5,000m in 18:13 — I'll Take It

Week of Oct. 24 ~ 30

Ran: 6/3/8/0/0/10/21 - 48km / 30 mi. 4:34

Monday
2:30 - 6k easy as the right buttock/upper hamstring is still sore.
Went to the local physical therapy place for some electrical (mild current) and ultrasound treatment, which may or may not help, but is very cheap with national health insurance. Also the sensei is a fun guy to talk to.

Tuesday
11:30 - Machines and core at the gym.
3:30 - American School 3k fun run. Easy jog as the time trial is tomorrow.
More physical therapy.

Wednesday
3:00 - Visited the good acupuncturist (Yamate Street Clinic), and that made a difference! No pain during the run.
7:30pm - 5,000m. Goal was 18:00, time was 18:13. Splits were 3:40/37/37/43/36. Started a bit too slow, then my pacer Paddy picked it up and hit the right pace - unfortunately I slowed the 4th k. He actually finished in exactly 18:00.
It was a nice night for running and we had a big group (total of 50), so there were lots of people around. Saara, the Finnish woman in my new profile photo (and below) went smoothly by me with 800m to go and also ran about 18:00. Four of the ASIJ varsity team boys also showed up and I beat one of them, so felt good about that. It was a good run and I still think I can get under 18:00!
Weather: 17C/63F, slightly windy.
Weight: 60.3kg
Shoes: 145g light racers



Following Paddy (in black)









Thursday
Rest
Buttock a bit sore.

Friday
Rest

Saturday
10k in 53:12 @5:19/k 27:07/26:05
Just running very easily - still a bit sore.

Sunday
Namban Rengo did our annual run all the way around the Yamanote train loop that circles central Tokyo. It's 39k (29 stations), however, people can opt out at any station, so I went about halfway - 21k in 2:07, a 6:00/k pace because there are a number of not-fast runners. Also lots of stopping to wait for red lights, bathroom breaks, etc. But a lot of fun. We started with 29 people and I think about 15 ran the whole thing. I actually didn't plan on doing it, but one of the original Namban members from 23 years ago, Andy Robinson, was visiting Tokyo from London and it was our only chance to meet, so we ran together.

Next race will be the Toda Half on Nov. 20th. I've run it twice before and it's a good race, so I hope to run a good time.
Looking further ahead, I got into the Tokyo Marathon (300,000 in the lottery for 32,000 spots), so decided to apply and run it (Feb. 26). I'm also in the Kyoto lottery, but the race is only two weeks later, so I think I'll skip it. Just have to hope for good weather at Tokyo. I also applied for the Ome 10k, which is the previous week. I ran very well there this year (38:10), so I'd like to run it again - will have to think about that.