Rebun no hi

Rebun Day! 

Got up at 5 (after getting home after 10 the night before). Headed to the ferry terminal and forced my non-caffeinated self onto the ferry. 

It was crowded. 

Got to Rebun and untangled my tired legs. Met my island buddies, and we headed to the race. 

There were lots of people there. It was fun to see my island students, especially. 

I was running 3K with my teacher. The shorter the race, the longer the warmup, so I bounced around warming up. 

We were milling around the start area when the gun went off. Oh, better run. 

I realized three things when we started. 1. I was at the back of the pack. 

2. This was going to be a very short race. 

3. Running maybe one or two times this year left me woefully undertrained. 

I was determined to not finish last (once was enough), so I doggedly plowed along, feeling like a fool for entering a race without training. I always forget that deep down, I have a competitive streak. 

I also have a streak of ham, so I had fun smiling and waving at people. 

We turned at the 1.5K mark, and I was dismayed to discover that we had been running with the wind until the turn. Ugh!

I plowed on, and finished my 3K in 15:45. I was more than happy, especially to not be last. But I have to say, running a completely untrained 3K left me feeling about as tired as a trained 10K. I'm glad I did it, though. 

After the race, we got rice with sea urchin (a local specialty). 

And soup

Then, we had the closing ceremony

After that, we returned to school (where the teachers live)

I had a nap in the grass

And we had a barbecue!

We ate delicious octopus!

Now I'm sleeping at my friend's house, and it's almost midnight, so I have to post this quickly!