June 17, 1983, Friday
This is my final day of my rest before I hit the road again. My head still hurts and I am still feeling very tired. I'm just not used to feeling this way. I'm usually the guy who bounces back quickly after a bad day. That's always been my strength. My body must have been really beaten up by the pneumonia experience.
Mr. Watanabe of the Kumamoto Running Club took me on a tour to Aso National Park. This park is a region of scenic contrasts. You can see lush green meadows and dense forests, alternating with bare blackish-brown lava fields and bizarrely shaped mountain ranges. This beautiful tract of country is very characteristic of the scenery of the volcanic island of Kyushu.
After going to Aso, I was asked if there was any other place I wanted to see. Although I was tired, I wanted to see Kumamoto Castle so we ended up going there, too. We toured the castle grounds, took some pictures, and then went home. I went straight to sleep in the afternoon. All the excitement of sitting in a car, standing around like a nerd for pictures, and walking around like a zombie in an old tracksuit just wiped me out.
I got up at dinnertime and had a delicious meal prepared by Mrs. Inoue. She really knows how to cook. We had spaghetti, ham, vegetables, miso soup, rice, beer, tea...just to name a few of the menu items.
To be honest, I have been thinking all day about my run that is scheduled to begin again tomorrow. The volcanic steam that I saw rising up from the caldera at Aso just reminded me of how much my head was throbbing. Am I going to survive to finish this run in Hokkaido?
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