Hector Quintanilla - Japan

kobe marathon 2022 - sub 2:50

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 07:30:36 GMT

Starting a running career or rather than calling it a career I would call a way of life, can bring many positive changes to your life. For me, it was a catalyst for quitting smoking and drinking. Additionally, running has also helped me to sleep better. In this blog post, I will share my personal experience of how my almost four-year running career has had a positive impact on my life.

Before I started running, I was a smoker and used to drink quite frequently. I would go out with friend on weekends and smoke about two packs of cigarettes and drink about 10 cocktalils, sleep at around 2am... It what just a bad way of living. I decided to stop smoking just because, there was no particular reason or objective. I just felt I've had enough. So, I tried to quit smoking and drinking several times, but I found it challenging to stick to my goals. However, when I started running, I found that I had a new focus in life. Running gave me a sense of purpose, and perhaps a sense of achievement.

As I started to take my running more seriously, I realized that smoking and drinking were holding me back. I could not perform to the best of my ability with a smoking habit, and drinking made me feel sluggish and unmotivated. It was at this point that I realized that I wasn't addicted to these two but I was connected to them in a deeper way.

Quitting smoking was not easy, it tooks me about 2 year to finally be able no to think about it. But running helped me through the process. Running gave me a new addiction, a healthier one I want to believe and it helped me to deal with the cravings that came with quitting smoking and drinking. I found that running gave me a sense of accomplishment and helped me deal with stress and anxiety.

The start of a journey

Running a marathon is not an easy feat. It requires months of dedication, hard work, and perseverance. It is a journey that demands a lot from the mind and body. But when you cross the finish line, the feeling of accomplishment and pride is worth all the effort put in. I was fortunate enough to experience this feeling when I completed the Kobe Marathon in 2:48.

My main form of training was daily jogs of 15 to 18 kilometers. I enjoyed running alone as it allowed me to clear my mind and be one with my thoughts. However, during my training period, I realized that I needed a little bit of competition to push myself further. That's when I started running with my friend Nino. Running with him helped me improve my pace and endurance. We became each other's accountability partners, pushing and motivating each other to do better.

The day before the marathon, I didn't feel like running. I was experiencing pre-race anxiety and self-doubt. I started questioning my abilities and whether I had done enough to prepare for the race. But, I reminded myself of all the hard work I had put in and how far I had come. I knew I had to trust my training and believe in myself.

4km to go - Kobe Marathon 2022

race day

On the day of the race, the weather was not in my favor. It was raining heavily, and the wind was strong. I was worried about how this would affect my performance. But, I stuck to my normal morning routine, which is having a cup of coffee and taking a walk to warm up. This helped me calm my nerves and prepare for the race.

As the race began, I started strong, maintaining a steady pace. However, as I reached the halfway mark, I started feeling fatigued. My legs were heavy, and my breathing was labored. It was at this point that I started to doubt myself. I thought I wouldn't be able to finish the race in my target time. But, then I remembered that I was not alone. My friend Nino was running alongside me. He reminded me of all the hard work we had put in together and how we had come so far. He motivated me to keep going, and we continued running together.

The last few kilometers of the race were the hardest. I was exhausted, and every step felt like a struggle. But, then I started thinking about how things can change in the course of life. Running a marathon is a metaphor for life. It is a long and arduous journey, but if you keep going, you will eventually reach the finish line. I reminded myself that I had come too far to give up now.

Finally, after 42.195 kilometers, I crossed the finish line. I had completed the Kobe Marathon in 2 hours 48 minutes! The feeling of accomplishment and pride was indescribable. All the hard work and dedication had paid off. I had pushed myself to my limits and had come out stronger. Running a marathon had taught me the value of perseverance, dedication, and believing in oneself.

Running a marathon or life is not just about physical endurance but also about mental strength. It is a journey that tests your limits and pushes you to your fullest potential. My experience running the Kobe Marathon taught me the importance of having a support system and believing in oneself. If you put in the hard work and trust the process, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

reaching the end of a long journey

Life is full of ups and downs, but reaching a goal that you have set for yourself can bring a whirlwind of emotions that cannot be explained. There is no greater feeling than the rush of adrenaline that you get when you cross the finish line of a marathon, knowing that you have accomplished something truly great. When you see your time and realize that you have crossed the line under the watchful eye of one of your biggest motivators, your brother, everything starts to make sense. It is as if all of the hard work, sweat, and tears have finally paid off. The sense of achievement that comes with completing a marathon is like no other, and it is a feeling that you will carry with you for the rest of your life. There is something truly romantic about the experience of pushing yourself to your limits and coming out on top, and it is a feeling that is hard to replicate in any other aspect of life.

It took awhile for me to write this post but it is quite an achievement in my life journey. This is extra special because I did it with an amazing friend, someone who pushed me through and motivated to keep on pushing.

Let's see if there is another Kobe marathon for me or better try something new.

2021,light at the end of the tunnel

Wed, 29 Dec 2021 00:04:57 GMT

It is incredible how much life can change when you make the decision to work on yourself. I’ve always been trying to become what I thought people needed me to be, wanted me to become and for some reason I was able to achieve so much with this way of living. I would push myself to accomplish things I wouldn’t even want but that help me get to where I currently am.

My life in Japan has been amazing. I have heard many stories of people living abroad and saying that it is really hard for them, how often times they feel homesick and wish to go back home. Perhaps it is because they don’t speak the language or maybe they just don’t like living in Japan. However, for me I have been able to be open about my feelings and discover the things that I love as well as accepting that it is okay to feel the way I do.
There is a T.V show called “How I met your mother” where the main character is constantly looking for her “one” and only partner in life. He often falls in love quite quickly, idolizes his partners and ends up breaking with up soon enough. Well, that is something similar to what happened to me. I would immediately project all the things I wanted onto them and had a very high expectation of what I wanted.

Not only with romantic partners but with friends as well making my life very difficult to handle. I constantly cancel plans or lie that I have plans with people because honestly I have no interest whatsoever in hanging with people who bring me no joy.

Learning to understand that it is okay to say no and not feel guilty about it took a lot of time. Understanding that everyone has a view of things that shouldn’t match my own and that it is also okay for them to say and feel whatever they do, took me a long time. I just couldn’t match with anyone. Another difficult concept for me to understand was that you need a net of support in order to grow; even at this point I don’t agree with that since I have always done things on my own as well as LOVING being by myself. This is because (and I do believe in this) the right person hasn’t arrived yet.

I’ve made many decisions in my life as we all that have put me in the position I am right now. Do I regret some of them? I did before; but know I can view them with appreciation and that I wouldn’t have gone through all the growing process without them. I am actually the happiest I have been in years. In all honesty, pretending to be okay, forcing myself to be someone I am wasn’t, thinking I could be someone else etc were the triggers that made me feel angry with myself and others. It took some time to understand the person I am and also accept what triggers me and how it triggers. As all of us I want to be live a purposeful life and a happy life.

2021 was another hit to my love life. I went through so many ups and downs but finally the end of 2021 has been amazing.

As I always try to do I am going to list up the things that I was able to accomplish this year, which most of them weren’t planned:

Successful career change
Start teaching in the primary division
IB certified
Finished 2 masters in Psychology and more than halfway towards my 3rd one
Run over 4100 km in the year
Run my first sub 3 marathon
Met a wonderful woman whom I can completely trust
Found and accepted myself
Private sessions
Started drawing again
Read a lot of books
Started writing more
Decreased my purchase urges
Started baking and cooking a lot more

So all and all I have learned to be more aware of how lucky I should feel and also understanding how lucky I am to have such a beautiful body, such a beautiful mind, such a beautiful way of doing things and that no one and nobody can tell me otherwise. I am not wrong, I am not a bad person, I am not too much, nor should I accommodate to others. I will start being who I am and of course while respecting others but not let myself be put down just because they can not handle my energy.

2020 and 2021 you were difficult, you tested my willingness to keep pushing forward, you pushed me to a really dark place but as the title of this blog post… I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I do want to write about the wonderful person I met this year. As I mentioned about my love life has always been a mess but I don’t want to give up because I am sure that special someone is out there. I believe I have found her. I deciding this to be my final relationship. The one I will protect and give myself in without overthinking things. I will go on and share who I am and who I want to be by her side. I feel I can trust her and that she will support my decisions her on forward. I want to do the same. I want to be by her side in the good days and also in the bad days. I will be open into accepting not only her but also myself and it something is bothering instead of taking it in I will convey my emotions at the same time as not taking things personally. I grew a lot since last year and I want to keep this progress going forwards and not backwards. I can foresee some issues in the future but if we both are able to keep an open mind and also care for each other I strongly believe we will be able to overcome many things!

I hope we can keep this momentum going and start 2022 this strong!

2022 I don’t know what you will bring nor what ups and downs I will have to endure but I will give myself to god and accept and deal with everything that is thrown at me; I can promise you that 2022.

Over 100 miles!

Sun, 28 Jun 2020 08:35:45 GMT

When I started running I was so afraid of going out for a run over six miles. I still remember the first time I ran a 10K. I was living very close to Osaka Castle located in Morinomiya, Osaka. It was a cloudy day looking like it was about to rain. I was thinking on running only two miles, go back home and cook dinner. In the middle of the run it starts raining; it was the first time I experienced running in the rain. I felt a sensation I've never had before: a feeling of excitement, a feeling of being alive; maybe it was the first time I experienced the so-called "runners high".

When I looked at my watch I was incredibly surprised... it was the first time I ran a 10K. I wanted to keep on going but I knew too much too soon is just a bad idea. That was the first time I ran a 10K.

Just two years ago I used to smoke over 10 cigarettes and drink two beers a day. I am currently running five to six times a week with an average of seven miles per run. I have never felt so alive, so energetic, so healthy. Last month it was the first month I ran over a 100 miles (205km).

I chose this picture because this is the embodiment of how I currently feel. During a pandemic that doesn't look like is going away anytime soon I have been able to find happiness in the things I can control. I love where I am in life and only looking forward to what the future holds.

I will focus on the things I can control and that is my mind. I can control what I accept into my body and mind. It is within me to be successful and to be successful there is nothing better than surrounding myself with like-minded people.

Thank you for joining me through this change and self-worth journey.

running community

Sun, 28 Jun 2020 07:35:09 GMT

This year has been one hell of a ride starting with a new half-marathon PB, reaching 1,000 followers on Instagram followed by finishing my first ever marathon after quitting smoking.

Running has become the most rewarding activity in my life helping me overcome my fears, my doubts, my concerns etc. If I don't get something I wanted that is okay because there are many others things out there for me to grab. A wish is something that lasts for a while, a dream is something you don't forget until you get it.

When I stopped smoking, the beginning was hard and I thought I was not going to be able to do it. Nonetheless, six months in I knew I was done with it. After getting used to running, I was having a hard time understanding my body. I had no idea how my body reacted to several activities or situations.

Getting to know people, getting to spend time listening and sharing stories, getting power and motivation from others who also want to get better is beautiful and priceless. It is true that you are defined by the people around you. It is difficult to see how toxic a person or environment can be until someone challenges you or you realize that you are overreacting to a situation that doesn't require your energy or effort.

My running community continues to expand and I can only say thank you to all of you who continue supporting me and pushing me to be a better instructor, leader, and guide to all.

2017 and 2018...what happened? Part one

Mon, 14 Jan 2019 03:11:40 GMT

Its been two years since my last post. Many things have happened, many changes have occurred: some sad, some bad, some good, some great, some awful etc. But here I want to share a little bit of the latest changes, some achievements and of course some of the failures I have experienced for the past two years.

One thing I can say for sure is that I am about 70% pleased as to where my life is at and as to where I think I am headed. The other 30% is trying to think about what should I do next meaning: should I stay where I am? Or should I try something new? We all go through hardships in life, we all are fighting demons day and night trying to be the very best we can, but it doesn’t matter how hard we try we still fall out short to our own expectations.

I tried many times thinking about coming up with the best way to start writing these past two years in a blog I left for dead. And as they say we can start from the beginning. 2017 was one of my favorite years in teaching, had a great partner new, yet ready to tackle every challenge. The other class members were amazing and little did I know, that other teacher would become my best friend in Osaka. If it wasn’t for him I might be somewhere else in Japan.

In December 2015 I decided to embark myself in one of the most difficult trips of my life: quit smoking. I was able to hold for three months and then gave in once, then quit again and slipped again over and over that year. But I was able to not smoke for several months consequetively (a big major win!). 2017 came by and “tried” to smoke a single cigarette a day (idiotic) couldn’t control it and ended up going back to being a smoker... at least until June.

Some of you know about my love life (freakin’ rollercoaster), some of you don’t. For starters, I’m not a player or enjoy fooling around random women, I’d rather spend some time with them, build a relationship and after all the checks have been covered... become intimate. I tried everything, meet ups, going to bars, meeting people at schools, tried going dancing, painting etc... met plenty of women but none of them stuck. So, I went to the easy version of it and used an application (I know odds are very low) in May I matched with some I have lots of things in common.

We started chatting (very Japanese) so politely in the beginning. Our conversations started to become longer and longer and so I decided to ask her out after two weeks of chatting about random stuff. First time we meet, I thought she was super cute as she tried to speak English but it was clear to me she couldn’t. She was impressed by my Japanese and spent the next few hours eating curry and walking around Amemura towards a pretty old school Cafe where we joked and laughed until she had to leave with her friends. After that we saw each other around 4 to 5 times a week and so I decided to lie and tell her that I am not a smoker... I tried before and was able to hold it for several months on and off so, YEAH I can do it! It took me a month before I had to tell her. This time was harder than before and maybe it was because I just didn’t have any motivation whatsoever to do so. Some said, ‘you have a girlfriend, there’s no better motivation than that’ however, the first, second, third, and even fourth time I tried I wasn’t doing it for myself, I was doing it for someone else.

I don’t know if its Japanese culture or maybe that she wouldn’t say anything about it but she didn’t freak out or even mad at me. She said she understands and will respect my decision as to readyness to quit. So, met in May starting dating in June... August we moved in together! So extremely fast, but why did I do this?

To be honest, at some points in my life I wondered if it would have been better to wait just a little longer, but at the same time I’m glad I didn’t wait. There are things I miss about living by myself but there so many more I enjoy by being with her:

Having some to talk to
Share good and bad days
Confrontation in order to get better
Food tastes better
Enjoying watching TV shows and playing games
etc.,

There are many things that happened in 2017 but one of the best is for sure my girlfriend. I’ve learned and keep learning lots about myself and honestly if in a relationship you’re not getting better, then what are you doing? There are times, countless times I wanted to just leave her and be by myself, alone, quiet, none one to bother (even now) but in my case I need someone to make me think about the consequences if my actions and thoughts. The picture you see above with the Pagoda was the first time I would see her cry; she never really explained as to why she cried that day, but she mentioned she hasn’t feel this happy in long long time.

Unitl next time...

Osaka, After a year

Sat, 12 Nov 2016 08:16:48 GMT

my life in Osaka

So there's definitely much to say about what has been going on with my life this past year. To be honest, many many changes. The most important being (I think) stop smoking. Well, I have been trying for around 11 months and I have slipped several times but I'm proud to say that within these 11 months, if I put all the days I slipped I smoked around 30 days. In my book that's a pretty good deal.

I never thought it was going to be this difficult. But, I learned something quite interesting about myself and how I used to deal with certain problems.

2016 has been a year with so many ups and downs.
Ups

Trying to stop smoking (December 2015)
Started running (best so far, 10k in 50 min)
Started painting again (characters and graffiti)
Got rid of two debts! (some others still to go, but what a feeling!)
Started my own Spanish blog (www.masparami.com)
Started cooking proper meals
Made profit from my blog
Bought my beautiful set of copic and le plume markers
Still in love with my job

Downs

Horrendous dating life (>.<')
Continued lack of self-esteem and confidence
Constant mood swings

In the end, I'm pretty anyone who's reading this might think, you're ups are by far way better than your downs. Someone other might even say that those downs have no co-relation with my ups. My ups clearly show an attempt to make my life better. From those horrendous dates I had I did learn some valuable stuff. Thanks to one I started my "unsmoking" life and thanks to the other selfish prick I regain my love for painting. So, of course the ups surpass the downs in every way. But, why do I still feel empty? Why do I still feel in need of attention and validation? Well, again thanks to those dates I learned that I want everything to be perfect and such thing doesn't exist and even though I know this I still pursue it.

I decided to be my own man. At 29 I decided to start looking for myself and stop trying to please everyone. I only need to please one person and one person only, myself. I need to impress myself, I need to love myself and accept and be proud of my own skills.

For example being proud of my drawings:

Pikachu

Hola :)

Oh well, all I can say is that I'm definitely proud of what I have achieved this year. I want to say I'm happy with my current life style but I can't. I definitely need to start doing more of something. I don't even know what, but I'm certain about something. Is that from this moment on I will start focusing my energy and thoughts onto what I like. It might sound a bit selfish and childish, especially being 29 and all but I need to start somewhere. I have been doing everything feeling less, feeling that I'm not worth it, feeling that I owe everyone an apology, feeling targeted etc. Time to start seeing and doing thins differently!

Thank you!!!

New life: osaka, japan

Sat, 25 Jul 2015 09:07:18 GMT

First impression:

I've heard so many things about Osaka people being different from Tokyo people. So far the biggest difference I've seen is that the city of Osaka is way dirtier than Tokyo. In terms of people, Osaka people tend not to follow rules such as speaking on the phone while on the train, cutting in line when the train approaches and if you bump into someone else I haven't heard that many "Sumimasen or gomen nasai". But, then again, everyone has a different story to tell.

I've been here for two weeks and this is what I feel; Osaka is dirty, rude, straight-forward whereas Tokyo is clean and fake. I say fake because they'll never tell you how they feel about something. They'll just take it in and move on with their lives whereas Osaka people or Kansai people will definitely let you know how the feel about something in particular.

Nonetheless, I'm enjoying it down here and hope to stay here for a while.

work

My new job comes with lots of new challenges: classroom management, lesson planing including but not limited to Social studies, Math, Science and English. Last Thursday I had the chance to cover for a K-1 class and I have to say, even though I was nervous, I had a great time being with the children. They also seemed to have a good time. We spoke about Spain and different countries. We also made the classroom flag (Go Penguins!)

So far I'm super excited with what this company has to offer. It's overwhelmingly high the teachers with an educational background. My previous job: I believe I was the only one with a background in Education.

I feel like a complete beginner but that's good as I'm getting motivated day by day. This coming week is "Mad about Science". I've already have some ideas for what to do the entire week.

Thank you Osaka and thank you new company!

Time to say goodbye

Mon, 13 Jul 2015 07:46:25 GMT

It is incredible how fast time goes by. Looking back to when I first started I never thought I would achieve this feeling of success in such a short time. From all the jobs I've ever had, even owning a company, nothing ever made me feel so good about myself: changing lives, teaching, seeing children grow, creating a positive atmosphere where everyone is happy to come and have a good time with you. I never felt so loved in my life, never felt so accepted or wanted. Sadly, my objectives in education are not what the company is aiming for and thus, I needed to start looking for new opportunities where those objectives can be met.

The last couple of months were difficult. I experienced all sorts of emotions, love, disappointment, anger at my peers, invaluable, belittled etc. I didn't see much support from the company that it got me thinking, is this the place I want to build a career in? It is an "educational" institution. However, their objectives are far from what a true educational institution should be about. It should be about increasing the curricular level and most importantly, taking care of your students. There's no limit to them, and push you to do things they haven't even done before (for a single teacher school) but there's a limit to one's effort, energy, and motivation.However, despite everything that happened, I am still forever grateful for making me realize I'm on the right path: education.

Out of the blue, I got contacted by someone who's connected in the educational world and asked me to have a phone call. We ended up talking for over 3 hours and recommended me to some international schools in Japan. I gladly accepted the offer and was interviewed by one of the top international schools in Japan, located in the Kansai region. They asked me to do a presentation in front of children and choose a topic related to their age: I chose living things. I got wonderful feedback; they offered my a position on the spot...

Now here I am, telling everyone I am leaving: It's heartbreaking and extremely sad to say goodbye to students you've nurtured, "raised", and helped throughout this last year and a half. But, it's time to say goodbye and look for a brighter future. A future that will bring me a sense of achievement in the educational world; a place that will reward me not for my 入会's but for my strong desire to build a better curriculum. A place that will push me further into what I want to build in life: my own school.

Thank you so much Tokyo. I will always treasure my time here!

鎌倉大仏！Kamakura, The great buddha!

Mon, 25 Aug 2014 10:40:13 GMT

高徳院大仏ーthe great buddha of kamakura

Kanagawa's small city Kamakura is sometimes called the Kyoto of Eastern Japan. This is due to it's numerous temples, shrines, and resemblance to the city located in the Kansai region, Kyoto. That's why, I decided to give it a try.

I went to visit The Great Buddha of Kamakura, a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Buddha located at the Kotoku-in Temple. The funny thing about it is that you can actually get inside for 20 yen (20 cents), the interesting part is -- there's nothing inside...

After our quick and short tour at the temple, we ligthed up a cigarette. While we are doing this one of our friends asks for directions and the policeman, very nicely suggests we should go somewhere else, The Money Temple etc.

Another funny thing about Japan is it's political advertisement. My friends and I were on our way to the money temple (we never got there, :( ) when suddenly we came across this:

I didn't understand why he couldn't stop laughing until he said:
"He's like: seriously it's this big."

After he said that with a straight face, I couldn't unsee it. And every time he had a chance to bring it up... he did.

After this lovely political encounter we ended up visiting 鶴岡八幡宮 (Tsurugaoka Hachimangu) a Shinto shrine that protects Kamakura Shogunate and it's also considered one of the the most important facilities in Kamakura.

"Even after the fall of the Kamakura Shogunate, the shrine was protected as a symbol of the birthplace of the samurai government by the successive samurai governments that followed. As the Tokugawa clan of the Edo Shogunate which became the last samurai government took the position that they came from the Minamoto clan thoroughly protected Kamakura as a sacred place." extracted from bukenokoto-kamakura.com

Kamakura will forever be Home of the Samurai.

ピカチュ大量発生チュウ！Pikachu's week!

Mon, 18 Aug 2014 10:39:27 GMT

Pikachu's week in Minato Mirai Yokohama!

ピカチュウ大量発生, which means "An outbreak of Pikachus", ran from 9 to 17 August in Japan's second-largest city,Yokohama. It hosted a week-long festival dedicated to the one and only most popular cartoon and video game franchise, Pikachu,

You could see Pikachus everywhere in the area, including the Nippon Maru where a large Pikachu can be seen on its bow. However, I find Pikachu's entrance a bit disturbing .

I am a huge fan of this little buddy that it really surprised me how Yokohama had a Pikachu outbreak. A large Pikachu balloon, Pikachu's march, Pikachu bus, Pikachu bus driver etc.

This event made me feel like I was 12 again, playing Pokemon red version on my big gray game boy (not even GB Color). Ah, the good old days.

Here's a small video of the Pikachu march:

Thanks and stay tuned for the next post!