Running Clubs

I have had several experiences with running clubs here in Osaka but haven't written about them because I didn't really want to criticize and I was afraid what I said would be misinterpreted. But since these experiences are a part of my life I will attempt to describe them.

One of the clubs I run with meets at Osaka castle park once a week. I had run with them for a couple of months last spring and it was generally a good experience. But one day when I was changing clothes behind the partition I heard the head of the club calling another member on his cell phone. His side of the conversation was as follows..in Japanese.."Help....that guy is here....the American..come run with us". The point of the conversation was to get this guy who was a fast runner to come run with us so I would have someone to run with. From my perspective I wasn't entirely happy to be referred to as that guy, that American, not by name but I have had worse experiences. The next week I showed up at the meeting place to find only the head of the club there. When we ran from the meeting place to the place we start the run he ran separately from me and when we got to the start he said for me to run by myself because I was too fast for him. It was a long trip from Hotani to Osakajo, 90 minutes, to run by myself so I decided to no longer go into town for this run.

Approximately six months later the head of the club called me and asked me to join them again. I decided to go because the quality of the workout is excellent. I arrived on time and greeted the head of the club. Another member a woman came in, She said, in Japanese, it's been a long time since she had seen me. I replied in Japanese, yes it has been. She laughed and said to the club leader, He spoke Japanese..haha. After returning from the workout I met another guy in the meeting room, He also said it has been a long time. I agreed and again the woman laughed at the fact that I spoke Japanese. I excused myself and started to walk back to the station with a quick stop at Mosburger for dinner. As I emerged from the fast food restaurant. I saw the head of the club with a woman in the club. They both looked at me, she laughed and they kept walking. No greeting, no offer to walk together. Remember this is the guy who a week before invited me to run with their club.

Socially it was a strange experience based on my cultural expectations/values. From my perceptions it seemed like they didn't want me there. But on the other hand they specifically invited me. I have lived here 16 years and i don't really understand how Japanese people think at all. I have certain beliefs, which I won't go into at the moment, but I am often in this kind of situation. Japanese are not often in your face rude but they will often just ignore me. There is another group I run with, in which I have been specifically invited several times. Often when I get there they will pretty much ignore me and of course laugh when I say anything in Japanese. I have found their behavior and my experinces to be incredibly consistent and predictable.

Regarding the workout...There is one guy in the group who is 60 years old but quite an amazing runner. He is very strong. We ran 15k totally with the first 12k at 4:30 per k pace and the last 3k at free pace..basically as fast as possible. It was a great workout/ That is why I keep going through the awkward experiences in running with this group.