Every now and then (usually when I’m dropping weight divisions), I take up running. It’s never permanent, usually because my schedule changes soon after the goal is reached. For example, classes end, black belt tests are taken, etc.
This time, I’m running to reach featherweight for a tournament at the end of March. I’m not really cutting for the sake of being better off in a better division (I actually spar better against people who are bigger than me), so much as cutting for the sake of having people in my division. Being the largest female in Japan and all. Featherweight isn’t far away – according to the lab scale, I’m almost there as of last week – and I could just cut hard on the last few days, but I’m not really fond of cutting hard. So instead I run.
I knew I wouldn’t keep running unless I made it a mandatory part of my schedule, so I’m running to/from lab on Monday and Thursday, my non-tkd weekdays. Going to lab, I just realized, is about 4 km (and slopes up 100 m in the second half because lab is on a mountain), and it takes me a little less than 30 min. to run one way. (yes, I’m pretty slow.) This is different from past running experiments, when I would run on nice mornings, in that I’m running fewer days, but twice as much per day.
The nice thing about using running, especially this particular arrangement, is that, even when I bike, I go up the mountain on foot anyway, and then I have to drag my bike along, which is rather annoying. This knocks out a good 1000+ calories a week, so it’s easier to cut without having to think about what I’m eating (which I do enough, trying to maximize calorie/yen ratio when I’m running out of money). And, for some reason, I actually enjoy running; at last, I enjoy running more than biking when it’s still winter-like outside. (running in the cold is nice; biking in the cold is painful)
An important part of running, of course, is good running music. Today, I listened to the new B’z album, which I “acquired” after going to the concert. I highly recommend it, to the point that I have every intention of shelling out the ￥3000 necessary once I get paid. (me, paying full price for a CD? in Japan? まさか) The songs, even the slow ones, are just suited for running, somehow. At least a couple fit my pace perfectly (some are a little too fast and threaten to make me run too fast. haha). It’ll probably be my main source of running music for a while.
If I were to make a playlist off the top of my head, though, I’d include: B’z, other albums (what can I say. I like them a lot.); Maximum the Hormone, occasionally (Japanese heavy metal. good in regulated doses); M-Flo (J-hip-hop. upbeat, high energy.); Detective Conan themes (typical upbeat J-pop.); GReeeeN (don’t really have words for them. chill J-pop, maybe.); and 藍坊主 (aobouzu (translation: blue boys? but ao is more indigo, and ‘bouzu’ is more of an insult, like “oi, bouzu, what are you doing??’) – a labmate let me borrow a couple of CDs. kind of remind me of greeeen.).
Looking at my past running playlist, though, I also have stuff like: Muse – Absolution and Black Holes and Revelations (the other stuff is too… I dunno, not my taste), Blink 182, The Matches, The Killers, Linkin Park, and Yellowcard. I think maybe Japanese stuff is less distracting, for some reason; it might be because, while I know the lyrics, I can choose not to think about them too much, whereas I can’t voluntarily not understand English music. Or something. I also have issues singing in English that I don’t have with Japanese, but that’s unrelated.
