2)Saturday, November 18, 2006 Weather: Sunny then cloudy Jogging in the very early morning

• I will join the Tsukuba Marathon Race (full) next week. Thus I tried to run 40 km.
• The destination was the bank of Arakawa River. I left home at 4:45 AM. It was still dark, fine and cold. I could see my breath.
• The old crescent moon was sickly shining at the lower eastern sky and the constellation Orion was in the lower western sky.
• I ran alongside the Ochiai River. Since the sky was clear and dark, I could see the Septentrions in the eastern upper part of the sky after a long interval. Thus I could find out the Pole Star. However, the stars we can see in Tokyo are those of the second magnitude.
• I was watching the Septentrions while running. It was so cold that my body did not warm up although I continued to run.
• The western sky was getting lighter around 5:30 AM. I felt somewhat relieved.
• I realized that the human beings prefer lighter situation to darker one.
• I entered Wako City via Ohizumi Central Park and ran alongside the Shirako River to the bank of Arakawa River.
• I could see beautiful sunrise when approaching to the bank of Arakawa River.
  
  
  Sunrise seen from the Bridge of Shingashigawa River
  
  
  
• The cold wind was blowing on the bank of Arakawa River. I could not notice in the dark, but I found the frosty field after sunrise.
• When returning, I ran alongside Kurome River.
• Totally I ran 39 km for 4 hours. From now on, it may be hard to run in the early morning owing to coldness.

1)Saturday, October 28, 2006 Weather: Cloudy October Run

• Our running group has planned "October Run" this year as usual.
• My target of this year is 200 km on a conservative estimate.
• As of yesterday, my total October running distance is 182 km.
• Somehow, this year, I don't feel like increasing the running distance brashly.
• Anyway, today, I decided to run as long as possible to increase the running distance. The destination is Arakawa River.
• I left home at 5:00 AM. It was cloudy and dark. It was not so cold as I expected.
• It was so dark that I could meet only a few walkers while I was running alongside Ochiai River.
• It took almost two hours to reach the bank of Arakawa River. I felt good to run on the bank of Arakawa River in the early morning since the air was fresh and no one was there.
• I ran back alongside Kurome/Ochiai Rivers. I could see many "Solidago altissima", however, the yellow flowers have been already faded away, which were suitable for the object of digital camera shooting.
• It seems that I have not recovered from my fatigue of Ohmachi Marathon Race as yet and thus I felt exhausted after 30 km distance. The running pace slowed down and I managed to come home anyway. Today's running distance was 38 km. I was exhausted.
• Anyway, total running distance has reached 220 km!!