Jogging in Japan

I went jogging today for the first time in a while. I decided to do it last night and woke up full of vigour. But I don't have time to go to Ohori Park in the morning, even though it's ideal for running. In Ohori Park, there is a track around the artificial lake especially for runners, who can read their progress on the sports surface every 100 metres. Pretty cool, isn't it?

Jogging in the city

But not everyone, including me, has time to go to Ohori Park every time, let alone run. But simply going jogging in the middle of the city is not that easy. Everyone obeys the traffic rules and the traffic lights are often red for minutes at a time. You shouldn't run in dense neighbourhoods either, as this disturbs or annoys the general public. So I came up with a plan.

The plan

The idea is actually quite simple. If I want to jog in the city, I need to find a route with as few people as possible and a route that requires as few crossings with traffic lights as possible. And I quickly had an idea: there is a river near me that leads into the sea and there are paths along this river that you can run along. Unfortunately not all the time directly along the river, but also along parallel side streets. And so I have at least largely solved the problem with the crossings. Of course there are a few bridges and therefore roads that get in the way, but overall there are not nearly as many crossings as usual. And to avoid disturbing so many people, it's also ideally a route that not many people walk along, especially not at half past seven in the morning.

Be careful in the streets

And then I gave it a go this morning. I set off and jogged towards the river, which only took a few minutes. But despite observing the traffic rules and empty pavements, a large lorry came out of a driveway behind a wall and was about to drive out. We were both startled as we approached and the lorry immediately slowed down from walking speed to zero. I apologised with a bow and kept running. Although I was paying attention, this happened and I was sure that the man in the lorry probably thought I was an uncultured foreigner. However, I had finally reached the route I had intended to jog along and ran along the river for just under half an hour. It was great fun and I will be repeating this route more often over the next few days, but this time with a little more care.

Fresh air in the morning

Today is not the first time that I have deliberately left the house early to combine fresh air with exercise. I notice that I get a lot of energy from the fresh air, especially after nights with air conditioning. The cold of the wind on my face and the brightness of the dawning day revitalise me a lot. I can highly recommend it, it also does something to your mentality for the day. You are somehow better equipped for the day, even if you only go for a short walk.

Conclusion

Just a short story about jogging today, but not every day has to be a long article. I'm glad that I can write these articles in the morning, because it's easier to write with a fresh head, which works particularly well when you've run a few laps. Now it's time for a little breakfast, although I'm still thinking about skipping breakfast. Eating white bread every day is not so healthy. A classmate must have spotted some wholemeal bread yesterday, so I'll definitely pop in today, because when I went to the German bread bakery yesterday, I was pretty disappointed that they only had particles. But anyway, until then!