the home stretch to summer vacation

well folks, il reste que 9 jours jusqu'aux vacances d'ete. there are only 9 days until summer vacation. je ne peux pas attendre. pourquoi ces derniers jours doivent etre si longues! ahhhhh....

il faut perseverer! j'ai besoin de vacances. je vais aller a thailand. j'imagine que ca va etre formidable! je vais aller avec mes 2 amies!

mais il faut attendre.



so to pass the next few days quickly i have made some mini events and goals. today is watermelon tuesday. tomorrow...wedding planner wednesday or maybe on thursday. friday is relax. saturday is biking, and fun night with friends. sunday church and friends.

next week is the long week. ahhhhhhhhh

ok i can be patient. i think God is teaching me about patience recently.... in more than 1 way. im off to make patience a virtue. (in my life)

video from 24hr relay

kasugai festival!

3 years

today i picked up my visa. i hate doing the visa stuff. its annoying. and i have a bazillion papers to fill out. i always forget what i need to do. and its troublesome to go to immigration 2 times. once to apply and once to pick it up. not to mention the fact that the visa is 4,000 yen each year, plus my reentry permit is 6,000 a year(it lasts the same amount of time as your visa). so i always apply for a 3 year visa, and for the past 2 times, was rejected and given a 1 year visa.

but not today. i picked up my visa and the man showed me my 3 YEAR VISA. thats right. i don't have to go to immigration again until 2011. this is great.

i don't know why they decided to give me 3 years. probably my good looks helped.

don't be sad. i'll be home to visit in december!

so so summer slump

its hot. my leg hurts. its the home stretch till my 10 days of vacation in august. so many things to do before then.

i went running this morning at 7:30. it was so humid and hot. i actually had to walk some parts (i only ran 7 miles) and it took me 1h 6 minutes compared to the under 1 hour 7 mile run yesterday. ugh. an to top it off, my leg was hurting really bad. i came back home to change an head to the pool, but i just decided to take it easy. i have a race this weekend. i have a hurt leg, and its stinking hot. so i decided to skip the gym.

i made a 30 min massage apt for my leg. its at 1. so i hope itll help. if not.... its off to the doctor next week.

so to make up for my lack of motivation for exercising today, i went to the grocery store and the shoe store (i am considering buying some crocs)


all i really want to do today is eat popsicles (which i forgot to buy some more today) and sit in front of my fan. but ill suck it up, go to work. and settle for apple vinegar juice.

i miss the winter. i love running in the winter. somedays its windy and tiring, but i can run so much longer and better and faster in the winter.

here is my lineup for the summer plans:

this weekend go to yamanashi prefecture for a 24hr relay
next weekend i will go to the park near my house for a summer festival
next sunday is our school summer party.
the following weekend i might be free
then im on vacation for 10 days and off to thailand


i really want to get some hiking/camping time in the lineup. even if its sweltering hot.

more pictures from the weekend

i had a birthday party for my japanese grandparents on saturday! fun times!!! i really enjoy spending time with them!

saturday i woke up at 4, ran, cleaned, talked on the phone-to people in the US, painted my nails, went to the store, cooked, and decorated for the party- ALL before 11:30!!! hahah. what productiveness. then we had a lunch birthday party. then i went out for girls night! fun times with fun girls.

sunday i went to church, then i met some friends and went to see a band competition. one of my friends plays in one of the bands. so it was a lot of fun to watch them and all the other bands play. then good bye dinner with sujung and ron.

so sad to say goodbye! today i had to say goodbye to mandy and sujung. i hope i can see them again someday!


well the weekend is over. back to the grind. off to bed so i can wake up at dawn and run.

girls night pics

world wide half marathon

http://www.worldwidehalf.com/cgi-bin/wwhalf/home

so when i run i listen to music and pod casts. over the past 2 years of running, i've grown quite attached to a certain running pod cast called phedippidations. i like the humor, the stories, the information and the encouragement. its like having a friend out with me running. i'm so nerdy that i even have the podcaster as my friend on facebook.

anyways, through this pod cast, there is a world wide half marathon (zen run 10km and kick the couch 5km) basically its a weekend that everyone runs the same time, thus making it a world wide event.

i ran it last year. i ended up running about 15 miles instead of the 13.1 due to being lost in the middle of nowhere. but it was really fun and encouraging to know that other people were out there running all around the world with me.

well its coming up again. and friends, lets do it together. all my running friends around the world. lets do it. encourage one another and be united even if we are far apart. lets be a part of something bigger.

so the weekend of october 11 and 12, lets do it. go to the link above and sign up. its quick and you can chose the distance. 13.1 miles, 6.2 or 3.1.

if you do decide to sign up, let me know!!! join my team. EUREKA!
and if you aren't an athlete, be an athletic supporter!

shoes

i bought a pair of running shoes at the tokyo marathon in february. i was really excited. they were cute. good for long distance runners, looked sturdy enough. they are asics. i had knee problems with my last asics running shoes. but i persevered and i ended up liking those shoes.

however, i think i cant run in these. its a shame. they weren't cheap. but every time i try to wear them in, i end up with a knee problem, leg soreness, and now this week...a hip problem. so i am done with them. at least for running. i can still use them for biking and cross training, and short walks, but no more running in them.

which leads me to my next problem.i need a pair of new balance shoes before my fall training starts in september.

so i may be asking someone to mail me the shoes i order...

this year is my year to break 4 hours. and i wont be doing that in asics.

here is my tentative fall/winter marathon schedule:

november: ibigawa full marathon
december: naha full marathon (i am also thinking to run the jacksonville florida full marathon while i am back in the US)
january : kasugai 10km (if i am back from the US in time)
february: inuyama half marathon
march: tokyo full marathon (if i can get in)
april: (depending on tokyo entry) Nagano full marathon and Shonai park 10km
may: kanazawa full marathon


that gives me 4-6 chances to break 4 hours.

the longest day ever

ugh. monday is finished. my rough classes are finished. for today. im so tired. i sang the joy joy joy song about 5 or 6 times today. (i have a joy joy joy joy up on my head) however, the actions i made up for this song give me a better workout than my aerobics class. it was just a rough day. and i did have a couple smiles thrown in, so it wasnt all bad.


i went to the grocery store after work. made and ate dinner, took a walk, and now im trying not to fall asleep. i may have eaten 1 too many gummy bears.

i like my bike

saturday morning i woke up at 6. left my place at 7 and biked the 16km to meet my friend. from there, we rode around town, around some parks, and then after approx. 40km of biking, we got breakfast at a small cafe and chatted about lots of stuff.... running, boys, biking, camping, etc. shes a great friend and we share a lot of hobbies and interests. it isnt easy to find lots of sporty (running, biking, endurance sports) kind of girls. then we headed back home. i stopped off at the usami residence (some friends from church) since they were on my way home. i stayed and chatted for 30 min or so before i made the hour long trek home in the 93 degree weather.

i got home, showered and headed back into town to run some errands.

then i got home aorund 4:30. i cooked dinner and got a random text from a friend. he ended up coming over for a fun night of willy wonka and the chocolate factory, dinner, gummy bears and random cat videos.

all in all, it was a very enjoyable saturday...

sunday i got up and headed to church, then lunch, then back to hang out at the usamis. got home and watched some tv and chatted with my mom.


this morning is humid. i just finished a 9 mile run and when i got back, it looked like i jumped into the river. no joke. now, im just waiting till my gym opens at 9:30 to go lift and bike for awhile.

today i work 1:30-8. however, todays classes are not so fun. this week monday may be my least favorite day. actually, this week in general (my coworker and i switch classes every other week) is a rough one. however, tuesday and wednesday we just have make up classes and summer party planning and then normal jr high, high school and adult classes.

as of last friday, it is summer. hot and humid. but i just looked at weather.com and its going to be a rainy humid week. mid to high 80s and rainy for the next 10 days. great.

japanese blog. good luck understanding...

ときどき私のにほんじんの友達このブログよみます
きょうがんばろジェンわたしのにほんごのブログ
今朝こなみスポツクラブいって５５分はしって３０分自転車しました　今私のうらももがちょっといたい。
あとで仕事いた。きょうは４このレッソンスがありました。私のせとはかわい！

今晩あまりワルキングしませんでした。私は駅までいって。レチェルとアパトまでかえりました。

あしたの朝名古屋いきま私のビザにおわります　

難しい！ok i hope you can understand. this is hard!