13.1 Miles of...

I have a little blue notebook. Within the pages of that little notebook I have detailed my many training runs throughout the thirteen weeks I took to train for my first race ever: the Amakusa Half Marathon.

Here’s the thing about training for that first race. I wasn't part of a team, I wasn’t required to do it, no one was pushing me to finish. I was on my own. Sure I signed up with friends and we encouraged each other and ran the race together, but there was no one there at five in the morning to kick my butt out of bed and go run. It was just me. Through every mile, on my own. Or was I?

One of the things I began to realize during training was how aware I was of the world around me during my runs. That feeling only increased when I ditched my headphones completely two weeks in. As I reread that little blue notebook I noticed how full it was of random encounters that I had with people or things I had viewed during my runs. They brought back beautiful memories of tiny moments in time when my soul was touched.

“I ran hills around the castle today with Sam and Karmen. It was hard but really fun! There was a super moon last night and we caught a beautiful view of the moon over the night lighting of the castle. Fall is coming! I can feel it in the air!”

“Passed a little girl eating ice cream while she walked down the street. She called out “Ohaiyogozaimasu!” to me as I ran by and later I passed three young runners my age and we cheered each other on.”

“I encountered a foreign man and his Japanese wife also out running. The man called out ‘Yoshi!’ and gave me a high five as he ran by and so did his wife! People are awesome.”

“Caught a beautiful sunrise this morning. Maybe I’ll begin to love morning runs…”

“Ran into the Kyushu Gakuin rugby team on my 14^th kilometer today. They biked around me and I got several high fives and lots of ‘Caroline-sensei gambate! Fighto!’ Thank God for my KyuGaku boys!”

The thing that often pulled me through any demanding run was giving my run up to someone. As I ran, I often chanted a prayer in time with the pounding of my feet. It was a prayer of gratitude, and a prayer for strength, for myself and others. It established a far more better beat for me than my music ever did.

One of my first training runs was in Sapporo when I was on vacation. It was a short run, only 3 miles, and I didn’t set out to break any records. I was running around a street that was roughly a mile long and I would have to circle it three times to reach my goal. Near the end of my first lap I passed an elderly care center. There were four or five elderly gentlemen on the front stoop watching the world go by as they enjoyed their morning coffee. I hadn’t decided who I would run for yet for that day and as I ran past I decided I would run for them. I prayed for them and wondered at their lives. Who were they? What stories did they have to tell? I wondered if they thought the same about me, the strange foreign girl running past their place in a bright pink visor so early in the morning.

After about a lap and a half I noticed that I was moving pretty fast by my standards. Shortly thereafter I passed the gentlemen on the step again and I smiled and nodded. I came around on my final lap and I was so excited. I was moving at just over five minutes per kilometer (my usual is about six minutes per) and I felt great. The weather was cool with a bright morning sun, strange for August to a girl from Kumamoto. As I passed them for a third and final time, I bowed low mid stride and called out a morning greeting and they cheered and clapped for me. With their cheers in my ears I picked up speed and fairly flew back to the house where we were staying. I finished that last kilometer in just under five minutes, and the whole run in 27:09 minutes, my personal best.

I never saw those gentlemen again. I never found out their stories, never told them how much they encouraged me that day, never shared a hot cup of coffee while watching the world go by. Despite this, they became a part of my story, my adventure, and I thought of them often during my training.

I was reminded of them once again during the race. The marathon was held on November 16th in Amakusa City, a small fishing town on the island of Amakusa, just off the coast of Kumamoto. I went with two girlfriends, Sam and Karmen. Sam and I ran together, two drops in the bucket of the four thousand other runners that were there that day.

Karmen, Sam, and I
(Note: I am wearing my cute skirt capris that I bought in Tokyo when I first arrived in Japan. It seemed only fitting!)

We had way too much ENERGY!!

The starting point... I was standing so far away from this when the gun went off that I couldn't even see it.

 As we waited in our spot near the back of the pack I looked at the strangers around me and wondered where they had come from, why they were running, and what their stories were. We were total strangers, and yet in that moment in time we were together, a team of people, surging ahead in this running thing that we do. It was called a race, but really it was only a race to those front runners who were, perhaps, professionals. The rest of us were all in it together, running for so many reasons, but each with a desire to finish, and finish well by our varying standards. With few or no words we were many things for each other: cheerleaders, pace setters, inspiration givers, and strength sharers.

Marathon family!

These shoes were made for running...

The residents of Amakusa were spread thin along the race track, but they cheered with all their might and kept us fed and watered. They kept a smile on my face and encouraged me to run with all my strength. I ran that race for my sister Claire, and for Elora June still in Claire's belly, and for all those middle and back of the packers, my kind of runners, and it was beautiful.

The surge over the bridge at the beginning. Four thousand strong!

Nearing the end of the race, as I crossed the last bridge, with only half a kilometer to go, I noticed two small children standing with their hands outstretched waiting for high fives. At that point most were too exhausted to even notice, but I wanted that high five. I worked my way over to where they stood and gave each of them a high five and a smile (that may have been more of a grimace). Their mother thanked me and the children smiled, and those little warm hands and those little beaming faces so full of excitement gave me more strength than I knew I had and I picked up my feet and powered through the end.

I came into the stadium just behind the men’s full marathon winner, and as I was entering the second place men’s full marathon runner passed me, and the crowd was cheering and clapping and going crazy for them, but it felt like it was for me. I ran strong over the finish line and they called out “Caroline Keenan sensei!” over the loud speakers and it was finished.

There are many times in this world when we feel alone. But that is a lie. We are never alone, and it is not a trite saying about God to say so. Of course, He is always there. But it is when we look into the eyes of our brothers and sisters and see them as beloved children of God, it is then that we realize that it is not just God at our side, it is the multitudes of other people, all of us running the same race.  

Finished at 2:32, beating my goal by eight minutes! Next year... full marathon? I think so!

SeoulSapporoSummer: Part Three - Sapporo

Okay, since it has been a whopping three months since I have posted, it is high time I tell you some of the things that have been happening round these parts. But before I can do that, I have to finish a summer story that I started way back in August. I still need to tell you about my Sapporo adventures. The Sapporo part of SeoulSapporoSummer (I still want a t-shirt with that on it).

Here's the thing about Sapporo though. It was exactly the kind of adventure we needed. Which is to say a relaxing adventure anyplace cooler than Kumamoto. Don't get me wrong. I really wanted to see Hokkaido (the northern most island of Japan, of which Sapporo is the capital) for it's own sake, but more than anything I just wanted to get out of the heat of Kumamoto in the summer. We only went for four days and two of those were spent traveling (when you get the cheapest flights possible it tends to take awhile). We went to relax and see the sites and that's what we did.

I've been trying to think of something profound that I learned in Sapporo and have finally come to the conclusion that, with one exception which I shall divulge in my next post, there wasn't anything. And there doesn't always have to be. So here it is. Sapporo: A Tale in Pictures.

Our first stop was an outdoor history museum called Historic Village of Hokkaido. We planned to only stay an hour or two. If you know me, you know that's not what happened. We were there for four!

The old train station - it now houses the admissions desk

The old government building

Main street!

Laura at the station master's house

You'll notice a trend of East meets West. This was during the Meiji Era, which lasted from 1868 to 1912, and was a time of great westernization in Japan.

This was a famous mansion from the time period. It was very interesting to see how the upper class lived in Japan during that time. 

Notice the two shrines. The large black and gold one is Buddhist and the one on the wall in the corner is Shinto. Most homes had/have both.

The tea ceremony room

Hokkai Junior High School; one of the oldest junior high schools in Hokkaido

Sensei! Sensei! Sensei! Wakarimasen!

An old shrine - established by the government to help with the spiritual guidance of the community

The fishing village!

The fish master! This was his house. He had many fisherman working for him and they lived in his house with his family when they weren't at sea. 

The fishernen quarters. That's a lot of futons!

Fishermen umbrellas! I wouldn't think that would be a thing in a storm on the sea. 

Fire extinguishers were developed in the Meiji Period :)

The fire house! Notice the sled. Winter in Hokkaido is not for wheels.

The trolley horse!

Terrifying mannequins!

Beautiful hibiscus!

We are ready for our trolley ride!

A traditional Japanese inn

More scary mannequins. They were discussing the "new" hotel in town.

Outside the inn, or, ryokan in Japanese

The newspaper office!

Look at all those kanji! Can you imagine! I mean we only had to use 26 characters. They had several thousand characters to put into a printing press. 

Learning to use a printing press!

Sake!

The super creepy turn of the century doctor's office

The pharmacy/chemist/apothecary

I would not want to be operated on here. No way no how.

Urakawa Church, established by missionaries. They still hold weddings here today.

A beautiful and unique communion set

Okay, so this is like if Hokkaido had a KyuGaku in 1870 something. An all boys boarding school. Oh the antics!

This charter was penned by Dr. William Clark when he taught at this school. It is The Covenant of the Fellowship of Believers in Jesus and was signed by several students, some of whom became prominent Christian leaders in Japan. He wasn't supposed to teach Christianity, but he did anyway.

The Dojo! Kendo and Judo were practiced here

Judo uniforms

Kendo gear

Our second stop was for Genghis Khan BBQ with our lovely hostess Okada-sensei. Let me tell you, BBQ'd lamb, so delicious! I didn't even feel bad! But that might have been the beer talking. I must say though, we did smell like BBQ'd lamb for the rest of the night. Why is it called Ghengis Khan BBQ you ask? Because apparently he used to BBQ lamb in his helmet, so our grills were convex Hokkaido shapes. Ghengis Khan BBQ is a specialty in Hokkaido. I have no idea why. To my knowledge, Genghis Khan never set foot in Hokkaido. 

They gave us aprons to keep the smell off and bags for our purses. It didn't work. We reeked of grilled meat for the rest of the night.

The grill at our table.

Beer Hall!

Mutton!

Lamb!

Our lovely hostess, Okada-sensei, a Lutheran pastor in Sapporo

Ah, BBQ. How I love thee!

The next day we went up to Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill. That literally means "Sheep Hill Observation Hill" according to Laura. There is a statue on top of the hill of Dr. William Clark, the American specialist hired by the Japanese government to come help modernize/Westernize Japan. He is famous for the quote, "Boys, be ambitious!" which he said to his students before returning to America. This phrase is famous all over Japan. Another version of it, according to legend, is, "Boys be ambitious for Christ." As you might imagine this second version is not as famous as the first. 

Dr. William Clark

Such lovely summer flowers!

It had a great view of the city

Sapporo Dome

A couple were having their wedding pictures taken by the statue. A little strange I suppose, but there might be an interesting story there. And just look at her dress!

There are still sheep on Sheep Hill Observation Hill :)

After we left Observation Hill we went to Odori Park, located in the middle of the city. It is 13 blocks long and, in the winter, is host to a major snow festival. As it was summer there was a garden exhibition going on.

Sapporo Tower!

Chocolate covered bananas! With sprinkles!

This slide was super awesome!

At the end there was a beautiful rose garden. A bunch of junior high girls were playing tag. It was too cute.

 

That evening we went to an observation point on the top of a mountain outside of the city. What a beautiful night view we saw!

Finally, it was time for our trip to come to a close. We went out to one final onsen (hot springs) stop, which was quite honestly my favorite part of the trip, but for obvious reasons I have no pictures. All in all it was a lovely and ever so relaxing trip to Sapporo, and while we didn't go to many places, we had a lot of fun at the places we did go to. And with that my SeoulSapporoSummer came to a close!