On to India

I have a few more pictures from Japan to post but am on a slow connection here in the Business Class Lounge in Kuala Lumpur (I know, I can hear the Awww poor Baby now) and I prefer to attach big pictures to my blog.  I know it's easier to load and view smaller pictures, but being somebody who like details I like to blow up pictures I like and look for the detail.  So when I can I'll do that here.

My last day in Tokyo was a bit of a drag, I woke up with a bit of a sore throat and it was a cold rainy day all day, so no run across the Rainbow Bridge.  I'm not generally bothered by running in the rain, especially when training for a marathon or 1/2 marathon, it just proves how much you want it, and if I was heading home instead of India for a week and China for 4 days after that I'd have gone ahead and run in the rain.  So I got some salt and gargled hot salt water, and had a smallish lunch from the convenience store, I get tired of big meals and going out to eat all the time.  That makes it tough for George when I get home, she's been home dealing with everyday life, and I'm traveling and going out to eat every night.  But she is a great cook, and I’m not bad at things I like to cook, so I prefer to eat at home for a week or so when I get home, especially from a long trip in foreign lands.  I generally try to eat "local" the whole time I am gone, it always bothered me when I heard about people, generally guys, who travel with a suitcase full of energy bars, snickers bars, and pop tarts.  Really? 

I have never been to India, so I'm looking forward to that.  I like the exhilaration of walking through an airport for the first time, wondering where I am going, what it's going to be like... what's it going to smell like.  That might sound stupid, and I'm not sure I can explain it any better than that, but different countries smell different.  Not all countries, but a lot I have been to.  But this was my 15th trip to Japan and will be my 5th trip to China, so not that Oh Wow! feeling any more.

It will also be weird to be 10-1/2 hours different from home.  That's right; they are 1/2 hour off.  I read a pretty good explanation so I will link to it here.  I guess that makes sense, more sense than Victoria, Australia being a 1/2 hour off anyway, but still weird.  I kind of get it with Indiana being on the far western edge of Eastern Time, and at least we've moved into the 20th century by adopting daylight savings time (I realize it is the 21st century but I don't expect Indiana to join this century for several decades yet). 

So, more pictures and stories coming from India, and maybe some other stories if I have time.

(Okay, 1 quick story since I can't go anywhere for 45 minutes yet anyway.  This is why I feel it is important to run in the rain.  I had run several 5k's before but decided to run a 1/2 marathon, the Indianapolis 500 Festival mini-marathon to be exact, and I trained pretty diligently, but had never run in the rain.  Well, during the mini it rained... and it poured.  My shoes were something cheap, and worse yet I had on cotton socks and a cotton t-shirt.  What the hell was I thinking?  I obviously didn't know any better.  My feet started to blister around mile 6 and I took off my socks at mile 7 and my feet felt better, for a while... but it was a miserable experience all the way around.  About a 1/2 mile from the finish I was looking back over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't cutting anybody off by moving over and caught a flash of red... on my shoes.  Which were decidedly not red!  Well I finished, and felt like total shit, and my feet hurt and my shoes were bloody in back from my blisters.  OUCH!  And that wasn't the worst part... my cotton shirt had chafed on my chest and my nipples were killing me!  My feet pretty much felt better after 2-3 days, my nipples hurt for a week!  Of course I got NO sympathy from George... I believe the words "Try nursing 3 kids 6 months each many times a day then come tell me about your nipples hurting, okay?" were heard.  Who knew your nipples could hurt so bad?  I certainly had no idea!  So just to prove I was nuts I ran the mini again the next year and have run 6 marathons since then.  I've had some running injuries and blisters but nothing ever approached the pain of that first mini.

So... I will always run in the rain in training.  Better to be used to it!  I never wear cotton when running... socks, shirt, shorts... anything.  I Vaseline my feet before putting my socks on for all long runs.  I wear compression shorts to prevent thigh chafing... I didn't mention it because the pain was very much secondary to nipple pain, but by itself it would have been bad enough, and I always... ALWAYS... put bandaids or tape on my nipples for my long runs.  I might be crazy but I'm not stupid.)