Have beer will jog

I was decent, as a basketball player, on that freshman team at Mac-Hi. Voted most improved player. Best defensive player. Averaged 2 points a game. Never mind that last part.

But in those days I was kinda quick and athletic.

This was before I met beer.

I turned 17 one day, and beer has been with me ever since. It stays with me, in the form of a belly, which I keep under wraps at all times, hidden behind the concealing powers of collared shirts.

Four -- OK, five -- years of college later, and it's evident that I spent more time in the pub than the gym. After two years in Japan, where people like me love pointing out that drinking is "part of the culture," I haven't done much to change my ways.

To be fair, the amount of physical activity in my daily routine has increased significantly in Japan, where I get around on a used bicycle instead of behind of the wheel of a used car. And now that I no longer live out of Snell Hall and the nearby fast food eateries, my food habits have mostly improved.

I have lost some weight -- you can see it in the lines of my face, but I don't actually measure -- since coming to Japan. But nothing substantial.

And it goes back and forth here. I don't have to weigh myself, I just encounter Japanese friends. Here it's routine for friends and acquaintances to casually comment on another person's weight status. This isn't considered rude or a taboo subject, but almost like a greeting.

"Oh, hey Steve, it's been a while, have you lost weight?" Maybe we can relate, but only when we're buttering people up (Steve, to be fair, has been laying off the butter). In Japan, they're serious. They say that if they think you've lost weight. Or if things look like they've been going the other way, they're equally blunt: "Steve, did you gain weight?" Their tone is sometimes grave, as in, "Steve, whoa buddy, you've put on some pounds there, don't you realize we're all paying for your health care collectively? Lay off the bear claws or the appropriate cultural substitute in this context."

This week has been a high point, though, in my physical activity lifespan. Yesterday I hit the gym and did some moderate lifting and 30 minutes of cardio. Today, along with the two other Yamasho ALTs, I went for a run along the river, about 6 miles in all, perhaps twice as long as my most recent attempts at running.

And it felt good, aside from the sudden seize-up of my right calf muscle as soon as walked in the door to my apartment. More stretching, check.

So now the goal is to keep up a routine. Yeah, I've said it all before. But I might have the edge this time. The new ALTs, Conrad and Annette, are both avid runners. I can join the team as the rusty, out-of-shape guy with significant experience in the gut area.

Now, all I've gotta do is find Steve, and find out where he keeps the bear claws.