I'll take you in my backpack

7/13/16 I'm not sure how you begin a post about an experience like this so I think I'll start by giving a little background about the epic Fuji-san. A volcano in Japan, it was officially registered as a World Heritage Site in June of 2013. It stands 3776.24m (12,389 ft) high and is the highest peak in Japan. It is considered one of three holy mountains (along with Mt Tate and Mt Haku). More than 200,000 climb to the summit of Fuji each year. The last eruption was in 1707-08 but in 2000/2001 there was increased seismic activity under the volcano, raising concerns about a possible reawakening. So let's get down to it! We arrived via highway express bus, it dumps you at the 5th station, where everyone starts their ascent. Now that I look back at that I had no idea what I was getting into (thankfully). It was pouring down rain when we got off of the bus so it was a quick dash into one of the shops to get our gear on and everything straightened out, purchase our sticks an...

1/11/16 I'll preface this by saying that I had great intentions when I signed up for this (and the Nago half marathon 1/24/16). I started a training plan, I stuck to it for the first half, etc.  somewhere along the way things fell off schedule. Then I had an unplanned trip to the US (and back to Japan) which resulted in severe jet lag. It also resulted in no running. Prior to leaving for the US I had been experiencing hip issues so I was not running, resting the hip. Flash forward to 1/4 when I returned to Japan. I ran 3.6 miles (my first run in almost a month) and it hurt. The following day I ran 3 again and was stifled by the hip pain. I took the rest of the days off until race day  Getting there was an adventure. A 3 train 45 minute adventure. Which on the way back home with baby deer legs would prove quite the challenge.  I was most certainly the only white person there; also likely the only person who couldn't read or speak Japanese. So when I wa...

6/2/13 Wow, so it's been a little while since the last post. Whoops! Didn't mean to let that happen! Since my last post: I've had a birthday...I'm dangerously close to mid-thirties, I've had a great week in the gym (PR's in back squat, front squat, snatch, and clean & jerk!), I've made some pretty delicious recipes...in my hotel room (that has no kitchen!), and I've spent time with some amazing people in my life (including supporting a friend who was doing a surprise (not so surprise) flashmob! I guess there's no need for more writing since I summarized it all in one sentence. I'm impressed! So, let's start with salmon. I made a delicious Herb Crusted Salmon from one of my favorite paleo sites,  PaleOMG . I did all of this in a hotel room with no kitchen so trust me it's easy! I used a toaster oven to bake it! Here's my finished product, it was delicious! Moving right along, the flash mob. This was wonderful and so exciti...