fast times

As I write these words, I am enjoying a celebratory chu-hi with my husband.  What are we celebrating, you ask?  My best time ever running a 10k.

Now, due to a slight issue with the GPS watch, I am not sure of what my precise time was.  I do, however, know that it was in fact a best time as I have never actually been timed for a 10k before.  So no matter what, it was a PR.

Jeff also went a best time.  His watch worked perfectly, and his average pace was somewhere around 6 minutes per mile.  Whew!  That's fast!  As I've said before, he's kind of a big deal. 

We've been preparing for our run by sticking religiously (well, with the exception of my trip to America) to a training plan we got from Runner's World online.   It's actually kind of awesome.  You can adjust the paces to exactly your personal goal time and the program adjusts every run time in response. Then you (or your cute husband) can upload said program to your Garmin watch so all you have to do is listen for the beeps to know when to speed up, slow down, or stop.

Now I have to turn my attention back to the pool in preparation for my first swimming race since Nationals 2005.  And since I've never raced 1.2 miles open water before,  I'm pretty sure I'll have another best time on my hands.

Mata ne,
Melissa

P.S. Props to my dad for his great finish at the Green Lakes Triathlon this weekend.  He went his best time in several years and placed in his age group!

busy bee

I have been a terrible blog poster lately.  I've been distracted.  But I have an excuse.  Several actually:

One of Jeff's good friends from Cornell who was just offered a tenure-track teaching position was in town so we got together with a few fellow Asian studies scholars for a night of celebration. 

Also, I've been reading the Collected Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald.  If you've had the pleasure, then you understand they're hard to put down.

I've taught a few English lessons this week, too. 

I also ran 10 miles this morning.

Ok, so none of those really warrant my extended absence. 

BUT what does make it all ok is that we've also been furiously planning my parents once-in-a-lifetime Japan experience, as they've both told me this will be the only one.  That's a lot of pressure to put on a girl's shoulders.  Even if she is an overachieving first-born.

Right now, the big decisions we're making are Kyoto vs. Iwate and trains (shinkansen) vs. rental car.  Feel free to weigh in. 

There's my sweet husband staying up late and calculating every permutation of the train/rental car and Kyoto/Iwate/Hakone/Takayama debates.  What a great son-in-law!

Tomorrow night we're going out of town for a few days, so I can't promise my posts will be any more frequent.  I can promise that we'll have some interesting things to talk about when we return.

Mata ne,
Melissa

Guest post: The Marathon by Jeff

On February 28th, I ran in the Tokyo Marathon with 31,999 other participants. 

I was determined to come in under 3 hours and, if all the stars were aligned, meet the NYC marathon automatic qualifier time of 2:55.

To begin with, winter marathon training in Tokyo is much easier than in Ithaca/Syracuse. No icicles dripping off my nose and chin, no skating across ice patches, no getting blown into the large snow banks on some of the more pernicious high-elevation plains. The worst weather here involves rain and occasional snow, but it usually melts within half a day. (Actually, the worst weather I think I've experienced in Tokyo happened for the first 20 miles of the marathon).

However, I do desperately miss being able to hop out of my front door and be surrounded by the trees and nature that I get back home. Here, I navigate narrow city streets on my way to some parks and rivers, which are actually quite nice, so I can't complain.  For my longer runs (20 mile range), I can hit some of the best places to run in Tokyo, including a loop around the Imperial Palace and the Outer Meiji Shrine park decicated the Japan's first modern emperor.

Anyway, on to the race. 

Grim weather forecasts sent me to the 100 yen shop (the dollar store, or with today's lousy exchange rate, the $1.11 shop) a couple days before the race to get a cheap poncho, hat and unflattering arm warmers. (see the pictures)

On race day, I arrived in Shinjuku at about 7:30am for a 9:10am start to find thousands of runners half naked in the station, changing out of the travel clothes and into race outfits and rain gear. The race starts west of the station, home to many of Tokyo's tallest skyscrapers (whose elevator buttons are smeared with our fingerprints).

I milled around in an attempt to stay warm, but after I took my post-race clothes to the drop-off point, I followed signs to the "B" waiting corral, which had started to fill up. Standing in one place in the chilly rain for 40 minutes didn't seem like the best pre-race warmup, but no one really had any options. I was cold, but so was everyone else.  Perhaps with the exception of the guy in front of me holding the umbrella, whose run-off gave everyone around him an extra dose of cold rain.

I could see the start line about 100 yards ahead, and felt close, but there were probably several thousand people ahead of me. I was desperate to get moving, and finally, after the opening ceremony, the wheel chair start and a bunch of group cheers, I shed my 100 yen shop purchases (except the hat), set my gps to get a satellite lock. Surprisingly, most of the others around me in ponchos and garbage bags kept them on.

After the gun went off, we commenced the slow shuffle towards the start line. I felt impatient for a split second, but quickly realized that I'm here to have fun and soak in the fact that I'm doing it with 32,000 other crazies who would be cruising on foot down Tokyo streets that close down to car traffic today and today only.

I hoped to go out at a 6:30min/mile pace (about 4:02min/kilometer), but when I hit the first kilometer in over 6 minutes, I started to panic, unsure of how long it had taken me to get to the start line. I weaved through the throng as quickly as I could, and before too long, the crowds thinned out and I felt comfortable to sit back and hold my pace.

I rounded the Imperial Palace at about the 10k point (42:52) and caught a glimpse of the Tokyo Tower, which I passed under a couple miles later and mused on how small I must look to the people standing at the observation deck, and damn them if they took the elevator rather than climbing the 600 steps to watch down on other people with sore legs. 

The 10k to 20k leg of the race is an out-and-back, which eventually let me see the lead runners flying by in the opposite direction. This gave me a jolt of excitement about my own race, and a feeling like I had pretty a decent spectator "seat" for watching their race. 

At the turn-around point of the out-and-back, I realized that the rain had been at my back for the last 5k or so, and now it was time to eat it. Rain turned to sleet, and it came pelting us in the face with a vengeance. My frozen fingers were practically useless for opening my gel nutrition packet, which I eventually succeeded in doing by clam-gripping the packet between thumb and hand, and tearing off the top tab with my teeth. Sweet sugar.

I hit the 20k point in 1:24:01, within a couple minutes of my target, and shortly thereafter heard Melissa screaming "Jeffrey, Gambare (work hard!)" She was a wonderful cheering squad of one, having coordinated where to be based my projected split times, and navigating Tokyo's confusing train stations and streets (race map here). I smiled at her and heard an "I LOVE YOU" as I rounded the corner.

The next 10k was another out-and-back towards Asakusa, where dancers performed in festival attire as the rest of us ran by. I popped a caffeine pill for an ergogenic aid, having weened myself off of my beloved coffee three weeks earlier in the hopes of it having the greatest effect.

I had been running right alongside a guy with a shirt that said "smile" (su-ma-i-ru) in Japanese script and shorts with a smiley face on the rear. Amid the poor visibility due to the rain/snow/sleet and my general haze, he was one of the few people I could consistently pick out of the moving crowd. He started pulling away at about the 25k point. However, as I neared 30k (2:05:44), I began to feel the effects of the caffeine kick in and give me a little boost, and I reeled him in and surged passed.

With just over 10k left, I felt like 90,000,000 yen (one million dollars). I ran one of my fastest miles at around 21 miles. In my last two marathons, I had started to slow a solid two miles earlier in the race, so holding the pace until now was a good sign. About on pace to hit 2:55, I begin to feel giddy. "I've got this in the bag," I kept on chanting to myself.

At the 35k point, however, I started to wear down and slow. The rain subsided, and my hands had thawed, so despite conditions finally turning around in my favor, my legs were beat. I slowed enough to realize by 40k (2:48:58) that my chances for breaking 2:55 were shot, but I knew that I could coast in under 3 hours.

The guy with the smiley-faced shorts passed me as we pulled into the finish area and I didn't care. Beyond the finish line were warm towels and food, and I cared deeply about them and nothing else.

I crossed the line at 2:59:03. I'm not quite sure what my chip time is yet, as I unwisely started my watch as the gun went off, so will have to wait for the Tokyo Marathon officials to send me my official finisher's certificate with net time on it. I'm guessing somewhere in the 2:57s. 

Next came the best organized finish I've ever experienced. I received my post-race gear quickly, changed into warm and dry clothes, and then rolled my jeans up to soak my sore feet in wooden hot tubs prepared by an onsen company. Bliss.

I was very pleased with my time, a personal best on a day in which the top runner came in nearly 5 minutes slower than the course record. And not coming in under the automatic NYC marathon qualifying time seems to be a good opportunity to take a break from marathons and focus on shorter distances, which I basically have ignored since high school x-country.

Waiting patiently for me in the "family meeting area" was Melissa, who yelled "I'm so proud of you" with teary eyes as she ran to give me a big hug. She's the best. She then treated me to an amazing falafel pita at a most improbable vegetarian food stand we spotted on our way to the station. Once arriving back in Koenji, we celebrated by having a large meal at New Koenji India, our favorite local eatery which deserves its own post some day. 

Jyanee (see ya),

Jeff 

For additional pictures, type in "2010" for the password, and my bib number "22494" here:
http://tm10eng.allsports.jp/event/00034096.html

For my 5k splits (relative to gun time), type in my bib number "22494" here:
http://p.tokyo42195.org/

For those interested in a good training plan, I followed this one with little variation: 
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/racing/rws-garmin-ready-marathon-schedule-sub-300/2757.html

tokyo marathon: the after

Congratulations Jeff!!

Jeff ran a personal best today and broke 3 hours in the marathon (for those who aren't in the know, that's really really good)!!  He came in top 500 (Jeff insists on precision: 411th) out of about 32,000 runners - I'd say that's pretty awesome, but I'm not exactly objective.

To celebrate, I took him out to, in our opinion, the best Indian restaurant on the planet: New Koenji India (Koenji is the area where we live - original name, huh?).  Michael, Sara, and Aaron can all attest to both how great the food is and our big love for it is.

There's the winner enjoying his celebratory mango lassi.

Jeff has this tendency to wear a hat all day and then take it off just in time for me to take a picture...

You're all welcome to send your congratulations to Jeff on his job well done.  And congratulations to me on running around Tokyo all day in the rain cheering for him.  I'll let you all make your own decisions on who suffered more.

Race recap from the man himself coming as soon as he's able to walk down stairs again.  He went up the ladder to our loft and may be up there for a while. 

Mata ne,
Melissa

tokyo marathon: the before

Tomorrow is the Tokyo Marathon featuring my cute husband... and 30,000 other runners.  Running is really big in Japan.

We headed over to the expo the other day where, as you might imagine, there were a plethora of photo opportunities.  Jeff and I took advantage of several of them.

At the booth of the official photographers of the event.  Ever the fashion plate, he matched the background.










Tired after such a long run!

Hopefully that will be his time when he crosses the finish line for real!









Yet another finish line photo. I think this is supposed to be the time of the top finishers or something.


We also got our picture taken at the Nike purikura booth.  Japan has taken the art and fun of photo booths to a whole new level, and such entertainment is deemed appropriate for any and all occasions.



Tonight he's been preparing all his stuff for the morning.  We had a little fashion show.

His racing outfit...

With the 100 yen shop arm warmers (which may or may not be leg warmers) and hat he'll wear at the start if he's cold.  (He'll throw them away when he warms up.)






Ready to go with the poncho and rain pants (also from the 100 yen shop) he bought in case it's really nasty in the morning.  The forecast is still for rain. 



If you're interested, you can track his splits in real time (starting at 7:10 p.m. east coast time) by visiting here and entering his bib number: 22494.  He should be done about 10 p.m. 

Disclaimer: The website is all in Japanese. I have been assured that all one needs do is type those numbers in a box.  Let me know how it goes. 

He's gonna do great, I just know.  Now I just have to plan my cheering route!

Gambare, Jeff!!

Mata ne,
Melissa

good day sunshine

Today's forecast for Syracuse, NY:
(courtesy of weather.com)

Cloudy with temperatures steady near the low 30s. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 90%. Snowfall of 1 to 2 inches through 10am.

Don't worry, it gets better...

Winter storm warning for Syracuse, NY until 7 a.m. EST Friday.  

 [That's Friday, for the record.  Not Thursday. Winter storm warning through tomorrow.]

Snow will become steadier and heavier this morning across Central New York and Northeast Pennsylvania. Expect snow, heavy at times this afternoon and tonight. Snowfall rates will range from 1 to 3 inches per hour late today and this evening.  By the time the snow tapers off late tonight storm totals of 12 to 20 inches will be common.

That blue up there, in the weather.com satellite picture - that's all snow.

Wow.  Be careful out there.   Get out the warm blankets and locate your flashlights, just in case.  My prescription for a day like that: a bottle of red wine and a good book.

In other news...

Today's weather in Tokyo, Japan:

63° F and SUNNY. 

My prescription for a day like that: iced caramel soy latte and a good book.

Sorry if the picture is a little bright. It really was that sunny.

I can't say I'm missing the Northeast right now.  I know I'll be buried in it with you next year, so I'll enjoy this while I can.  Of course, as Jeff keeps reminding me, it's supposed to rain for the next three days.  And Sunday is the Tokyo Marathon in which he is running.  Neither of us are excited about that.

I did make a really good sign for him though - it's waterproof.

Gambare!!

Melissa

What Not to Wear: Running Edition

Sometimes you just need a good outfit. 

When I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, getting motivated to walk out the door is the hardest part of the run.  I've found the best thing to do is just put on my running outfit.  I have been known to get dressed in leggings, dry-fit top, heart-rate monitor, and garmin watch and then sit on the couch for upwards of an hour.  In spite of my best efforts, however, once I am actually in the correct clothing I can not help but find myself out on the road at some point.  The length of time spent on the couch is directly related to factors such as days since my last run, temperature outside, and if there is anything good on TV (in Japan, the last one is rarely a factor).

I see an interesting mix of running attire while out on the road.  In America, there are generally two types of runners: Dry-fit Man and Cotton Man. 

Dry-fit Man knows what he's doing, or spent a lot of money getting the gear to make it look like he knows what he is doing.  Often seen checking timer on sporty wristwatch and wearing new running shoes.  New.  DFM spends big bucks on those over-pronation-correcting Asics with the custom insert every 400 miles.



 Nice picture of my husband, huh?  He's kind of a big deal.

Cotton Man tends to be one of two sub-types: the Novice, or the Old Veteran.  Cotton man can be seen in the matching sweatsuit, or the shorts with cargo pockets (dad, you are definitely guilty of this one) and old ratty shirt.  You can generally distinguish Old Veteran from Novice by t-shirt; OV-CM in his 1982 Boilermaker shirt, N-CM wearing something with a Disney character or a professional sports team logo across the chest.
(no that is not me. image)

In Japan, I've seen more runners and many more outfits.

For simplicity's sake, we'll focus on the three main categories today: CW-X Man (and his companion, CW-X-with-skirt Woman), Jumpsuit Man, and Jeans Man.


For some reason, the whole CW-X thing has really caught on in Japan.  I feel out of place running in my regular old Under Armor with no compression technology!  CW-X Man is a serious runner (expect no head-nod acknowledgment from him) usually wearing new running shoes, a fancy watch, and metallic sunglasses, much like his American counterpart, Dry-fit Man.

Serious women runners in Japan seem to be big fans of the CW-X look as well, but with a minor adjustment.  Many also wear running skirts, perhaps due to the ubiquity of skirt-wearing in general (I really wouldn't survive - especially when it's cold out!).  Now I am all about the running skirt (I even own a pink one or two), but when I am already wearing tights, this seems to be an unnecessary accessory to me. I think Coco Chanel had something to say about that...

A large percentage of runners - in our neighborhood at least - tend to fall into the Jumpsuit Man category.  A surprising number actually do wear jumpsuits - some of the multi-color grandma variety and some of the high school/college sports team variety - but others wear something similar, including heavy sweat suits (think unflattering sweat stains - eew) and cotton leggings with oversized sweaters.  Jumpsuit man is aged anywhere from adolescent to ancient (really) and generally falls into the barely jogging to slightly faster than me range.  (image)

In America, today's last category would fall under the "only when chased" heading, but for some reason in Japan it is totally acceptable and surprisingly common to see someone running in jeans.  For the record, Jeans Man is not being chased.  I was skeptical at first, but people really do run in denim here.  Jeans Man typically wears sneakers of some sort (which I am sure were new at one time), a turtle neck or slim sweatshirt tucked in, and a leather belt.The best way to distinguish JM from someone is a hurry to get somewhere is visible iPod head phones and conspicuous lack of items in his hands or pockets. 

I joke, but it should be noted that there is such a wide variety of running attire on display because there is such a spectrum of people running.  (Jeff came home today bragging about having out-run the local middle school baseball team during their 1k time trial). Young people and very old people alike can be seen daily on the local running and walking paths. Maybe this is why rate of obesity in Japan is about 3% while it is over 30% in America.  Something to think about.

But back to me.  I'm not training for anything right now, which usually translates to me working out a whole lots less.  Jeff is in the final stages of marathon training, and thus has been consistently running six days a week.  I've actually been going out four or five times a week.  Lately, I've found I just go work out with him so I am not stuck at home by myself.  Maybe not the best reason for working out there is, but whatever it takes, right?


The Tokyo Marathon is about three weeks away, and maybe I am biased, but I'm pretty sure he'll be superfast.  And just like his last two, I will be superfan and cheer him on as much as I can.  I might even wear my running tights that day.  Just to see what happens.

Mata ne,
Melissa

killing two books with one sun*

Yesterday I finished two, that's right TWO, books!  One of them I'd started earlier in the week and the other I read start to finish yesterday.  They were both by (very) well known Japanese authors and were translated (by others) into English.  I say this because having been translated to another language, one must wonder if any of the original style or charm that make the authors so well-liked is lost.

At least he never walked.

The first book is What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami.  It was recommended to us by my Ironwoman Aunt Nancy.  For anyone who is a runner, or participates in any activity where one spends considerable time alone with their thoughts and is constantly questioned about why they do it, I recommend taking a look at this book.  At just 180 pages, it is a relatively quick read.  More personal memoir than narrative, it has interesting insights into both the life of the runner and the life of the author.  I have to wonder, though, for someone who discusses the art of translating a novel without losing the beauty of the original words, if this translation does an adequate job.  Maybe I'll make Jeff read the original and tell me.  (For the record, he is playing sudoku on his phone in the background.)

The heart of things.
(Don't judge the 1 a.m. portrait by my husband.  He loves me just the way I am - at 1 a.m. or otherwise)

Kokoro (which is best translated as the heart of things, by Soseki Natsume) is the second book I read, the one I read cover-to-cover yesterday.  I think maybe it helps to have just a slight familiarity with Japanese culture and customs when reading this book - but really, just a slight familiarity - I was quite comfortable with all of the context required.  This book was first published in 1914 and is considered a classic of Japanese literature.  It is essentially a story of a friendship between two men - one young, one old - and the differences in how they interact with the world.

Much like Jane Austen, Natsume writes of a time when long entrenched traditions and the established social order meet with an evolving modern world, and the different ways that old and young people relate to the changing cultural context.  Sounds heavy, I know, but it was a quick read (250 pages - hence me reading it in one day) and I think a very thought-provoking tale addressing the concepts of friendship, love, jealousy, honor, and loneliness.  And the translation (be sure to get the one by Edwin McCellan in 1957) was wonderful. 

Check two more books off the list for me.  We're headed back to the library within the next few days and I plan to further my exploration of Japan through its classic literature.

Mata ne,
Melissa

*one sun is one day in Japan

slow down, you're moving too fast

Every once in a while, if I time it right, and I'm really lucky, and I actually go out for a run, when I'm going along the river path by my house, I pass a turtle.  A big one. That's probably older than my mom.

This is not the kind of animal one is accustomed to seeing while running.  Especially not in a major city. At least he's wearing booties (which is more than we can say for Barefoot Jeff some days)!

He ambles along very very slowly behind his friend, an old man who I think secretly likes the attention.  They do make a cute old pair, though.  I imagine a Simon and Garfunkel song playing in the background whenever I see them.

I have about ten thousand questions for this man about how this human-turtle friendship came to be, but the language barrier limited me to "sumimasen" while pointing at my camera in a "can I take pictures of your funny pet?" questioning tone.  As you can see in typical man fashion, they don't stand too close to each other so as not to appear as if they actually came together.  I bet they leave a seat open between them at the movies too. 

Also, is this even a turtle?  Has anyone ever seen a crazier pet in a big city?

No blue. Just black.

Today we laid low.

Got up at a reasonable hour.  Did some productive work.  Got ready to go out for a run.  I slipped and broke my big toe (OUCH. Not pleasant. Do not recommend it.).

I will spare you the nasty picture of my swollen black toe.

Jeff went for a run while I rode my bike.  Hung out at home some more and iced my foot.  Hobbled out for Turkish food. That wasn't enough for Jeff so we went for gyoza and edamame too.

Now home drowning my misery in my new favorite drink, Chu-Hi (thanks, Leigh!) and Meiji chocolate covered in peanut butter. 

It's amazing, though, you'd think this day would suck, but I spent every single moment with my husband, and I couldn't be happier.  Going to bed with a smile on my face.

Mata ne,
Melissa

Back on the wagon

It's not like I don't have the time.  In fact, I have literally nothing on my schedule.  At all.  But for some reason not having a schedule makes it that much harder to get on a schedule for working out.

But that's all changing now.  Maybe I'm inspired by Jeff's marathon training plan.  Or it could be the fact that all the clothing in Japan is too small for me. Whatever.  I'm going to do it and I'm starting today.

See?  Try and catch me.