Month: December 2024

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So Close to Achieving My Journey to 1,000 Kilometers

Written December 4, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

I’m pleased with how my run went today. I managed to run my fastest 10k on record. Since my first and second 5km were quick, I reduced my target pace time to its lowest point thus far: 9:49 for 10km. 

I plan to do two more runs this week: a 5k on Friday and another 10k on Saturday. I am doing extra running this month because I decided to hit 1,000 kilometers this year. I have been concentrating on pace for most of the year, so I did only a 5-kilometer run three times a week until November. I hit my goal pace timer last month and added an extra goal for 2024.

Following this plan, I’ll have 897 kilometers for the year with three full weeks remaining. So, I have a few more extra 10ks to run in the following weeks to reach my end-of-year goal, but I’m pretty sure I can get it even with the likelihood of missing a run on Christmas day.

It is nice to achieve goals. When I started running faster, I struggled a lot at the beginning. Caring about my pace and time was extra pressure for me. The summer in Nashville is humid and hot, preventing me from running faster. So, I ran in the early morning when the temperature was still tolerable. Last month, I changed my running schedule back to normal. I didn’t know that temperature impacted my running pace until I started caring about my running speed.

I’ve never been a runner in the past, so running is my newly acquired hobby. Running used to be a pain for me when I started. Now, I don’t feel like running that way anymore. I started walking and running after my brain stroke because my wife pushed me to my brain recovery. Now, I am beginning to like running. The year 2024 is almost over and has been quite good for me.

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Winter in Nashville and My New Health Monitoring Ring

Written December 3, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

Nashville is so cold. Last night, we were cursed with a light dusting of snow. Now, I am confident that winter has come to Nashville. While it hasn’t been quite cold enough for long enough for the ground to keep much snow, it certainly has been cold enough the past two days.  Tomorrow’s forecasted temperature is much warmer than today’s, making tomorrow’s run more pleasant. Luckily, I don’t expect the snow to complicate my intended run tomorrow, but I’ll have to make that final judgment immediately before my run.

Today, I am trying out my new health/fitness monitoring device. It arrived yesterday, and I spent some time today charging and configuring it to suit my needs. After I got a brain stroke and broke my kidneys, my nephrologist told me to monitor my blood pressure. I am taking medications to control my blood pressure, so my doctor needs to know how well I am doing. 

Initially, we used the old-style blood pressure machine several times daily and logged the results in a notebook. Several years ago, my wife suggested using a watch. I started running. My wife had used a Fitbit for over a decade. Unfortunately, her FitBit did not track her blood pressure, so I purchased a watch that could do it. Whenever I get a new watch to replace the old one, my doctor checks how accurately the blood pressure is measured. The watch is entirely accurate. However, my last watch started failing to track my steps. This time, I wanted to try a ring. 

It is a ring to track my vitals, just like the watch. Instead of a watch, this one is a ring and promises a much more robust battery. So far, I like it better than my watch, although it doesn’t have a display. Since I rarely have my phone, that’s not much of an issue, and I can still wear my watch using it as a basic watch. 

I also suggested my wife get a ring, but she still has a Fitbit. She likes to see the time. One thing she wants to do is be on her phone only some of the time. She says a smartphone is a kind of destruction for her. 

So far, I am happy with the ring.

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Tweeked Around My Schedule To Achieve My Running Goal

Written December 1, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

When you have a strategic vision, it is vital to check your progress status. To reach my goal, I still need to run an extra 38 kilometers on top of my regular 25 kilometers weekly. So, I recalculated how close I was to achieving my goal to run 1,000 kilometers by the end of the year. If I increase 8 of my runs to 10km over the next 4 weeks, I’ll make 1,000 km. However, that would mean running a 10k on Christmas day, which might not be possible.

My sister and mother plan to celebrate Christmas at my other sister’s house. They invited us as well, but my wife couldn’t take so many consecutive days off as she had to prepare for the upcoming year’s end. So it looks like we are going to spend our Christmas by ourselves. My sister will also be moving by the end of the year after returning from the trip. They may need our help. So, I don’t want to have a too tight schedule. 

After tweaking my goals, I concluded that I’ll need to increase all my runs this upcoming week and likely do so again the following week. My plan is still tight. I’ll need to recalculate my weekly progress and update my plans as more information becomes available.

I like it around this season, but it can be challenging, especially if you adjust the goal at the last minute like I did. My wife started to post book reviews on Goodreads. She started updating what she read in July this year. Since it was only 6 months left when she started, she wanted to read four big books, each containing over 1300 pages. So, she initially made the goal 50. She ended up adjusting to 60 in November. 

My wife has long-term goals and vision but adjusts her tactics and goals weekly. I’ve never done this as frequently as she does with her visions, but maybe that is why she generally completes whatever she decides. She also ditches something that does not work very well. She said that sometimes, you don’t know if the goal is feasible until you have tried it. If you have too many goals running simultaneously to the point you have no time, it is important to let some of them go, especially if the goal is not attainable due to a lack of resources. She tells me that she made a fair number of mistakes in the past by not letting go. 

I usually schedule my time according to priority. I consider running a high priority and will maximize my running time. Then, I get into trouble when higher priorities than running, like spending time with my family, pop up. I do not manage my schedule like my wife, but my method works for me. That is the most important thing about strategic management.

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Running Through the Chill: Lessons in Patience, Resilience, and Recovery

Written November 29, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

It has been so cold in Nashville the last couple of days. In the morning, it is less than 32F (0C). For example, this morning, it was about 30F. I considered running an extra 10k today. It was pretty chilly, and I’d neglected to wear my gloves, so my fingers were cold after the first 5k. So, I decided to run only 5k for today. 

This is more from the after-effect of brainstroke. My body somehow lost the ability to regulate my internal temperature. I’ve talked about it to my doctors before. I can do nothing about this except prepare myself for any temperature. 

It was silly of me not to have gloves on for running on a day like today. I always check the temperature before running because exposure to cold or heat is impossible. My wife found a pair of my running gloves a few weeks ago because I would need them soon. Then, we had a mild temperature, so I completely forgot about them.

Luckily, it is just Friday. Due to the holidays, my wife has been off most of this week, and I felt like it was already the weekend. I still need to put in an extra 19km to achieve my new goal for 2024. I’ll run a 10k tomorrow and likely again on Monday to get another 10k in before the year’s end. I am planning to run another 10k.

I learned a definite lesson from today. I should go outside before running and ensure I am wearing enough clothing for running. If I am running a 10k, considering my body condition, it could do more harm than good. After all, I am running to maintain my body. I want to be healthy again. Since I cannot cry over the spirit milk anymore, I don’t want to mourn my lost days in the past. I will look forward. 

After I started working to be better, I started to realize something. I should still know whatever I am accomplishing is good. My wife mentioned the statistics about how many people would survive and then recover to my point. She said one lucky thing was that I was still young when I got my brain stroke. She was somehow stoic and pushed me to walk and a little run. 

Moving my legs has a lot of impact on my brain. I started to plan for my day. I started with making the weekly medication setting. Then, my wife started making me do the medication ordering. She was involved for a while, but I do this alone. She still plans meals for the week and packs them daily with a recipe for the day. I prepare the meal. I prepare approximately 50ish different recipes. I started to cook some dishes without a recipe. One day, I can do the meal plan from the start. For the baking for the holidays, my wife has already let me do the planning and baking by myself. 

I’ve damaged my brain, and this is what happened to you. Then, I know the brain can repair in some way. That is why I can run or bake again. Sometimes, I still make mistakes, as I do today. I was frustrated about it, but I know I must be patient. We still have 31 days to put in an extra 19 km.

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I had a Great Thanksgiving

Written November 28, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

I’ve always loved Thanksgiving Day. It’s a holiday that stirs nostalgia, bringing back memories of family gatherings from my childhood. Over the years, the table has grown fuller as we’ve added spouses, nieces, and nephews to the mix, making the celebration even more special. My wife and I will visit my sister’s house this year to enjoy the holiday together.

We usually bring food for the party so we do not have to host everyone. I typically bake two pies for Thanksgiving: an apple pie and a pumpkin pie. For today, I baked two pies on Tuesday and Wednesday. It should be a lot of fun and delicious food. 

Our main dish will be a brined, smoked, and roasted turkey. My brother-in-law has undoubtedly been smoking the turkey since at least this morning if he didn’t start last night. During COVID-19, he could not watch sports events on TV or go out to meet people, so he picked up this new hobby: cooking. He’s become quite the chef over the last couple of years. He always does substantial research online to prepare for making anything. Over time, he’s learned to make the dish he imagines.  

My wife is incredibly excited to see our niece. She has been quite busy doing many projects and only had time for something else for several months. She said she wanted to see our niece. She is happy to live near her niece so she can see her for a big event like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or birthdays. Though we saw her just a couple of weeks ago at my wife’s citizenship ceremony, she’s growing up in the blink of an eye. 

We’ll get to eat a lot of good food around this time. Living in Portland, we had to celebrate most of our holidays with just the two of us. I remember that we ended up eating turkey the following week. So this is another good thing about family gatherings like this. We spread the leftovers so we don’t have to eat the leftovers for several days.

Family holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas remind me of the joy of coming together. It’s not just about the food, though that’s always amazing; it’s about the shared laughter, stories, and the warmth of being surrounded by the people who matter most. As we grow older, we have additions like our spouses, nieces, or nephews, so the family feast improves. I can’t wait to celebrate this feast with everyone and create new memories together.

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Finding Gratitude: The True Meaning of Thanksgiving with Family

Written November 26, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

The fourth week of November is always a busy season for me. In the United States, we have Thanksgiving Day. My family always holds a dinner party on Thanksgiving Day. Instead of one family hosting and serving everyone, we usually bring dishes when multiple families gather for the feast. 

My sister and I love baking. I usually prepare dinner for Thanksgiving or Christmas, and my sister sometimes bakes bread. My brother-in-law usually prepares the main dishes. He is one of the best people to prepare the main meat dish for Thanksgiving. He is a meat smoker and has made fabulous dishes in the past.

Since it’s feast week, I plan to bake pies today. I’m going to bake a pumpkin and an apple pie this afternoon. The last thing I want to do is make them all in a rush. Last week, I selected the recipes and noted the ingredients needed for these desserts. I shared this list with my wife so we could buy them during our grocery shopping.

Sometimes, ingredients such as spices (cinnamon, all spices, Nutmegs) run out from groceries if we try to purchase them at the last minute. My wife ensured we had those spices in October because we didn’t want to hunt them around.

I was not always very close to my family. Before I got my brain stroke, I didn’t spend much time with my family. We were living far away from our families. I have so many cousins and relatives, and they have so much family drama, and I tried to stay away from that. Then, I became sick. I think when you have a near-death experience, you see life entirely differently. When my wife suggested we live near my family, I was happy. She probably noticed the changes in me. She was aware I called both my parents at least once a week. Even though I live closer to my family, I still call both my parents each week. 

A family gathering like this holds deep meaning. We create something special for one another and express our gratitude. That is how we celebrate our Thanksgiving days. The celebration may not be extravagant, yet it fills me with contentment. I feel their love for me just as strongly as I love them.

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Clearing A Roadblock for the Goal Is Important

Written Novmeber 23, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

As the end of the year approaches, I noticed that I’m close to hitting a 1,000-kilometer run this year. It’s less than I ran last year because I focused on the running pace. I want to be more ambitious since I already achieved my goal for the year. I have a little over a month to go before 2024 ends. I want to reach the nice round number of 1,000 km.

Once I determined the new running goal, I started a quick calculation. If I continue to run 25 kilometers each week, I think I’ll be hitting 19 kilometers short of the 1,000 km. If I want to hit 1000, I’ll need to run a bit extra in the remaining five weeks of the year. If I run 10k daily next week instead of 5k, I should be close enough to hit 1,000 with only one additional 10k.

There are obstacles to achieving this goal. We have big holidays in November and December, so I need to consider the days I’ll miss running due to these holidays. I think I’ll just start by adding extra distance to next week’s runs and then reexamine and plan after next week. Once all my goals are set, I need to execute my tactics.

A roadblock to the goal means any obstacle or challenge to achieving the goals, which is critical when planning. For example, let’s say you want to do a project, but you will need some approval to start the project. Getting approval will be your roadblock. “Holidays” are my roadblock to hitting 1,000, so I need to find a way to prevent that. For the first example, you may want approval before starting the project. For this goal, I must readjust my running distance because I need to block out some days for the holidays. 

Increasing running distances would be a bit tricky. Again, we have about five weeks, so stretching 19 km over the five weeks is okay. Is my goal achievable? Yep, I can do it.

I saw my wife do this daily and weekly. She finds any roadblock before starting a day or a week. She also adjusts her goals weekly. I know this is how she gets things done. She says she has too many roadblocks when juggling many projects simultaneously. It is necessary to do the planning right. A planning blueprint for achieving the goals in a way.

“A roadblock” is quite a good analogy. Once the plan is set, I am more motivated. You cannot reach your destination with a car and be just pushing gas. You must plan how to get there. I will be executing the new running goal I set this morning.

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Resilience and Persistence are The keys to Getting Better

Written November 21, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

Yesterday, my run felt perfect, and I could finally beat my pace time, so I avoided allowing my target pace to creep back up to 10 minutes per kilometer.  I’m not sure what made my pace time better. I even felt much better when running and pushing harder. My wife said that maybe I am getting a runner’s high from it. I think it’s a bit different. My muscles may have finally gained enough strength to keep up with my desired pace. Regardless, I was pretty pleased with how it felt and the effectiveness of my run.

The first time I started running was sometime in 2017. I got my brain stroke in 2015. My wife and I walked daily after I was out of the rehabilitation center and started living in my house. I remember I had to rest very often because I got neurofatigue from just walking. It felt like I played a chess tournament and played three games daily. In 2016, I started jogging. I could do only 1.5 KM (less than 1 mile) at a time. It was more like walking now about the time. Then my wife got me a good pair of running shoes. It motivated me because I knew my wife was trying to adjust my budget since she had to stay home to take care of me, especially from 2015 to 2016.

After she went back to work in 2017, I continued running. My mother was surprised at how much I developed my calves when we moved to Tennessee, where she lives. My wife wanted to move to Tennessee to be near my family. She has considered it since she returned to work in 2017. She said she was worried a lot when I was in a rehabilitation center. My mother came to live with me in 2015 to help us, but she also had her mother to care for. She had difficulties depending on my family for help, and her family is in Japan. After I moved, I continued running.

It helped where we live, which has a lot of hills, unlike the place we lived in Portland. Running up and down the hills helps me develop different muscle types. I worked to increase my distance. Last year, I ran four 10 km runs per week.

This year, I started working on my pace. I mainly used my running apps to monitor my pace. I gradually increased my running speed. One thing I was very careful about was never setting unrealistic goals, which is something I taught my students at University. 

My body is much more robust, and I have gained much more endurance despite my kidney condition. That is why I am not feeling the running high I am feeling. My body is in better condition for running. 

Here is my plan for now. I will adjust my goal if I run at the same pace on my next run. I am still hoping to reach 9:00min/kilometer by the end of next year, and each small victory encourages me to believe this goal is achievable.

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This is How I Overcome My Cold Procrastination

Written November 20, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

Winter can be challenging for running. The temperature in Nashville has swiftly dropped in the past few days. It’s just over 10 degrees cooler today than yesterday. Since it has been so warm until last week, my body has difficulty adjusting to the new temperature norm.

Since the brain stroke, my body has not been able to regulate the temperature well. Compared to February’s temperature, today’s temperature is not too cold; it’s just noticeably chilly compared to yesterday. The sudden temperature change impacted me in many ways, including my ability to do chores outside and run. 

When I think about these activities, procrastination becomes more tempting. It looks chilly outside, and my weather App also confirms this. While these tasks are essential, I also want to stay inside the warm house. 

So I just put on long sleeves for a run. I don’t think I need my windbreaker or running gloves yet. I act like this on the first step every time. Surprisingly, it works for me. Maybe it has something to do with humans’ very nature of difficulties letting go of something they started to work on. For me, running is something I have invested in for several years. 

My wife didn’t hesitate to get me nice running clothing. She said I was motivated to run the first time she got me a nice pair of running shoes. It motivated me to run longer. So, she made sure I had excellent running equipment. For herself, she made sure that she had running shoes or equipment with cold wind for running, but such equipment was only for her health purposes. She doesn’t care about a shirt or pants unless she starts to run longer distances, which she used to do in her 20s and 30s. 

Anyway, I put on my running clothing and shoes, and all my procrastination temptations went away. I managed to run despite this chilly weather. So, this is my little win against procrastination.

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From Mowing Leaves to Life Lessons: Embracing Consistency After a Stroke

Written November 19, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

Today, I’ve elected to forego leaf collection. Due to the warm rainy days last week, I decided to mow the lawn. As I mowed the lawn for the last time, I mulched the remaining leaves in our yard to the point I could skip leaving vacuuming chores for the day. Compared to the previous week, we are having some cold days. My body was somewhat used to the warmer days; I am having difficulty adjusting to this chilly weather again. 

We usually don’t have to mow around this time. I was somewhat disappointed at needing to mow again, as I had thought I’d finished that chore for the year. Somehow, the weather had its own plans. The erratic weather resulted in some late extra growth to create a little spring to the point that promoted grass and trees to create some new greens. Hopefully, I’ve now reached the end of mowing for the year. 

The mower mulched the relatively few leaves on our lawn, leaving it reasonably clear. So, skipping the leaves will be a pleasant break for me. I noticed some of my neighbors started to put Christmas decorations outside. Once Thanksgiving is over, there will be a lot more decorations. 

Ever since my brain stroke, I have learned to be consistent. I can’t imagine how I changed. I was more impulsive and liked to procrastinate. When I had to re-learn even basic actions, such as how to eat or walk, it taught me to be more patient. I learned that the best way to avoid forgetting to do something is to plan well and create a checklist. My wife is big on planning and making checklists. She jokes she does not trust herself to be consistent otherwise. 

I realized that consistency has excellent benefits. For one, I was able to run 10 km without problems. I even started doing my muscle training, and I gained a lot more muscle. I always had toned muscles because I used to do gymnastics. When I was in bed for almost two months after the stroke, I lost a lot of muscles. I sleep and wake up at the intended time, so my biological clock works. I had difficulties reading books due to my eyes, so my wife got me audiobooks. I listened to my audiobooks all the time. I also learned how to cook and Japanese. Now, I pick up on writing. 

Chores, like vacuuming leaves or even mowing, need consistency. I get tired much faster than before, especially when the weather is extreme. I will do as much as possible within my capacity, but I do them consistently. I get them done all the time. If I think like that, I lost a lot from my brain stroke, but I also gained good habits from it.