Starting with bits and pieces of information in the morning and we’re off running to places we’ve never been.

While rubbing our sleepy eyes, we tie the laces tight on our running shoes. The hotel where we stayed last night was in Chatan, a little north of Naha. It’s a beautiful area with sea views and magnificent beaches, one of Okinawa’s foremost beach resort districts. In recent years, the town has garnered attention as more and more fashionable boutiques and shops have opened. We got in late last night and still haven’t had a chance to see the scenery, but the expansive morning view of the sea from our hotel window was superb. Before breakfast, We’re taking a little run, and walk around the town!

Remembering snippets of information about this lively town

First, we head out to the running course that extends from Araha Beach to Sunset Beach. Along this beautifully maintained coastline running course, we are surprised by the many joggers out early in the morning. The weather is not perfect today, but you could really enjoy the sunset here on a clear day, so we’ll be sure to come back tomorrow evening. As we run along the pure white sand beaches, both mind and body wake up to a pleasant feeling.

On a day like today, we enjoy jogging through the center of town at our destination. We run where the feeling takes us and where our legs take us. We pick up bits and pieces of information about this lively town with our own eyes as we gaze about the scenery and get a feel for the atmosphere. You could never do this in a car or train. It’s something that only runners can experience.

Here is the shop that the woman walking her dog told us about earlier. It certainly has a nice ambience. There’s another jogger taking a rest over at that shop. For lunch today, we’re thinking about having some eggs benedict at the café next to the sea. This evening, we’ll savor a nice cold beer at this restaurant…. Even this early in the morning, we decide where we’re going to eat all our meals today and tomorrow.

“Jogging × Looking × Experiencing,” the perfect formula

Day two. It looks like the weather’s going to be better than it was yesterday. Maybe we’ll enjoy a sunset jog in the evening. During the day, we’re off to walk along the coastline of Chatan’s Miyagi district that someone we met while jogging yesterday recommended.

It is just as she said: “A lot of tourists go to shopping malls in Naha and Chatan, but the area around the Miyagi coastline is where a lot of Americans live and has an exotic feel.” It feels like we’re at a beach resort in some foreign land. There are many fashionable shops in buildings that are renovations of houses originally built for foreigners.

We can really appreciate how different it is from other areas as we slowly jog through it rather than looking at pictures in a guidebook. As we think about the history of this town, we ordered two tropical cocktails at the Transit Café from our favorite seats on the terrace with an ocean view. Bathed by the comfortable ocean breeze, we enjoy a relaxing afternoon complete with the feeling of being in a foreign land.

Long-awaited sunset jog!

In the evening when the weather has improved, we take another jog along the coastline running course. The course has a totally different hue that it did during the day now that the evening sun dyes the path in beautiful colors. Our goal for today as we run along the beach is the restaurant that we marked out in the morning. The joy of jogging through this pleasant scenery makes my legs feel light as feathers.

We have a sweeping view of the beautiful nightscape along the coast from our table on the terrace, which we reserved earlier. Our wonderfully fatigued bodies are fully satisfied with the delicious dinner prepared from island ingredients. As we retrace the course that we traveled today, we are filled with a sense of completeness.

“That café over there was so cute. Next time, I want to go to the furniture shop behind the hotel.”

Even though the footprints we left on the beach will disappear, the rows of houses in Chatan where our own legs took us as we jogged will remain forever in our minds and bodies.