Good Birthday Run

Plan for week: 60k. Ran: 61.6k

This is the first week of my "training for my training program." That is, working up to where I am comfortable with 90k (55 miles) a week prior to starting my 18-week marathon program on Aug. 3rd. Leading to the Santa Barbara Marathon on Dec. 6th.

Mon: Rest

Tues: AM - Xtrng (wts, bike 15 min., abs)

4:30 - 10k in 50:03 (25:52, 24:10). Wore Newton shoes, which feel ok with my now normal midfoot striking, as opposed to trying to run up on my forefeet.

Wed: 8.6k. 1200m warmup, then 1200/1200/1000/1000/800/600/400

Times: 4:28, 4:19, 3:31, 3:34, 2:47, 2:00, 76 (200m jog of 3 mins. after each).

Felt sluggish the first one (not warmed up) but then felt good. Had a big group with a number of people slightly faster than me, so was pushing hard to try to stay with them. Times were faster than I have run in quite a while and I feel like I am getting into decent shape.

The last 76 was all out and although 76 seems like a slow 400, it was pretty good at the end of that workout.

7:30pm. Temp: 23°. Weight: 60.2kg. Shoes: 280g (mid-weight)

Thurs: 8k. Easy in 45:54

Fri: 10.6k.  (5Ks: 24:59, 24:12) Twice around Imperial Palace (plus a bit) with former ASIJ runner Zach Griffin, who is now running for Washington U. in St. Louis, a Div. 3 school that is quite strong in track and cross country. Easy pace as we were chatting the whole time.

Oh, and usual X training in the morning.

Sat: 7.2k. Easy in 41:09. Legs heavy and knees slightly sore (after effects of Wed., I guess).

Sun: My 62nd birthday. It was raining when I left home at 8:00 to go out to Ome (for those of you who don't speak Japanese, that's pronounced oh-may), which is one hour to the west. It's where the mountains to the west of Tokyo begin. There is a nice trail through the woods, which while not exactly mountainous, is continuous up and down (more up going out) with lots of rocks and roots, and including some very steep places where you are actually climbing up roots and steps. It's a great place to run, unpopular with hikers for some reason and shady the whole way (not a problem today). You can run slowly for a pleasant run, and as you pick up the pace it gets MUCH more challenging. It's an out and back course. I usually run 8.7 or 9.3 out. You can run further, but you hit a long, steep set of steps. And 18.6 is plenty on that course.

So today I did 17.4k in 1:52:10 (1:00:05 out, rest 4 mins., 52:03 back). I always push the last stretch of the trail, which is about 3k, and then continue on the road another 0.8 mostly downhill to the station. The last 3 was 12:10, which is not bad, and I was not going all out. I believe my record is 10:29, about 8 years ago. The last 3.8 was 16:00. Actually, my left calf started to hurt with about 900m to go, so I eased up a bit.

Anyway, it was a good run and I proved to myself that I am not getting old! I think a birthday run like this (a hard run) is a good tradition to follow (well, after a certain age, and I guess I am at that age). So...I'm ready for another year of good running!