8 kilometers (5 miles!!!)

Well, well, well...today was quite the run.  8 kilometers, which I found out is roughly 5 miles.  Paced myself very well throughout the first four, or I thought I did! Last four kind of hurt, and I felt like I was pushing myself a little too much, but I am happy with the results...except that my shins hurt a little more than usual.  I think I need to do more ankle rolls and stretching before my runs.

And after running 8 kilometers today, I met my friend, Rika, and one of her friends in Tokyo.  We did a lot of walking around Tokyo as well, so it was a very exercise filled day! We walked around the "kitchen" area of Tokyo and there were so many things I wanted to buy.  I decided to be healthy and buy an apple slicer, and not healthy by buying a mold for making chocolates.  I decided on dinosaur shapes.  I think that would be cute for chocolate!  I am so excited to try making some chocolates, and making them healthy!  Ryuta and I will be having a dinner guest on Wednesday so I will attempt my first chocolate creations around them...and I have so many ideas for making them healthy.  I think I will be adding fruit to the chocolate, and I would like to add grains in some way...but the major grain here is rice and I don't think rice chocolate sounds very appetizing, but I will figure something out.

To check out my run details, please click:  http://runmeter.com/886666d72192b648/Run-20130429-0913?r=e

5 K, just a little slower

Well, the weather turned out to be beautiful today! Nice and sunny but not too hot. Love this weather.  This made my run so much nicer.  I just wish we had this weather during cherry blossom season. Running at that time is beautiful.  There is so much pink all around you that you cannot help but be happy, even on a run! Today I slowed down my pace and tried to work on maintaining my speed...which I didn't do as well as I had thought.  I went a lot slower than I thought I had.  But while I was running, I felt good!  Oh well....I guess this means it is my learning curve.  I will figure this out.  Maybe I should read a running magazine!  I will do my best with the Japanese running magazines and pray that my translations are correct!

For the map and info of today's run, please click here!
http://runmeter.com/886666d72192b648/Run-20130426-0915?r=e

Tomorrow is my off day from running and on Sunday it will be an 8 kilometer run! Woohoo!

Beautiful weather = Beautiful run

Well, the weather right now is bright and sunny! That made my run so enjoyable.  It's amazing how weather can affect one's mood.  Personally, I'm Only Happy When It Rains (love Garbage!)!  But anywho, with the amazingly warm sun (19 degrees C!!!) my run went smooth and quick.  Granted it was only a 3 kilometer (1.86 miles) run, but still I was able to maintain my pace throughout the run. And my third split was my fastest! Which if you remember from Tuesday, was my worst split time. I am still learning "how to" maintain my pace.  I don't really understand it.  I mean, I feel like I am going the same speed but sometimes, when I check my pace, I have slowed down, or sped up.  I guess I just need to listen to my body more. If anyone has any helpful tips on learning how to maintain one's pace, please email me, facebook me, anything!!! I want to get this down.

For a map of today's run:
http://runmeter.com/886666d72192b648/Run-20130425-0922?r=e

Rain...again

Well today I cannot go for my run because it is raining.  That's unfortunate, but what can ya do? I surely can't change the weather! So now I have to figure out way to be more active during my classes today...looks like the kids are going to be doing lots of movement activities in class! It's probably a good thing to give my body a day of rest and hopefully it won't be raining tomorrow! Although rain is in the forecast...I hope it doesn't!

Here are the details of my run from yesterday, forgot to post them!

http://runmeter.com/886666d72192b648/Run-20130423-0855?r=e

Six kilometers...whew

Wow! Six kilometers killed me today. And I don't know why...personally I'm guessing it was having to stop so many times for red lights. That's what I'm telling myself at least. I feel like I kept losing momentum during the run. And surprisingly to me, my worst split was my third kilometer. I have been racking my brain to figure out why that split was bad, and I can't figure out why it was. It might also have been running four kilometers yesterday with no runs over the weekend. That's probably the real cause, but I still like the idea of too many stops. I blame the stop lights!

Here is a picture of my new shoes! Which today gave me a bloat on one of my toes! I couldn't believe it. Yesterday they were perfect and today I get a blister. The picture makes the shoes look a bit shiny, but it was a sunny day! Happy running all!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

4 kilometers

Wow~ what a difference good running shoes make! My feet felt wonderful throughout the whole run.  There were a couple of times I felt like my heels hurt, but I think that was in my head.  I was trying to find pain and my brain decided that there was pain, but as soon as I didn't focus on it the pain went away.  Today's run was a little tough endurance wise, since I didn't run all weekend...thank you rain! But even though it was tough, I still found energy just waiting to be burned.  I have to realize personally that running is physical as well as mental.  My thoughts were telling me to stop, but my body was OK to go, I just have to trust in that. My next purchase for running will be a running bag of some sort.  Right now I am holding my iPhone while I run and I am always worried about dropping it.  I also want a bag big enough to hold water and my keys as well.  That is my other worry, losing my keys on my run.  Plus I know I should really be running with my ID on me, and a bag will allow that.  I hope to find a light weight bag for a not too expensive price! Alas, this will have to wait to after my next payday.

http://runmeter.com/886666d72192b648/Run-20130422-0905?r=e

This is a link to a map of my run and what not! Hope everyone has a beautiful day! Weather is perfect for running in Japan today!

Down time

Well, the past two days the weather has not been cooperating in Japan. I will be able to go for a nice run tomorrow and I'm super excited!! I bought new running shoes today and actually spent a little bit of money (and time researching what shoes to buy) for the first time. So excited to see what kind of difference this will make. Another update tomorrow! Happy running!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My run yesterday was great.  I started this blog because I took a 2 week break from running, and that break was so damaging to my stamina.  Before the dreaded two week break I could run 10 kilometers, and after the break, three kilometers was very challenging.  I am happy to say this week I have run three times for three kilometers each time.  My stamina has built up again for the three kilometer run and tomorrow I will be increasing to 4 kilometers.

To view my "stats", brought to you by Runmeter, a very nice app for the iPhone, please go to:
 http://runmeter.com/886666d72192b648/Run-20130418-0905?r=e

Introduction

Well everyone, this blog is really going to become my runner's diary.  I wanted to keep one to help motivate.  I will be posting pictures of me running and healthy food ideas.  I currently live in Japan and am hoping to move back to America next year! Happy running!