No running today as my online coach, Pat Carroll, has me on a 4 day a week plan as a build up to the new racing season here. From Oct to April
you can find a race a week here and you don't have to travel too far.
I've heard that the marathon, they call any race from 5K to 42K a marathon, is only second to baseball as the most popular sport,
and often people line the streets to watch complete strangers run.
Being a foreigner runner here has its rewards as there are few of us in each race and people are friendly and talkative, more so than in a normal situation. But there are problems. One is that people think that because you're a foreigner that you are "Steve Prefontanie" incarnate so there is some pressure to run well and Japanese runners seem to get a kick out of beating me. I think even if they finish in the middle of the pack if they can beat me they think they have done well. But sadly that's not really hard to do. I did have one guy throw himself at the finishing line and take me by a nose. I think we ended up 451st and 452nd respectively.
Anyway Autumn in Japan is a perfect place for a runnner to be so I'm glad I'm here.
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