In one week, I found a new job and got my Japanese driver's license. I swear I felt so great that I almost bought the lottery. Well I planned to buy one, but then ended up forgetting.
Fiance's old house is all torn down, and starting from 8/1 the new houses will begin the building process. All the house details and planning are set.
Now, I just have to pick the date to go back to cali for a couple of weeks, sign the full contract with my new job...and start saving for necessities for the new house that will be done by December...and of course, plan for the wedding...

But all in all, everything is going pretty smoothly.

oh yeah, and I applied for Tokyo Marathon 2009. raffle results will come out in November. the date of the marathon will be on fiance's birthday. maybe we'll get to run together. ha.

hona.

not everyone who applies gets to run in tokyo's marathon. this is the 2nd annual tokyo international marathon, and only about 1/7 who applies gets chosen in a raffle. i have never wanted to run in one before, although it was fun cheering for runner in past marathons (maui, big sur, tokyo). bf's sister has run in a several, and so i have been to some and it's fun watching people run for fun, run serious, or run with a costume...but i'd never think i wanted to run in one myself.
late summer 2007, bf thought we should both apply along with her sister this time...since, it's chosen by raffle and there's a small chance to be chosen anyway. so he signs us up. and what do you know? only I got in. and i figured...it's actually "lucky" that i got chosen in the raffle to run! so i must do it. i turned in my application, paid the 100dollar fee, and decided i will start running on the machine in the gym that i go to. the next day i turned in my application, i ran 5K. then i ran 5K the next day after that.
then suddenly, my whole body became infected, and i had something similar to chicken pox, and was itching all over for about 2 months. when i finished the medicine and my skin was actually almost healed, i had one week left to the marathon, and the farthest i've ran was 5K on the treadmill. with only one week left, it's better not to put in to much energy on training...and just drink lots of water and eat lots of nutritional food. and that was what i did...i got pretty nervous, and felt i should at least be moving around...so the whole week, i do the normal things i always did at the gym: soccer, basketball, and hiphop. the day before the marathon, i knew i wouldn't be able to fall asleep early anyway, so i went and played basketball, trying my best not to hurt or injure myself. then afterwards, i stretched like hell and i think i stretched so much my right knee began to feel weird. and then i got paranoid but thought...oh wells...
on the day of the marathon, i woke up at 5am, got ready, making sure i have everything i need. ate 2 bananas, drank 2 bottles of water, took some vitamins, and had some chocolate. i felt good and ready to run my first marathon. i met up with my friend at the station at 6:30 and arrived at 7:00. went to the toilet, changed, and got my stuff checked in. it was a cold morning, but i was feeling warm for some weird reason. the air was cold but the sun was feeling good. i was at J block, the very last from the start line and i was standing there waiting 20 minutes before the marathon began. i was so ready...or so i thought.
it took about 30 minutes just to move up to the start line, after the marathon had officially started. ok, walking 30 minutes is a good warm-up, i'll be fine. suddenly everyone began cheering and when i looked up, i saw the starting gate. a rush of goosebumps, and a chill down the spine...i was so ready to start this race on my own...my right knee was still feeling weird but i should be able to run it out...
1km...2km....4km....5km! soon i see the 5K gate and i look at my time; 00:52:24. ok, i should be able to pick up some pace soon, now that people are a little bit more scattered...8km...10km! wow 10K came in sooner than i thought! this is great! i'm almost 1/4 way through this thing...lap time; 0:33:04. ok, i'm doing all right...15K lap time; 0:35:37. this is already the farthest i've run in my life...and i'm feeling good. taking free amino and water drinks when they're being served...haven't slowed down too much yet...will i be ok later on?? i should slow down a little bit huh...20K lap time; 0:40:10. ok, that was all right...maybe i should start walking a little. that was when i finally stopped running to walk a little bit. suddenly i was near 21km, near Ginza where there were tall buildings everywhere. where did the nice sun go all of a sudden? suddenly a brush of cold wind passed by and i started getting really cold. weird...my right knee's not in pain anymore...but i feel a tightening in my left thigh....great. i stop and stretched. then i figured i need to start running or else i'll be freezing and that's not good. i start running...about 10 seconds later, both thighs began cramping. ok, stretch. then when i started running again, the cramps got so bad i totally sat down on the side for a while. i massaged my legs, trying to warm it up...and feel the cramps disappear again. i stretched again, stood up slowly and began running again. the cramps were soon back again, in less than 1km. at 23km, i see the emergency tent. i went in, and they sprayed my whole leg to get rid of the cramps. i sat down and got warmed up, took off my shoes, and have them wrap up my feet from blisters. weird, the blisters weren't hurting at all...
after about 5 minutes, i realized i have taken so much time off the marathon because of my cramps, and i only have 15 minutes to pass the 25K gate, 2 more kilometers. i can do this i thought....and started running again.
ok...i see the 24km sign...OW, what's that on my inner thighs....no, no, don't cramp up on me again...!
i collapsed, spraining my foot along the way. that was when i gave up. i was carried into the bus, which drove the retirees to the finish gate. i didn't get to finish my first marathon...

but there is one thing that i know now. i will not run another marathon without having trained. and i will not run another marathon without the confidence of finishing it. 42.195K, i will finish you soon.

has anyone thought that lives are like ocean waves? high and low, big and small, fast and slow and everything in between. you walk too far into them, you might get picked up and thrown into the deep sea forever. you stay at the edge, or you wait for the exciting cold touch of the water as waves come in...and then you stay at the same place, or take another small step along the same edge, and soon you're used to the water temperature...then you might try taking a bigger step, towards the ocean, and as the water rolls in higher and higher, you still get used to it after a while. some people go all the way, and take a little swim. others back up to their towels, and some prefer to stay dry.