This is my 5th time to Japan and I love it every time I come. The first place I look to go is Moss Burger. For those of you reading this and have no clue what that is, it is the best fast food shrimp sandwich place in the country. My team thought I was crazy having talked about for the past 3 weeks but once I went out and bought them one they were hooked too. This past week has been great. I have finally been able to start training and running at least at the level I was at when I began the tour. This week I broke out my new shoes and my team members noticed right away because my over time dropped drastically. Japan this time is normally really hot but our driver Ricardo told the whole time we have been here it has been cool and low humidity. This is great for running so none of us complained. Most of my runs this week have been in the dark at 3am. My second run was the best run I have had to the this point. It started at the ferry dock and ascended about 100 feet during the first 3 miles. As I was going up the small mountain I could see the Ocean and the view was unbelievable. By the time I got to mile 6 the pilot car drivers had noticed I was way ahead of my normal time for this distance and then we began racing. That’s right I said racing me against the car. I could tell things were coming together at this point because I could step on that third gear I had been looking for for the past 6 weeks.

The following day Will and I found a small Japanese restaurant that was really close to the hotel. Upon walking in I noticed the restaurant had all these photos of famous jazz musicians that I know really well like Cyrus Chestnut, Lewis Nash, Kenny Barron, Elvin Jones, etc. Come to find the owner is huge jazz fan and all these musicians come to this place to eat when they are in town. After talking to her she explained to me that she is a huge fan of the music. By the time it came to eat I was not sure what to get so I asked her to give what ever Kenny Barron normally gets. When she brought out the dish it was this Seafood rice bowl that was outstanding. I have learned over the years when in doubt listen to your elders. In this case, I did!

Song for the day -"Runaway Train” Band- Soul Asylum