Tokyo Marathon 2010

Waiting to start the race. Here I am standing cold and drenched.

There is the start right ahead. You are staged depending on the letter you have. Rene and I had the letter E.

Japanese Cheerleaders

Medal Time

Well, our first 10K race today was quite the wash out. With 55,000 runners waiting to start, it was a sight. I had never been around so many people who were so excited about running no matter what the weather conditions. As we boarded our bus this morning, it was raining so hard. At that moment, I thought, "It is going to be an interesting day, go back inside and get into bed." Then I thought, no way. We are going to do this rain or shine. It was cold, with heavy rain forecasted all morning.

It took us 25 minutes just to get to the start area after the race started. They were playing Do The Hustle. Everyone was excited, and chanting something in Japanese. My feet were soaked, my hands were cold, but what a fun experience. We had so many fans, cheerleaders, bands, and drums cheering us on. As much as I wanted just to keep on running, I was thankful my run was done. Rene and I stuck together and ran a 63 minute 10K run. We received our metals and headed for the first subway station we saw. We showered and had lunch at the New Sanno. Our next goal is the run the 1/2 marathon in Tucson. After the 10K mark I thought, Wow, my running buddies have 32 kilometers to go.

Marathon time

The Expo was pretty cool.

Tomorrow will be an exciting and fun day, yes it is finally Tokyo Marathon time. All those early morning cold runs have prepared me for what I hope will be an exciting run tommorrow morning. I intend to just have a fun time. The weather may not cooperate, but that is OK, at the 10K mark we are done. I will at that point cheer on my fellow striders as they try to accomplish a 26 mile run to the finish line. I applaud them for their efforts and discipline. Yesterday we attended the Marathon Expo to pick up our bibs. The Japanese are sweet people, but they do not work outside the box when it comes to rules and regulations. When they say all runners must be present to pick up bibs, they meant it. I negotiated with these people for 15-20 minutes to try to get Rene's bib. I had his emergency leave orders, his photo ID, etc.. and they said sorry "He has to come pick it up." After practically begging, the man finally sees Yokota on the orders and asked if I am a Strider. I reply yes, "Oh, OK only this one time." He does our runs on base and what a life saver that was. He changed his mind. Wow! Japanese never change their minds. Lucky enough, I walked away bowing several times with Rene's number in my hands. We will both be wearing a computer chip on our shoe so you can actually track us as we are running. Our numbers are E3723 (Chip #: DK9AHVM) and E7380 (DC67497). Our race start around 9:00. Another exciting adventure for the Saenz's.

To My Beloved Sister-in-law

My sister-in-law Nita, was a unique person. A person with a kind heart who always worried about others. I will miss her laughter, smiles, complaints, and calls to the house when she needed some advice or just someone to talk to. She loved her kids so much and was so proud of them. She devoted her life to her children. No matter what troubles life brought her, she always had the strength to bounce back. She carried such a heavy heart. I saw Nita change gradually after the death of her son. I didn't see that sparkle in her eyes, or feel her zest for life. I will never forget that smile and our last goodbye's as we left Rene's house to head back to Japan. She was weak, but was recovering well. I feel blessed we were able to spend time with her in the hospital and at Grandma Rosa's. Oh Nita, you were'nt suppose to go yet. We had plans for that road trip you were suppose to take with Jennifer to Tucson. I will miss you and I know you have joined your son and smiling with your arms around him as you look down upon us. May you rest in peace with our heavenly father. Goodbye Nita, you will be so dearly missed.

Sayama Ski & Snowboard 2010

There goes Renie, Ah to be 15 years old again. He took so many falls.

I have to say Larissa picked up on snowboarding quick, she is so ready to go back again for more.

Just when I thought I had enough of the snow, our kids were begging us to take them snowboarding today. With a day off, due to Presidents Day, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to hit an indoor ski area around 15 minutes from base. What another gem we found. This indoor ski area was a perfect way to spend our rainy day without having to deal with the outdoor elements or white-outs that outdoor skiing brings. Japanese kids were in school and we practically had the whole place to ourselves. Our outdoor rec center rents out ski's, boots, snowboards, etc.. dirt cheap. What a blast we had on the slopes (intermediate perfect). We have not been skiing in 7 years, so I was a bit rusty and not as confident in myself. After several tries, I was on my way. I am happy to report no injuries or falls, Yes!

The 2010 Sapporo Snow Festival

Ah, snow, snow, and more snow. I have never seen so much snow in my life. Our adventure began with a full day of snow sculptures. Our hotel was only one block down from all the excitement. We arrived at the airport with two buses full of people. Our guide was waiting for us with our boarding passes. I was already impressed by how organized our trip had begun. Our flight destination, the large island of Hokkaido, only one hour from Tokyo. When we arrived, we had two more guides and two buses waiting for us. We headed to our first destination The Ainu Museum. This spot was home to the indigenous people of Hokkaido with their own culture and language. We were treated to a nice show. Off in the distance we could see kids ice skating on a frozen lake. It was cold, and I mean cold. I soon figured out my jeans and boots were not going to keep me warm. I could hardly wait to get to the hotel and change into my snow boots, and snow pants.

Next stop, The Sapporo Beer Brewery, were we treated to all you could eat BBQ mutton, and beer. This place was filled with a nice atmosphere, and yes more snow. The kids had a ball having their first snow ball fight.

Then we were off to our hotel for check in and free time the rest of the day to enjoy the ice sculptures. Wow! We ended our day at Ramen alley, then took a taxi back since we could no longer bear the cold.

Next day, a free day of touring, so we headed to the Chocolate Factory where Larissa and Ernie baked and designed their own cookie as we sat and enjoyed the best hot chocolate ever overlooking the beautiful mountains as it snowed right outside our window. Breathtaking! We then went to the snow park and ended our day ice skating outside as it snowed. Brrrrrr!

Day Three, it was nice to see the finished sculptures from all over the world. We were disappointed with USA who came up with a sculpture of grapes. Go figure-

As we headed back to the airport, we encountered a snow blizzard. The highway closed and the next plan was to take us to the train station for a quick ride to the airport. This was quite an adventure as we unloaded suitcases then hopped on a rapid train. Don't ask me how they managed it all, but we were on the train in around 5 minutes. We barely made our flight. Thank god they had to de-ice the plane, otherwise the whole group would have never made it on time. Hats off to our ITT ladies for getting us home last night. All in all, a trip to remember.

My Diva

Experimenting with the hats we bought for Saporro

The snow fall was beautiful all night

Last night we began getting ahead with homework due to the kids having to miss school later this week. As we glanced outside, it was snowing. The kids were excited and looking forward to a day off of school. No such luck. No warnings or cancellations on the commander's Chanel this morning, just a bunch of people scraping off the snow and ice and driving carefully to avoid an accident. The kids were excited as they walked to school. It was nice to see snowball fights as I drove to work. Oh well, I guess the commander did not feel there was a reason to delay school.