Midnight Run/Jog/Walk

Today, I have had an energy surplus. Having lots of energy and being "genki" as the Japanese would say, is great until you have nothing to exert that energy on. Usually, when I am like this, it means that I do not sleep and I do not want to get into that rhythym again.

So, in keeping with my vow to go nuts on my body, I decided to go jogging. I grabbed the iPod and my running earbuds (yes, I have earbuds just for running) and took off. I have not ran in two weeks because my family has been here and they did a good job of getting me out and about and walking. Most of the days, I have walked more than usual so I felt that a nightly jog was not in order. But tonight, I wanted to punish myself.

I set off on my usual route that leads me diagonally across my town via a covered mall and then doubling back, going through the redlight district, and finally arriving at my apartment. By the time I hit the covered mall, I knew that the normal route was not going to be enough to get out all of the energy I wanted gone. I added an extra block to the run and still, I felt I could go farther, much farther. Once I hit the street my building is on, I made the decision to go to another place that I had jogged to once before, a hotel that sits atop a very steep, very high hill.

The first time I jogged up to the aptly named, Skyview Hotel, I thought I was going to die. I had to stop several times and the climb really took it out of me. I wanted to feel that exhaustion again. Starting up the winding hill, I knew that there was no way my legs had it in them to jog to the top so I decided to speed walk and made myself promise that there would be no stopping. I love doing this area late at night because there are no lights on the road up to the hotel. In most areas, it is pretty freakin' dark to pitch black on the way to the top. Adding to the fun is the fact that there are thick bushes and trees all along both sides of the road and at night time the chatter of the insects is enough to make me need to turn up my music. It is a vaguely creepy place to jog and if you know me, I am on a never-ending quest to find ways to weird out and scare myself. I watched way way too many slasher flicks as a kid. I made it to the hotel without stopping and did a lap around the building. The hotel itself is kind of odd, I am not sure why but something just feels weird about the place. It is a modern Japanese version of the Bates Motel. I have never seen guests there, I never see cars come from there, but I do see weird lights up there from my apartment. The place is probably crazy expensive due to its location; you can see all of Fukuchiyama from there, but you would think you would see advertisements for such a nice locale, there are none that I know of. Its just a creepy destination at the top of a dark, creepy road....that I like to run to. :) I did see a car up there tonight though, but I do not think they were guests of the hotel, more like a couple of people that did not feel like getting a love hotel.

Anywho, after the hill climb to the Bates Motel, I came back to my apartment, dripping with sweat. I did not stop during the hill climb and I think I actually could have gone longer than I did. This is a good sign, it means my body is getting back into the mode it was in when I left Idaho. Alas, now it is time for bed. With all of the running, I did manage to burn off most of the energy that I was building up and now I am kind of sleepy. Night Night!