Allergens

I don't know what was different about this year, but when we pulled our winter sweaters out of the closet we discovered that some sort of allergen had settled into them. Both Russell and I instantly start sneezing uncontrollably and searching for tissues whenever we put on a sweater. I'm suspicious this is because I stored everything in plastic tubs this winter for the first time. I put moisture eaters in that were suppose to keep the humidity at bay and prevent mold, but something clearly went wrong. I wore one sweater on Wednesday assuming it would air out over the course of the day, but that was a false assessment. I was a mess all day and started sneezing again the next morning when I picked the sweater up off the floor.

This got us thinking that it might be time to finally purchase a vacuum. We've needed one for other purposes, but cleaning out the closet seems a high priority, and a vacuum would sure help. We went out this afternoon and purchased a high powered vacuum that not only vacuums normally but filters the air above the vacuum as well while its running. We spent the afternoon vacuuming all our sweaters and bedding (which had been stashed in the closet as well during the summer). Hopefully it will help. If not, we'll bite the bullet and take everything we can't wash to the cleaners. Hopefully it won't come to that.

Tomorrow we will venture further into the closet. Wish us luck.

My Running Day Pictures

The post before this one explains the story - not here are a few pictures to set the scene. Warning - they're not all pretty. Case in point:

My co-worker has been joking about how people post pictures of themselves after they finish a big run and everyone always looks terrible - it doesn't matter that they do, that isn't the point, but nonetheless. I took this picture after my first 5k in the morning and sent it to my coworker as proof that I had in fact finished the run. She believed me. I will also point out that right around this exact moment I was thinking to myself, "Running sucks. I never plan to do this again in my life. EVER."

This is me about 5 hours later with the registration packet for the second run. 

This pic is still early in the race. 

Team KSGU - celebrating our completed runs and showing off our school spirit. (We all wore our school t-shirt). The blue number is not blue for boys, but blue for 10k. The paper cups contain free samples from a wine tasting that took place after the race. Can't complain there.

Kobe Run Fest 2012

Sooo... I actually ended up running two 5ks today... Funny story...

My co-worker has been really pushing herself to get physically fit, and the rest of the office has been collateral damage. We really aren't complaining - its been good for us. A few months ago, she found out about the Kobe Run Fest - which features a 5k and 10k run around Harborland in Kobe. She set to work getting as many co-workers as possible to sign up. Originally I said no, because I was just too busy to train (the last couple months have been packed with research, conferences, family visits, etc). Then her husband asked Russell and he agreed and started signing up. Since he was signing up, I told him to just sign me up too. We were both planning to run.

Then Russell never got around to paying. In Japan, credit cards aren't that widely used - even online, so outside of Amazon.com, you can't count on just giving your credit card number. Instead, you have to use a special kiosk in the local convenience store. You enter the code you got on the website, they tell you the total and you pay the kiosk in cash. Russell signed up pretty late at night and didn't feel like heading out to the convenience store. He then forgot altogether - so we were kicked out of the run. 

My coworker who had organized the whole thing was bummed. Her group of four coworkers and three spouses was dwindling and everyone was starting to wonder if they were really up to running (there was more enthusiasm for signing up than training). I felt bad. So I told her I would cheer and go out for dinner afterwards. Out of solidarity (and to feel less lame sitting around drinking beer with a bunch of people who had just run 5k) I decided to run 5k in the morning before the official evening run. 

I DID run 5k (3.1 miles) by myself in the morning. It wasn't a fast 5k - maybe 38 minutes - but I ran the full thing with only a few pauses at traffic lights. I felt like a good friend. Later in the afternoon, I went out to Harborland to meet everyone before the race. 

As it turned out my friend's husband had been sick and couldn't run. He had suggested giving the ticket to Russell or I, but nobody had given us a heads up. I offered to Russell first (since he hadn't run yet today) but he said no. Waiting for the registration table to open, surrounded by runners, (and calculating that the run would be dead flat - 'cause hills suck it turns out)  I really still wanted to run. We didn't know if they would allow me to take someone else's number, but when we asked, they said it was no problem. Did it help that the registration lady was also a student from our university? Perhaps. 

I registered and found myself the proud bearer of number 136. 

So I was signed up for my second 5k of the day.

In the end one of my co-workers ran the 10k (very convincingly, I might add - I think his time was around 40-45 minutes) and the rest of us (four coworkers and a spouse) ran the 5k together. Everyone made it to the end. The fastest among us finished around 20 minutes. I was the slowest, but not by much, and considering my morning, I'm not at all disappointed. I did get an even better time on the second run. I don't know my exact time but it was somewhere between 33 and 34 minutes. And however slow my running speed, not a step was walked. 

To be honest, for someone who never broke 14 minutes in the annual mile run in high school (yes I was trying and yes, I was actually that slow) I'm very proud. I don't really want to keep running in the cold dry weather that is creeping up (otherwise known as winter) but I'll try to keep walking to work and starting next spring I would like to start training again and try to trim that run time down. We'll see how it goes. 

After the run we all went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant and then a sizable group of us continued on to a bar that Russell has been frequenting called "The Bees Knees". It is run by a very friendly Canadian fellow and was especially notable for being smoke free. Around this time my legs started to really make sure I knew they disapproved of the day in general, but I wasn't asking much of them anymore, so it was all good. We enjoyed ourselves a good long time at the bar. Past the last train, as it turned out. 

Russell and I ended up walking (me more like a penguin) to Sannomiya, ate noodles and then decided that walking the rest of the way home wasn't all it was cracked up to be and took a taxi instead. 

It was one of those "good memory" days I wanted to make sure to chronicle. 

Today is going to be one of those less exciting "not moving off the couch" days that I'll leave up to your imagination.