Time: 60:10
Distance: ~8.6 miles
Today started in Tokyo and ended with a run in Charlotte. There was no sight seeing today as our bus left for the airport around 11:00 am. I had to get breakfast, Skype and pack up all my dirty clothes. Traveling for a race is always fun but figuring out what to do with gross clothes, gifts and not combining the two isn't. We got to the airport with tons of time to blow our remaining yen in the gift malls. I purchased a few items for my boys in Let Me Run who will probably not enjoy any of them. I got sardines, a bean curd dessert and another traditional Japanese snack.
The flight back to the states was uneventful. I asked for an exit row and slept most of the way which made for a boring time. I wanted to do a bit of reading and perhaps watch some movies, but that didn't happen. When we arrived in Chicago the customs lines were longer than usual. I had a two hour layover, but it turned out that I only had about 30 minutes to get to my gate. I arrived just as the plane was boarding and I situated myself for the final flight back to the Queen City.
I picked up my bags, found the car and key that Meagan left in long term parking a day earlier and drove home. When I got home I unpacked some of my clothes for the wash and opted to get in a run. I only wanted 5 miles, but I was feeling good and turned it into an hour long jaunt. I got home and had trouble sleeping so I messed around reading blogs and explored the intertubes before ending my second Thursday of the week.
Showing posts with label tokyo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tokyo. Show all posts
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tokyo Tour By Foot
Time: 81:56
Distance: ~10.5 miles
This day was jammed packed with activity and fun. A small portion of the team ate breakfast buffet style at one of the three eating locations in the hotel. I won't bore you with the details today, but after we all returned to our miniature hotel rooms to sort out our day. We've been staying in business hotels where there is not a whole lot to the individual rooms. However we were only able to relax for a few minutes until we were being beckoned downstairs to the lobby. We then walked over to the Shinjuku train station to start our day of sight seeing. Apparently over 10 million people pass through this station every day too. The Tokyo station map also makes the New York City subway system look like the Charlotte rail system.
Everyone thought that we were heading for the Imperial Palace but we later learned that we weren't. Remember with Yoshi leading the way you never really know or understand where the team is heading. We jumped on one train only to soon realize it was going in the wrong direction. We got off and ultimately navigated our way to the destination of Asakusa which is a Buddhist temple and pagoda. At the time we didn't really know where we were and had to figure it out on our own since it definitely wasn't the Imperial Palace. There was a long row of tourist trap shops that led right up to the grounds of the temple.
Entrance to the grounds.
Sight after the tourist shops and approaching the pagoda.
Don't mess with this guy!
Golden spire.
Buddha and Mr. Ben Stern.
Large koi fish willing to eat anything, not that we tried to feed them.
The new Tokyo tower in construction.
We had our fill of of Buddha after a couple of hours and everyone wanted to get back to the hotel in order to meet Brett Larner of Japan Running News. He runs an absolutely fantastic blog about the Japanese running scene which is relatively unknown in the US. He also manages a couple athletes, does translation for Adidas Japan, plays a traditional Japanese instrument, coaches a group of amateur athletes and I'm sure much more. I have followed his blog for a couple of years now and when the opportunity presented itself to meet up I wanted to make it happen.
Zac Hine navigated subway system beautifully and we were back at the hotel around 12:20 pm. The plan was to meet Brett and go on a running tour of the Imperial Palace. It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon by killing two birds with one stone. Everyone was suited up in their running costumes for the jog over to the Palace. Perhaps the best part of the run was picking Brett's brain about Japanese training methods, the university system, the professional corporate teams, the Japanese running market and the running boom that is currently taking place.
Japanese Training Methods: We were told top runners in Japan run 1000 kilometers a month. Do the math. That's 620 miles a month. Do the math. That's 155 miles a week. The Japanese also often train in Tokyo where most of the surface is concrete. We were also shown where I believe it was Toshihiko Seko ran 80 laps of a 1300 meter loop in the middle of the city on a relatively regular basis. That's 100k right there! Seko is also know for his quote, "The marathon is my only girlfriend, I give her everything I have."
The University System: The Japanese collegiate system is much different than the NCAA in terms of the fall racing season. Essentially there are three big ekiden races which are the Izumo Ekiden (the one we just ran), the National University Ekiden and the Hakone Ekiden. They each get progressively longer in distance and prestige. For example, the Hakone Ekiden is held over two days, averages about 20k per leg, and requires 10 runners from each school. There are some legendary stages that Japanese runners take enormous pride in. In fact, most Japanese runners who are good enough to go run for a professional corporate team after high school, opt to go to college just to run in this race. One element of the race that I really like is that there are time limits and penalties to teams that fall too far behind. For instance, when the 5th leg on day one gets the team sash a clock is started and the remaining schools have a set amount of time to hand off. If they don't do so within that time frame, the runner is released wearing a white sash (aka white sash of shame). Brett said that every year there is a runner within 50 meters of being able to hand off the team sash and isn't able to do so. As a result, the team sash isn't able to continue on and the runner is left in tears for his shortcomings. I should also mention that 50 million people watch the Hakone Ekiden and the streets are lined with alumni, bands and entire towns. There really is nothing in the US that compares to this race. Think maybe the World Series Game 7 and NBA Finals Game 7. Combined.
Professional Corporate Teams: I didn't learn too much about the corporate teams, but every big company in Japan operates a professional team. Athletes are paid well to race and win for their company. Recently Arata Fujiwara, an athlete that Brett manages, decided to part ways with his corporate team in order to pursue the international marathon scene. This year Fujiwara won the Ottawa Marathon in 2:09:33 and will toe the line at the NYC Marathon in November. There is a funny story about him buying a computer if he did well. He ended up with much more than that due to his race winnings (ask me about it). His quote post-race is great too when he told the Ottawa Citizen, "When I drove the course earlier, I saw cafes and pubs and thought it would be nice to go in. Now that I've won, I'll have a few drinks." I'm not positive if the athlete runs for a corporate teams, but the guy who placed fourth in the World Junior XC this year lived a few blocks from the hotel in Tokyo where we stayed.
Japanese Running Market and Boom: Everyone in the states knows Asics and Mizuno. But what people don't know is that marathoning is getting much bigger in Japan for amateur runners like you or me. Races within an hour of Tokyo fill up almost immediately. Brett shared that the new Tokyo Marathon has close to 40,000 participants and that gaining entry is very difficult. More and more citizens are catching the running buzz similar to what took place in the US during the 80s. Also, the Japanese are big time consumers of fashion, technology and new products. We visited a running store and got to see some cool shoes that aren't in the US market.
Brett directed the run and brought us to the loop surrounding the Imperial Palace. It's a 5k loop that surrounds a moat which is the most popular running locale in Tokyo. The team did one loop asking questions about the royal family that is basically kept prisoner inside the palace. We were told that one of the princes is a recreational jogger and once he was allowed to run a loop outside the residence at 4:00 am. Individuals in the media still recognized him and snapped a couple photos.
The run was an out and back loop and we returned past the 1964 Olympic Stadium and got to see the Marathon Gate where Abebe Bikila entered to victory. I'm sure that I'm forgetting some of the other highlights of the run, but I did my best. On the way back we dropped in B&D Sports which is a run specialty store like Charlotte Running Co., Run For Your Life, Fleet Feet. They had tons of shoes, all the new apparel, nutrition, running on the tv and more.
Even in Tokyo I wanted to go visit a running store.
The Izumo Ekiden was on loop in the running store to Frank's chagrin. Our lead off man was really the only one who got air time. That little guy in front is Cosmas Ondiba.
The team and Yoshi listening to Brett on where to go in the Roppongi district of Japan.
Distance: ~10.5 miles
This day was jammed packed with activity and fun. A small portion of the team ate breakfast buffet style at one of the three eating locations in the hotel. I won't bore you with the details today, but after we all returned to our miniature hotel rooms to sort out our day. We've been staying in business hotels where there is not a whole lot to the individual rooms. However we were only able to relax for a few minutes until we were being beckoned downstairs to the lobby. We then walked over to the Shinjuku train station to start our day of sight seeing. Apparently over 10 million people pass through this station every day too. The Tokyo station map also makes the New York City subway system look like the Charlotte rail system.
Everyone thought that we were heading for the Imperial Palace but we later learned that we weren't. Remember with Yoshi leading the way you never really know or understand where the team is heading. We jumped on one train only to soon realize it was going in the wrong direction. We got off and ultimately navigated our way to the destination of Asakusa which is a Buddhist temple and pagoda. At the time we didn't really know where we were and had to figure it out on our own since it definitely wasn't the Imperial Palace. There was a long row of tourist trap shops that led right up to the grounds of the temple.
Entrance to the grounds.
Sight after the tourist shops and approaching the pagoda.
Don't mess with this guy!
Golden spire.
Buddha and Mr. Ben Stern.
Large koi fish willing to eat anything, not that we tried to feed them.
The new Tokyo tower in construction.Zac Hine navigated subway system beautifully and we were back at the hotel around 12:20 pm. The plan was to meet Brett and go on a running tour of the Imperial Palace. It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon by killing two birds with one stone. Everyone was suited up in their running costumes for the jog over to the Palace. Perhaps the best part of the run was picking Brett's brain about Japanese training methods, the university system, the professional corporate teams, the Japanese running market and the running boom that is currently taking place.
Japanese Training Methods: We were told top runners in Japan run 1000 kilometers a month. Do the math. That's 620 miles a month. Do the math. That's 155 miles a week. The Japanese also often train in Tokyo where most of the surface is concrete. We were also shown where I believe it was Toshihiko Seko ran 80 laps of a 1300 meter loop in the middle of the city on a relatively regular basis. That's 100k right there! Seko is also know for his quote, "The marathon is my only girlfriend, I give her everything I have."
The University System: The Japanese collegiate system is much different than the NCAA in terms of the fall racing season. Essentially there are three big ekiden races which are the Izumo Ekiden (the one we just ran), the National University Ekiden and the Hakone Ekiden. They each get progressively longer in distance and prestige. For example, the Hakone Ekiden is held over two days, averages about 20k per leg, and requires 10 runners from each school. There are some legendary stages that Japanese runners take enormous pride in. In fact, most Japanese runners who are good enough to go run for a professional corporate team after high school, opt to go to college just to run in this race. One element of the race that I really like is that there are time limits and penalties to teams that fall too far behind. For instance, when the 5th leg on day one gets the team sash a clock is started and the remaining schools have a set amount of time to hand off. If they don't do so within that time frame, the runner is released wearing a white sash (aka white sash of shame). Brett said that every year there is a runner within 50 meters of being able to hand off the team sash and isn't able to do so. As a result, the team sash isn't able to continue on and the runner is left in tears for his shortcomings. I should also mention that 50 million people watch the Hakone Ekiden and the streets are lined with alumni, bands and entire towns. There really is nothing in the US that compares to this race. Think maybe the World Series Game 7 and NBA Finals Game 7. Combined.
Professional Corporate Teams: I didn't learn too much about the corporate teams, but every big company in Japan operates a professional team. Athletes are paid well to race and win for their company. Recently Arata Fujiwara, an athlete that Brett manages, decided to part ways with his corporate team in order to pursue the international marathon scene. This year Fujiwara won the Ottawa Marathon in 2:09:33 and will toe the line at the NYC Marathon in November. There is a funny story about him buying a computer if he did well. He ended up with much more than that due to his race winnings (ask me about it). His quote post-race is great too when he told the Ottawa Citizen, "When I drove the course earlier, I saw cafes and pubs and thought it would be nice to go in. Now that I've won, I'll have a few drinks." I'm not positive if the athlete runs for a corporate teams, but the guy who placed fourth in the World Junior XC this year lived a few blocks from the hotel in Tokyo where we stayed.
Japanese Running Market and Boom: Everyone in the states knows Asics and Mizuno. But what people don't know is that marathoning is getting much bigger in Japan for amateur runners like you or me. Races within an hour of Tokyo fill up almost immediately. Brett shared that the new Tokyo Marathon has close to 40,000 participants and that gaining entry is very difficult. More and more citizens are catching the running buzz similar to what took place in the US during the 80s. Also, the Japanese are big time consumers of fashion, technology and new products. We visited a running store and got to see some cool shoes that aren't in the US market.
Brett directed the run and brought us to the loop surrounding the Imperial Palace. It's a 5k loop that surrounds a moat which is the most popular running locale in Tokyo. The team did one loop asking questions about the royal family that is basically kept prisoner inside the palace. We were told that one of the princes is a recreational jogger and once he was allowed to run a loop outside the residence at 4:00 am. Individuals in the media still recognized him and snapped a couple photos.
The run was an out and back loop and we returned past the 1964 Olympic Stadium and got to see the Marathon Gate where Abebe Bikila entered to victory. I'm sure that I'm forgetting some of the other highlights of the run, but I did my best. On the way back we dropped in B&D Sports which is a run specialty store like Charlotte Running Co., Run For Your Life, Fleet Feet. They had tons of shoes, all the new apparel, nutrition, running on the tv and more.
Even in Tokyo I wanted to go visit a running store.
The Izumo Ekiden was on loop in the running store to Frank's chagrin. Our lead off man was really the only one who got air time. That little guy in front is Cosmas Ondiba.Once back at the hotel I cleaned up and met Brett back downstairs for some more exploring. He, Steve, Sam and I went out to purchase some items at the running store, walk around and grab a couple pints at a small locally owned chain restaurant. I didn't catch the name of the joint, but Brett explained that the owner is a big time amateur runner and he started his own corporate team for "B level" athletes. Think of it as your Brooks-Hansons team for Japanese runners. While seated the waiter came up really apologetic and nervous to tell us that there was a two hour time limit for sitting in the booth.
The next stop was needing to get back to the hotel for dinner in one of the hotel restaurants. I invited Brett to stay since two of our team members were absent and there would be plenty of food and drink for all. Yoshi splurged on us and ordered a bunch of sashimi, tempura, rice dishes and pitchers of beer. The tuna at the dinner had to have been the most tender I've ever enjoyed. It literally melted/dissolved in your mouth. Johnny Photogs, Brett and I had a good conversation down at one end of the table that sort of wrapped up the whole international marathoning scene.
After dinner is when things got really out of hand. I will only post the photo below to document the tamest part of the evening when we were asking Brett where the real trouble could be found. We shotgunned Asahi, I had a versus battle with Frank and other guys got iced. We took the subway to the Roppongi district and tried to avoid the Nigerians where only lead you to shady strip joints. The club that we were looking for had closed down, but we asked a couple Irish guys and they told us where to go. When we got to the bar DJ Ibuki was scratching away on the 1s and 2s. He was surprisingly good and a whole rotation of djs followed his performance. The night ended when the old guys of the team (me, Ben and Steve) cabbed it back to the hotel only to find another Japanese guy completely passed out on the tile outside on of the hotel entrances. Nobody was around, just a guy flat on his face similar to the scene last night.
The next stop was needing to get back to the hotel for dinner in one of the hotel restaurants. I invited Brett to stay since two of our team members were absent and there would be plenty of food and drink for all. Yoshi splurged on us and ordered a bunch of sashimi, tempura, rice dishes and pitchers of beer. The tuna at the dinner had to have been the most tender I've ever enjoyed. It literally melted/dissolved in your mouth. Johnny Photogs, Brett and I had a good conversation down at one end of the table that sort of wrapped up the whole international marathoning scene.
After dinner is when things got really out of hand. I will only post the photo below to document the tamest part of the evening when we were asking Brett where the real trouble could be found. We shotgunned Asahi, I had a versus battle with Frank and other guys got iced. We took the subway to the Roppongi district and tried to avoid the Nigerians where only lead you to shady strip joints. The club that we were looking for had closed down, but we asked a couple Irish guys and they told us where to go. When we got to the bar DJ Ibuki was scratching away on the 1s and 2s. He was surprisingly good and a whole rotation of djs followed his performance. The night ended when the old guys of the team (me, Ben and Steve) cabbed it back to the hotel only to find another Japanese guy completely passed out on the tile outside on of the hotel entrances. Nobody was around, just a guy flat on his face similar to the scene last night.
The team and Yoshi listening to Brett on where to go in the Roppongi district of Japan.Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Going Back to Tokyo
Time: 48:51
Distance: ~7 miles
This morning I had a traditional Japanese breakfast instead of the Western option. The meal included fish, rice, fruit, egg plant, egg, salad, sticky beans and some other unidentifiable items. It was my first time having sticky beans which are bland to bitter in taste, full of protein and incredibly sticky. I think they are coated in some sort of enzyme that makes them difficult to eat with chopsticks and funny to watch. After grabbing food I went upstairs to pack up stuff for the trip back to Tokyo. I had to figure out what to do with all my sweaty, smelly clothes from the race as I didn't have time to wash anything in the sink. I packed rather quickly and had just enough time to grab a run back along the bike path. It was nice and easy for 25 minutes out and just over 23 on the return taking a little longer route on the way back in.
I only needed a few minutes to get ready to be back down in the lobby for a trip from the New WelCity Hotel in Izumo to the local airport. Security at the Izumo Airport was very different than what we have here in the US. The team carried several water bottles through, didn't take off our shoes and probably could have boarded without a ticket. It all seemed very safe and after a short flight to Haneda we were back in the Tokyo prefecture. We hopped a bus to our hotel and arrived around 3:00 pm which gave us plenty of time to get in trouble.
View from my hotel room. The start of the new Tokyo marathon is between the two walking bridges.
Who would have thought that finding a bathroom on Takashita Street would be so hard.
270! Yea! I have no idea what this sign says. Girls? Food? Drink?
The Japanese ride fixies too.
Typical Tokyo crosswalk at 11:30 pm.
Distance: ~7 miles
This morning I had a traditional Japanese breakfast instead of the Western option. The meal included fish, rice, fruit, egg plant, egg, salad, sticky beans and some other unidentifiable items. It was my first time having sticky beans which are bland to bitter in taste, full of protein and incredibly sticky. I think they are coated in some sort of enzyme that makes them difficult to eat with chopsticks and funny to watch. After grabbing food I went upstairs to pack up stuff for the trip back to Tokyo. I had to figure out what to do with all my sweaty, smelly clothes from the race as I didn't have time to wash anything in the sink. I packed rather quickly and had just enough time to grab a run back along the bike path. It was nice and easy for 25 minutes out and just over 23 on the return taking a little longer route on the way back in.
I only needed a few minutes to get ready to be back down in the lobby for a trip from the New WelCity Hotel in Izumo to the local airport. Security at the Izumo Airport was very different than what we have here in the US. The team carried several water bottles through, didn't take off our shoes and probably could have boarded without a ticket. It all seemed very safe and after a short flight to Haneda we were back in the Tokyo prefecture. We hopped a bus to our hotel and arrived around 3:00 pm which gave us plenty of time to get in trouble.
View from my hotel room. The start of the new Tokyo marathon is between the two walking bridges.The group headed out for an adventure early in the evening with Yoshi at the helm. We never really can tell where we are being taken when he starts off. The team typically gets lost at least once on the journey, but we eventually get there. This time we traveled to a district of Tokyo where we could shop and take in the night. The crosswalks were always jam packed with people getting off work and heading home. We wandered through Takashita Street which contained hundreds of little tourist shops that none of us really took advantage of. Two stores that we were interested in seeing were Nike Town and an Asics store. The Nike Town was selling shoes and racing flats that none of us had ever seen. Across the street at the Asics store the mood was much less fashion focused and dull in comparison.
Who would have thought that finding a bathroom on Takashita Street would be so hard.We started to tire and get hungry which shifted the focus to food. We found one of those restaurants with a grill in the middle of the table where you can cook your own meat and vegetables. The booth of Ben, Steve, Sam and I definitely won out with our selection as Yoshi kept ordering bizarre meats like tongue and fatty beef. The good news was the tab was picked up by one of the sponsors which kept some spending money in our pockets. We felt the urge to find a pub and blow some yen in a hurry.
Ben spotted an Irish pub and immediately ordered 10 Guinness. The tab came out to over 10,700 yen which is well over $100 but we felt good about the decision. We wandered around some more and even witnessed a fight. Two guys were stumbling around and started kung fu fighting. In fact, one guy tried a sneak attack that involved a flying hay-maker. In the mayhem a pair of glasses was knocked off someone's face and I took home a souvenir. We also saw a guy completely passed out in the middle of the street surrounded by friends who had coned off the area. They just sat around as he rested with his face in the pavement.
Ben spotted an Irish pub and immediately ordered 10 Guinness. The tab came out to over 10,700 yen which is well over $100 but we felt good about the decision. We wandered around some more and even witnessed a fight. Two guys were stumbling around and started kung fu fighting. In fact, one guy tried a sneak attack that involved a flying hay-maker. In the mayhem a pair of glasses was knocked off someone's face and I took home a souvenir. We also saw a guy completely passed out in the middle of the street surrounded by friends who had coned off the area. They just sat around as he rested with his face in the pavement.
270! Yea! I have no idea what this sign says. Girls? Food? Drink?We decided to call it a night and realized nobody had any idea which direction the hotel was in. We must have walked for about an hour before finally figuring it out. As we brought the night to a close we were all amazed at how many people were still out dressed in business attire carrying their briefcases. The crosswalks were still busy and this was only a Tuesday night.
The Japanese ride fixies too.
Typical Tokyo crosswalk at 11:30 pm.Friday, October 5, 2007
Tokyo Excursion
Time: 35:11
Distance: 5 miles
Woke up at some ungodly hour multiple times during the night. Ben Stern described how he slept ast, "it was like a baby... i woke up every 2 hours and cried." That was pretty much how it went. Finally at 5:30 am I got up and headed out the hotel door shortly thereafter. I knew there had to be a decent place to run b/c there was so much water around. Where there is water, there is a bike path. I ended up heading through some little mall along a busy street, but soon I found a canal with a small pedestrian walkway. I ran on that in toward a busier part of Tokyo. I know we were pretty far out on the outskirts of town but the run brought me closer to the urban environment. The streets were pretty quiet while I was out. I got to see some store owners cleaning their store fronts and some other citizens were out walking there dogs. A few people were out for a jog. It was a very easy run effort wise and a great way to see some of what Tokyo had to offer.
Distance: 5 miles
Woke up at some ungodly hour multiple times during the night. Ben Stern described how he slept ast, "it was like a baby... i woke up every 2 hours and cried." That was pretty much how it went. Finally at 5:30 am I got up and headed out the hotel door shortly thereafter. I knew there had to be a decent place to run b/c there was so much water around. Where there is water, there is a bike path. I ended up heading through some little mall along a busy street, but soon I found a canal with a small pedestrian walkway. I ran on that in toward a busier part of Tokyo. I know we were pretty far out on the outskirts of town but the run brought me closer to the urban environment. The streets were pretty quiet while I was out. I got to see some store owners cleaning their store fronts and some other citizens were out walking there dogs. A few people were out for a jog. It was a very easy run effort wise and a great way to see some of what Tokyo had to offer.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Tokyo Drift
Time: 29:01
Distance: 4 miles
Arrived in Tokyo after nearly 24 hours of traveling. We got to the hotel, checked in, dropped our bags, changed and met down in the lobby for a jog. The Ivy League runners on the trip are Pat Tarpy and myself (Brown), Steve Sundell and Jonathon Marcus (Columbia), Max King (Cornell), Alidair MaClain-Foreman and John Traugott (Harvard), Courtney Jaworski (Penn), and Ben Stern (Princeton). Its a good group of guys. The flight was ridiculously long but I was able to get some work done. At one point Tarpy came over to my seat and we were looking at the map that shows our progress. We were somewhere over Siberia, had both watched Knocked Up, bits and pieces of Die Hard and eaten a couple airplane meals. We were still 5 hours from landing. Luckily we were 35 minutes early. Must have had a tailwind. Our running loop in the evening was around a block near the hotel. Nobody wanted to venture too far in fear off getting lost the first hours in Tokyo. Probably smart, but boring. My legs actually felt pretty good on the run.
On another note. I can barely read how to post on this computer and typing is next to impossible. Every once in a while the keystrokes switch to Japanese characters and its a bitch to switch them back.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
