The 13 year old kid

Who ever said that once a person starts running, it only gets easier is a liar. I've been jogging/running for the past month or so, every few times a week and it has only gotten harder for me. Today, I found myself trying to convince my body not to start walking in the middle of my running course. I ended up not walking, but it was a sheer test of will power that I almost lost and often face when I go running.

In other athletic news, I almost got beat in basketball by a 13 year old, ichi nen-sei high school kid at the local community center. We initially played best of 3 games, up to 10 points all 1 points, which included shots taken from the 3 point line. I saw the kid warm up and I knew he had skills, but I didn't think he would be that fast (or me that slow). On the first game, I started my defense guarding him up close, but he easily took me to the hoop and scored. I noticed that he shot right handed, so I took away his right side. He surprised me and drove with his left hand and scored with a left handed layup. I then started to ease my pressure and gave him more room, so I would be a step ahead of him when he drove in, and he countered by making his jumpers, some even beyond 3 point range. I was totally demoralized at that point. I started using my trash talking technique even knowing that he could not understand my English. I'm sure he thought I was a mental hospital escapee or something. I even did the whole signing the ball after he scored a basket to try to jinx him and told him that he would not score again, but I guess he didn't understand that since he shrugged off my comedic effort. I initially tried to trash talk him in Japanese, but he ended up getting confused for something else I said and as a end result, confused myself. He ended up beating me bad, and come to think of it, I don't think I scored more than 3 points.

The second game, I adjusted my game and convinced myself that he had killed my family, like the one of many plots in a Jean Claude Van Damme movie. I decided to use my slight height advantage, (he was only an inch or so shorter than me, these Japanese kids are growing.. I don't know what kind of milk they are drinking nowadays) and post him up. Fortunately, for me he was a sucker for my pump fakes and I scored a bulk of my baskets that way. On defense, I got used to how he drove to the basket. His major flaw was that more than half of his lay-ups consisted of scoop shots, which were easier to block. I ended up blocking a couple of his shots, and was thankful he didn't adjust in time for me to win the second game.

The third game, he was dead tired as was I, but I still had my deranged Van Damme mentality on me. He was missing his jumpers that he previously made with ease, and when he drove in, his layups actually did not go in. I was shocked at first and quickly thanked god for the blessing. My game on the other hand was on point. I was hitting most of my shots, but struggled trying to drive successfully against the kid. I'm embarrassed to say that the kid actually blocked a couple of my shots also, but nonetheless I ended up beating him pretty good.

As I was about to faint and hit the floor, the kid pleas for one more game. At that time, the gym was spinning and I was light headed, but I saw the kid's fire in his eyes, and his hatred of me for beating him. I agreed to his last challenge, but made the game go up to 7 points instead, since my knees were shaking from exhaustion. Unfortunately for the kid, it was more of the same. His shots look really tired and I was hitting mines for an easy victory. I asked him why he was so good, and he told me that he playing on his high school basketball team. I got the big "Ahh.. naruhoudo" (in English - "Ahhh... so that's why") expression on my face and shook his hand and thanked him for a great work out. He was very frustrated because we both knew that he was the better player in terms of skills, (he had a smooth jumper, he could drive either left or right, and he hustled like a mad man), but I got the last laugh at the end. I had a huge smile on my face while biking all the way home.... for beating a 13 year old kid... hmm.. that just doesn't sound right, does it?