What's with the Japanese runners? (Read 1200 times)

Around here (Boulder, CO) we have a bunch of Japanese runners, which is cool. But there are two things I don't understand. First, why do they always wear full long-sleeved, long-pantsed sweats when running, even in 90-degree heat? Second, why do they run on heavily-trafficked roads like 28th Street, Broadway, and Folsum, when there are so many bike paths and dirt trails available? Do they know something we don't?

I can't answer the first question. I may (or may not) have an inkling on the second. I lived in Tokyo for a few months back in 2002. Running on or near crowded roads is pretty much the option one has if one wants to run... at least in the urban areas. I was originally told about a great park for running. One mile would have been 12ish loops.

I ran around the Emperor's palace and that had to be close to 2 miles. Nice path too. But everyone I saw running was wearing regular running gear you would see anywhere.

I know that for many Asian immigrants having darker skin (suntan) is a sign of lower class (think 'peasants' scraping and digging the dirt for a living). So, many avoid sun exposure at all costs. It's probably good if you can stand it - avoid the risk of skin cancer as a benefit.

Interesting...that could be it. Another idea is that they are training for heat acclimation.

I know that for many Asian immigrants having darker skin (suntan) is a sign of lower class (think 'peasants' scraping and digging the dirt for a living). So, many avoid sun exposure at all costs. It's probably good if you can stand it - avoid the risk of skin cancer as a benefit.

This is absolutely true. My wife is 100% Japanese and her mother is always paranoid about getting tan and often wears gloves on her hands in the summer.

I ran around the Emperor's palace and that had to be close to 2 miles. Nice path too. But everyone I saw running was wearing regular running gear you would see anywhere.

That was a nice run. It was more of a sidewalk than a path. It is a 3 mile loop (5K). I stayed at the Tokyo Dome Hotel the last time I was there and ran from the hotel to the palace grounds and did one loop. My Garmin recorded that as 5.1 miles. It was September and the weather was a lot nicer to run in than my previous trip in July. I don't remember seeing anyone in full sweats and I can't imagine anyone running in Tokyo in the summer in full sweats. It is very hot and humid.

This is absolutely true. My wife is 100% Japanese and her mother is always paranoid about getting tan and often wears gloves on her hands in the summer.

Thriller?

Thanks, Nobby, for your interesting reply! That all makes sense...

I know this older Japanese woman(and a colon cancer survivor) at the gym. She does not drive and takes the bus. When it is 105 F here in Tucson, AZ she is in jeans,long sleeve flanel shirt , a light jacket and sometimes a pair of white cotton gloves. Because she does not drive, I sometimes give her a ride home. She requests me to switch the AC off during the ride when it is probably upto to 115-120 F inside the car. I always wondered. I am just too polite to ask.

All due respect, generalizing the entire "race" based on your experience with n=1 can be quite dangerous. Now I don't have a clue with this "older" Japanese lady that you know; when she moved to AZ, whether she was born in Japan, etc. One thing I do know, and this, as a former professional corporate running team coach in Japan, quite part from runners wearing full sweats; that you see some, in fact quite a few, older Japanese field workers wearing full dress with long sleeves and long pants with wide hat out in the field even in the midst of summer. There's a term that "the sun is beating down on you". This can be quite true; apart from possibility of gettin skin cancer, the beating sun can tire you quite a bit. If you experienced Japan's summer, of course Tucson can be quite hot I know, it's quite brutal. One time, I took my daughter, at the time, I think, she was 11 or 12, in the middle of August because they have a huge summer festival and I wanted her to experience that. It gets close to 100 in MN with our share of humidity (with 12000 lakes here!). But that was NOTHING like she had ever experienced before. She, now almost 16, still talks about it. Had she been better off if she wore long sleeves shirt? Doubt it! But obviously they've learnt, from their own experience, that it is actually better if they protected themselves from total exposure to the sun. Otherwise, the only other explanation is that the entire nation of Japan, at least the older generations, are plain dumb! The way they've done with some industories, I kinda doubt that too. My mom is in her mid-70s and still lives in Japan. She flat out doesn't like AC. She's grown up during the WWII when they just didn't have much at all. Growing up in Japan, we never had running hot water (now they do). At my parent's place, they have individual small AC in each room. They never leave it on when they go to bed even though their nights are much more brutal than most of us ever know (they have what they call "tropical evening"...). Have you had an experience when you stayed outside for some time and all of a sudden you hop in a closed room with hard blowing AC? You kinda get sick, don't you? If you have AC on too much, my mom gets sick feeling and she just doesn't like it. My guess is; this old lady you know is probably the same way; she grew up during the war, never used to AC (more natural that way, I guess...), obviously she doesn't seem to have a car with running AC... And if she's walking, before you pick her up, in long sleeve shirt, most likely she'd been sweating somewhat; I wouldn't like hard blowing AC in my fact when I had been sweating somewhat. I was talking to this buddy of mine from Kenya. I told him that, at my parents place, they didn't have running hot water until something like 10 years ago; he said, "We still don't..." Sometimes, we take things for granted. Certain things are luxuries and, if some people are not used to it and not feel comfortable with it, that doesn't make it "wrong" or "weird". I know that's not what you're saying; but there are many different things people would do but, in most cases, when you really look into it, there's usually a good reason for it. I'd be curious, actually, what she would tell you if you ask her directly... By the way, I personally don't think the darkness of the skin got anything to do with it. My wife's got quite fair skin and she wants to cover it during the summer because she "burns". I tan, as my daughter, and I don't care about exposing my skin to the sun at all (in fact, I'm proud of showing off my tan line on my wrist--running watch); probably I'm heading for getting skin cancer...??? One possibility is, my sister in law...yes, we seem to tan and Japanese ladies like to keep their skin "white" or un-tanned (except for some bikini lines, I don't know...). So, with pretty much the same reason as my wife, they'd prefer to cover their skin than exposed. But PERSONALLY, I don't think this's got anything to do with those Japanese runners wearing full jackets. I could be totally BSing too though...