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!

Run Cause It's Fun

Running is something I am passionate about and that is why I created the You Tube channel named "Run CauseItsFun." I have 16 videos on my new channel and this was my first interview with a fellow runner! Hope you enjoy.

Kobe Marathon Eve

I thought it appropriate to make my "blog writing comeback" on the eve of the first ever Kobe Marathon. This one will be a big deal for the city of Kobe where live. The first marathon in Japan was run here more than 100 years ago and tomorrow morning, 18,000 runners will start running from Sannomiya to the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and then finish on Port Island. I will be one of those runners.

This will be my second full marathon in 3 weeks. To be honest, until last week was feeling the effects of Osaka Marathon. Although a great marathon itself, Osaka was somewhat of a personal disappointment. I went into that race sick and weak. I was running strong until a few km's past the half and then I fell apart. I finished in a decent time, but nowhere near my goal.

I'm excited about tomorrow for a few reasons. First, it's in Kobe. I love Kobe. This is simply a wonderful city to live and and I'm looking forward to running on the same streets I have spent hundreds of hours on. I've seen most of the route at one time or another on long runs and there are some great sights.

Another great thing is that some of my students plan to come out to cheer me on. I know where some of them will be and I hope I get the chance to see them.

The finish line is on Port Island and a ten minute walk from my house. That is going to be super great. I can stumble home with ease when all is said and done.

If you are a twitter user you can send me a tweet of support tomorrow morning. You can find me here on Twitter. I use the RunMeter running app on my iPhone and when people send me a tweet, a voice reads it out loud to me. It is a lot of fun. The Kobe Marathon kicks off tomorrow morning at 9:00am Japan Standard Time.

Another little piece of great news. I now, after many years without one, have a laptop. This means that once the busy times at work ease up a little, I will be back to "Teaching Asia: Tales and the Real Deal." my book will be wrapped up sooner than later I hope. A lot of great stuff is already complete and I've almost finished proofreading the first draft. Mind you, I have decided to ad some more to it.

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!

The Hardest Day of my Life

I completed my 60 kilometer ultra marathon to raise money for Save the Children Japan last week. Here is a little more about the run:



Here is some more about the actually running data for the entire run. this was collected by the Runmeter app I used on my iPhone to track the run.



"Running to Help Japan 60km" Splits

Kilometer 01 - Average 6:41 /km
Kilometer 02 - Average 6:14 /km
Kilometer 03 - Average 6:01 /km
Kilometer 04 - Average 6:20 /km
Kilometer 05 - Average 6:22 /km
Kilometer 06 - Average 6:12 /km
Kilometer 07 - Average 7:15 /km
Kilometer 08 - Average 6:23 /km
Kilometer 09 - Average 5:45 /km
Kilometer 10 - Average 6:37 /km
Kilometer 11 - Average 6:15 /km
Kilometer 12 - Average 6:27 /km
Kilometer 13 - Average 6:25 /km
Kilometer 14 - Average 5:23 /km
Kilometer 15 - Average 5:51 /km
Kilometer 16 - Average 6:17 /km
Kilometer 17 - Average 6:25 /km
Kilometer 18 - Average 6:02 /km
Kilometer 19 - Average 5:58 /km
Kilometer 20 - Average 7:31 /km
Kilometer 21 - Average 6:36 /km
Kilometer 22 - Average 6:07 /km
Kilometer 23 - Average 8:19 /km
Kilometer 24 - Average 6:56 /km
Kilometer 25 - Average 7:10 /km
Kilometer 26 - Average 6:48 /km
Kilometer 27 - Average 7:39 /km
Kilometer 28 - Average 5:46 /km
Kilometer 29 - Average 6:05 /km
Kilometer 30 - Average 6:19 /km
Kilometer 31 - Average 5:48 /km
Kilometer 32 - Average 6:37 /km
Kilometer 33 - Average 5:15 /km
Kilometer 34 - Average 8:24 /km
Kilometer 35 - Average 6:06 /km
Kilometer 36 - Average 6:46 /km
Kilometer 37 - Average 5:34 /km
Kilometer 38 - Average 6:15 /km
Kilometer 39 - Average 6:10 /km
Kilometer 40 - Average 6:21 /km
Kilometer 41 - Average 7:19 /km
Kilometer 42 - Average 6:13 /km
Kilometer 43 - Average 10:46 /km
Kilometer 44 - Average 6:45 /km
Kilometer 45 - Average 6:19 /km
Kilometer 46 - Average 7:54 /km
Kilometer 47 - Average 7:04 /km
Kilometer 48 - Average 5:53 /km
Kilometer 49 - Average 10:25 /km
Kilometer 50 - Average 6:20 /km
Kilometer 51 - Average 7:49 /km
Kilometer 52 - Average 6:18 /km
Kilometer 53 - Average 6:49 /km
Kilometer 54 - Average 5:29 /km
Kilometer 55 - Average 6:13 /km
Kilometer 56 - Average 7:09 /km
Kilometer 57 - Average 5:43 /km
Kilometer 58 - Average 7:45 /km
Kilometer 59 - Average 6:49 /km
Kilometer 60 - Average 6:04 /km







Next stop....Osaka Marathon on October 30th. After that, Kobe Marathon on November 20th.

Running to Help Japan: I Did It!

Long story short, "I did it!" Today was the big day for Running to Help Japan. Today was my 60km run. I completed the entire 60 kilometers in 6:38:55.

This was easily the most difficult thing I have ever done. i have never experienced so much pain or emotion doing something. Now, I have heat rash on my feet, an amazing sunburn (I applied sunscreen several times) and VERY sore legs.

I can't wait to go to bed early tonight.

Tomorrow, I will write a detailed run report and tell you guys all a lot more. Now, I sleep!




I dedicate this to everyone who supported me through this journey!

What's next?

Japanese Booze Shops and Fast Shoes

I went for a run this morning in my new shiny and fast shoes. While out on the road, I felt inspired. I shot three video blogs and put them on my "jlandkev" You Tube channel.

Here they are:

Game On for Running to Help Japan

Running to Help Japan is GO on June 25th, 2011....at about 5:00am.

Recovering

There were many long weeks in the build up and last Sunday it all came to an end. I ran the Tokyo Marathon on what was the most miserable weather experience for me while on a run. It was pouring rain and at times the rain changed to snow and freezing rain. The wet and cold wreaked havoc on my knees. I normally never have knee issues, but they were aching and causing my problems by 15 km. I got through the experience though and am very glad I did it.

What got me were the thousands of people lining the entire marathon route cheering us all on. There was an energy and excitement in the air that I had never experienced before. When the pain felt like it was getting too much, the cheers and songs of people put a smile on my face and gave me a little extra kick to my stride.

There were so many people who had obviously made their own sweets, cookies and bread and brought them down to the race course just to give them to the tired runners. The stretch between kilometers 28-35 (the wall) were especially filled with kind people cheering extra hard and giving candy and chocolate to all the runners (especially the ones who looked like they were hitting the wall).

Would I run Tokyo again? Absolutely. I think it is a very worthwhile destination marathon for anyone!



Proud and tired runners just received their finisher towels. Everyone was very quiet and moving slowly.


The race finish was held at Tokyo Big Sight. Little did I know but as the marathon was finishing there was a tsunami warning for the same area as a result of the Chile earthquake.


As you can see, it was very wet at the beginning of the marathon. In fact, it was wet for the majority of it.


I plan to continue training. By Friday I should be ready to hit the road again. My goal is to run a marathon this Fall under 4 hours. Ideally around 3 hours 50 minutes. That's what i am shooting for! Expect my face to look slimmer in future pictures!

I will be posting a 5 part series of videos about my Tokyo Marathon experience on You Tube. Stay tuned.

Running, Sundays and Fevers

I had a great run yesterday afternoon. It was a sunny and warm day here in Kobe and I went for about 12 km. I was supposed to run again this evening, but the rain, fog and cold were telling me not to go. I was also really tired. It wasn't a normal tired. Sure, I have been running 6 nights a week as well as going to Japanese class twice a week, but this tired felt a little weird. As the afternoon and evening have gone on, I have felt stranger and sure enough, I now have a fever. Hopefully I will feel better in the morning. I really have to get on the road and pound out some kilometers. As of tomorrow it will officially be 28 days until the Tokyo Marathon and I still have a lot of work to do.

Yesterday was a cool day because after my run, my wife checked the mail and I received to very cool running related packages. One was my bib number exchange certificate for the Tokyo Marathon. I will bring that to the race expo the day before the race and get my race number and timing chip. I also received a very cool package from the United States. My friend and fellow runner/You Tuber, John Pham (Phampants) sent me some running gels. I mentioned in a recent You Tube video that I use Power Bar gels and another kind called Carbo Shotz. many commenters recommended using Cliff Shots or GU, but I can't get either of those brands here in japan.


Here is the treasure trove of running goodness sent to me from Chicago. If you are reading this John, you can expect something cool coming your way in the mail later in the week!

I almost forgot to mention that in two weeks from today I will be running in a half-marathon. I did the same one last year and loved it due to the convenience factor. Although not a very scenic run, the Kobe Love Run Valentine's Half Marathon (now there is a mouthful) goes on right outside y door. The start line is literally a 10 minute walk from my apartment. This should be a nice motivator before Tokyo!

More running

Yesterday saw me run about 22 km. It was a long run and next Sunday I plan to do between 25-30 km. Often people ask me what I listen to while I am running. I suppose that I am a fan of podcasts. One of the first things I do every morning is eagerly start iTunes and hit refresh on my podcasts to see what new ones have come down the pipe. At times I choose music, but about %95 of the time while I trudge through the kilometers, I like to listen to shows about current affairs, politics, arts, culture and technology.

My favorite podcasts to listen to are as follows (not listed in any particular order):

1. Stuff You Should Know
2. Diggnation
3. Q
4. DNTO (Definitely Not the Opera)
5. Spark
6. Seoul Podcast
7. Search Engine
8. As it Happens
9. The Current
10. Vinyl Cafe

There are others I listen to of course, but I suppose that these are the main ones I always come back to and enjoy the most.

Do Monsters Like Poo?

Quick excerpt from a conversation yesterday between myself and one of my students:

Student: "Mr. O'Shea."
Me: "Yes."
Student: "Do monsters like poo?"
Me: "I don't know. I think some might, but most probably don't."
Student: "Do monsters drink poo?"
Me: "No, I don't think monsters do that."



Yep. It's too weird for even my creative brain to make up! Previous to this discussion, my class was watching the movie Monsters Inc. In one scene in the movie, a monster was drinking a cup of coffee. Some students argued that it was coffee, while others thought it was feces! Kids can have a warped way of looking at things sometimes!


On another note, I posted a video this morning on You Tube showing some of the problems I've faced over the years that I've been abroad when it comes to speaking on the telephone. It's amazing how much we rely on nonverbal cues when speaking to someone who doesn't use English.


Culture Shock: The Telephone

Here's the original.


Ah....tomorrow morning I'm running in the Kobe Valentine's Love Run. That's right!! I didn't make that name up either. That's the name of the race I'm entered in. I'll be running the half-marathon starting at 10:30am.