Here we go now you and I...♪
Let’s kick off this posting with a little quiz:
As of one month from yesterday, what will Oprah Winfrey, P-Diddy, and myself have in common?
a) Lucrative careers in the entertainment industry.
b) High public exposure and fabulous wardrobes
c) We will have all completed a marathon.
If you guessed a), please refer to the first 3 months of this blog for some background research. If you picked b), half points for guessing it was the fabulous wardrobe. Thanks:) If you guessed c), congratulations! You are entirely correct.
The Race
So before yesterday, I was pretty much thinking the marathon was off. I was going to see if I could transfer the registration from my name to a friend so he could partake. The 10k was fine, but there is a huge different between 10 and 42k. Takiko and I just haven’t been training long enough (we have to start to taper off on running in about a week and a half and had yet to run over 2 hours together) and my knee has been giving me too many issues. Despite all that, however, I thought I would try one last attempt at the ‘long’ run with Takiko this weekend, knowing if I could do it this weekend and next, I could probably still participate (if not, I was out for sure). We planned to meet on Sunday morning in front of Ito Yakado (the supermarket across from my place), and run to downtown Akashi (the grueling 30kilometer trail!).
So I went to meet Takiko yesterday, and when she wasn’t there, I realized something must be wrong. She is never late, so I went to check my phone, and sure enough...her knees weren’t doing well and she had messaged to say she couldn’t do the long run. Well, I stayed at home for a little while trying to decide what I wanted to do. I knew if I didn’t do the run this weekend, the marathon was off, but I decided that, hey, it was worth a shot.
It took me about 4 hours, but I did the 33 kilometer run from my house to the Akashi station on my own! I don’t think I could have handled it without my iPod, but it was actually pretty fun. Essentially the entire path borders the sea and you approach Awaji Island and the Rainbow bridge (the world’s longest suspension bridge) on the way there, so there are some pretty beautiful sights to ponder during the trip. It’s probably good because getting lost in your thoughts makes the run seem shorter. I ran past several dinosaur sights (and one with wooly mammoth discoveries) that I didn’t know existed and took a little break once I hit downtown (halfway) by wandering through the fish market in Akashi before turning back and heading home. The fish market is a lot smaller than what you will find in Tokyo, for example, but it’s really cool. I merely bought bananas and some energy water (to refill my electrolytes) but I saw flying fish and some other exotic sealife I wasn’t familiar with.
The Weekend
The rest of the weekend was pretty low-key. My friend Ben helped me ‘pimp’ my Macbook on Friday, and he let me borrow several seasons of The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm, which I am really excited about. Ben and I have just become better friends in the last few weeks, but he is a really positive influence and I am sad I met him so late since he is heading home (to Chicago) this summer. He's a talker, too, so we end up having some pretty good, albeit long, conversations.
Kelly and I spent most of Saturday at the outlet mall. We literally went to EVERY sports store at the place to find a pair of workout pants for me (to keep at school). I don’t have a problem with shirts here, but the pants are much too short or just look bad. The fits are just different, but not in a good way for me. I hate to admit this, but I had to settle on a Men’s large from the Puma store... and I am not that big of a girl. After the mall, we went to Akashi and had dinner at Bombay, our favorite Indian restaurant. I didn’t want to drink at all (because of the run the next morning), but the owner is a friend and asked us to go behind the bar and make ourselves something. I made something weak, but then he brought us shots to take with him after dinner (kofta and naan bread– yum!). Needless to say, I was tipsy going home and it wasn’t as early of a night as I would have hoped, but I made it through the next morning and had a good time.
A Special Visit
Last but not least is the most exciting thing of all: Kristin is here!!! My best friend from home is visiting for two weeks. I met her at the airport last night and we basically just went home, but I am so, so, so excited to have her here. I was nervous about the space in the apartment, but it's really not bad at all and she actually loves the place:)
She is off exploring Himeji Castle while I am at work today. I am really bummed I can’t go with her. I am half tempted to just sneak out during the morning and meet her there, but I know I can’t and we are spending the 5-day-weekend in Sapporo (on the northern island) so I’ll still get time to hang out. I might try to get another day off so we can spend a whole day in Kyoto together (there is literally just too much to see around here!) and I am looking forward to conveyer belt sushi and karaoke tonight! We got the green light for Kristin to come to school with me on Wednesday, too, so I am curious to see her what her reaction will be since it will be the first (and possibly only) person from home that gets to come into work. I needed special persmission from like three people. She is coming to 3 classes and ESS (English Speaking Society) with me, which is good for her (primo cultural experience) and for the kids (another me for them to practice with). I made sure two of the classes are with the second years. Those classes are more formal, and I know it will be startling to see 40 students in rows stand up in their uniforms and bow in unison to welcome us. They're really good kids, though, so it should be excellent!
Ok, I have to go work on a poster and grade some notebooks (yes, they are back), but I will try to update this a little more often. I have a horrible habit of writing half an entry (to just get my thoughts down) and then not posting it right away. Don’t be surprised if you see about 8 postings from the last two weeks popping up soon!
As of one month from yesterday, what will Oprah Winfrey, P-Diddy, and myself have in common?
a) Lucrative careers in the entertainment industry.
b) High public exposure and fabulous wardrobes
c) We will have all completed a marathon.
If you guessed a), please refer to the first 3 months of this blog for some background research. If you picked b), half points for guessing it was the fabulous wardrobe. Thanks:) If you guessed c), congratulations! You are entirely correct.
The Race
So before yesterday, I was pretty much thinking the marathon was off. I was going to see if I could transfer the registration from my name to a friend so he could partake. The 10k was fine, but there is a huge different between 10 and 42k. Takiko and I just haven’t been training long enough (we have to start to taper off on running in about a week and a half and had yet to run over 2 hours together) and my knee has been giving me too many issues. Despite all that, however, I thought I would try one last attempt at the ‘long’ run with Takiko this weekend, knowing if I could do it this weekend and next, I could probably still participate (if not, I was out for sure). We planned to meet on Sunday morning in front of Ito Yakado (the supermarket across from my place), and run to downtown Akashi (the grueling 30kilometer trail!).
So I went to meet Takiko yesterday, and when she wasn’t there, I realized something must be wrong. She is never late, so I went to check my phone, and sure enough...her knees weren’t doing well and she had messaged to say she couldn’t do the long run. Well, I stayed at home for a little while trying to decide what I wanted to do. I knew if I didn’t do the run this weekend, the marathon was off, but I decided that, hey, it was worth a shot.
It took me about 4 hours, but I did the 33 kilometer run from my house to the Akashi station on my own! I don’t think I could have handled it without my iPod, but it was actually pretty fun. Essentially the entire path borders the sea and you approach Awaji Island and the Rainbow bridge (the world’s longest suspension bridge) on the way there, so there are some pretty beautiful sights to ponder during the trip. It’s probably good because getting lost in your thoughts makes the run seem shorter. I ran past several dinosaur sights (and one with wooly mammoth discoveries) that I didn’t know existed and took a little break once I hit downtown (halfway) by wandering through the fish market in Akashi before turning back and heading home. The fish market is a lot smaller than what you will find in Tokyo, for example, but it’s really cool. I merely bought bananas and some energy water (to refill my electrolytes) but I saw flying fish and some other exotic sealife I wasn’t familiar with.
The Weekend
The rest of the weekend was pretty low-key. My friend Ben helped me ‘pimp’ my Macbook on Friday, and he let me borrow several seasons of The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm, which I am really excited about. Ben and I have just become better friends in the last few weeks, but he is a really positive influence and I am sad I met him so late since he is heading home (to Chicago) this summer. He's a talker, too, so we end up having some pretty good, albeit long, conversations.
Kelly and I spent most of Saturday at the outlet mall. We literally went to EVERY sports store at the place to find a pair of workout pants for me (to keep at school). I don’t have a problem with shirts here, but the pants are much too short or just look bad. The fits are just different, but not in a good way for me. I hate to admit this, but I had to settle on a Men’s large from the Puma store... and I am not that big of a girl. After the mall, we went to Akashi and had dinner at Bombay, our favorite Indian restaurant. I didn’t want to drink at all (because of the run the next morning), but the owner is a friend and asked us to go behind the bar and make ourselves something. I made something weak, but then he brought us shots to take with him after dinner (kofta and naan bread– yum!). Needless to say, I was tipsy going home and it wasn’t as early of a night as I would have hoped, but I made it through the next morning and had a good time.
A Special Visit
Last but not least is the most exciting thing of all: Kristin is here!!! My best friend from home is visiting for two weeks. I met her at the airport last night and we basically just went home, but I am so, so, so excited to have her here. I was nervous about the space in the apartment, but it's really not bad at all and she actually loves the place:)
She is off exploring Himeji Castle while I am at work today. I am really bummed I can’t go with her. I am half tempted to just sneak out during the morning and meet her there, but I know I can’t and we are spending the 5-day-weekend in Sapporo (on the northern island) so I’ll still get time to hang out. I might try to get another day off so we can spend a whole day in Kyoto together (there is literally just too much to see around here!) and I am looking forward to conveyer belt sushi and karaoke tonight! We got the green light for Kristin to come to school with me on Wednesday, too, so I am curious to see her what her reaction will be since it will be the first (and possibly only) person from home that gets to come into work. I needed special persmission from like three people. She is coming to 3 classes and ESS (English Speaking Society) with me, which is good for her (primo cultural experience) and for the kids (another me for them to practice with). I made sure two of the classes are with the second years. Those classes are more formal, and I know it will be startling to see 40 students in rows stand up in their uniforms and bow in unison to welcome us. They're really good kids, though, so it should be excellent!
Ok, I have to go work on a poster and grade some notebooks (yes, they are back), but I will try to update this a little more often. I have a horrible habit of writing half an entry (to just get my thoughts down) and then not posting it right away. Don’t be surprised if you see about 8 postings from the last two weeks popping up soon!
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 2:27 PM
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