Race Time

I should really just edit and add this to my previous post about the run last Sunday...

Anyway, thanks to bernicky's comment, I navigated around runnet.jp and found my race time!

Listed is my gross time and net time. Gross time is from when the gun went off, net time is calculated from when my foot actually touched the start line. Because there were actually 9,526 people running in just the 13.6km, I didn't get to the start line for a while!! The total number of participants, even in the pouring rain, was 15,833 - 3,863 more than last year!

My net time (which is what I'm interested in) was 1:37:32; last year, my net time was 1:38:39. Woo hoo - I sped up!

I know, this time is pretty slow by a runner's standards, but I'm pleased just the same!

If you want to check out my "file", it's here!

The Sound of Frogs

With the sun rising as early as 4:30 a.m. and the days being so warm, it is easy to believe that it is already summer. However, it is just spring still, and has all the sights, smells and sounds the season brings. The rice paddy outside of our apartment is just being planted, and the water used for the rice paddy has brought both ducks and frogs to our doorstep.

The other evening we went outside to capture some of the sounds of the frogs...

Yamanakako Road Race

Yesterday was the big race day!

As predicted, it was pouring rain. This weather, though, did not keep many people away, and I'm certain that this year's turnout will equal last year's, which was close to 12,000 people.

Even in the rain, the run around the lake was scenic, and I feel that I did my 13.6km fairly well. I never felt tired, and even at the end of the race I felt like I could run a little more. This is better than last year, where everything after the 12km mark was a struggle (it doesn't help that the last 600 meters is uphill!).

There was a group of us who ran, and after the race, we made our way back toward home, stopping at the Gotemba Kogen onsen and beer hall. We lounged in a luxurious hot bath for a while before going to the "viking" restaurant for an early dinner and a few well-earned beers. "Viking restuarant" in Japanese means a buffet restuarant; at the Kogen, it is an all-you-can-eat and drink extravaganza. That being the case, I decided that I would indulge a little, and leave my car there and take the shuttle bus home. Brian joined we runners for the fun part of the day (eating and drinking), also leaving his truck parked at the Kogen. This gave us the perfect excuse to ride our bikes this morning - back to the Kogen (uphill, again!) to pick up the cars.

So, I wasn't tired after the race, my legs were still in riding shape this morning, and I can even walk down several flights of stairs without pain...all better than last year! I don't have my time results yet, but I'm hoping that I shaved a few seconds off my time this year, too!

Warm-up Ride

My 13.7 km race is tomorrow! I can't believe how quickly time passes...I haven't properly trained, of course, but I'm sure that I'll at least be able to finish the run. I've been running a fair amount these past two weeks, and I did an easy 5km yesterday morning.

This morning, Brian and I went for a short, easy bike ride. Well, not too easy, I suppose, since Susono is a valley and every ride includes a decent hill; when you don't have gears, all the power has to come from the legs! However, I figured the bike ride would keep my cardio in shape, and wouldn't tire my legs out too much since it works different muscles.

My race kicks off at 9:45 tomorrow morning - and if the weather forecast is right, I'll be running in pouring rain. Somehow, though, I think that will be better than running in the brutal heat.

An Evening Solo-Ride

The days have, once again, been getting longer. Japan does not have Daylight Saving Time, and though there are those who complain about this, I am not one of them. Being an early riser by nature, I am much happier to be up at 4:30 a.m. in the daylight than to be awake at 9 p.m. in the daylight! However, I do appreciate the slightly longer afternoons overall that are afforded by the coming summer.

Today, after work, I decided to take advantage of the still-bright day and got out for a shortish solo ride up into the hills of Susono. Brian couldn't join me this time, so I struck out on my own. Really, I'd forgotten how fabulous and refreshing a post-work workout in the fresh mountain air can be. Usually I get home, exhaustedly plop myself in front of my computer, and pursue an unproductive evening.

I often feel tired after work. However, I realize that it is my brain that is tired but my body is actually wired. So, tonight's ride was good!

Now, we really have to get motivated and go for some real night rides; we bought a set of amazing Cateye Double Shots a few years ago, and seriously, we've only used them a few times. When we were younger (heh heh) we used to ride at night a lot more, and with a lot less power....time to get back in the game!

Brian's Birthday

Yesterday was Brian's birthday.

We acknowledged the day with a smile, and went out for dinner at Lemongrass, a nice Asian-fusion restaurant. I drove and abstained from drinking (too much)! Other than that, it was an uneventful yet pleasant day. I think Brian enjoyed it.

When I was (much much) younger, my own birthday was an excuse to party; to over-imbibe and dance until the bars threw me out at 4 a.m. Now, I'm very happy to treat myself to a quiet night in, a large all-dressed pizza, and a subtle bottle of fine red wine.

Why is it that when we get older, birthdays seem less significant? Less of a "special occasion"? Are we just tired? Or are we more mature and no longer have a driving need to feel special, to be the centre of the universe?

I think it's because we realize that a truly special day is about spending time with yourself, and not "on the stage"....

Our Biking History: From Road to Mountain to Downhill to Singlespeed

I used to be a roadie. Every Sunday morning I would get up at 5:00 a.m., and drive to the West Island and then cycle about 100 to 120 km with my cycling club.

I did not foresee then that soon I would join the ranks of the lowly mountain biker!

I bought my first mountain bike in April of 2000. It was a glowing orange Schwinn Moab. Brian was there to help me choose it, and there for the inaugural ride. This was a small frame (15"), and is still the only bike that seemed to fit me right!



At that time, Brian was riding a heavy, full-suspension Specialized FSR.


Not too long after this, Brian switched to a handsome Cannondale (used but good!); much much lighter and more finesseful than the old blue FSR.


While still with the Cannondale, Brian also built up a GT Zaskar frame (no photo!).

And I added a sleek black Cannondale to my bike room as well. It was a 16" frame, and just a tad too big for me, but gave me years of great riding fun anyway before I sold it off and replaced it with my current rig, a GF Rig!



While we both loved our Cannondales, we also jumped on the full-suspension cross-country bandwagon and each bought a new Specialized FSR. I got the Rockhopper, and Brian got the Stumpjumper. These bikes were replacements for our other hard-tails - I shortly then sold my Schwinn, and Brian sold his Zaskar.


We used to ride these bikes on the downhill courses at Fujimi Panorama.


At this point, we each had two bicycles: a full-suspension cross-country, and a hard-tail Cannondale.

Brian then replaced his Stumpjumper with a Yeti AS-R, which was better suited to the trails overall:


We'd been enjoying the downhill trails at Fujimi Panorama so much, we decided to add a downhill bike to our collection. I got myself a Foes downhill bike (no photo!).

The Foes was good, but a little too heavy. After a broken dereilleur hanger left it rather un-ridable (it was a hard-to-replace part), I sold the frame and bought my Santa Cruz Bullit. This was an awesome bike and lasted the rest of my downhill days!


Brian swapped out his Yeti for a GT Dh-i, which he really loved:


During this time, we'd also converted our Cannondales to singlespeeds - removing the gears and shifters, etc, resulting in a cleaner, more simple set up. Finally, after riding converted singlespeeds, we each went ahead and got the real deal.

Brian bought his Gary Fisher Rig, a 29er singlespeed, first. I followed about six months later.





Being so happy with the Rig, we sold all our other bikes, and we've decided to go custom. Brian has had his custom frame (built by Joel Greenblatt at Clockwork Bikes) since 2007. I should have my own custom frame by this August.



Finally, we found our niche in the 29er singlespeed game. Simplicity has been achieved. We no longer have three or four bikes each. We no longer have gears.

Where're the Bikes? Running Yamanakako.

We having posted much about biking recently, I realize. And this is, after all, supposed to be something of a biking blog. What can I say except that we haven't been riding to as many interesting places quite as often, opting instead for some rigorous hikes, and, for me, some running instead of biking.

I signed up for the Yamanakako 13.7 km race again this year. I ran it last year, and though I was not in great running shape, I did ok. This year I was hoping to actually train somewhat before race day on May 25th. I still have almost two weeks left to make this happen! Actually, the running is another reason that I wanted the new iPod Shuffle – holds lots of music, and I don't have to hold it in my hand when I run!

After this race, I'm sure we'll be back to spending lots of time with the bikes - and, of course, I'm still anxiously awaiting construction and delivery of my custom 29er Single-Speed frame from Clockwork Bikes (ETA is August...)

My First iPod

Well, I did it. I bit the bullet and purchased my first real iPod – a new 2GB Shuffle. Of course I've had an MP3 player for a few years – a 256 kb Rio SU40. It is still working great, and has the added benefits of a voice recorder and not relying on proprietary software. However, 256 kb just isn't enough anymore, and the Shuffle small, cute and just clips right to your shirt (or wherever).

The main reason that I'd avoided the Apple iPod at all was due to the proprietary nature of the device, the fact that the user had to have and use iTunes to get music onto and off of the player. Well, now there are a lot of alternatives available, including Media Monkey for Windows and Rhythm Box for Linux, among others (here is a good list of 10 iTunes alternatives ). However, since I wasn't using anything to organize my music anyway, just relying on the good-old-fashioned Windows file manager, I decided to go ahead and learn how to use iTunes. And, I'm ashamed to say, I kind of like it! I successfully imported my music, registered and synchronized my new Shuffle, and got music onto it. I even got a little crazy and subscribed to a few Podcasts.

The real test came when I wanted to add tunes from Ubuntu (Linux). However, Rhythm Box did a great job – it recognized my iPod, and allowed me to just drag and drop files onto it. And these tunes were even playable! However, when I switched back to Windows, I was not able to see those music files from iTunes.... Still, I'm so far very pleased with my new music player.

"In Defense of Food" and simple cooking

I've often said that cooking is enjoyable. Taking time to focus on slicing, chopping, and preparing the food can be a very relaxing activity. Of course, I'm also guilty of ordering too many pizzas, eating burgers at McDonald's and even scoffing down a 7-Eleven burrito in the car. I tried some healthy(ish) cooking last night, complete with my Japanese apron (and of course a good glass of red wine!).



Cooking "real food" is definitely the healthier option, and the book I'm now reading, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma), further substantiates this. It's actually a good read - Pollan, a journalist for the New York Times, writes clearly and with humour. He talks about "the American paradox"- Americans (and, by default, I'm assuming Canadians) are obsessed with healthy eating, yet they are the fattest, least healthy, nation. This is, Pollan asserts, a disease called orthorexia, which is "an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating". Pollan also makes a distinction between "real food" and "edible food-like substances". The 7-Eleven burrito would definitely fall into the latter category!

So what, according to Pollan, should we eat? Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Check out this talk (on YouTube) that he gave at Google. He pretty much summarizes the book, and you can get a sense of his style. It's about an hour long, including a question period.

Shopping for Food in Japan

For newcomers to Japan with little Japanese speaking ability and no expertise in preparing Japanese dishes, tackling the local supermarket can prove a daunting task. A few books that I still refer to regularly are:

A Guide to Food Buying in Japan by Carolyn Grouse
This had been out of print for a few years, but is happily available again with the newest edition being from 2003. I'm only familiar with the 1987 ed, but find it a very useful guide.

A Dictionary of Japanese Food: Ingredients & Culture by Richard Hosking
A great dictionary specific to food. The food is listed in romaji but also includes the kanji, so you can figure what the mystery package in the fish-aisle actually contains.

100 Recipes from Japanese Cooking (Kodansha Bilingual Books)
I love bilingual cook-books. Just browse through in English, pick out a recipe, then take the book with you to the supermarket. If you're not sure what the ingredient is in English, show the Japanese word to one of the clerks, who can point you in the right direction.

Though there is no better teacher than experience, these books will also provide some basic knowledge needed to navigate the supermarket.

However fabulous these books are, tough, sometimes, whether you're new to Japan, or a long-term resident, you get cravings for something a little different. Maybe it's comfort food from “home”, or something a little spicier than typical Japanese fare such as Thai curry. Unless you live in Tokyo (or, “The Big Toe” as a colleague has dubbed it), these non-Japanese ingredients can be tough to find. Years ago, getting specialty food and ingredients would have required a (fairly expensive) trip to Tokyo or another big city. Now, though, getting such items is just a few clicks away. And the choices are even wider if you can read and navigate the web a little in Japanese.

Some top websites for foreign food, delivered right to your door, are:

The Foreign Buyer's Club (http://www.fbcusa.com/eng/)

In English. You can get most anything “from home” here, from Alpen granola bars in The Deli section to Diet Snapple in The General Store. I've never used them since they generally take too long to deliver (sometimes up to a month) and I'm all about immediate gratification, but I know many people who have shopped here and who have been satisfied with the service.

The Flying Pig (http://www.theflyingpig.com)

In English. One of my personal favourites for finding some specialty items, The Flying Pig is a Costco shop-and-deliver service. Though their prices have been creeping (and sometimes leaping) up over the years, I still frequently order things like bagels and cream cheese, cans of black beans in bulk, and large sacks of Basmati rice. Delivery is usually within five days.

Now, of course, if you've got a little Japanese language ability, you have more choice – the world is your escargot!

For Thai food (a particular favourite of ours):

Allied Thai (http://www.allied-thai.co.jp/)

Japanese only. Good, wide selection of curry pastes, coconut milk, and chili peppers. I used to shop here exclusively for my Thai ingredients, but recently found a new source:

Isara Store (http://www.isarastore.com/)

Japanese only. Not as wide a selection of curry pastes as Allied Thai, but the prices are, somehow, much cheaper for some items (such as the 400g tub of curry paste). Delivery only took two days, and included a lovely, handwritten thank-you note for placing my order.

Anything else:

My most useful tool for buying anything I want in Japan is www.yahoo.co.jp;
In the search engine, using my Japanese (IME) input, I simply type ショッピング　(shopping), and then the name of whatever I'm looking for. I get lots of hits, and usually find a shop selling my desired item.

Strange Smells that I Like

Our olfactory sense is totally subtle, and brutally strong. Some of the strongest "memory joggers" are delivered to us via olfactory stimuli.

We might not know why we suddenly feel euphoric, or why tense. We might not directly associate a smell with a specific event. And yet, smell plays a great role in our daily lives. I've begun to think about this as I realize there are some smells that I like which are perhaps considered strange.

The "strange" smells that I like are:

• Sunscreen. I love the smell of sunscreen emanating from warm skin.
• Bug spray. Again, it should be in combination with a hot body - and what a good smell!
  
• Wet dog. Come on, you know the smell, right? And, yep, that's another smell I really like.
• Wet soil - as in, spring thaw. I don't get this here in the mild climate of Shizuoka, Japan, but every April/May in Montreal (sometimes not until July or August...okay, I exaggerate!), just when the weather starts to break, when warmth seems to find its way, finally, into your bones, the earth, too, feels it, and the snows melt and the earth heats up.... this is a good smell!
• Hockey rink. Unless you've visited (frequently) indoor hockey rinks, you won't know this smell - but it's distinctive and wonderful. The smell of sweat, cold, heat, and fervor...
  
• Candle wax. You have to close your eyes, and just breathe deeply, and imagine the scent...
• Nail polish. Strong and toxic. Nobody loves this scent....Yet I do.
  
• hot, wet concrete. This is along the same lines as the wet soil, but sooo different. On a hot, humid summer day, with a storm finally having broken, the smell of wet concrete makes the soul feel good.
• A snuffed-out match. The smell lingers in the air...
  

These are odd, and probably "icky" smells, and yet, these induce euphoria for me. Mostly they deal with extremes of hot and cold, emphasizing the short victory of summer over winter for me....

What smells do you like/love? Hate? Why? Please post in comments.... I'm just curious.

OH,of course, here is a link to a Britannica article on the sense of smell. Please watch the video (it's better (though just barely) than the article).

Hardy Heron, Final Release

Wow - hard to believe that I'm already in my fourth version of Ubuntu. I'd been waiting for a while for the final release of Ubuntu 8.04, a.k.a. Hardy Heron. I started with Edgy Eft, graduated to Feisty Fawn, moved up to Gutsy Gibbon and now, finally, I'm running Hardy Heron.

I did not want to install the Beta releases, and certainly not the Alpha releases because I'm really still just playing around with Linux. So I waited patiently for the official release, and I installed it as soon as was possible on April 24th (the day it was released), and am not-too-sorry to say that I was one of the many who contributed to Ubuntu's servers being so severely taxed!

I've been up and running for a week or so now, and am happy with Heron. Only one problem occurred, and it was my own fault. Some new kernels appeared at start-up, and I accidentally started up in the wrong kernel. I didn't realize that I was in the wrong kernel, and when I saw that my screen resolution was way out of wack, I (stupidly, without thought, un-fore-thinkingly), just went ahead and tried to uninstall some of my NVidia drivers and reinstall new ones. Well, this messed me up. A LOT! However....I'm back to normal with my dual-monitor display without problems...what I did was, finally, download this little tool, the IFS for Windows (found at http://www.fs-driver.org/download.html), which allowed me to navigate to my Ubuntu disk from my XP side (I'm dual booting with XP), and from XP I then saved a back-up copy (which Ubuntu had somehow been creating) of my xorg.conf file over the main xorg.conf file, thus in effect "rolling back" my display properties. Thankfully, this worked. I was about to become frustrated....

Anyway, if not for my own goof-up, Heron would have posed no problems at all, and even better, my Firefox 3 Beta 5 for Linux is allowing me to play flash videos in full screen. Another benefit, the Gnome Nautilus file browser now lets me see thumbnails of pics when I'm browsing to upload to Blogger. Like this here screenshot of my new Heron desktop (click on image for a larger view!):




You can see how uncluttered my desktop is. I love the simplicity offered by Ubuntu's clean desktop and system. I've got easy access to a few of my favourite programs whose icons you can see in the upper left: Firefox, Swiftweasel (both web browsers), F-Spot (photo managing software), and Evolution (for email). All open-source, all awesome.

Kamoshika, Gorillapods and other camping pics

So, as mentioned in my last post, we got away for a few days to do some camping and decompressing (we do work, of course - just not this week!)

While wending our way ever higher into the mountains in Brian's rugged Pajero, getting closer to a possible camping destination, we came around a corner to spot a kamoshika. The kamoshika is frequently described as being a deer-goat; some say it is more of a goat-antelope sort of animal. Whatever it was, we were fortunate enough to spot a few. These mammals only live at higher altitudes, and though we saw many of them when we camped in Ishikawa-ken a few years ago in spring, we hadn't seen any since. Now in the mountains of Tokyo-to, we managed two more sightings.

Here's a shot that I got as we rounded a bend in the road (it's not very clear, but you maybe get the idea):



After a few days of camping, at our second site, we decided to go for a hike in the early afternoon. As we rounded a bend, on foot, we caught site of another Japanese deer. Though the animal bolted and took cover in the woods, Brian got a decent shot with his D40X:



Other than deer sightings, we also took simple camping shots, such as this one of Brian:



And one of us together, 1718.3 meters above sea level, at the peak of Toritani (酉谷山）:




And, of course, since we'd brought along our Gorillapod, we had to get creative with the camera setup:

Time Un-Obsession in Golden Week

Golden Week is a typical peak holiday season in Japan. Our company doesn't have a week off as some do, but as work would be fairly quiet this week, we decided to take a few days off ourselves and head into the mountains for some rough-style camping. Strangely enough, we ended up camping in Tokyo.

Before you wonder too hard,we camped in the mountains of Tokyo-to, which is sort of like "Tokyo State" rather than Tokyo, the city. The outer reaches, which border Saitama and Yamanashi prefectures are quite wild, beautiful and rustic.

Here is a (possibly less-than-helpful) map of the general area in which we camped:

View Larger Map

We camped out for four nights, in two different areas. The second area afforded more hiking opportunities, but was somewhat less scenic.

However, both areas were devoid of: 7-Elevens, shops, vending machines, cars, paved roads, cell-phone reception and people.

Being so "out of touch" was refreshing; I couldn't receive phone calls or even check messages. I didn't wear a watch, and was unconcerned about even what day it was. This sense of timelessness, though artificially constructed by existing in the absence of artificial time, provided a wonderful respite.

However, it is also good to be back. We have a day of work, then a few days off again due to national holidays. We luckily got a few photos, including a couple of a kamoshika (a Japanese deer), which we'll be posting in a day or two...

(NOTE:somehow, this post didn't get published when I thought it had...anyway, more pics etc...coming soon)