the end. When I started jogging again my achilles tendon flared up a little, and did so again when I hit another red light. I guess it had time to cool down in those small breaks, and that was enough for the flare up.

Anyways, here's the song that inspired the title of this blog.

Day 12: Jogging - Photo - Capoeira - Jogging

The total distance was 2.8k but as the title implies, it wasn't continuous. I took some recon shots with the DSLR I was carrying in my bag. Basically I wanted reference shots with a telelens to reshoot a scene I had taken Friday night with my phone. I then jogged a 100 meters to a park where I practiced some basic capoeira moves, including my ridiculously ugly chapas. Then, I jogged back home slowly, cooling down in the process. For some it might seem stranger to use jogging for cooling down, but try capoeira and you'll understand.

I plan to go for a longish run tomorrow morning, let see if I can wake up early as planned!

Day 11: Out With Kaz

Kaz and I went for a short 3.4k jog today, from Shinfukae to my friend's home near Hanaten. We mostly jogged along one street, which was a little surprisingly very quiet considering it connects many areas together. Since as many streets in Osaka it has no sidewalks, the situation was more than welcomed. My achilles tendon still ached a little, but much less than yesterday. Kaz was very quiet; I thought he'd take a nap, but he stayed awake the whole time. He "woke up" when we got to my friend's home and we all had a great time.

Day 10: Timelapse

Today before some afternoon work I went on a short 3.1k jog, using King Camera's time lapse feature. It took a picture every second, and the movie has a frame rate of 12fps. I hope you don't get sick! I'll keep trying to set it horizontally, but Youtube keeps reverting it to its original framing...

Day 9: Achilles

At 7.9k, I kinda overdid it today. The cardio was fine, but my left Achilles tendon flared up a little. Is due to the minimal running or the daily runs? I don't have a sure answer, but i feel it's from the minimal running, which my body is even less prepared for. Even in the shower and bath after I could feel it. But the longer-than-advisable distance allowed me to go on a pleasant course, which to me is very important. Can't have your chocolate & praline cake and eat it too, right?

The picture was shot and edited with king camera, a neat iphone app for the photo-fun-graphers amongst us. The rabbit was busy pounding the mochi (look it up if you don't get it).

Day 8: Shorty

After yesterday's long run, I opted for a small 2.2k jog after meeting a friend about a new project I mentioned before. He was full of useful advice, thanks very much, Nick. The distance was short, and I did it again in my crocs. This time I felt my Achilles tendon a bit, but nothing painful and it was gone after less than a kilometer. I don't know if it was from the minimal running or from the long outing the day before, which otherwise left no consequences.

Jogging Haiku 47: On On On

On familiar roads
On two feet instead of wheels,
On home I go back.

(20.5km, the first 2/3 at a conservative pace, the last at my fastish pace, which isn't saying much)

For day 7 of my challenge, I decided to jog from my work in east Osaka back to my place, a distance of 20.5km (I thought it was a little longer, but I took slightly different roads than when I measured it before, which must account for the difference). For me, that's a long distance, as my usual longish runs don't exceed 12k. Because of that, I started out at a conservative pace, wanting to enjoy it, and especially to finish it! The part I had only ridden on my bicycle so far was rather pleasant, although there was some congestion near one train station. And perhaps more quickly than I had imagined, I got to the Shirokita canal, signalling that I'd be soon at the halfway mark. My confidence remained strong, even after one misstep on a downhill that gave my leg and lower back an unexpected shock, with no consequences so far luckily.

When I did get to the halfway mark around another workplace, I knew I could go the distance, and it felt nice. About 4km later, I effortlessly and instinctively picked the pace, which didn't prove hard at all to do, surprisingly. I took a road I hadn't taken in some time and it was nice to be back on a course I've often used. And sooner than later I was at the overpass near my place, and then got to the convenient store near my place, which signalled the end of my course (wanted to buy tofu, which went down really well alone seasoned with olive oil, apple vinegar and black pepper, as well as in miso soup which revealed itself to be a great post-run drink). I was hoping to finished by 8pm, and was happy to see that I'd finished about 13 minutes early (although I thought the trail was closer to 22k).

This might have been my only chance to do that course for some time, as I may have new work on Tuesday evenings starting soon. I'll need to find a new course to cover that distance in the future, but I don't think I'll do it too often, as I imagine that it will be taxing on my body, at least for now.

So with tonight's long run, it bring my total mileage for the first 7 days to 45km. Pretty happy with that. If I keep this up it will bring me to almost 200k, I don't think I've ever jogged so much in my life. Keep on jogging!

Day 6: Calories to Burn

For the second time in 3 days, I had an all-you-can-eat lunch to celebrate my wife's birthday. Today we went to a cake/dessert place, that also offered pasta and curry rice (my choice). I did have quite a few helpings of dessert, the best in my opinion was the banana creme brulée pie and the apple mousse cake (the last one also much enjoyed by my wife).

After work I had decided to get off a station early and jog back home, but I decided to do the opposite and jog straight out of work, which ended up being the best solution for two reasons: primo I saved some yen since this way I didn't need to transfer train companies (used the money for a beer!); secundo, it rained harder when I got home then when I set off.

Again I ran in my Crocs, 3.1km tonight, and although I could feel a little bit of tension in my right Achilles tendon by the end of the run, it was nothing really bad. I guess all that barefoot capoeira has already reinforced some the muscles needed. I'll give it a few more days to see if it hurts more, but "barefoot" running is something I'm going to enjoy, I think.

Running to Catch The Last Train

Not much of a jog today, but I did it anyways. I jogged from the bar to the subway station, a big 1.4km! Usually when I run to the station it is to catch the last train, and although I did get the last train, I ran by choice, not necessity. I went out to celebrate the birth of my friends' daughter Lylou. I was wearing Crocs, which are as close to minimal running as I've gotten so far. My running style was a little different, but it wasn't unpleasant in any way. I think I might try to go longer with them soon.

Jogging Haiku 46: Short Couple

Morning hangover
Disappears with fire bands,
Why the firemen?

Last night I jogged from Umeda to Yotsubashi to go to my capoeira lesson. The jog was short, about 2,7km, and it reminded why I dislike running downtown on main thoroughfares: traffic signals, cyclists texting and smokers. I guess I could have taken side streets to avoid such sidewalks, but I was meeting a friend who was going to try capoeira for the first time and since I needed to traverse some of big roads, I would have needed to do detours and/or wait at traffic signals anyways. It proved to be a good little warm up.

Then this morning I went for another short one, about 2,3km near my place, after waking up early. While the distance wasn't long, I did climb up and down many stairs, using the ones of an overpass going over the train tracks. My ankle was bothering me a little - and I don't know if it's the continuous running or the capoeira - and my underfeet also hurt a little, and in this case I know it's because of the capoeira! On the way back, I noticed some firefighters, all men, who were packing up their stuff from a nearby apartment building. I hope everyone was safe.

Jogging Haiku 45: Let's Get Philosophical

Innocent questions
Distract my mind from the pain,
Why ask why, really.

(10.7km, fairly easy pace)

For the second day of my challenge I decided to jog back from my morning class in Itami. The course is nice, with a good mix of pavement and riverside paths, a good part of which has sadly been cemented recently.

During the class the student and I started talking about sports and hobbies, asking me why I had so many activities. When asking 'why?' - and I often do when writing for Kansai Scene - people often expect an easy-to-follow and revealing answer, but often it isn't as simple as that. Here is an approximation of an answer.

To me, Life (capitalized for a reason) is about change and adaptation. Species that don't evolve and move (plants 'move' with their seeds) get swept up by new developments. And as I view my life as a microcosm of Life, I find it important to do many things, to try new experiences.

I feel human life is also about happiness. Keeping a young heart is easy when you do different things and continue learning and achieving new goals. Although I can't say that I love the cold weather, I pity those who live in the tropics where the weather is the same throughout the year; they will never experience the amazing joy of seeing the first snow of the year (and later seeing the same amazement in children's eyes), the comforting joy of drinking hot sake under a kotatsu table on a cold winter night, the liberating joy of that first spring day when you venture out the door in short sleeves and shorts with the warm sun hitting your face, or the dazzling joy of seeing beautiful colours on trees blanketing mountains. For similar reasons, I pity people who waste hours watching TV, remaining spectators of fiction instead of being actors in real Life. When I'll be on my deathbed, memories of 24 are not what I want flashing in front of eyes.

For me, I experience different joys partaking in different activities. With jogging I will always remember the moment I crossed the finish line of the first Oxfam Trailwalker Japan with Yuriko, Akemi & Carsten by my side. The Wow!-I-can-do-a-back-bridge eureka moment is what drives me to continue to play capoeira, always getting a kick when I manage to do a high parafuso, 5 or more scissor kicks while on a handstand, or a beautiful bico do papagaio, even if that's how I dislocated my shoulder two months ago. Ride 30cm+ of dry powder and you'll understand the rush I get snowboarding. And that just with physical activities. Mental activities, like photography and composing inconsequential haikus, are also part of that process.


Wondering like my student how I do it (and it's nothing special, really)? The answer is deceptively simple, so actually difficult to grasp completely: I just go out and do it. I get off the tatami mat, put my shoes (and hat when it's cold or rainy), and out the door I go, literally or figuratively. Come out play!

Jogging Haiku 44: First day

Hunting locations
For a new project of ours,
Just found baguette.

(3.3km, easy pace)

For the first day of my 30-day (well, 29; February is leaping this year) challenge of jogging every day, I went for a small jog around my neighborhood to a bakery my wife likes. Along the way I scouted locations and I took alleys I'd never been on before. My legs didn't feel so energetic, although it shouldn't be too surprising since I rode over 55km on my bicycle yesterday, including the last 14 in less than 40 minutes, including traffic slowdowns & stops. Mind you, that's not to much faster then the world-record marathon pace!

The day hadn't started so good though, as I ignored my early alarm clock to go for a quick jog. But the extra time did allow me to think of a reason to jogging, which made the outing all the more pleasant. The distance might have been short, but day one is no time to go all out and burn myself out. Tomorrow I'll go longer, jogging back from morning classes in Itami.