Monday, January 11, 2010

I love my body...

Not because it's perfect and there's nothing I want to improve, but because it allows me to accomplish amazing things. After almost 3 weeks off from any real cardio I went for a 5 mile run on Sunday and I was fine. I was more than fine. It felt great to run!
How did I do it, you ask? With my Relax Flavored Water, of course.
I've mentioned before that I love that there are vending machines everywhere here in Okinawa. It means I don't have to carry a water bottle, just a 100 yen coin and I'm good to go. At the end of mile 4 I knew I only had a mile left, but I was parched. This water, which was really lemon flavored not relaxed flavor, helped me push through. What's something that I don't take on runs?
That's right, Rana is the worst running dog ever! Let her off leash at the beach and she will tear it up with speed and boundless energy. Put her on a leash and take her for a run and I swear you can hear her spotty feet dragging on the pavement. She just gets bored out of her little dog mind. I can make her suffer through a 2 mile loop, but that's about it. Any suggestions?
Alrighty, enough dog talk, back to the run. I was trying out a new route that Chris had told me about. The one thing he forgot to mention is that on weekends there is a local market (think flea market mixed with farmer's market) lining both sides of the narrow street. At first the congestion annoyed me because I didn't want to slow down, but then I got all zen and went with the moment. Some of the locals clapped and cheered me on with "Gambate!" (You can do it! Keep going!) It was fun and made me feel like a rock star. Besides some thirst and tired legs on the last uphill I felt great the entire run. The human body is amazing.
Backing up a little, last weekend Chris and I were on a mission to wear out the dog. We decided that we would walk her to Kurashiki Dam, let her run around, and come home. The dam is a little over 5km away from our house. So we wound up going a total of close to 7 miles that day. We had a great time.
We're convinced that Rana is meant to be an agility dog so we had her jumping over chains and walking on walls.
From a distance we saw this floating bridge that looked like fun and seemed to lead to a little wooded island. We were bummed when we got to it and found out it was closed. I guess we'll just have to go back another time.
On the way home we decided to speed up the journey and run a little. We made it maybe 2km and it ended in a coughing, spitting mess. I guess I wasn't ready to jog at that point. I know this isn't an overly attractive picture, but Chris' expression cracks me up.
For a little cultural highlight, here's a treat my student, Michiko, brought me. It's very common to bring back small presents for friends and family when you travel. Michiko is from Ishigaki, a small island close to Okinawa known for its beauty and its huge spring triathlon. Apparently, they are also known for their salt. Michiko brought me a little box of chocolate bars that contain Ishigaki salt. I was a little hesitant, but it is delicious! It's the perfect combo of sweet and salty!
This Saturday we had our friends, the Wheelers, over for a game of Settlers. This just might be the best board game ever!
It is all about strategy and creating cities and settlements. You have to protect your cities from pirates and robbers by purchasing knights. It really is fantastic. My sister, Monica, gave it to me for Christmas. When I told her we had played she sounded very doubtful when she asked if we had fun. When she was buying it she had read the description and had decided that this is not a game you could play while drinking cocktails. I'm with her on that assessment because I was sober as a judge and was still having difficulty keeping up with every aspect of the game. If you're looking for a great game that can fill an afternoon, definitely check out Settler's!
I hope everyone has a great week!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure. Narrow bridges on large bodies of water don't really do it for me. You're braver than I am!

Unknown said...

Glad you are back into exercise again and felt good. Brandy and Kim are now safely in Georgia for a week.

Tyler Tuszynski said...

Chris is really starting to look like his dad.

Courtney said...

Yeah..."relaxed flavored water" in my world is MGD 64. HA!!!!
I always think we should get Georgie into agility too...a good way to direct her natural border collie tendencies. A tired dog is a good dog!
You guys are too cute btw!
Courtney
adventures in tri-ing

Unknown said...

Salty and sweet - remember those vanilla powergels that changed their recipe!

Chris and Amy said...

Oh Mandy! Those powergels made me want to gag. After marathon training ALL power gels made me want to gag. I'm going to have to find different nutrition if I want to do any endurance activities.

Unknown said...

How did the jelly beans fare that you used for a while.

Chris and Amy said...

They were ok, but when I was sick in Edinburgh I had been eating those so they're never too apppealing these days. :)

skoshi said...

Just wanted to drop in and say *hi.* I found you when I was reading Athena Diary's blog (friend of mine), and then found you were in Japan. "Gabate", vending machine's, "Don't u want some salty with your sweet?" (that's my mother)--made me homesick reading. I hope to be out that way next spring for the "big triathlon." I'm in NM also. My blog hasn't been attended to recently, but it does have local race reports if you're interested in looking back. Thanks for your great posts. I plan to drop by again. "Mata ne" perhaps sometime!

skoshi said...

Just wanted to drop in and say *hi.* I found you when I was reading Athena Diary's blog (friend of mine), and then found you were in Japan. "Gabate", vending machine's, "Don't u want some salty with your sweet?" (that's my mother)--made me homesick reading. I hope to be out that way next spring for the "big triathlon." I'm in NM also. My blog hasn't been attended to recently, but it does have local race reports if you're interested in looking back. Thanks for your great posts. I plan to drop by again. "Mata ne" perhaps sometime!

Anonymous said...

SO happy you're finally well enough to run. Mom and I are doing 9 tomorrow and my throat is a little scratchy so I'm hoping it improves in the next 12 hours.

I can't believe that dog won't run. She looks built to run. So sad. I wish Amber could run with me but it's never happened.

Oh well. I hate to have to stop for them to sniff, pee, etc anyway so maybe it's better I run alone.

Have a great week and save some of that candy for me (salty/sweet).