A Good, Solid Week

Thanks to all for your nice comments after my race last week.

Week of Feb. 21 ~ 27

Plan: 10/20/10/24/20/30/20 - 134km
Ran: 10/20/9.5/24/20/20/22 - 125.5km / 78 mi. 10:58

Monday
Ran today because I tapered last Friday and Saturday, and ran only 10K on Sunday, although it was a race.
1:00 - 10k in 57:35. Very easy, legs felt ok.
Weather: 10C/50F, 30%, sunny
Weight; 60.2kg

Tuesday
11:00 - Machines and core in the gym
12:30 - 20k in 1:49:31 @5:28
27:59/27:21/26:49/27:20
Legs felt ok.
Weather: same as yesterday

Wednesday
7:30pm - 5k time trial in the park.
21:58. Splits: 4:31/33/19/19/16.
Wanted to run marathon pace (4:21), but close enough. Had no one to run with, but felt ok.
Weight: 60.2kg

Thursday
2:30 - 24k. Out - easy @5:32.
In - marathon pace @4:24/19/24/23/23/19/18/19/25/18/17/18
Felt ok, although legs far from fresh. But they didn't feel sore at all.
Weather: 13C/55F, 70%, rainy > cloudy > sunny
Weight: 60.0kg

Friday
11:30 - Machines and core at the gym.
1:30 - 20k in 1:49:23 @5:28
28:00/27:41/26:42/26:59
Slight discomfort in right hamstring at gym and when walking, but it was ok during the run.
Weather: 19C/66F! Sunny

Saturday
1:30 - 20k in 1:49:45 @5:29
28:32/27:27/26:42/27:04
Didn't have the time or the legs to run 30k as planned. Felt tired but no soreness in the hamstring.
Weather: 10C/50F, 10%, sunny
Weight: 60.4kg

Sunday
2:30 - 22k around the Palace after the Tokyo Marathon.
1:54:55 27:49/27:00/26:46/24:52. then 1k (about) hard downhill and 1k hard uphill in 4:03/4:23. The uphill was good.
Didn't have time to run more, as had to make it to the Namban Rengo post-marathon party. We had 24 people run Tokyo and a lot of us went out to cheer. Weather was great, in fact, it got too warm.
Weather: 16C/61F, sunny.
Weight: 60.0kg

Tokyo Marathon studs.

A Satisfying 10K Race

Week of Feb. 14 ~ 20

Plan: 0/20/10/15/0/8/10K race - 63K
Ran: 0/20/12/15/0/7/10K race - 64k / 40 mi.

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:00 - Machines and core at the gym.
1:00 - 20k in 1:50:23 @5:32
Legs felt heavy.
Weather: 9C/48F, sunny

Wednesday
7:30pm 2000/1000/2000/1000
7:58/3:43/7:56/3:43 (400m 5:00 jog after 2000s, 300m 3:00 jog after 1000)
Not all out on the 2000s, but hard on the 1000s. Felt ok, but just "ok."

Thursday
3:00 - 15k in 1:21:47
Easy out in 43:09 @5:45.
In: 500m pickup, 500m easy, etc. But stomach felt heavy and legs were tired, so the pickups were not very fast. And only did 6 instead of 7. Start of taper for 10K on Sunday.
Weather: 12C/54F, 50%, sunny

Friday
Rest

Saturday
3:00 - 7k easy in 40:20 with 2 500m pickups - just cruising in 2:06/2:03. Legs felt fine.

Sunday
Ome Marathon 10K
I was hoping to run under 39:00 and place in the top ten in the 60s age group — the Ome 10K is only for high schoolers and masters (40s, 50s, 60s, 70s), and therefore attracts a very strong field in each group.
I’ve only been doing marathon training (LA marathon is in one month), but am in pretty good shape.

Before the start I was feeling good, having tapered for 3 days, and the weather was good — about 8°, cloudy, no wind. I wanted to go out the first 5k at a “good” but not “fast” pace, and then come back as fast as I could.
And that is exactly what happened. The first 5k is actually hillier than I remembered, 3 ups and down, but more up than down. I ran it in 19:25, cruising along behind a guy from 2k to 5k. The turnaround is at about 5.3k and I picked up the pace, passing that guy but fortunately got in with 3 men and 2 women. We kind of went back and forth leading and falling back but I was with most of them most of the way, which was good, because I got into a good rhythm and maintained it to the end. The second 5k was 18:45, for a total of 38:10.

That got me 4th place in the age group (774 men). Which got me a towel and a medal (top 6 got prizes).
1st was 36:52, 2nd was 36:58 and 3rd was 37:29. Maybe I will do more speed work next year and go after those guys. (5th was 38:48).
The best performance of the day was the winner of the 50s division, who ran 33:28. A really excellent time that I think puts him up with the top 50-year-olds in the world. He would have been 4th in the 40s!
There were 15,000 in the 30K (won by Jason Lehmkuhle of the US, a 2:12 marathoner) and 5,000 in the 10K.

Taking Care of Business

Week of Feb 7 ~ 13

Plan: 0/24/10/22/20/20/30 - 126km
Ran: 0/24/11/24/20/20/30 - 129km / 80 mi. 11:33

Ran acccording to plan, with two extra hills on Thursday. Legs were feeling pretty tired at the end of the last run.

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:30 - machines and core at the gym
12:30 - 24k in 2:11:15 @5:28
28:36/27:19/26:40/42/21:55 @5:43/28/20/20/29
Felt ok.
Weather: 8C/46F, 40%, sunny

Wednesday
7:30pm - 3000, 2000, 1000
11:45 (3:54,54,56), 7:51 (3:54,57), 3:44
400m jog 5" after 3000, 300m jog 4:30 after 2000
Felt ok, worked pretty hard.
Weather: 4C/39F
Weight: 60.9kg

Thursday
3:00 - 24k in 1:58:16 8.5/7k hills/8.5
27:37/19:12/34:24/15:23/21:39 @5:31/29/hills/4:24/20
Hills - 500m 5 hard up, 3 hard down
Up - 2:27/21/17/23/17/53/55
Dn - 2:40/47/42/50/01/1:53/1:53
Back 8.5k at marathon pace! And legs felt ok. Definitely getting into shape.
Weather: 9C/48F, 20%, cloudy
Weight: 60.3kg

Friday
3:00 - about 1:54 @5:43
Weather: 4C/39F, snow
National holiday, so we went to visit my wife's father. Garmin lost satellites after 9k, I suppose due to the snow.
Legs a bit tired, but felt ok. Snow was no problem.

Saturday
3:00 - 20k in 1:53:57 @5:42
Weather: 3C/37F, light rain
Weight: 60.3kg

Sunday
2:00 - 30k in 2:34:48 @5:09
27:52/16/13/24:38/14/23:32 @5:34/27/27/4:56/51/42
Progressive run, although not trying to. Planned to pick up the second half, which I did, although legs were tired and quads had some discomfort the last 10k. Thought the last 5k would be slower, but did ok.

This was a pretty tiring week. Next week will be easier because I will taper from Thursday for the Ome Marathon 10K on Sunday. The main race is 30k, a very old (45 years) and popular race (about 12,000). The 10k is for high school and masters (over 40) runners. The age groups are very competitive - one of the most competitive masters races in Japan. I doubt that I can get into the top ten in the 60s. Of course, I haven't been doing 10k training, but I probably couldn't anyway. Long term weather forecast is for rain - hope not.

A Good Week

Week of Jan 31 ~ Feb 6

Plan: 0/24/10/22/20/20/30 - 126km
Ran: 0/24/12.3/22/20/20/30 - 128.3km / 80 mi. 11:29

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:30 - machines at core at the gym.
1:30 - 24k in 2:07:51 @5:20
27:04/04/26:13/14/21:15 @5:24/24/15/15/19
Slight discomfort in the thighs last 4k.
Wore new Asics Sky Sensor Neos, which are great. Light. but not too light, with a solid feel in the forefoot (no insoles). These will be my marathon shoes.

Wednesday
7:30pm - 1000m x 6 in Yoyogi Park.
3:50/48/52/51/52/46 (interval: 200m, 2:40)
Felt ok, but not great. Nice workout, with a group of about 12 running in the 3:40s (4 in the 3:30s).
Temp: 6C/43F.

Thursday
12:30 - 22k in 1:49:55
8.5k/5k hills/8.5k
27:04/18:45/23:26/16:33/24:05 @5:24/22/hills/4:49/48
Hills: 500m x 3 hard up, 3 hard down. For some reason, it's hard to run fast downhill, but I finally got the last two down to 1:48 and 1:50 (which is still only 3:36/40 for 1k).
Weight: 60.8kg
Weather: 9C/48F, 30%, sunny

Friday
11:30 - machines and core at the gym.
1:00 - 20k in 1:52:56 @ 5:39
Easy pace, quads sore last 4k, but good that they are sore, since that means I am working them hard.
Weather: 12C/54F, 20%, sunny

Saturday
2:30 - 20k in 1:52:40 @5:38
Quads sore last 5k.
Weight: 60.1kg
Weather: 10C/50F, 40%, sunny

Sunday
2:30 - 30k in 2:32:11 @5:04
27:26/17/26:41/24:54/23:55/21:55 @5:30/21/21/4:59/47/23
Wanted to do a progression run, so pleased to have done that. Also wanted to do the last 5k in under 4:30 pace, so pleased with that also. Legs felt pretty good all the way.
Weight: 60.3kg
Weather: 11C/52F, 40%, cloudy

Shifting the hard day from Friday to Thursday and doing easy pace runs Friday and Saturday seems to work well.