The Yokosuka Naval Base Cherry Blossom 1/2 Marathon was held today and was sponsored by the U.S.S. George Washington.... whoop whoop!!! I've never done much more than a 5K and I certainly didn't sign up to win... hahahaha There was a little over 100 runners this AM... It was a good goal to set and it has kept me busy and given me motivation to continue running for the past few months! The entire 1/2 was on the base and as you can see from the route, we had to do 2 loops! The wind was sort of out of control in some points as a lot of the route was right on the water... it was really pointless trying to run into it as it looked like I was running in place... think running man!!!! hahaha It was great having Damian along the way to take pictures and cheer me on... 13.1 miles is awfully long!!! I finished and that was really my ONLY goal... my time was good and it was a fun experience... not to mention I got a cute t-shirt and a cool medal! 
Cherry blossoms, or sakura as they are known in Japan, are very important and symbolic to the Japanese culture. The cherry blossoms are forecasted just as much as the weather during the time they may bloom. The cherry blossoms begin blooming way down in Okinawa in January and make it up to Tokyo by the end of March or early April... we are still waiting for now! Cherry blossoms are very symbolic (but isn't everything here) and to the Japanese people they can be symbolic of how quick life it... the flowers bloom and have extreme beauty and then are swept away quickly by a gust of wind representing mortality. I guess we could look at it as "life is short" and embrace the beauty of it while we can! During the cherry blossom blooming, it is customary to participate in "hanami" which literally means "flower viewing," but it has also come to mean that Japanese people will picnic under the trees and relax with their families and enjoy the flowers. This also involves sake and cheerful toasts! When the flowers are in bloom, it is not uncommon to see hundreds of people picnicking under the trees in parks! It all sounds pretty fun to me!
Japanese Word of the Day:
Hashire (ha-she-ray): RUN!!!!!!!
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