Running Around Kobe

I haven't been running much lately. If you at all follow my blog, you know I am a runner. I suppose lately I've been a non-practicing runner.

I have applied for Osaka Marathon 2013 and tomorrow will apply for Kobe Marathon 2013. Soooooo....I went for a run today!

Multi-tasked to Death

I’m tired, but I’m happy. Did I mention I am tired? I’m tired in a new way. I’m tired to my very bones.

Things are a little busy for me at the moment. Actually, things are a LOT busy for me at the moment. I am of course working full time as a homeroom teacher and that takes up about 50 hours a week and sometimes more. I’m running two full marathons in the next four weeks and of course I am trying to finish up my first “real” attempt at writing. With the first draft of “Teaching in Asia: Tales and the real deal” near completing I have begun proofreading it on commutes and during my lunch breaks. Did I also mention I have a wife and one year old son at home I try to spend maximum time with?

Things are more than a little busy and to be honest, something’s got to give soon.

Priority number one is my family. Work follows that cause of course, “baby always needs a new pair of shoes!” Then comes running and then the book BUT, there has been a change for me with regards to the last two.

Running has been a major part of my life since I began training for my first full marathon in 2008. It has made me healthier, happy and I have achieved many personal goals doing it. I was also able to raise almost $4000.00 earlier this year for disaster relief in the Tohoku region of Japan through running. Running is good.

The thing that is beginning to wear on me these days is that as I come near the end of my first major writing project, I am beginning to love writing far more than running. There is a serious conflict there because both take up a major portion of my time and to do either one of them well, you need a lot of time.

In recent weeks, as I wake up at 4:30 am to get outside for a training run, I find myself wishing that I was sitting down and working on my book instead. Marathon training has become a chore. Writing has become a joy.

So, here’s the plan. I of course need to prepare for the upcoming Osaka and Kobe marathons, but once they are finished, I’m going to step back from running full marathons in 2012. The training simply takes too much time and once I finish “Teaching in Asia: Tales and the real deal”, I already have another writing project in mind.

I won’t give up running though. It’s simply too much fun. The other night I ran a rather quick (for me) 5k. I was surprised that I was able to run a very hill-filled 5k in a hair less than 23 minutes. What could I do if I seriously trained and even had some racing flats? Can I run a 20-minute 5k in the new year? How about a 45-minute 10k?

In the 2012 I plan to register for several 5 and 10k road races and we’ll see if I can be fast. The training won’t be nearly as time consuming and I can still run a few times a week.

My plan is to focus on my writing once Kobe Marathon is in the bag. My family will be a major focus as well.

You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Running in Osaka

Today was a lot of fun. This was the first day of my Osaka and Kobe Marathon training cycle. That's right. Two marathons this Fall and they are three weeks apart. That may be too much running for many, not a lot for others, but for me, it's just right (or at least I think it is).

Today I went into Osaka and met a couple of fine gentlemen in Osaka Castle Park. I met @samurairunning and @runlikeustoleit from Twitter for a 6.94km run around the park. It was a hot and sweaty afternoon, but it was a lot of fun to meet two very interesting guys and fellow runners.


Here is an image of the run we made this afternoon in Osaka. Apparently, we ran through the castle moat at one point. I assume the GPS was just a little off.

I also shot a couple of quick video as I went home. This was really my first time walking through the newly rebuilt Osaka Station. It's pretty sweet!

10 Goals to Shoot For

Although this is not the beginning of a new year I thought I would map out a few of my goals for the rest of this year. I suppose like so many out there, I have goals, large and small that I often think about, but am also guilty of “only” thinking about as opposed to seeing them through.

1. Get back in the habit of posting on this blog more often. I really like writing here and earlier this year, when I was writing consistently, the number of readers here was constantly growing. Time to jump back in a keep developing this great readership!

2. Continue my charity work. As of writing this blog, my Running to Help Japan project is at 52% of my goal. I have raised more than $2500 for Save the Children Japan. Although this charity project I started has been time consuming (spreading the word through social networking) and the training itself, it has been beyond satisfying! I plan to keep it going throughout the year.

3. Learn more about being a good father and husband. I’m just an average guy who can always make room for improvement! I think I am already a good family man, but I know I can focus more on spending quality and meaningful time with the two greatest people in my life; my wife and son!

4. Kick butt in this years’ Osaka Marathon. I was lucky to land a slot in the first Osaka Marathon on October 30, 2011. I am excited to run in another major event. My best marathon time is 3hrs 59mins. I plan to run this one n 3hrs 40mins!

5. To write honest and interesting pieces on this blog (excluding this one of course…hehe).

6. I plan to write my first children’s novel/storybook. I have been a teacher for almost 10 years now. For the past 3 years I have been teaching young learners. I have read hundreds of children’s storybooks. I have my own personal collection of children’s literature here at home. I love storybooks and fun novels for young readers. I’ve been thinking about writing my own for several years now. I realize I have the ability and think I know a fair amount about children’s tastes. This year, I’m going to stop thinking about and get around to doing it! I plan to use my class as a great resource. They’ll be perfect for running my ideas buy and testing material on.

7. Begin re-growing my hair. Never mind…that one isn’t achievable!

8. Refocus my creative energies away from You Tube (I’ve lost the joy for video blogging and it’s no longer rewarding or me) to writing, blogging and possibly podcasting.

9. Focus on life after Japan. Time to seriously begin my teaching career in Canada. Research (where to live) and job hunting will begin this year. I will not limit myself by geography. There is a teacher surplus in many parts of Canada so we will go to an area that has a need.

10. Spend an amazing Christmas holiday in Canada. I’m looking forward to introducing my son to his grandparents and family in Canada, in person. Also, Canadian pizza, Tim Hortons breakfast sandwiches and Sleeman’s Honey Brown Ale are high on my list of priorities!

Osaka Marathon Time 大阪マラソン2011

This blog has three basic themes, life as an educator, living in Japan and running. Today’s post is a mix of running and life in Japan.

All right, today the registration for the 1st Osaka Marathon 大阪マラソン opened. It was supposed to start at 10am this morning, but then got bumped up to 11am. Similar to the Tokyo Marathon, registration will be open for one month and it will be a lottery. If you are interested in running in the Kansai Region’s first major international marathon you apply and then sit back with your fingers crossed. At some point in late April they will announce the lucky 28,000 folks who get to run the full marathon.

I’m really hoping I get selected after last fall’s disappointment with the Tokyo Marathon 東京マラソン. I was selected in 2009 to run the 2010 Tokyo Marathon. That run was the time of my life. I was so happy to have done it and I applied to run in this year’s as well. Unfortunately I didn’t make the cut. Although many other folks I know were selected to run again, I wasn’t. To be honest, I think people who apply from outside of Japan have a far better chance (if not guaranteed) to be selected in the race (Tokyo Marathon) than those applying from within Japan!

Last fall, when I ran the Osaka Yodogawa Marathon I ran a sub 4-hour marathon. I have to admit that I trained well for the race, but was a little lazy and could have trained much harder. For the Osaka Marathon I put my “hoped” time as 3hrs 45mins. I think this time will be completely achievable if I add more tempo runs and more sprint training.

The Tokyo Marathon has a relatively short history, but has brought a great deal of attention to the city of Tokyo as well as a huge infusion of money into the Tokyo economy. I suppose Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto are looking for the same financial windfall! That’s why 2011 will see the first Osaka Marathon on October 30, the first Kobe Marathon will be at some point in November and Kyoto will have their first full marathon sometime in early 2012.

It’s shaping up to be a fun running year in this part of Japan!

On a side note, I was really surprised by the most recent poll I placed on my blog. I asked readers to vote on the Japanese city they would most likely want to visit. The results:

Sapporo 28%
Tokyo 21%
Kobe 14%
Osaka 14%
Kyoto 14%
Fukuoka: 8%

That’s right. Most people who voted wanted to see Sapporo. I haven’t been there yet, but I hope I get the chance.

Osaka Marathon Website now in English

FINALLY! The Osaka Marathon has an English web page!

Registration begins on february 15th. I'll be registering that day for sure :)