Short Week

Week of May 20 ~ 26

64.6km / 40 mi.

Only ran 4 times as the Far East Track Meet (international schools) was Monday and Tuesday, and I had a family commitment on Saturday.
The track meet was a lot of fun - our kids had some great performances.

Was reading about Hadd training, which I had of course known about but was never interested in. But I decided this is probably a good way to do recovery days. Run at an easy, aerobic pace (not really MAF since I don't use a HR monitor), for 20k (usually). So I'll start doing that 4 days a week, with two speed days and one rest day.
A bit ironic that I am starting to do proper marathon training runs now that I will no longer be running marathons, but aerobic running is supposed to be good for all distances (as proved by Peter Snell, et.al.).

Wednesday
7:30pm - 11k at club track workout.
600/800/1000/1200/1000/800/600
2:20, 3:02, 3:48, 4:39, 3:51, 3:07, 2:10
(200m jog of 2 to 3 mins in between)
Sore knee was ok once warmed up, worked fairly hard, but felt heavy.
Weight: 61.4kg

Thursday
1:00 - 20k in 2:00:00 @6:00/k (arbitrarily chosen aerobic pace).
Knee sore at first, but ok after 4k.
Weather: 26C/79F, sunny
Weight: 61.2kg

Friday
11:30 - Gym workout
2:30 - 15k in 1:30:00. Cut to 15 as I will be doing a hard trail run on Sunday.
Weather: 28C/82F, sunny
Weight: 61.1kg

Sunday
9:30 - 18.6k of continuous hills in the Ome "mountains" west of Tokyo. Nice run on my favorite trail course with 4 other guys and two girls. Several (many) of the climbs are very steep, requiring walking or labored jogging.
Out at easy pace in 1:04:43. In a bit faster and then all out the last 3+km (14:45) in 53:05. Out is more uphill.
Taped up the knee and it was basically ok.
Weather: 24C/75F (running in shady woods)
Weight; 61.7kg (due mainly to birthday dinner on Friday night - the diet is not succeeding yet. I still plan to look like a Kenyan by the end of August.)

Dodgy Knee But Let's Ignore That

Week of May 13 ~ 19

67km / 41.7 mi.

The right knee, dodgy since last October, which I thought had pretty much healed, has been quite sore after sitting for a while. But when I run, it loosens (?) up and doesn't bother me after about 2km. So I'm not too worried about it. Anyway, had a pretty good week.

Monday
3:30 - 4k easy to and from the track with the kids. Far East track meet (international and military schools) is next Mon and Tues, so had to time those kids' workout, as the main coach (teacher) is away this week. (So couldn't run with them.) They ran 400 x 8.

Tuesday
11:30 - Gym workout
3:30 - 7.4k at a moderate pace with the kids (20:04 out, 19:43 in).
Weather: 26C/79F !

Wednesday
3:30 - 7.6k at a moderate pace with the kids.
7:30pm - 7k. Club track workout. 400m x 10 - the classic track workout!
89/86/84/82/84/85/82/82/82/75. (1:20 walk after first 5, a bit longer the next five).
Fun! And a good workout. I like to do some sweaty speed work in the summer. Lots of positive comments from the 60 or 80 club members there, so that was good. We ran in 3 groups (I was in the 2nd - lots of fast people in the first).
Weather: 20C/68F.

Thursday
Rest. Kids ran 400 x 4, 300 x 4, 200 x 2. And they worked hard!

Friday
12:00 - Gym workout.
2:00 - 15.8k with 3k x 3 in the park (measured).
12:45, 12:32, 12:32 (4:10/km). Not great, but not bad. Worked pretty hard.
Today is the end of my marathon recovery period, and start of "speed training" program to get back my 10k/half marathon speed (such as it is). Also the start of my diet aimed at getting Kenyan-thin. Thin means fast - look at any Kenyan runner. The goal is 58kg - haven't been below 59 since about 2nd year of high school. I'm counting calories in and calories out...which is not so easy to do. Using websites and an old publication called Composition of Foods that lists calories (and much more) of many foods in 100g portions. So I have to weigh everything I eat.
Weather: 23C/73F, sunny
Weight: 61.4 (fairly low, actually, considering I've been eating pretty much what I want to).
Weight taken upon getting up, before eating/drinking anything.

Saturday
3:00 - 15k in 1:20:03 @5:20/km. 27:11, 26:29, 26:22. Comfortable recovery run.
Weather: 24C/75F, sunny
Weight: 60.2kg - it's working!

Sunday
2:00 - 11.4k. 3k WU, 5k tempo, 150m hill x 8 (jog down).
Aimed at 22:30 for the 5k, ran 22:03 @4:24/k. Cruising nicely along.
Ran strongly up the hills in an average of 34.9 seconds. A good workout. It's very satisfying to plan a workout and then do exactly what you planned.
Ran 3 days in a row because the track meet is all day Mon and Tues.
Weather: 24C/75F, cloudy
Weight: 59.7kg (No, I won't keep this up.)

Relaxed Week

Still pretty much in recovery mode. Plan to get serious from the end of next week - both running and dieting.

Week of May 6 ~ 12
46.8km / 29 mi.

Monday
3:30 - With HS track team. 7.2k with 8 x 300m (approx). 4@ 1:03, 4@57. Nice to move the legs a bit faster.

Tuesday
11:30 - Gym workout
3:30 - Easy 7.4k run with the kids.

Wednesday
7:30pm - Club track workout. 1600/1200/1000/1000/800/400
6:10/4:40/3:46/3:47/3:02/80 200m slow jog in between.
Legs a bit sore, but felt ok.

Thursday
Rest

Friday
10:30 - 10k easy in 52:40 (27:30/25:03)
Weather: 25C/77F

Saturday
Rest - HS track meet.

Sunday
11:00 - Gym workout.
12:30 - 10k easy in 52:55 (27:07/25:48)
Weather: 24C/75F

Running Again

Took 15 days off after the Boston Marathon and have started up again gradually and slowly. Nothing seems to be hurting.
My plan going forward is to eat whatever I want for one month (until May 16th), and then start losing weight. The objective is to get very thin—Kenyan thin—and hence very fast (meaning as fast as I can be). I will do this carefully, however, taking Tim Griffen's advice to count "calories in, calories out" and maintain adequate nutrition. I plan to race 5Ks, 10Ks and Halfs—no more marathons!

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
Gym workout

Wednesday
10.6km. Easy track workout: 4 1000s in about 4:45 and 2 600s. Slight soreness in upper hamstring, but basically ok. Rainy and cold - and it's May 1st!

Thursday
7.2km. Track workout with ASIJ team. 8 x 400m with some of the girls. Started at 89, then 86 -84, last one in 78. Felt ok, just cruising.

Friday
Gym workout

Saturday
TELL (Tokyo English Life Line) charity 5k and 10k, of which I am one of the race directors. Beautiful weather, everyone had a great time. 18 Namban Rengo club members participated, as well as several of the HS track runners. We were surprised to have a famous actor show up and run the 10K: Sean Astin, best known for Rudy and as Sam, Frodo's best friend in Lord of the Rings. He happened to be in Tokyo and asked his Twitter followers (75,000) to find him a race and they pointed him to the TELL race. He's an extremely nice guy and he had a great time. Ran about 53 minutes - not bad for a Hobbit.

Sunday
9.2km. Relaxed pace @5:19/k. Another beautiful day.