It has continued for a year!

Ichinen tsuduite iru!

According to my calendar, it’s been a whole year since I started running. Actually, I’m not sure I can call what I did back then “running.” I did Couch to 5k, except I did it with time and not distance, so it was probably more like Couch to 3k. Still, it got me started, and I’ve been running fairly consistently (about 6k twice a week or thereabouts) for a whole year.

I started doing this because (confession mode) last year, for the first time in my life, I gained holiday pounds. Well, I’m in Japan, so holiday kilos. One kilo, to be precise. I’ve run for a whole year, and that kilo is still there, but I guess I could argue that there’d be more than that amount if I hadn’t been running. I don’t think my body has changed very much visibly, either. I fantasized that I’d have to re-alter my pants, but that hasn’t been necessary. I measure my waist fairly regularly, and the number is the same.

But there are other benefits. Moving around has become easier. I can climb the stairs to the 5^th floor without much trouble. I feel really confident that I’m more fit than most of my co-workers in my age group. When I run, I feel like I’m putting my time to good use, as opposed to just fooling around on social media.

Right now, I’m running in a windproof jacket and pants that I bought at a Nike outlet about 10 years ago, with Uniqlo Heat Tech underneath. I thought I’d get new cold weather running gear over the holidays, but that didn’t happen. The jacket and pants set are a medium gray color, which probably isn’t very visible in the morning darkness. I was wearing my summer running hat because it was white and it had a little bit of reflective material, but lately that’s much too cold, so I’m wearing a Uniqlo knit cap I found in my closet. I think I bought it something like six years ago to take with me to Chicago. (Then, I didn’t take it to Chicago so I wrapped a scarf around my head while I was there. I have a hysterically funny but fortunately fuzzy picture of me in that state.) It’s dark purple, so, again, it’s not very visible in the semi-darkness. And it’s really dark out there this time of year. When I left this morning, the sky was full of stars. I got back at around 6:20 this morning, and the eastern sky was only starting to turn orange.

So. Anyway. I’ve been at it for a whole year, so I think this makes me a runner (albeit a low-level one). So I should get new running gear!