Running, coffee and concerts

It's been a sunny Sunday. A great day to get back in the "running" spirit and go for a run. I plan to run in 2 marathons this Fall and have to get back into training asap. I have to admit, it's really tough training in Japan during the summer because of the incredibly high heat and humidity. I did it last year while training for the Osaka Yodogawa Citizens Marathon. Basically, you have to run after dark or really early in the morning to attempt to beat the heat. Also, you have to run with water. it took some getting used to, but after a few weeks I was quite comfortable running with a water bottle in hand. I have a pretty cool ASICS one that fits in your hand nicely.

I put about 90 minutes into Japanese studies today. I may do some more before bed tonight.



Ah....a few things that caught my eye today:

Starbucks Coffee's small cans of "doubleshot" coffee will be even more widely available in stores around Japan soon. I suppose that doesn't make too much of a difference to me since they are SO freakin expensive, that I never buy them anyway!




Also, today there was a concert here on Port Island in Kobe where I live. the trains were really busy when we went home this afternoon. Also, when I was running on Port Island this afternoon I saw throngs of young Japanese women with really big hair and really short shorts heading to the arena on the island.

They were all there to see the singer Ayumi Hamasaki. I honestly have no idea who this very "Photoshopped" woman is, but all of her fans look a lot like her! I suppose that's not a bad thing at all though.