Run, purify the mind.

Running is a glue that holds memories in place.

What I felt during running is deeply engraved in my minds.

About me

Endurance run

"This is really boring. Let's run slowly together."

Thirty years ago in the winter, at the starting line of a junior high school endurance race, a friend whispered to me anxiously, "Let's go slow together. With some relief, I started off.

Seventy minutes later, he finished far ahead of me. A couple of dozen minutes later, I came around the last bend and saw no one in front of me. I was the last to walk. My classmates who had finished running ahead of me were getting cold and had already started to go back to their classrooms.

For me, long-distance running was a symbol of inferiority.

Thirty years have passed since then, and I am now running. The reason I started running was to lose weight. My weight was at an all-time high, and I was reluctant to start running because it seemed like an easy way to lose weight. I started with 3 km and gradually increased the distance to 5, 7, and 9 km. As my weight steadily dropped, running became a natural part of my daily routine.

The sense of personal growth that came with increasing the distance I could run was also a great encouragement. I still remember the excitement I felt when I was able to run 10 km for the first time. Looking back, it was the same distance as the endurance run I had done in junior high school coincidently.

Then I met marathon running.

When I was a child, my father loved marathons, and we always watched them on TV on winter weekends, and after more than two hours of watching the almost unchanging TV screen, I didn't understand the charm of marathons at the time.

When I was able to run 10 km, I thought it would be more fun to run with someone else, so I joined a running club. I made a lot of friends, which naturally led me to my goal of running a marathon, and I spent many hours training and racing.

I have completed a full marathon (42.195 km) in less than 3 hours eight times, making me one of the top 2-3% of runners in the world in terms of statistics.

So far, this is a success story of revenge for my junior high school days, but there is more to it.

After achieving a sense of great accomplishment in the marathon, I lost my goal of running, burned out, and couldn't run anymore. I worked hard in the marathon and was satisfied with the results.

It's too hard to shorten my time any further. Then why am I running?　During this period, I was suffering both physically and mentally.

Reason to run

After a while of not being able to run, I was fortunate enough to be able to start running again.

That's because I was able to look again at my own "reason for running.

Why do you run?" is a FAQ (frequently asked question) that runners get.

To a non-runner, it is hard to understand why runners like to do such a painful thing. I was exactly like that when I was in junior high school, and I know exactly how they feel.

I think many runners are thinking, "I want to lose weight, maintain my weight, finish a marathon, or beat my time. These were the main reasons for me in the past. I was excited when I lost weight, and thrilled when my times decreased.

But on the other hand, I also felt that these were only one aspect.
The act of running should have a deeper meaning.

I did not fully face this question when I was into running marathons. Even without facing it, the intense sense of accomplishment made me run even longer and faster.

And later, when I was burnt out, I took some time off and thought about that question face-to-face. Why do I run? What is the meaning of running?

Purify the mind" is my reason for running.

The body and mind are connected. The body can be washed and kept clean, but the mind cannot be physically washed. If left untreated, the mind will become dirty, and this will appear as emotions and actions. Weakness, escape, selfishness, anger, frustration, and disappointment.

But by running, we can clean the dirt from our minds. The core of the mind, which has been covered with dirt and hidden from view, becomes visible. Strength, patience, altruism, kindness, calmness, and hope.

I believe that the most accessible way to purify the mind is to run.

You can do it alone, you can do it anytime, and it doesn't cost anything.　

I think that keeping a sound mind is an important theme nowadays. I want to tell people that they can do it through the act of running. And I want those who are not running now to want to run.

I have run 25,000 kilometers (about half way around the world) in the past 10 years. That's more than 2,500 runs. Among them, there are four scenes that have particularly affected my mind. I would like to write about them here.

I would be happy if these scenes could help those who have not run, those who want to run, and those who used to run feel the meaning of running, even if only a little.

All four of these scenes happened more than several years ago. But I still remember vividly what I felt strongly while running.。

1: Kinokuni-zaka, Togu-gosho, Minato-ku, Tokyo - Possibility of Myself-.

Members of a running club and I gather at the Gonta-zaka crossing on Thursday nights to run a marathon to prepare for the marathon race at the beginning of the year. Unlike the Imperial Palace, most famouos running route in Japan, Togu-gosho is a difficult route with severe hills, which is a favorite of serious runners.

Running a marathon requires hard training. But if you run alone, you will stop because of the hardship.

But when you run with a group of runners, you are encouraged by the sense of not wanting to be left behind, and you are able to push yourself to run faster and longer. That is why it is very important to have a training session with someone.

Even when it is really tough, the body does not stop first. The mind stops first, and then the body stops in response. It is as important to have a strong mind as it is to train the body.

The Kinokuni-zaka slope immediately after entering Sotobori-dori is a tough climb around the outer edge of the Togu-gosho Palace. There, I run closely following the fellow runner in front of me.

In running, there is a word for this: " pulled along". It means to run with someone running in front of you. Of course, there is no actual string to pull you along. But on this hill, I feel as if I am being pulled up by my friends, who are pulling me up where I would stop on my own.

Whether it is work, study, or running, one's mind and abilities can expand or shrink depending on where, with whom, and in what environment.

For me, this is condensed into running the Kinokuni-zaka hill at the Crown Prince's Palace with my friends. It is a hill that you pass through in only about a minute, but your body and mind resonate strongly with each other. Pulling together with those around us, we keep our minds strong and moving forward.

Gradually, the skin of the "desire to run away" that covers the mind is peeled off, and the core strength of the mind is revealed. Then you will be able to do what you cannot do on your own.

It is often said that " Mentality is important," but we rarely experience this in our daily lives. However, just by running with someone else, you can feel it in a tangible way. You will be inspired, guided and supported by something, and you can keep running. And the harder you run, the stronger the sense of solidarity you feel with the people you run with, and the more you can improve each other.

Normally, a people says that they only use a part of their natural ability given to them.

When we push ourselves with the help of our friends, we can feel the possibilities that lie beyond our usual limits. The feeling of "I can do more" pushes your body forward and gives you the strength to climb the toughest slopes.

When we were children, we probably all innocently believed in our unlimited potential. But as adults, the daily realities and restrictions of life make it difficult to see them.

It is important for adults to be able to realize their own potential in a tangible way.

And that can be felt by just running a little with someone else.

2, Okawa River, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture - What's deep in mind

The Okawa River flows through the center of Osaka City. Runners and walkers come and go on the sidewalks along the river.

The Mint Bureau, famous for its cherry blossoms, and famous bridges such as Naniwabashi and Tenmabashi also remind people of Osaka's historical background. The bridges also serve as a guide for distance adjustment. It is a good course to run to Tenmabashi Bridge and turn around, and then you can decide the distance by checking with your time and physical condition.

Teleworking (working from home) has become a common practice . As a person who used to systematically commute to work every day, it is hard, both physically and mentally, to stay in a small room all day long and work on a computer. When I sit still and don't move, undigested energy goes to my brain.

The brain is more likely to think about many things, and negative emotions such as worry, frustration, loneliness, and anxiety are more likely to arise. Especially on days when you don't have many conversations with others, these feelings are amplified as they circle around and around inside you.

In order to prevent my feelings from becoming more inclined, I try to run in the morning. Bathing in the morning sun, I run and move my body forward. This makes me feel more positive. I believe that since I am moving forward in the bright light of day, there is no way for me to feel dark and backward.

Running slowly along the Ookawa River, illuminated by the morning sun, makes the blood flow to my sleepy brain, and makes me realize many things. It is said that even while we are sleeping at night, our brains are working hard to organize information, and the sunlight shines on them and makes them clearer.

When I run first thing in the morning, I can access what I am really thinking.

For example
"I haven't talked to my family in a while, so let's talk tonight."
" I don't like him, but I need to talk to him about it. "
"Maybe I can catch up with someone I haven't talked to in a while,"

The brain always holds something important.
But the constant noise and stimulation of our daily lives cover them up and make them difficult to see.

The amount of information we receive in a day from our cell phones, social networking services, and TV is said to be the equivalent of a person living in the ancient Heian period (Japanese era, 794-1192).

Most of it is momentary information that does not directly affect us, but it is noise that thickly covers what is really important to us.

If you use noise as an excuse not to access what is important, it will sink so deep into your mind that even you yourself will forget about it.

While running, there is a sense of being able to access that important thing. Why is that?

Running forces you to go offline.
You are cut off from the online noise emanating from your phone and the internet.

And when you run and suffer, you can't think about things that are not important or low priority. Then only the important things naturally come to the surface. The things that have been stuck in your mind, the things you have been putting off, the dreams you have been wanting to achieve someday.

Things that came to mind even in the midst of the pain of running are important and meaningful.

So after running, I write them down so that the important things do not sink in again. And then we do it straight away and honestly. In this way, we can create a good flow of life.

If you are feeling something deep in your mind but can't see it clearly, maybe you should try running.

3, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Togoshi to Ochanomizu - 2 hours of silence -

My father was hospitalized.
His doctor told me that he didn't have long to live.

A scene like a scene from a TV drama had actually happened to my family, and I was at a loss to organize my feelings.

My father is sleeping peacefully in bed in front of me, but I know that I will have to say goodbye to him forever. I am facing something of tremendous magnitude, but my mind can only wonder, unable to think of anything else.

My father was a middle-distance track and field athlete in his school days. He also liked to watch marathons and ekiden (relay races), so he was always cheering me on when I ran marathon races. When I ran the Tokyo Marathon, he made a flag with my name on it and waved it along the roadside to cheer me on.

I ran from Togoshi, where I lived, to Ochanomizu, where the hospital was located, to visit him. I thought my father, who loved running, would cheerfully open his eyes when I told him that I had run from home.

On the other hand, it was also for myself.

If I didn't run, my mind would break. I thought about my father in every waking moment. Even in my daily life, I found myself crying.

It was 10 km one way to the hospital and 20 km round trip. It took almost two hours in total. I ran faster than usual. So I felt painful while I was running.

But it made the reality in front of me hazy, though I could never forget it.

In opposition to the physical pain, there was a brief silence in my mind at that moment.

There was a sense that my tired, dirty, wrinkled mind was being washed away. It was only for a short time while I was running, but it was meaningful to be able to purify my mind, even if only temporarily, in the midst of my hard days.

I was able to spend the last hours I spent with my father with my mind reasonably well kept. Of course, the sadness and fear did not disappear during that time, but the two hours I spent running to and from the hospital were a brief period of silence, and I was able to have a calm mind to face this reality and do what I could. Thanks to that, I was able to talk about my father with my family, hospital staff, and many other people.

On a fine morning with beautiful cherry blossoms, my father passed away.

My phone rang earlier than the time I usually run to the hospital.
I rushed to the hospital in a cab.

I think he might have said to me,
"You've run a lot so far, so it's okay to run at least one last time."

I didn't run that day.

4, Kinuta Park, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo - the meaning of the run-

The outer perimeter of Kinuta Park is less than three kilometers around, with moderate ups and downs. Many people of all ages spend their time from early in the morning running, walking, doing radio exercises, doing tai chi, and walking their dogs.

After moving here a while ago, I was finally able to establish a regular running course. I spend several mornings a week running here.

The track team of a famous university EKIDEN (relay race)  in the neighborhood also trains here. They come up behind me without a sound and dash past me. I can only watch their backs.

Their running and shapely legs are beautiful. Their bodies, trained to the limit in order to run as fast as possible, remind me of a racing car. I wonder how long they have to run to become like that. I am proud to say that I have run a fair amount, but there is a huge difference between my legs and theirs.

When I look at their backs, I sometimes wonder what they are thinking as they run. Running as a competitive runner, where results are required, is unimaginably tough, and what they gain from it is huge.

And I have another thought.

I wonder if they will continue running after they graduate from college.

When I was a college student, I had no interest in running. But now, 20 years later, I am running.

If I had the chance to talk to them, as a senior in life, I would tell them,

The great meaning of running is that it supports people's minds and pushes them forward. It helps us at life's milestones and difficult times.

The meaning of running becomes stronger in the middle or later stages of life, when people have to think more and more about family, work, and the way they live, and they have to make their own choices at the crossroads of their lives.

Those who are around 20 years old now are going to encounter many such situations in the next few decades of their lives. They will have to make many choices, decisions, and accept them on their own.

This is when running can purify the mind, help them see what is truly important to them, and push them forward.

I want you to keep running until that time, even if it is slowly or occasionally.

Thinking this, I watched their backs as they turned left at the intersection.

Usual morning

At 4:30 in the morning, I am woken up by the alarm on my phone. Running again today....I sit idly in the living room, looking for a reason to start running.

I can make up a million reasons not to run.
Tired, sleepy, busy, rainy, cold, hot...and more.

But in the end, I still start running.
That's because I understand the meaning of running.

Run, purify the mind.

To make today, a little better.
And to have an encouragement for the important moment that will come again someday.