Sunday, November 18, 2012

The day of the 10km race!

This morning was the Daito-City local 10km race event. I had heard about it a few months ago and since then have been running 5-6 mornings a week in hope of being able to run in it from start to finish. The last time I did a 10km race was back in Australia where I walked and ran it in about 1hr15mins.
A beautiful day for a local funrun. Right in the middle of Autumn, the wind was fresh and crisp with a cool breeze, yet the sun beat down bright and warm!

Ran into Mr Ushijima who I run with in the mornings if we happen to bump into eachother (He lapped me and must've placed fairly well in the men's division.) So many of the morning run regulars were there to chat with while warming up and shout "ganbatte anna!!" as they overlapped me haha. It made me think how great it was that I had made some friends completely seperate to host family and school life. Like I really was apart of this local community.

Me waving at hostfamily and some of Mama's students who also came to watch!

The final stretch

An awkard wave. I was secretly thinking "wonder if I can pass this guy past the finish line"


and...I did haha..different divisions but it made me push that little bit extra:p
 Could not get this image to flip over for me! But it says i ran 10000m in 57min14sec, placing 9th in the women's open division.
I ran at about 5min36secs which is on the fast end of my morning jogs. Trying to keep up with people up ahead and being cheered on by all the spectators and volunteers around me made it easier to keep up this pace
 The whole family came to watch me run. Knowing they were up ahead waiting made me keep running when it started getting tough. They would jump up and down and wave and chase me with a camera each time I came past. Was the greatest energy boost!

9th- the only name not written in kanji haha

Was great to see Baba on the side lines too:) The family often joke that my legs are almost up to her shoulders haha

Home again home again jiggity-jog.
 Pizza base being kneaded in the bread machine, and the family has just ducked out now to grab some topping ingrediants. I've had a nice hot shower and am back in the trackydacks for an afternoon of Japanese study!

Now that I've tackled the Daito-City 10km funrun, I'm thinking it's time to aim for the Goldcoast Half Marathon (Aug 2013)...maybe:p

Friday, November 2, 2012

winter, Bloglovin, pinterest, weight journey support

Hey guys. I got to uni a bit early this morning and my phones about to die so I thought I'd run up to the computer lab to charge it and fit in a blog post as it has been a while. AHH my hands are frozen I can't type fast. It's meant to be max 15degC today...coming from Australia this is like the height of our winter! Whereas it is still technically Autumn here in Japan. I struggled to find something weather-appropriate this morning but eventually managed to get some layering happening, which is serving me well so far.


Taken in the bathroom at uni to send to my boyfriend haha. He mustn't forget how cute I am...:P
Does anyone out there have any tips for winter dressing?! I have no experience what so ever.

The reason my phone is so flat is that I always spent the majority of my 1.5hr train commute flicking through recent posts of my favourite blogs through the 'Bloglovin' app and 'Pinterest'. I find this activity a great way for me to start my day. It makes me feel a little connected with the non-Japanese world. I mainly flick through health blogs, looking at recipes I could try here or when back home, yoga and running tips, which keep me motivated to keep it up while here. I stumbled across a cute blog, through a motivational Pinterest photo, that is written by a girl embarking on a new weight loss journey. Her posts are so honest and real and she seems really keen to rally up support for herself but also as a way of supporting others. I love these sorts of reads on the train. If you are looking for some support and motivation in your own new health/lifestyle journey, I recommend getting involved with her new blog here! 

Ahh late for class!!!!! ttyl