Jogging Haiku 53: Royal With Cheese

Not always healthy
The destination looked good,
Gigantic burger.

(9.3km at an regular pace)

After some morning work, and with the family busy with other things, I decided to run a part of the distance back. My destination was Awajishima Burger joint near Nishinomiya station. The place was recommended by an acquaintance, and although very delicious, I don't know if it qualifies as the best burger in Japan; Any's Burger near Tanimachi 6-chome is pretty darn good, too!

The most unhealthy parts of the meal were probably the side dishes I ordered, the great onion rings and fine Longboard Lager, as the burger was filled with delicious veggies. Well, OK, the homemade bacon and cheese probably added some calories as well, but who cares. I don't run just to be healthy, although it is part of the equation: I run because I like it. I would have had that burger anyways.

Intervals

I recently heard and read that short and intense exercise may be better to burn fat than stamina workout. I guess it shouldn't be too surprising considering that's what body builders have been doing for years. With that in mind - and a beer gut around my waist - on my jog back from work, I did intervals, speeding for approximately 30 seconds and then jogging more slowly for 50. It was not as hard as I thought, although I think I could have pushed harder on the sprints. The total run was about 6km, and it wasn't even a little difficult to finish.

By the way, I'm really digging my Five Fingers. They're basically the only shoes I wear these days. I was tempted to wear them at my son's day care center entrance ceremony (welcome to Japan, the land of the omnipresent protocol), but family peace is more important. I even wear them at work, and although it raises a few eyebrows, it seems to be easily excused since I'm a 'strange' gaijin anyways. I do wish the Bormio model will eventually be introduced to the Japanese market. In the mean time, my Komodo Sports get (usually) good attention everywhere, whether it's at a photo shoot at a skate rink or during a hanami (cherry blossom viewing party, another good excuse to enjoy beer in Japan, the land of the rising suds). Now if only their Japanese representatives would get back to me about a demo for my capoeira group...

Jogging Haiku 52: Hisashiburi

Hisashiburi means "long time no see" in Japanese, and it certainly the case with this blog. In the end I did not jog every day in February, and I did skip a number of days at the end when my son was admitted at the hospital for dehydration caused by the rota virus. He got over it, but is struggling with another bug these days.

On the jogging front, after being incapable of finishing a 20k+ run a couple of weeks ago I decided not join a mountain race that's coming up next month. I think the cookies I ate during the run are what prevented me from finishing, and it was quite demoralizing.

On the other hand, I had been wearing my Five Fingers almost daily recently and I've gotten pretty used to them now. My calves and Achilles tendons don't hurt anymore. Last night I jogged about 6km in them at my regular speed, and this morning, although my feet were a little tight, I felt no pain whatsoever. Yeah! I composed a hiaku last night, here it is:

Out barefoot again
Jogging at a normal pace,
Yeah! These are comfy.

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!