October 2023 recap - Mt Naeba hike, Chateraise hotel, Chureito Pagoda, Yokohama Marathon 2023

Let's go autumn weather! Looking back, this month flew by but the things we did at the beginning of the month also seem so far away? Lots of fun to be had as the temperatures started to drop, even when it's sunny out.

Mt Naeba hike (Girls hike!! with good weather!)

Got one last hike in this year (probably my last one in Japan before we leave), and it was finally a good one! Skies were clear and views were good which kept our spirits high, especially with the well-timed color changing leaves.

I absolutely should have finished blogging this one because it was in the middle of the month and mostly just color photos, but I just didn't prioritize it enough, and I'll hopefully have it up next week :) 

It's posted here now!

Chateraise Hotel Isawa

We joined the points/rewards system for the ice cream/sweets/confectionary chain Chateraise, and finally accumulated enough points for a free 1-night stay at one of their hotels! After doing a little research and picking our ideal weekend to go, we got a voucher for Chateraise Hotel Isawa in Kofu. Arrived just after the earliest check-in time to ensure we got all the perks!

Nice and spacious room with 2 beds! Room had a toilet and sink but no shower/tub. Instead, you use the public bath (separated by gender).

From 15:00 - 17:00, there's a welcome sweets service where guests can get a complimentary cake/treat of your choice (while supplies last). 

Complimentary drinks were also available. We got the souffle cheesecake and praline chocolat cake.

In the lobby, there's also a self-service freezer of ice cream bars that guests have unlimited access to from 08:30 - 22:00! Only restriction is that you have to consume it in the lobby (no hoarding it back to your room or out the door). 

The lobby area is nice and open with lots of seating available, so you can enjoy the ice cream peacefully (except around check-in time when it's quite crowded). 

We were able to try quite a few different flavors! Obviously, we're no stranger to these products since we earned enough points for the free stay, but there were still a handful that we hadn't yet sampled and took this as a good opportunity to check them out. 

The stay also included breakfast (for 2 people) which was a typical buffet-style Japanese hotel breakfast. Overall, it was a super good deal! We literally didn't have to pay for anything at the hotel itself and were able to enjoy all typical guest amenities. 

Shingen Mochi Factory Park

Since we were in Kofu, after checking out of the Chateraise hotel, we stopped by the Shingen Mochi Factory on our way home. Even if you don't recognize the name, you might recognize the packaging or the item! My mom was a big fan of this mochi after getting it as omiyage from her coworkers. 

There's a free, self-guided "tour" of the factory where you can see employees making the mochi, packing the mochi and then wrapping it all together! We spent a lot of time here looking at all the different aspects of the process. 

The gift stop is also great which had a lot of Shingen Mochi products I hadn't seen before including this limited version with an edible container!

If you're in the area and familiar with the product, I definitely think it's worth a stop. We only really went into 2/9(?) areas but still found it really interesting.

Chureito Pagoda

I have had Chureito Pagoda on my "to see" list for a while, especially because it's not too far from us in Kanagawa, but I really only wanted to visit on a day where Fuji would be visible. I had been checking the live stream view from Kawaguchiko station and it seemed really promising earlier in the day, but unfortunately the clouds rolled in literally about 30 minutes (we saw it while we were driving) before we got to the lookout spot. 

It was still a really nice day, but not QUITE what I really wanted lol. And of course it was so crowded by the time we got there around lunch time! If we try again, I guess maybe I'd opt for closer to sunrise :O

Yokohama Marathon 

Easily the high(or low? depends which of us you ask lol)light, or at least our biggest challenge, this month was the Yokohama Marathon on October 29. Months and months of running and training for this race, and it finally happened!

Start time set at 08:30, but we were in the last starting group, so we didn't cross the start line for about 20 minutes. You need to be in the blocks by 08:00, so we had been standing out there for a while and despite the forecast showing sunny for so long prior to race day, it was raining from about 07:00 - 09:00ish while most people were standing in the street lol.

I took some photos/videos while I was running, but not as many as I thought I would as it was VERY crowded, and I did feel a bit overwhelmed until I felt like I could relax for the second half. One of my favorite parts was running up the onramp for the expressway and through the ETC gate!

But then there's about 15km of just running on the expressway itself (with some U-turns involved so I got to see my husband there lol). Always surrounded by a steady stream of other runners. The skies really cleared up after the morning rain, and we were in full sun by the time we were on the expressway.

I felt myself almost hit a little bit of a wall around the 35-37km mark near the end of the expressway, but pushed through and dragged my body past Yamashita Park, through the Red Brick Warehouse area and around the Hammerhead. It was such a relief to be on the final stretch to the finish! My adjusted time (since we crossed the starting line 22 minutes after the start gun) was 4:20:45. 

This was a marathon PR for me (compared to 4:42:06 in the Honolulu Marathon 2 years ago), but I was secretly hoping to do a little better. I'm not disappointed but not feeling super accomplished either. 

That being said, I do owe the improvement to: 

1. Fueling strategy - none in 2021 vs this time I had 2 bars of Clif Bloks (black cherry with caffiene and salted watermelon with sodium) and 2 Ucan gels (pineapple) and somewhat unintentionally drank at least a sip of water at each of the 19 water stations. I also intentionally carb loaded for 3 days prior to the race this year vs just dinner last time. 

2. Knowing the course and what to expect - we drove the course earlier in the month and I watched the course overview video on youtube over and over, including some videos from last year's runners since the course is the same. I knew the approximate frequency of when to expect water, aid stations and bathrooms and what the final stretch would feel like going into it. I didn't have to take a bathroom break at all this year lol!

3. Pace strategy/strong mental - I knew I went out too fast in 2021 for the first 20km and I definitely hit the wall around 25km (also likely partially due to poor fueling). This year, I consciously held back at the beginning, and while I didn't have completely negative splits, they're a lot more even without me ever checking my pace on my watch/phone and I felt like I was able to finish strong instead of struggling. I also knew when I wanted to switch between listening to podcasts (first half) to upbeat music (on the expressway) which helped me as well. 

Will we run a marathon again? Likely not while we're in Japan, but who knows? No plans right now. 

What we ate

Coco Ichibanya

Bamiyan

Ramen Kz

Kura Sushi

Mama Bhanja

Family Mart Godiva frappe

Ramen En

Mama Bhanja again

Shoya

Ninjintei (Yuzawa)

Chateraise Hotel Isawa (welcome cake, unlimited ice cream bars and breakfast included)

Taj Mahal (タージマハール)

Shingen Mochi collab mochi ice cream

Ichiriki (レストラン 一力)

Tonkatsu Wako

Lunch buffet at Khazana (Minatomirai)

Kitakuriya Ramen

Tantan and miso ramen from Tanzo

BAQET

Kappa Sushi

Mumbai (Mark Is Minatomirai)

Din Tai Fung

Noodles Bazaar at Cup Noodle Museum

Personal life/Miscellaneous

At the beginning of the month, we went to check out the Yokosuka Fish Festival again. We went to this same festival last year when my parents were visiting and thought it was pretty fun, so we gave it another shot. A lot of the exhibits were the same, although some things were less. 

We didn't end up staying very long because it was really hot, but I'm glad we went to check it out, even for a little bit.

After the marathon, we stayed an additional night in the hotel (InterContinental Yokohama Grand) and spent a little extra time in the city before going home. 

Lucky to have 2 nights in this hotel with a great view of the city and a great location near the finish of the marathon.

My parents have been to Japan a handful of times now, but this is their first time in the Cup Noodle Museum and this part of Yokohama!

Also went over to check out the Hammerhead (we had coupons from our marathon packet lol) and the Red Brick Warehouse area since they hadn't been there before either. Honestly, it was more walking than we had intended to do the day after the marathon, but the hotel was centrally located enough that it wasn't terrible, haha. 

For Halloween, my husband had received his Hot Ones hot sauce assortment just the week before, so we invited our friends over to try them with him (not me lol). 

Outfits this month can be found in my OOTD post here! Finally reasonable sweater weather, but I did sneak in my final opportunities for some short sleeve outfits when the weather forecast seemed a bit warmer. 

Overall happy to have my long sleeve items as options again and have come to peace with my open-toed shoes being retired for the year. 

This month recap was a little all over the place, but that's how this month was too! Even more visitors, plans and excitement coming up in November, so the fun never ends :)