PROFILE
He runs Mi Choripan, a restaurant that serves choripan, Argentina's soul food. He is a member of the "Chicken Heart Running Team" based in Yoyogi, Tokyo, and trains daily on the road, while enjoying running on the trails on his days off.
It's not as hard as everyone thinks.
Mr. Nakao appeared in the previous article.Mr. Fujikawa.. and you started running together.
Nakao:Yes, that's right. I opened my own restaurant at the same time as Fujikawa, and I continued to go out drinking night after night, eating ramen noodles afterward, and I gained weight (laughs). (Laughs) I realized that this was a bad idea, so I started running. At the time, I was over 30 years old and at my highest weight ever. I knew that if I continued at this rate, I would never lose weight, and I felt a sense of crisis.
But I didn't want to stop drinking. So I decided that if I ran to a bar a little farther away, had a drink, and then went home, we would have a zero balance, so Fujikawa and I started this project together.
I think there are many people who quit running halfway through because it is too hard for them, but what kept you going?
Nakao:I enjoyed getting faster and faster and running longer and longer. I enjoyed the feeling of growth, and the results of what I was doing. Of course, there are tough moments, but after the run, I feel great after thirst-quenching beer, the food tastes good, and I get a good body. . On the contrary, not running is more stressful for me. The year before last, I was injured and could not run for about six months, and that was really tough.
So running has turned into a desire.
Nakao:Yes, it is. It has become a part of my lifestyle. It's hard, and sometimes I don't want to run, but now that I know how good I feel afterwards, I can't stop.
How much are you running now?
Nakao:That's about 400 km a month. I run 10 to 15 km every day, resting once every 10 days. When there is a race, I run about 500 km per month. When I am injured, the distance is reduced to about 300 km.
You run that much? Doesn't that interfere with your life?
Nakao:I don't see it. We make homemade sausages at our restaurant, and one of the processes is to dry them out. We dry the sausages during business hours, but the humidity does not drop as much as we would like, so we have to do it when no one is in the store. So I run to the store in the morning before business starts, dry the sausages, return home, and then go back to work. So running and work are sometimes connected.
Running is both play and work.
Nakao:It's mostly for fun (laughs). I can be mindless when I'm running , and it clears my head. I can also listen to podcasts. It's a good time. It's not as hard as people think. I think it's the same with anything, but there's always a certain amount of hardship in the midst of the fun. When you overcome them, you get a sense of accomplishment, and you can think of it all as fun. When I participate in a race, it is hard, but when it is over, I feel that it was fun.
. So the sense of accomplishment fills your brain.
Nakao:Oh yeah . That's the way to go.
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