Ekidentaikai

It means like train station race. The race started at 10, but Japanese people like having these crazy long formal ceremonies for everything. I had to get to the train station at 8:10.

It was FREEZING! I checked the weather and it said it was only 6C when I left. The high was only 15C for the day, and I doubt if it even got there. But I figured I would be running, and so I just threw on a long sleeve shirt and grabbed a pair of gloves and walked to the train station like a popsicle. I get there and all my JH students are like "You're only wearing 1 shirt and shorts?!" They all had 3 pairs of shorts under long pants and 3 shirts and jackets. Little did I know that we would have bag holding stations at each relay exchange point. Fail. So I basically froze all day.

We got on a bus and they drove us to our spot. Also didn't know that I was the leg with a turnaround. I'm guessing at least half the village was out there cheering. We had 40 teams of 7 and then people cheering for us all along the way. Needless to say it was the most people I've seen in this village...ever. I was running down the street and my students would be like "OH KARI-SENSEI! GAMBARE!" and then there were the older people looking at the newspaper as I ran by "Oh...that's the new English teacher..." It was pretty fun. But it was so cold, my chest was burning afterwards. Then we rode the bus back to the townhall where they did the awards ceremony.

I ran on the local JH teachers' team. Of 40 teams, I think we came in like 30th? I ran 2,700m in 13:43 which was like 23rd. I was just trying not to be last. I definitely pulled an almost-jerk move but still totally long-distance race-esque. I was following this lady the entire race and then in the last 100m I gunned it and blew past her. I felt kind of bad, but she was twice my age and beating me for a good majority of our leg.

So as I mentioned in a previous post, I had been training for this. I hate running, especially long distance. I'm a basketball player--I like short sprints, not this long distance junk. So it was quite the challenge to train. But I only trained the minimum. I ran/walked 3km almost everyday, but my race was 2,700m. So realistically, I should've been running like 5km to train. But I ran the bare minimum and today my body paid for it. I was not prepared for those painful 2,700m in freezing cold temperatures. I was used to leisurely running with my iPod and stopping to catch the sunset and stretch along the way. I don't think I ever ran the entire 3km without stopping. So running, at full speed, in cold weather, without stopping, almost killed me. My chest burned like no tomorrow. Like most things in life, when we don't have adequate preparation (or trick ourselves into thinking we're adequately prepared), it has painful consequences.

So next year, I will start training earlier and farther. Or maybe I'll just tell them I'll be a cheerleader.