the legendary totoro at nikkei matsuri

after the 415k in san francisco, i made it to see kelly's girls dance at the nikkei matsuri festival in japantown. and as we were walking along the street, what do i see? totoro, the mythical creature from my neighbor totoro. after seeing the movie ages ago, i've been collecting totoro stuffed animals and in whatever else forms i can find him in. there is something so special about this gentle spirit that draws people to him and adores him. you could see the excitement in my face next to him. this, after running a 5k with the best time yet.

415k - my best time!

last week, i ran the across the bay 415k run. a bunch of us ladies signed up but it ended up just being me and laurie. i barely had any sleep the night before but got up early enough to get to the city and park by 7am. while most of the runners did the 12k, there was still a good amount doing the 5k with us. the run started with a steep hill which i ran up. looking back, i probably should have walked up that hill. the good thing about ending with the hill was going down and pushing me to speed up. so much that i finished 1st in my age group!

before the hill, i was huffing and puffing. i was tempted to stop and almost did. at one point, i felt really nauseous. then came the downhill. and at the end, what really helped with this kid (a boy about 12 or so) who just raced by me with nearly no effort. he literally had no fat on him, just skin and bones. i tried my hardest to beat him but alas, he got the best of me. as a result, i got #1!