Christmas Holidays 2013

Although Christmas is not a holiday period in Japan, I took a few days off work this week, partly so I could visit some of the 16 UNESCO World Heritage Buddhist temples and shrines for which Kyoto City is famous for. As a result, my body is far from being a temple this season. I kicked off the holiday period on Saturday by going to Toji Temple. On the 21^st of each month the temple grounds play host to a flea market, and the huge bustling crowds were less interested in the temple than they were in bargain hunting. By contrast, it was rather quiet and peaceful around the main landmark of Toji Temple, a five storied pagoda that, at 57 metres, is the tallest pagoda in Japan.

On Sunday I was invited to a Ramen food festival in the World Exposition 1970 Commemorative Park in Osaka. Ramen has a strong cult following, with guide books listing and ranking the best Ramen shops in each prefecture. It was no surprise to me therefore that thousands of people were prepared to queue for up to an hour at a time in freezing conditions to sample Ramen from across Japan at the festival. I made a mistake by hungrily devouring three bowls of different types of Ramen, which was probably one bowl too many, thereby feeling too unwell to make it out for a run when I eventually made it home.

Being a normal workday, shops, restaurants, buses, trains and offices are all open as usual on Christmas Day. Turkey is a real rarity in Japan, so much so that some of my work colleagues have said that they have never eaten it, and asked me to describe what it tastes like to them! I have a British friend, from my home town Warrington, who has been living in Kyoto City for over a decade, who invited me over for Christmas dinner on Monday 23^rd. He chose this date as his Japanese wife had to work on the 25^th. Luckily, she had been on a recent trip to the UK and had stocked up on festive delights such as Christmas pudding, gravy granules, cranberry sauce and stuffing mixture – all of which is almost impossible to get hold of in Japan. With great difficulty, they had also managed to get hold of a Turkey. So I had a great time eating a traditional Christmas dinner, washed down by a giant 3 litre bottle of red wine.

Unsurprisingly, things got off to a slow start on Christmas Eve, though I did manage to make it to a 2pm tour of the old Imperial Palace in Kyoto. This served as the main residence of Japan’s Emperor until 1868 when the Emperor and capital city of Japan relocated to Edo, which was subsequently renamed Tokyo – itself an anagram of Kyoto. After a stroll around the tranquil Imperial Gardens, I went to see Kinkakuji, otherwise known as the Golden Pavilion. This is the most well-known tourist attraction in Kyoto. I guessed, rightly as it turned out, that the immense crowds which it is also known for were likely to be absent on a late afternoon on a cold Christmas Eve. There is certainly something special and captivating at the sight of the three storied gold leaf temple building reflected on the shimmering pond that it stands on. Again, I took an unscheduled rest from running.

Christmas Day was spent at home. I read somewhere that tennis ace Andy Murray was not going to see any friends and family over the Christmas holidays as he planned to stick to his usual training. Such Zen like commitment over the festive period is admirable. Nagging doubts crept into my mind that my running training was not going according to plan due to the excesses of partying and visiting temples. Therefore, I forced myself to make an attempt at a session by heading out for 8 x 1K reps with short recovery internals, before spending the evening sampling a selection of Kyoto Real Ales. In addition, I ate a Strawberry and cream cake, which is traditionally eaten by Japanese people on Christmas Day.

Feeling refreshed, I went to Ryoanji Temple earlier today, site of Japan’s most famous rock garden. The garden consists of 15 rocks laid out on a rectangular plot, surrounded by a sea of white pebbles. There is a special viewing platform where you can sit and study the rocks. The meaning of the garden is unclear, though there are different theories as to what the rocks are meant to represent. It is said that from any vantage point at least one of the rocks is always hidden from the viewer. I overheard one American tourist loudly proclaiming, with a note of disappointment in his voice, that it wasn’t true that you couldn’t see all 15 rocks. He was certainly correct that, if you stood up on the viewing deck and looked at the garden from as far back as you could physically stand, it was possible to just about see all 15 rocks. Perhaps, therein is the meaning of the garden: that only by occasionally stepping back can you see the bigger picture.

Talking of which, when I made it home I reflected upon the fact that I really should try to be more consistent with my training. Consistency is the key to improvement, though a few days of taking it easy in order to enjoy living in the moment does more good than harm.

Hotsu River Charity Run 5KM

The northern bank of the Hotsu River in Kameoka town was the scene of some charity fundraising running action this morning. Having only done 2 races in 4 months, I leapt at the chance to test out how my training is going now that I’m on the comeback trail. My plan was to treat this as a ‘run through’: just stick to my regular training for this week, with no race taper, and do this short blast in lieu of a long Sunday run.

 

Looking around at the runners at the front of the field on the start line, I was a bit concerned to see dozens of pre-teen youngsters, until I realised that the 2.5K kids run and 5K were starting together. After a bit of weaving around flailing youngsters who’d started at a sprint, I felt pretty good to be out in the lead after 400M. Being a charity fun run, there was never going to be a strong running field. Most of the first mile was on a tarmac cycleway, before dropping onto a stone-gravel path around several rice paddies.

It was a two lap affair, so I got a good chance to look at some of the other runners on the second lap. I had a healthy lead, but I ran each mile slightly slower than the one previous. It would have been nice to have somebody to chase. Crossing the finishing line in 16:55, my Garmin watch told me that I’d only ran a shade over 3 miles, and not the full 5KM as advertised. Whatever the actual distance was, I felt good, and pleased that I’d ran fairly strongly – an indication that maybe I might be able to run a sub-17 mins 5K again one day.

 

One thing that I noticed during this race is that marshals and spectators shouted, “Fight-o!”, as I ran along. Japanese people often use the word “Ganbarimasu” when offering encouragement, which loosely means “Do your best”, “Struggle to overcome hardship”, or simply “Fight”! I’m used to people in the UK shouting “Go on!” and “Dig deep!”, but this is an interesting variant on the theme.

Kitakuwada Senior High School Marathon

Tradition holds that, in November of each year, senior high schools (for students aged 15-18) throughout Japan hold a marathon. Up until about 20 years ago, these races were the full 26.2 miles marathon distance. Nowadays, most schools have reduced the distance to somewhere in the region of 15-20KM, but kept the marathon title. All road races in Japan, no matter what the distance, seem to be called marathons.

I arrived at work on marathon day with an unusual spring in my step. A few weeks previously, I’d been told that I could run in the race, the only member of staff to be allowed to do so as the rest would have marshalling duties, but on the condition that I had to “try and win it”. This was a 20KM out and back, undulating road race through a rural valley lined with rice paddies. Every school student was expected to attempt the race, and given a target time to aim for. If a student failed to complete the race within the target time, they have to do the race again a few weeks later!

All of the students assembled on the baseball pitch to listen to a speech delivered by the school Principal, and then took part in some mass stretching exercises. At the appointed hour, all the male students gathered quietly on the start line for their 20KM effort. The female students stood or lounged around watching the spectacle, as they were to have a few moments reprieve before their 15KM effort kicked-off. As is my wont, I jogged over to the front of the start line with only a few minutes to spare. Most students hadn’t realised I was doing the race, and they gave me a spontaneous round of applause.

When the signal was given to start, the students surged forward, many sprinting at full tilt. After 400M we left the school grounds, and I saw one student pull over to the side, bent double and breathing heavily, paying the price for his early enthusiasm. I could see a lead pack of a dozen runners some way out in front of me, and I decided to work slowly at pulling them back, which I did just before the 1^st mile, which we went through in a breezy 5:45.

Settling into the middle of the leading pack, I counted 9 boys. This pack remained together for the next 3 miles, averaging 6:10 mile pace. Between the 5^th and 6^th miles, the pack began to break up, with a few boys drifting off the back. 4 boys stole away from the rest of the field as they increased the pace once they sighted the cone in the road that marked 10KM and the turnaround point. We began to pass runners who were on the other side of the road still on their way out, and several shouted and waved enthusiastically. Some students were seemingly astonished that I was with the leading pack, as several pointed at me and laughed as they shouted “Michael Sensei!”

At 7.5 miles we rounded a sharp, blind bend, and one student made a sudden break for it. By the time the road straightened, he already had a 20M lead. I decided to chase him down, and quickly caught him. By 8 miles, the boy in 2^nd place had caught us both. Sadly for him, he had clearly spent his reserves, and quickly fell back again, never to be seen again. Mr Y, the race leader, was clearly nervous being out in front by himself, as he kept on turning his head around to see what was going on behind him. He ran straight past the final drinks station at 15KM. I slowed for a quick drink and Mr Y opened up a gap, which he maintained till the finishing tape.

 

Turning into the final straight, I tried to look photogenic as I made a push for the finish area next to the school’s main entrance, and spotted the Principal stood just a few yards in front of the line. As I approached him, he stretched out a hand in the unmistakable international language of “high-5”, which I willingly obliged him with. I think we must have both had very broad grins on our faces as I crossed the finish line in 1 hour 18 mins.

Later, I congratulated Mr Y on his win. He asked me if I’d let him win. I told him that he’d won fair and square. Overall, I was very impressed with the enthusiasm with which the students approached the whole event. They seemed really cheerful and happy to participate in what was a tough race. There was a great atmosphere in the finish area as teachers served the students bowls of stew and they sat around on benches in front of the school for a well-earned rest. This was perhaps the best day’s work I’ve ever had.

Veteran

There comes a time for every runner when, due to advancing years, they leave their Senior Runner days behind and become a Veteran. In the UK, 40 years of age traditionally marks this watershed. So I was taken by surprise when I discovered that, at the tender age of 33, I’m considered to be a Veteran in Japan.

As I crossed the finishing line of the recent Kyoto Tamba 5KM Road Race in 4^th place, I’d naturally assumed that, being denied a podium position, any prizes or glory had escaped my grasp. I quickly got changed, did a few miles easy jogging, and headed home. Unbeknown to me, a prize ceremony took place whilst I was jogging around the woods close to the track stadium where the race had finished, and the prize for the 1^st Veteran finisher went unclaimed.

The results of the race were published in a local newspaper a couple of days later. I was stopped in the corridor at work by a fellow teacher who congratulated me and enquired as to what prize I’d received. I had no idea what they were talking about and told her that as the 4^th finisher, I hadn’t won anything. Later that day, a group of teachers, all of whom had also seen the said article, discussed the situation and explained to me that I’d won the Veteran aged 30-49 category of the race and was, therefore, eligible to claim a prize.

 

Phone calls were made and a teacher popped out of work on my behalf to the track stadium, and I was presented with my first ever prize as a Veteran Runner by the school Vice Principal, to the accompaniment of a round of applause from the staff still present in the teaching room after the days lessons had concluded. I got my first glimpse of the sort of prizes given out to runners in Japan The haul included a bottle of locally produced wine, a certificate, a trophy and 2 pens. Some runners don’t like being classified as a Veteran, with its connotations of sunsets and best years being behind you, but I’m not complaining.

Kyoto Tamba 5K Road Race

The Kyoto Tamba 5K was part of a running festival with a range of racing distances on offer from 3K up to half-marathon. Being my first race in Japan, I was unsure of what to expect. As the runners lined up before the race, I had my first chance to look at the competition. There were around 200 runners in this race, with most people having opted for the half. As I looked ahead from the start line, I could see that the first 100 metres was straight up a hill which I couldn’t see beyond, so I decided to take the first stretch at an easy pace.

 

Predictably perhaps, many runners surged ahead and sprinted up the first climb after the starting gun was fired. By the time I crested the hill, some of the early enthusiasts were already fading back. I glanced around and saw a leading group of three men to my left beginning to break away from the main field, so I put in a little surge to latch on to the back of the group as we rounded a bend to exit the park. There followed a half-mile of steady descent towards the local town, during which I drew up alongside the lad in third place who was wearing a white vest and would go on to win the race.

 

We then ran through a 600M stretch of the town along a traffic-free side road. People stood in the entrances of shops and apartment blocks and applauded us as we sped along and I tried to stay in contact with the leading group. After about 2KM, the road turned up a 400M sharp climb, during which the leading pack of three men left me behind. The road soon levelled out again and a man in a red vest, who’d been leading the race from the gun until this point, had also been dropped from the front pack, with white vest taking the lead. The positions remained unchanged until the finish.

 

As I approached the running track and finishing area, I could see that red vest was coming back towards me, so was pleased that I had something to keep focussed on and worked to try and close the gap. Entering the track about 30 metres behind red vest, I knew that I’d  have to pull something spectacular out of the bag to get past him, but it wasn’t to be. I finished in 4^th place, in a time of 17:22. This is exactly the same time I finished my last race, the Sunderland 5K, in July. It might be a while before I can run sub-17 mins again, but I’ve got several more races lined up over the next few months which I’m really looking forward to, especially after today’s first foray into racing in Japan.

Fushimi Inari

In whichever direction I look, I seem to be surrounded by densely forested hills and mountains. I’ve been looking for a way to venture up into the hills since I arrived in Japan 3 months ago. I asked two different colleagues at work if there were walking paths into any of the nearby peaks, and they said that they didn’t know. Undeterred, I ordered the Lonely Planet’s Hiking in Japan guidebook. I figured that if there are local hikes, it must be possible to also run some of them as well, which would make for some interesting off-road long runs.

The first hike listed in the Kansai area is called Fushimi Inari. It starts at Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine, which is the most important of more than 30,000 such shrines in Japan that are dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. There’s a cobbled street lined with shops, teahouses and food outlets just next to the shrine. A culinary speciality of the area is yakitori (grilled sparrow). Tradition holds that farmers considered sparrows a nuisance and would roast them as a warning to the ones still flying free. Sadly, there was no yakitori available when I paid a visit, so I had to settle for the nearest equivalent – grilled quail.

 

Fushimi Inari Taisha is best known for the more than 10,000 bright red torii (shrine gateways) in the forest behind the shrine.  It is possible, if you choose your route carefully through the maze of torii lined paths, to reach the summit of Inaria-san, from which you can view Kyoto City in the valley below. Most visitors only go as far as this, but it’s possible to drop off the summit into a valley to the north of the mountain. Following a stream through the forest leads you away from the torii and all the way to Tofuku-ji. This is the end point of the hike, which takes only a couple of hours. Tofuku-ji is one of the five great Zen temples of Kyoto, with three gardens that are worth seeing.

 

It’s not possible to do this hike as a run: the route is far too busy with tourists. So in this sense, the reconnaissance trip was a failure. Yet this day trip ranks as my best day in Japan so far. The walk is pleasantly relaxing, passing as it does through a beautiful forest covered mountain and is a chance to escape for a few hours from the hustle and bustle of Kyoto City. The torii lined path is an iconic image of Kyoto City, if not Japan. In any case, there are several other hikes in the Kansai area listed in the book that I intent to check out, some of which are in much more remote locations than Fushimi, and possibly even runnable.

 

Track Training

I had been hoping to find a tartan track in Japan that I could train on. The benefits of being able to train on a track are enormous, in terms of being able to build the speed-endurance needed to set new PBs (personal bests). For the last two months, I’ve been training on a cinder track about 1 mile away from my apartment. Although this has been useful, particularly as I've been building up my base level of fitness, it's not as good as training on tartan. The cinder track has become rutted in parts due to the typhoon that hit Kyoto Prefecture about a month ago. Also, it is difficult to run even splits as there are no track markings every 100M, like you have on a tartan track.

This week’s track session was a simple 4x1200M reps, with a few striders thrown in. I can’t get to the nearest tartan track during the week, mainly because it is locked up at around 5pm. So track sessions will have to be weekend affairs. Friday evening happened to be my first enkai (work party) in Japan. It was at a Korean restaurant close to Kyoto City. The atmosphere was a little stiff and formal at first. Once the beer started flowing, however, it became a very lively affair indeed. According to some of the travel guides to Japan that I read before I came out here in August, Japan is often seen as a rigid, formal society, with Japanese people being largely inscrutable. This is a picture of Japan that is unrecognisable after attending an enkai. My work colleagues were incredibly friendly, warm, entertaining and hospitable.

 

A track session on Saturday would have been more preferable, but after the excesses of the work enkai the night before, I was content with an easy day and an easy run. Heading to Kyoto Tamba for my first tartan track session this (Sunday) morning, I was a little apprehensive. I know I’ve gotten fitter and stronger over the last month or so, but I wasn’t sure of the level that I’d reached. I knew this session would reveal this and show what I can realistically aim for in my first race in Japan, which is in 3 weeks’ time.

The session started well. I was aiming for 80 seconds per 400M lap pace. I did this comfortably for the first rep. I failed to hit this target for the next three reps! This was an eye opener. It was hot and I finished the session dehydrated. However, I can’t blame the weather. I now know that I’m well short of the fitness standard that I thought I was at and I’m aiming for. Whilst this is useful to know, it means that I have months of slogging away to try and get back to the sort of standard where I can start aiming to beat my PBs. This is a bit daunting, but I’m undeterred. I’ll be back at the track next weekend.

 

Osaka

Osaka is the name of the third most populated city in Japan and the country's second smallest prefecture. It is also home to an annual autumnal marathon, which was won last year by my fellow Morpeth Harriers club mate, Serod Batochir, in an impressive time of 2:11:54. However, it was a castle and beer that drew me to Osaka last weekend, rather than athletics.

Osaka Castle is the best known landmark of the city. Built at the end of the 16^th Century under the reign of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, it was subsequently destroyed twice, by an attacking army in 1615 and consumed by fire when it was struck by lightning in 1665. Rebuilt in the 1930s, a large public park surrounds the castle. After touring the castle battlements, I ate some Takoyaki. This is a well-known dish, associated with Osaka, made out of fried balls of dough, green onion, pickled ginger and octopus.

 

 

 

Osaka Castle Park covers a huge site and is a great place to run. It is very popular. There were thronging crowds of day tripping tourists, families, cyclists, baseball players and runners - all enjoying the delights of this open space in the heart of a vast urban metropolis. Though the paths were busy, it was possible for me to do an effort session comfortably around the park. Groups of local runners appear to meet and train there.
 

 

Having worked up a bit of a sweat in the baking sun, I took a short hop over to Tennoji Park, which was hosting the 2013 Osaka Oktoberfest. This was Osaka’s version of the Munich beer festival in Germany. There were stalls selling food and beers from numerous countries, to the accompaniment of music provided by a German folk band. As darkness fell over the city, I relaxed supping some ale whilst gazing over the dance floor area in front of the band, which was packed with a multi-national crowd of bleary eyed revellers.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entering Races

Beyond some of the big marathons, such as Tokyo and Kobe, few races in Japan have application forms and entry systems in English. I’m not yet ready for another marathon, so finding some local races over distances shorter than the marathon is my immediate priority. Nothing sharpens up training better than having some races and goal times to aim for. I also like racing.

I’m used to being able to enter most races on the day in the UK. Typically, I would just turn up at a race venue HQ an hour before the start of a race, fill in a short form and hand over a couple of pounds and secure an entry. For a small number of more popular races, like The Leeds Abbey Dash, on-line applications and a debit card payment is the norm. By contrast, race entries in Japan close at least one month before race day, and often earlier. Race organisers almost never accept race day entries. Races are usually advertised on Japanese only language websites, of which there are three main sites (see bottom of this post for links). Japan is still a largely cash based society, so most race organisers allow applicants to pay the race entry fee at a local convenience store like a 7-11, using a paper application form filled out in Japanese.

I realised that I would need to ask for help if I wanted to get back into racing any time soon. Therefore, I’ve enlisted the aid of some work colleagues to research and enter some races. So far, I’ve managed to enter or get entry forms for:-

• The Kyoto Tamba 5K race on 3^rd November.
• The Kameoka Road Race 10K on 1^st January 2014
• Uji River Marathon 10K on 23^rd February 2014
• Kyoto City Half Marathon Road Race on 16^th March 2014

The Kyoto Tamba 5KM will be my first race for four months, and more importantly, my first experience of racing in Japan. Having had a disappointing year of running, with only two races under my belt, the next few months are starting to look promising.

 

http://runnet.jp/runtes/

http://www.sportsentry.ne.jp/search/top/all

http://www.tecnoplan.co.jp/tecnet/

 

Uji

I was invited by the Vice-Principal of one of the schools that I work at to watch the school baseball team play a crunch weekend qualifying match in Uji, a famous city and tourist hotspot that I hadn’t had the good fortune to visit previously. Baseball is also the main national sport in Japan. I’d never seen a game before. So I eagerly took up the invitation.

Seeing the dedication, focus and teamwork of the students as the game unfolded at Uji Sports Park was impressive. During an interval in the game, I tried to seek a brief respite from the sun, there being no shade in the sports stands. As I sat in the shade eating an ice-cream, I spotted a teenage boy strolling towards me wearing a vest, to which was pinned a four digit number, held on by safety pins and wearing a pair of shorts. Realizing that there must be a running meet nearby, I headed off, hoping to find a running track. I quickly found one. It’s the first time I’ve seen a tartan track in Japan.

There were a huge number of junior athletes, much more than I’d usually see at a weekend track meet in the UK. I watched a junior boys 3000M race. This is a track distance that I’ve raced many times and is one of my favourite events. The boys looked about 13-14 years of age. There was a big field of around 20 runners. The first lap was at a blistering pace. The pace of the front pack of 3 boys quickly settled down to 82-84 secs per lap for laps 2-6. By the start of final lap, one of the leading pack had been dropped and the two remaining runners were shoulder to shoulder as they went through the bell. They hurtled around the last bend, still side by side. At 80 metres to go, one boy found an extra gear and motored to the finish line with a 2 second advantage. The last lap was run in an impressive 68 seconds. As I walked back to the baseball game I found a renewed sense of determination to get back to racing ways in the near future.

Byodoin Temple, which features on the back of the 10 Yen coin, is in Uji. It was to this landmark that I headed to after the baseball game. Uji is also famous for its green tea. There is a row of green tea themed shops just behind the Byodoin Temple where you can eat green tea noodles, green tea ice cream and green tea sweets. I spotted green tea flavoured Kit Kats. And of course, you can drink it. Me and missus tried green tea ice-cream and had a drink of the stuff.

Feeling well refreshed and with the air cooling as the evening approached, I went for a run along the banks of the river that cuts through the town, dividing it into two halves. It is a popular place to run. I spotted several lone runners along the temple and tree lined route. There are several pedestrian bridges across the river, the first being built in 646, making it easy to turn this into a looping run along both river banks. The Tales of Genji, which is said to be the world’s first ever novel, written in 1021, has ten chapters that are set along the banks of the River Uji. I passed numerous statues and plaques that mark locations mentioned in the novel.

 

It was dark by the time I returned to the car at the end of the run. I set my mind to returning at some point to Uji, as I’d love to see more of this historical and culturally rich city. Also, having now done a couple of weeks of base training, slowly building up the mileage, I realized that it’s time to start preparing to return to competitive racing.

Yagi

A tropical storm hit Kyoto Prefecture this weekend. The rain was heavy. So much so that there were severe weather warnings and reports of landslides and rivers bursting banks. Being a Bank Holiday Monday, I’d made plans to travel to the coast, which were swiftly cancelled. Looking for somewhere new to run, that was local, I headed to Yagi.

Yagi is a small town best known for its annual fireworks display, which takes place during the Obon festival in August of each year. Being two train stops away from where I live, I went to see the festivities on the banks of the River Oi last month.  I thought it would all be over in 15 minutes (UK style). It lasted for an hour, and it was truly spectacular.

 

Taking a steady run along the banks of the river and around the town this afternoon, the silt and debris strewn across the paths was evidence of overnight flooding. The river was a raging torrent. I came across several car loads of local people that had driven down to the river out of curiosity.

The weather forecast looks promising for next weekend, so I may be able to venture up to the coast.
 

 

Running Clubs

One of the things that I enjoy most about running is running with other people. Ten years ago, I moved to the North East of England to start my first graduate job. I didn’t know anybody in Morpeth, the town that I’d moved to. I joined Morpeth Harriers AC a few weeks after starting the new job. It was one of the best things I have ever done. I met a lot of very interesting people, spent many hours running in a beautiful part of the world, and made life-long friends. So it was that, when the decision was taken to move to Japan a few months ago, I hoped that I could find another group of runners to train with.

Sonobe, the small town in Japan that I now live, doesn’t have a running club. However, twice a week, I work at Shuchi Senior High School, which is about 10 miles from Sonobe. One of the teachers is a former professional runner. Let’s call her Mrs N. As far as I can understand it, promising young runners in Japan get hired by big companies like Toyota and Mitsubishi and put on the company payroll. They train together as a team and are entered into individual and team competitions, representing their company. So she did that for several years before retiring from professional running and turning her hand to PE teaching. Mrs N has a track and field club at Shuchi SHS. She has established a national reputation in Japan for producing superb junior runners. When she asked me to join in with her club sessions twice a week after work, I jumped at the chance.

I tentatively tried my first session this week. Due to a major school event held that day, only one student, Mr Y, was going to be running. Before we set off, Mrs N mentioned that he has represented Kyoto Prefecture at national running meets, and at 15 years old, has a 3000M track PB of 9:20. So I knew it was going to be a tough session, and it didn’t disappoint! Shuchi SHS is the oldest agricultural school in Japan. It also has the largest school site in Kyoto Prefecture. The session consisted of doing 11 intervals around a 1.1KM course around the school. Now, my Japanese language skills are still at a very basic level, and Mr Y’s English is at a similar basic level. I did understand Mr Y perfectly though when at the start of the last lap he turned to me, raised one finger and said “ichi-lap”, meaning 1 lap was remaining. I had to dig deep to hang on to him right from the start of the session. After it was over, I was elated with that feeling that you only get after a hard session during which you’d had to dig deep within yourself to keep going.

Mr Y enjoyed it too. It was the first time he’d ever run with a Gaijin (non-Japanese person). With his level of talent, he has every prospect of getting more opportunities to do so with an international call-up at some point in the future.  

Running in Japan

 

 

As you might expect in a country known as the land of the rising sun, training during the peak of summer in Japan is a challenge when you parachute in from the more tepid climes of Northumberland, UK. For the first two weeks that I spent in Kyoto Prefecture, my new home, the daily high was 38C.

I have been fortunate enough to find a fairly well maintained cinder track, which is only 10 minutes slow jogging time away from my apartment. This bodes well for future plans of training and PB breaking ways. However, the heat and humidity has so far made it impossible to stick to the training schedule and split times that my UK based coach has been emailing out to me.  Talking to the locals, they’ve said that this has been an exceptionally hot summer in Japan. Temperatures are expected to cool to more manageable levels, in October.