I openned my eyes.
It was dark, it was cold, and it was still rainning from last night.
There were no more doubts, today was race day.
Above: The masses assemble as people queue up to receive their numbers on the morning of the race.
I run about five or six kilometers everyday… -ish, and I usually run in several 10 kilometer races back home in Toronto (such as the “Nike 10 km” and the “Rat Race”); so in my mind it only made sense that I should be running right here in my new home, Nagoya.
It was Katsumi, one of my students at Nova (and a runner himself, in his youth), that first told me about the event in early October after the two of us got onto the subject of running. The very next day I found him waiting outside the teachers room, not waiting to take a lesson, but for the sole purpose of waiting to give me an entry form for the Nagoya City Marathon; obviously he wasn’t going to let me back out of this one; I was going to run.
After I’d registered for the race I really did put all thought of the event to the side, and it honestly never crossed my mind again until one Tuesday evening while riding the train to work I noticed my cell phone was blinking cheerfully at me, trying to get my attention.
“Race Thursday.”, was all it said; a simple reminder I’d written nearly two months earlier.
I smacked myself in the forehead.
My first thoughts were that I wouldn’t actually be able to finish the race; for the past couple of weeks I had been so busy with sight seeing that I realized I had actually woken up to run in about two weeks! But of course, by the time my train pulled into Tajimi Station my confidence had overridden whatever traces of self-doubt I had, and I was almost certain I would finish, if not win the race entirely =P
Above: In one man’s opinion, there’s no better way to prepare for a run than by smoking a cigarette. Although I never actually saw him again that day, for however poorly my time was I think I can safely assume I beat at least one person to the finish line =)
Above: The runners assemble on the grounds of the race track at Mizhou Undojo Nishi, the name of the stadium at which the race started and finished.
Above: Our cheerleaders for the day (from left to right): Kae, Miki and her husband Eiji.
Above: Every runner has a support group, so it’s no surprise that hundreds of runners together can amass a support army =)
My friend Danielle (at right as seen in the photograph below) and one of her friends were also running that morning, so the three of us met up before the race to warm up =)
Above: Before.
Above: After.
Unfortunately, there’s not much for me to tell about the race itself; and to be honest, I don’t think I could recall much if there was anything to mention because while I was running my concentration was entirely fixated on mainting my pace =P
When I crossed the finish line the official timer read 1:56:24, unfortunately I haven’t any clue as to how that stacks up against the competition. I know that I certainly wasn’t the fastest that day, but coming in under the two-hour mark for me was something I was personally quite proud of =)
I met up with Danielle and our friends after the race, and we were directed to join a line of thousands of runners, all of whom were eagerly waiting to turn in their race numbers to receive a small certificate heralding their completion of the race (be it the 5 kilometer walk, 10 kilometer run, or 22 kilometer race). Unfortunately, with work looming only three hours away for me I decided I’d much rather keep my race number as a souvenier of the day.
I quickly escaped the crowd, and my friends, and made my way to the subway. Though I was still sweating quite a bit, the adrenaline coursing through my veins was keeping me thoroughly energized… at least, it was keeping me energized until I reached Kanayama Station. For whatever reason, the moment I stepped off of that subway a wave of pain surged through my body and the only thing I wanted to do was collapse, or puke… or better yet, both =P I hurried home in a half-hunch, and immediately passed out; remaining concious only long-enough to mumble a “Hello =(” to my housemates.
Fortunately, I woke up several hours later with just enough time left to get ready for work. Surprisingly, I found that although I could feel that my back muscles were a little stiffer than usual, virtually all other traces of my previous condition had otherwise vanished. I lept out of bed, threw on my close and headed out the door.
Inspite of my miraculous recovery the previous day, the next morning I decided that it might just be okay to forego my usual morning run.
I switched off my alarm clock, pulled the covers on a little tighter, and went back to sleep =)
Alexander
This post is a little bit overdue; the Nagoya City half-marathon was held on the 23rd of November.
Daily Blather 
