Busy Day in Izumo

Time: 22:51
Distance: 3.01 miles
Pace: 7:36
Map

I'm going to be posting my workouts backwards in order to keep the most recent stuff fresh.

This afternoon the Ivy League team had lunch with the new Mayor of Izumo and members of the Japanese collegiate organization (I believe IEAUJ). The lunch was at a French restaurant like it was 2 years ago, but this time the mayor had changed. The previous mayor was a charismatic guy who was able to express his love for the Ivy League and running with broken English. The new mayor chose to speak through a translator which was fine but seems very formal. The lunch was amazing with several courses and lots to drink. Gifts were exchanged along with awkward nods and smiles.

After lunch we all went to the Taisha Shrine that I wrote about the last time I was here. However, this year the largest and oldest part of the shrine is under construction and obstructed from view. That being said, we did get to the Izumo museum that explains why the city is where the "Gods and legends" originated. A few months ago during an excavation some artifacts were found which are now in the museum. It is important for our team to learn a bit about the city that is so graciously hosting us. During the the self-guided tour we received PS2 devices to listen to the explanations of most display cases. I learned some but it was hard to take everything in when the labels are all in Japanese.

Next, we drove to the community athletic area where there are two outdoor tracks, an indoor swimming facility, soccer fields, baseball fields and more. The main outdoor track is one of the top 5 facilities Lucas Meyer has ever seen. I'm not sure what those other 4 would be, but the stadium is pretty cool. Our team went on a short double run and did a few strides on the grass and track.

I was getting pretty tired by the end of our outing and was ready to return to the hotel. At dinner three of us got the "Izumo Gozan" meal which had a little bit of everything. From what I can recall it had sashimi, beef, pickled vegetable, miso soup, crab, rice, salmon on salad, cold pork?, and a few small plates that resembled endangered species. I at least tried everything. More than half was good, a quarter was edible but not my favorite and the remainder only got the first bite.