Tonight was invigorating. At first, I thought it was going to be awful.

I stepped outside of my apartment building tonight to be greeted by a ground covered in sloppy wet slush, and snow. It immediately started seeping through my shoes. As I got into my groove though, my body warmed up. The falling snow, the softly muted sounds of the street, and the smell of pine smoke from someone's wood burning stove had me feeling great. The air was cold and bracing. I felt like a badass as I huffed and puffed through the scene. My breath escaping in steamy puffs like a lone wolf out in the wilderness....

Okay. Maybe I am getting a little carried away now.

It's time to get some new gear. And I'm not going to the sports store to get it.

My co-worker (also a runner) informed me that I can get some good, durable, comfortable, and warm gear for a fraction of the price at a shop here called WORKMAN, which sells, well, work clothes.

What I'll be needing:

• Long underwear/tights/leggings
• Breathable mesh shirts
• Gloves

Another interesting tip from my friend was to buy some tiny screws from the hardware store, small enough not to pierce the soles of my shoes and stab my feet, and screw them into the bottoms of an old pair of running shoes.

This will keep me from slipping on the ice, with the metal heads of the screws providing traction.

Winter's here! That 118 km race around Mt. Fuji is just around the corner!

_*

PREVIOUS FUJI 5LAKES TRAINING BLOGS:

• A New Goal, A New Challenge, and A New Plan: THE FUJI 5LAKES ULTRAMARATHON!

• Fuji 5Lakes Training Blog! (mileage, music, thoughts and musings on running my first ultramarathon) 10/16/2017

• Runner's High: Love is a Choice, In This Reality.

• Fuji 5Lakes Training Blog - 10/25/2017 - Running with Joanna Newsom's "The Milk-Eyed Mender"

• F5LTB - 10/26/2017 - Shoegaze Church and Thoughts of Death on a Late Night Run

• F5LTB - 10.28.17 - The Beauty of Knees. Ambient Music. Other thoughts.

• Fuji 5Lakes Training Blog - 11.1.2017 - It's a Long Way to the Top, if You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll

• Fuji 5Lakes Training Blog - 11.5.2017 - The "Post-Poison 6 Mile" and Running as My Path to Serenity

• Fuji 5Lakes Training Blog - Flowers by the Bridge, 11.10.17

• Fuji 5Lakes Training Blog - 11.13.17- “May the Road Rise with You” (a much needed run with a super fun playlist!)

• Fuji 5Lakes Training Blog - 11.22.17 - Training in winter is tough / My own private marathon / Crypto ideas for the race

• Fuji 5Lakes Training Blog - 11.23.17 - Speaking in “Tongues” on a Runner’s High

~KafkA

!

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Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as Facebook and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)