The Shoes are back on!

When I moved to Japan earlier this Spring, I was somewhat plumper than I am now. A year at grad school had made me a litle soft around the edges. I set a goal for myself when I arrived. I would run a full marathon in 2008. I started running in early Summer and found a simple training plan in Runner's World magazine. I choose a race and resistered. Earlier this month I ran the Osaka Yodogawa Citizens Marathon in 4:44. My watch time was 4:41:51...I like that one better.


Here I am at 40km into the marathon. I saw the cameras and put on a brave face. I was in absolute agony at this point, but happy as a little clam!


Running has been something I've fallen in love with and Kobe is a great city for runners. There are some great places I've discovered and running has been a great way to get to know the city a lot better. I'd taken a break after my marathon. The following week, my family came to Japan to visit and the week after that I got married.

The shoes are back on though. It's time to start training again. I'm registered for the Kakagawa Marathon, on December 23 (The Emperor's Birthday), but will only run the 10k. In January I'll run a 10k on Rokko Island and in February the Port Island Half Marathon.

Yesterday, before heading into Osaka for some shopping,, I stopped by Junkudo bookstore in Sannomiya (the main shopping area in Kobe) and stumbled across this great book.

This is a great resource guide for runners living in Kobe. It lists all of the races in the city as well as maps of good places to run, including distances and elevations! It is in Japanese though and my Japanese skills are minimal at best. Luckily it's very visual and my wife has been helping me translate.

So, today was my third training run of the week. I ran 50 minutes from Port Island to HarborLand and back again. During my 3+ week layoff from training my feet have softened up so unfortunately I'm battling blisters. I'll be out on the road again Tuesday night...or possibly morning before work.

Day 1...in Kobe...the blog begins!

What's it like to be a Canadian living in Japan? What's it like to live in the cool city of Kobe? What's it like to balance my family life, career and passion for marathon running? These are some questions I may answer throughout the weeks and months I add to this blog space.

I'm a professional teacher (both in Canada and Japan), an avid runner, and someone who is loving life here in Japan. I've been here for almost 7 months have have now decided to write about my experiences.

For the last 2 years I have been an avid YouTuber and under the handle "BusanKevin" have created more than 130 videos about my life in South Korea, Canada and now Japan. I'll show some of those videos from time to time as well as talk about life here in what I think is one of Japan's coolest little cities...Kobe.

I also plan to write about my love of running. Little blurbs about my daily training and races I'm getting ready for.