This week was a strange one. Rather than enjoying the running, it became more about logistics, trying to work out where to find replacement parts for Joy’s bike and some treatment for Joy’s insect bite.

👟 Weekly Summary

Monday: Hachinohe to Ichinohe

A late night, a late start. By the time we were fed, packed up and leaving, it was already ten. Our first job of the day was to find a pharmacist; instead, we discovered it was some sort of national holiday, and all the pharmacists appeared to be closed.

The day was pleasant, but a bit slow. We passed through some quiet villages and up and down along some orchards filled with apples, which appear to be this region's speciality.

The late start left us still moving along the darkest road we'd been on so far, if only because we'd usually camped earlier than this. With the forest on either side, we were very aware of the potential for bears to be out and about, so we made plenty of noise as I let my legs go and bombed downhill as fast as I dared. It was only around 7.30 by the time we reached camp, but it felt much later.

Tuesday: Ichinohe to Morioka

We were up fairly early and made our way down some busier roads, first passing a 600-kilometre sign to Tokyo, and then oh so many more. On the main roads in Japan, they have signs like this every 100 metres, which feels a little much, but if there is one thing that the Japanese love, it does appear to be a sign.

Today, we lost a lot of time dallying in convenience stores. Both Joy and I are guilty of spending far too long choosing what to get, or being slow to eat and move once we have decided. We also needed to find something to help with Joy's allergy, which led us to wasting time in two different pharmacies, picking up medicines which didn’t help. Eventually, we made it to the hotel by 6.30, feeling fairly knackered.

Wednesday: Morioka to Tozukamori

Joy's allergy had kicked into overdrive through the night. We made a beeline for the nearest dermatology clinic. We were given some more pills and cream and strict instructions to see someone else in 3 days if things haven't recovered.

The next problem to solve was the Brompton. The tyre was looking a little fragile, and we hopped from bike shop to bike shop as we made our way out of town, and while the people at each shop were incredibly helpful, they did not have a tyre for us. We'd already decided to put on the spare that evening, but that choice was taken away from us when the inner tube went around 4pm. We replaced the inner tube with a lightweight one Joy had picked up as a spare, and our lightweight folding tyre, and set back off, happy that we had replaced everything smoothly. We then had to repeat the process a couple of hours later when the ultralight inner tube went.

In the end, we cut the day short, arriving at a nice campsite, but giving us more distance to cover in the morning.

Thursday: Tozukamori to Mizusawa

Rain was on the menu for the day, and initially, the cold, wet weather felt hard. Within a few kilometres, and as wet as I was going to get for the day, I settled into a good rhythm.

Joy hadn't slept well, was still nervous about the bike, and was worried about the rain and camping late. I was a little short of sleep, but otherwise fine. After some deliberation, we chose to switch from camping in the rain to the comfort of a hotel.

Our day was spent ticking off the miles along a busy road through urban sprawl. The road had a wide pavement for the most part, although not wide enough to avoid splashes from passing trucks, and the towns we passed through were interesting enough. We'd seen so much nature and picturesque, clean Japan, passing paper mills and construction sites made a change. It's part of Japan, and in some ways, with our view being an otherwise grey backdrop of drizzle, it was somewhat fitting to be making our way through this part in the rain. For once, we even made it to our destination before dark.

Friday: Mizusawa to Shintsutsumi

This was a long, slow day. We always knew it would be, but somehow, even knowing the fact and taking into account that it would be longer and slower, it was still even longer and slower. Neither of us was functioning smoothly today.

The GPS route said 62 km, but in the end, I stopped my watch at 66. Our 11.5-hour day started with breakfast at a Seven-Eleven, before heading out into a gloriously sunny day, surprisingly so given yesterday's cold, wet weather.

I knew that I'd be slow. I'd had little sleep the night before and planned to push hard the next day to get Joy into town and to a doctor earlier, which meant holding back today.

Saturday: Shintsutsumi to Sendai

I'd thought that my number one priority for the night was sleep, but I was awake at midnight holding Joy. She was in floods of tears, unable to sleep due to the itchiness. My priority was not sleep; it was her.

Despite the fatigue and knowing it would make me useless for the next few days, I set out that morning on a mission. The aim was to complete 50 kilometres by 2 pm, giving Joy the best chance of some proper treatment. I put my earphones in for the first time in the journey, and then I blasted it, 5:34 /km, 5:13, 5:24, 4:33... I ran a 5 km segment in under 25 minutes. I knew I would pay for this later and accepted it.

Two slipped to three, and by the time I hit 50k, I was spent. I knew even if we hadn't planned a rest day tomorrow, I wouldn't be able to run. I was dead on my feet, too tired to make decisions. But we got Joy to the doctor, and now we wait to see whether this one’s given her the right treatment.

Sunday: Sendai Rest Day

We started with a lazy morning before going to get Joy's bike checked. We'd found a bicycle shop that looked promising on our map, and it turned out to be just what we needed.

We now have a spare inner tube that's new and a spare tyre, so we're in a much more comfortable position there than we were before. It gives us confidence going into the next stage of the journey.

The only worry now is whether Joy's legs will finally start to recover.

☀️ Photo from the Road

🧠 Running Through My Head

Most of my thoughts this week have been about how and where to fix the Brompton, and how and where to fix Joy’s allergic reaction. Not that my mind found many great solutions to either.

🗓️ This Week I Have Mostly Been…

🎵 Listening to: You and I - The Revivalists

🚀 Next Up

A few shorter days next week to help Joy recover, to catch up on life stuff, and generally enjoy ourselves a little more.

We’re on our way through the rest of Tohoku and to Tsukuba next week to stay with a Zen monk.

🏁 Finish Line

That’s all, folks.

Thank you for reading and for all your support.

Take it easy,

Phill