Ohayou, konnichiwa, konbanwa (i.e., whatever time it is) from Osaka. I have been here for almost a week now and everything is going great. I was surprised how easy the trip was from the States. The trip from Chicago to Tokyo was about 13 hours, but it really didn’t feel any longer than the trip to Europe. I got to the meet hotel the same time the rest of the US team did (coming from the training camp) so everyone was experiencing everything for the first time as well. I also realized that the Canadian team is at the same hotel so that is nice because it will be easy to catch up with Simon and Hilary Stellingwerff.
Communication back home is going to be really easy. We have free internet in the room and the time difference works out much better than it does in Europe. If it is morning here then it is evening the previous day in the States and vice versa. This is good not only to keep in touch with people, especially Michelle, but also to keep up with fantasy sports. I have an all important football draft coming up; I need to start doing some research. That should be a good way to take my mind off the race for a little while.
Dinner the first night was quite the experience, there were two camps, ones complaining about the food and the other complaining about the size of the rooms. I was a little bit in both. My complaint with the food is not with the actual meal, but with the fact that there is no dessert. Come on now, I need some chocolate and junk food to survive. I’ll have to make some stops at the 7/11 down the road. Don’t even get me started with the throwers; they could take down the whole buffet in one sitting. I think they are going to be making more than a few trips to good old McDonald’s. The rooms are really not that much of a problem once you figure out the best way to position everything, and realize that you can put stuff under the bed. It seems most of the rooms are made for one bed but they pushed the desk to one wall and squeezed another bed in. My roommate (Michael Robertson, Discus) figured out the best way to gain the most possible room so we have been passing on the info to a lot of people. Aren’t we special!! I’m pretty sure that most of the athletes realized it but were just too lazy to do anything about it.
I woke up the next morning with no problem - just a bit earlier than expected. That was a good thing, though. I went down to breakfast and a bunch of the distance guys were there and wanted to go run in about an hour (catch the 9:30 bus). Well, I had received a phone call the night before saying that I needed to get my Accreditation with a team staff member at 10am. I didn’t really feel like waiting around to run by myself so I spoke to a team official and said that I was going to get the credential later. She let me know that it would be impossible to get into the track without it. She told me that it would not be wise to go by myself but if I wanted to I could go (this was at about 8:50am). I got to my room as fast as I could, changed, headed back downstairs, and asked were to go (they gave me a map). They said it was about two kilometers from the hotel. It was more than than 800 meters. I got upstairs, got my picture taken, waited for it to be laminated (seemed like it took forever), ran back to the bus, and made it with minutes to spare (Juli Henner was impressed)! We ran from the track and it actually wasn’t that bad - it was on a soft surface and in the shade (about 15 min loops). The bus rides always vary depending on traffic but it can take up to 1:30 minutes to travel four miles (distance from hotel to track). So we have to leave 3:30 minutes before our races now to make sure we are there on time.
After I got back to the hotel, we went straight to lunch where I had a little gift waiting for me - a drug test letter!!! It was supposed to be random but about 40 of the US athletes got the summons that day alone. Luckily it was blood only and it really was not that much of a problem. What a first day!
The heat really is not that much of a problem; the humidity could be for some. When I was back in Madison I made sure to do the runs/workouts during the hottest part of the day and it is really paying off. I could see the athletes who didn’t have hot, humid conditions to train in having some problems. The night really is not that bad; it gets dark around 7:30 and with the sun down it cools to a comfortable temp. I know it’s going to be tough for the mid-morning races, but the evening should be great racing weather.
Workouts have been going great, no problems with the travel. I did my first workout the second day here - 8 X 300 with 90 seconds rest. They were supposed to be around 47’s for the first four and 45’s for the last set. I got going and I was feeling good so I was running 45’s at the start and got down to 42 the last set. I realized after the workout that even though I was feeling good I really need to control myself from now on - I am not getting anymore fit in the next couple of days. The second workout was 4 X 200 with a 200 jog, then 3 minutes jogging, a 1000, 3 minutes jogging, and another round of 4 X 200 with two minutes rest. I was much better with time today and hit all the times (1k in 2:34). I did the workout in the morning with sun blaring down on me and I still felt really good. After today’s workout in the heat the race time is going to feel awesome.
Most days we are just hanging around the hotel but there is actually a lot we can do for free here. With our pass we can go to the aquarium (already gone), all the museums, and the Osaka Castle (good running loop as well). The aquarium is really neat with the giant whale shark and the huge stingrays. It was huge and took about 30 minutes to get through. I am really looking forward to hitting up a couple of museums (art, science, history) and the castle in the coming days. I try to get out and see as much as possible while in most cities. I like taking advantage of the opportunity that I am getting to travel the world. I go stir crazy sitting in the hotel room all day (can only take so much repeat CNN) so it is nice to get out and explore. It is pretty easy to do here with the trains and subway especially with the free subway pass they gave us. Every time I come out of the subway though I seem to get turned around and it takes me a while to find the right way. People here are very polite and respectful, and will bend over backwards to help with directions, but once people are on the move every man/woman for themself. People here will not move out of your way and they don’t seem to understand lines. Also cars will almost run over people to make turns so you have to obey traffic signs. Just another big city I guess!
One last thing regarding Nike spikes - AMAZING! I don’t know exactly when they are coming out but they have changed everything for the better. New Miler’s, New Vent’s, New Lanang’s, and the all coveted Jasari!!! I was really excited about testing out the Miler and it is unlike anything out there, but then I got to see and try on the new Jasari (right off the production line) and I can’t wait to get it!
That’s all for now, sayonara (Goodbye) and odaijini (take good care of yourself).
