1:25:03 Half Marathon

Week of Sept. 20 ~ 26

Plan: 11/22/8/9/0/6/21 race - 77km
Ran: 10.9/23.2/7.4/0/6/5/21 - 73.6km / 45.7 mi.

Finished the week with a good half marathon. See below.

Monday
9:00AM (no school, but a few of the kids came and ran). 10.9k.
Ran with No. 2 girl Arisa. 57:48 - Out 30:25, In 27:23 @5:36/5:00.
Legs felt ok.
Weather: 26C/79F, 50%

Tuesday
11:00 - weights and core at gym.
3:00 - 23.2k. 5.6k to/from school in 32:40/32:28 @5:50/48
2k warmup. 6 x 600m hill (about 300m is actual uphill). Up in 2:40/41/37/29/27/27, jog down (with varsity girls). Plus one extra with one of the boys. 1k warmdown.
Legs very tired running home (I have run for 9 straight days). I need 4 easy days before the race.
Temp: 31C/88F

Wednesday
7:30pm at the track. 7.4k.
1000 x 3, 800 x 3, 400. 5:03/27/02/3:54/43/37/1:46.
2nd with two new slow girls. Last 2 barefoot.
Legs very tired, so took it very easy - just an extended warmup.
Temp: 27C/81F

Thursday
Rest. Heavy rain, so rested today instead of Friday.

Friday
11:30 - 6k. 18:48/16:56
Easy. Legs still not feeling fresh at all.

Saturday
12:00 - 5k. 31:58. Very easy 3k, then 2 500m pickups with easy 500m after each.
Legs felt better but still only so-so.

Sunday
10:30 - Watarase Half Marathon
Got up at 4:30, left home at 6:00 - long trip of almost 3 hours (north of Tokyo).
A nice, fairly small (about 1,500 runners) low-key race around a lake (3 times around). It was a warm, sunny day...I would almost say hot (24-25C/75-77F ?). There was a breeze off the lake (about half of the way around) but the sun was bright and there was no shade.
I felt ok after warming up. Planned to run 4:00/k pace (1:24:23) with Paddy, who ran 1:21 here last year, and we started off at what we thought that was. No kilo markers until 5k and we were at 19:46. The next 5k was 20:21. I felt good, but Paddy's calf became painful so he slowed and eventually stopped. I picked up the pace and ran the next 5k in 19:47. The top woman had been right ahead of us the first 5k, then got further ahead. However, I caught her at 16k and we ran together all the way in. We were going at a good, steady pace, I am sure I did not slow down the 4th 5k, but my watch said 20:58. Very strange. Even if I slowed slightly, I certainly did not slow 1:15 from the previous 5k. The last 1.1k was 4:11 - 3:48/k pace, so too fast, but only by about 12 seconds. So was the course long or just the 20k marker in the wrong place? I measured the course on Map My Run and got 21.22k instead of 21.1 (extra 27 seconds), but actually I do not really trust Map My Run. So...the time might have been faster, but I am happy with 1:25 on a hot day. Gun time was 1:25:13, putting me 4th in the over 50 age group (no 60s age group). I won a thermos.
By the way, the top woman and one of our Namban women who took her 5k splits both said they also thought the 4th 5k was too slow/long.
My legs seem to feel ok tonight, but i will play it by ear for a few days. 5k time trial on Wednesday night...maybe not.