Japan Day 1: Marathon Expo

Konnichiwa! After breakfast, we made our way to Tokyo Big Sight (convention center) to meet up with our friends Kim and Steve and to pick up our race packets. After accidentally going the wrong way on the subway, we finally got to our destination. It was chilly where we were waiting so we decided to try a can of coffee from one of the many vending machines that are all over the city. Not only was the coffee tasty, it was hot. Mmmm mmm.

The race expo wasn't anything spectacular.

Came across my first "squat toilet". Lets just say it's not my first choice. I'll definitely be avoiding these after the marathon since my legs may not let me stand back up.

The highlight our day was probably the "sushi go-round" restaurant we went to for lunch. Basically, you sit around a bar that has a conveyor belt of different kinds of sushi going around. You grab what you want - the sushi is priced based on the plate color it's on - then they tally up your plates when you're done eating. Steve and I paid about $25 for about 24 pieces of sushi. BTW, they're not chintzy on the fish here; they put about 2-3 times more fish on their sushi than we get at home.

Tonight Steve and I strolled around Takashiyama Times Square which is an 8-floor shopping center. One part of the building was like going to Macy's, the other side called Tokyu Hands reminded me of Wal-mart/Target in that it had a little bit of everything. Our favorite floor was the 8th where they had the biggest selection paper clips, pens, and pencils I've ever seen.

Besides not understanding a word of Japanese (ok, I know a few words), the hardest thing to get used to is how polite everyone is. No pushing and shoving to get on the subway; they actually wait for people to get off the train before they get in. Every store we went into the employees greet you; I'm not sure what they're saying but they all say something. Tonight while walking through the department store, each employee that we passed bowed and greeted us.

Okay, that's it for tonight. My roomie has been sound asleep for the last hour and I should probably be doing the same since I have a marathon to run tomorrow.

Flight to Narita

Our flight to Narita was pretty uneventful. The flight ended up taking off about 40 minutes later than it was supposed to. We sat in an emergency exit row so we had about 10 feet of open space between us. I have to say that ANA is far better than any domestic carrier I've flown on. Blankets and pillows for everyone including us "poor" schmucks in coach, friendly and helpful, flight attendants, and tasty eats made the 15-hour journey much more tolerable. I particularly enjoyed the rice cracker snacks (no peanuts or pretzels here) and the noodles, stir-fry pork and rice, and Haagen Daz ice cream. The only odd part of the meal was the random selection of Italian apps - I'm not really sure how mozarella and roasted red peppers fit into this.


Unfortunately, neither one of us slept much. The infant who screamed for about 10 of the 15 hours might have something to do with this. Once we got to Narita we had to take about an hour-long train ride to Tokyo Station to transfer to another train. MADNESS! Tokyo Station was so ridiculously crowded and busy; it felt like we had stepped into a swarm of bees. It took us about 20 minutes to figure out which line we needed to transfer to. I thought the chaos was done, but when we got to Shinjuku Station (near where our hotel is located) we found that we couldn't quite figure out how to get out. Seriously. The station is huge! It's basically an underground shopping mall + train/subway station in one. It didn't help that we were both so exhausted (remember, we had been up since 6am EST Thursday, and it was now Friday around 4:30am EST) and brain dead by this point. A couple was kind enough to ask us if we needed help and guided us to the street and helped us find our hotel.

It was only 8:30pm local time when we finally got to our shoebox-sized hotel room but we opted to dine on an assortment of beef jerky and trail mix that we had brought and crash.

So far, so good

On-time so far. A good thing since it's gonna take us 15 hours to get there. We should arrive in Japan when you're drooling on your pillow (around Friday, 2:20am EST).

Packing light

I admit, I'm a chronic over-packer. I'm one of those people who packs six outfits for a weekend trip just in case.

Since we're going to be taking the train around Japan, I really wanted to make an effort to pack light. From what I've read, the trains don't have a lot of room, plus I didn't want to schlepp a humungo-sized suitcase from the train stations to our hotels. In order for me to do this whole "packing light" thing, I knew it was going to take some planning and perhaps a load of laundry while we're away. My friends, I think I've done it.

In my 22" x 14" x 9" bag, I have managed to fit:

• 2 pairs of shoes
• 4 pairs of pants, including 2 pairs of jeans
• 7 long-sleeved shirts, 3 short-sleeved shirts
• 1 cardigan
• 2 sets of running clothes and a running jacket (yes, there's only one race but who knows what the temps will be like that day)
• Undies, toiletries, and a few other random things like camera cables

While these outfits aren't going to land me on the cover of Vogue magazine, each top was selectively chosen because it could go with every pair of pants.

It may not be a big deal to you, but for me this is a huge accomplishment. And yes, it does close without me having to sit on it!

Ski Jump Practice - Part 2

Ski Jump Practice

I completely forgot that I had taken videos last summer while we were in Lake Placid. Enjoy!

Maybe I am from Mars

Steve got me a Garmin! He bought one for himself a few weeks ago and he knew I've been wanting one especially since my Polar HR monitor has been on the fritz lately. He swears this isn't a "VD" Day gift. Still, I can't help but feel that maybe I'm from Mars and he's from Venus.


I plan to try my new toy out on tomorrow's run. We'll be running the same 4.7 mile route that we ran today, but instead of the 4 loops we did today, we'll only be running 2 loops. Yes - running the same loop 4 times did get boring. Unfortunately, it's slim-pickins since the snow has covered the W&OD, the C&O canal is closed off, and the trails at Great Falls have about 30 inches according the friendly park ranger I spoke to yesterday.

Free Running

Our office is actually closed today (WOOT)! While I was sipping my coffee and watching HGTV, I saw a commercial on free running and found this. You know ~ something for me to try when the whole trail running thing in nature gets old. LOL.

In need of a little whine...

Didn't we just finish digging the Great Wall of NoVA?

10-20 INCHES?!

I'm dreaming of...

hazy, hot, and humid summer days. Snowzilla, Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse. Whatever you want to call it, it's here.Fortunately, our power was back on when we woke up this morning. Unfortunately, the cable is out. I've decided to milk this snowstorm for what it's worth and knit myself into oblivion. I'm working on this vest but am not seeing how it's going to get to its finished state based on how it looks right now.

Time will tell.

BTW, what's up with those neighbors who insist on shoveling their driveways while it's still snowing? Overachievers? I say, enjoy the free pass to laziness.

Pour Me a Drink!

Nathan Infinity 2L hydration pack for wo-men... because there are no snack bars out on the trail.