Aftermath
At the weekend I ran in the village ekiden, as I had previously mentioned.
I had to run a 2km segment criss-crossing through paddy fields and eventually leading me to the finish line along the village main road.
In my head I thought “Ok. I’ll run for a bit then slow down to a trot when no one is looking. I’m too young / pretty / unfulfilled with life to die today”. This ingenious plan turned out to be critically flawed by the fact that supporters were strewn along the entire length of my run, shouting the prototypical Japanese words of encouragement, ‘fighto’ and ‘ganbatte’ (literally ‘fight’ and ‘do your best’). These two words are used in myriad situations, from chanting during a martial arts tournament, to coaxing children into eating a particularly unpalatable school lunch.
Apart from the occasional exclamatory “ehhh Jon-sensei da!”, the crowds’ chants of,
“Fighto!” and “Ganbatte!”
gradually changed into,
“Fighto- ” and “Ganbatte- ” as it became ever more obvious to the crowd that I was very much not at the peak of gaijin-physical-fitness that they had presumed. In chorus to this, my rhythmic “chu, chu, chu” breathing pattern soon became “GAHHH HEEE GAHHH HEEE” , as my lungs fought for both air, and to actually stay within my chest cavity.
As I gnashed and contorted my face more emphatically towards the race finale, the look of obvious horror and concern on the supporters’ faces reflected my suffering. It was around this point I vowed never to run again.
With the race end in sight, I was so fatigued I was ready to just throw myself dramatically over the finish line and come to a skidding halt on my face. Not to be rude to my race successor however, I courteously passed the baton onto him and wheezed out a “sumimasen deshita” before slumping forward to desperately try and catch my breath. The ringing in my ears (I don’t think that’s a healthy thing) drowned out the compulsory praise of “very fast!” and “ehhh good!” uttered by the other runners. I looked at my time. I had been the slowest in that section, by about half a minute. I chuckled to myself and limped back home for a shower.
In the typical Japanese post-sports idiom, there was a drinking party afterwards. Not learning from my previous mistake (that is, getting drunk and agreeing to run in the ekiden in the first place), I got drunk and agreed to do something else. This Sunday I will be getting up at 3am in the morning to drive to the other side of Kyushu with some of the guys in my village, to watch an aviation show. As long as there is no running involved, this should be a comparatively enjoyable activity.
This Thursday and Friday I will be at the Kumamoto JETs Mid-Year conference, in the city. Thus, I wont be updating until I get back from that. Cheerio.
slumber papers,Kim Sperry Jesse actions orientations Ratfor?