Running down Mount Fuji (part 2 of 2)
Link to part 1: https://steemit.com/japan/@zool237/running-down-mount-fuji-part-1-of-2
I would need my arm fixed within the next 24 hours or so, I thought. As I'd be back at work, teaching English. I'd have to use a whiteboard. So we both bought an incredibly expensive bowl of noodles each. I've since learnt how to use chopsticks with my left hand (it's really not difficult) but at the time I hadn't. And as I couldn't move my right arm without great pain, I had to eat by moving my mouth to and from the chopsticks. It looked most peculiar, indeed.
As it was very cloudy, there was very little to see, so I knew we had to head back down sooner or later. I explained to Yoko that I had to fix my arm. That the best way would be for me to throw both rucksacks on my back again and for the pair of us to begin jogging down. To jostle the injury away.
So, we zig-zagged our way down the mountain in near-record time. Passing many a puzzled walker on the way as we did. Half-way down, I mentioned to Yoko that I was getting thirsty and that I needed water.
"There's some in my bag!" she gleefully pointed out.
I opened her rucksack and pulled out 3 kilogrammes of the stuff. 3 untouched litres that I had not been aware I was carrying. I drank my fill, she drank hers. I then poured several litres of warmish water down the sides of mount Fuji.
The remainder of the run to the bottom was relatively uneventful, after that. We worked out that our descent had only taken around an hour (it took around ten hours to climb). As we walked to the bus stop, she was carrying both rucksacks in her hands as I swung my right arm around, painlessly, like I was a cricketer practising my bowling.
Top of Mount Fuji the inscription reads in Japanese
Anyone else in the community climbed Fuji-san?
Anyone got a faster descent than 60 minutes?
That is so crazy. Please watch your knees. I tried running down some mountains in Asia and regretted it ten years later.
Fuji's only 3880 metres high. And I certainly don't expect to make a habit of it (it happened - kind of through necessity - around two decades ago). And I've noticed any ill-effects on my knees over those twenty years. Thanks for your advice though. You say you tried doing it down 'some' mountains? How many? How high were they? Did you get any good times? Were you actually doing it for fun / competitively (I was fixing my shoulder)?
;)
About 1900 meters but lots of rocks. I liked it at the time and jumped from boulder to boulder. Good memories but knees are still shocked. I can't do it again. There is also the mountain in my back yard about 400 meters. I ran down that mountain maybe a hundred times. I stopped about ten years ago. Mountains are great but also the years go by I take them at a different pace.
Are you an English teacher in Japan?
If so, I hope you have a lot of good memories during staying there. :)
I was, once upon a time. Lots of great memories. But I owe some ward tax. Probably well over a million yen's worth by now (including interest and penalties). So, I daren't go back, unfortunately.
Have you ever been? I'm presuming you're from South Korea? It's a great place. Saying that, I wouldn't mind another stint teaching English, some day soon. South Korea, Singapore, Mexico all appeal to me.