Week of Nov 11 ~ 17
55.5km / 34.5 mi.
Monday
Rest
Tuesday
11:30 - Gym workout
2:00 - 12k with 4k warmup, 8k in 33:49 @4:13/k
4:18,25,14,14,13,15,06,03
A bit chilly and windy, so took a while to get going. But felt good last 2k.
Weather: 13C/55F, 50%
Weight: 57.7kg
Wednesday
7:30 - club track workout.
1200,1200,1000,1000,800,800
5:03, 4:55, 3:51, 3:50, 3:18, 3:19 (2:30 jog after 12s, 2:00 jog & 1:00 walk after 1000s).
Cruised 1200s, moderately hard 1000s, easy 800s. Legs felt good
Weather: 9C/48F, very chilly
Weight: 56.8kg
Thursday
2:30 - 12k easy in 1:06:37 @5:34/k.
Weight: 57.1kg
Friday
Gym workout. Resting for Sunday.
Saturday
Resting
Weight: 57.8kg
Sunday
Toda Half Marathon (in Saitama pref., just north of Tokyo).
Beautiful day for running, chilly in the morning, then warmed up. Temp was 17-18C/64F at the finish (12:00), which is my preferred temperature - I don't like cold weather.
This is my favorite race in Japan. It's big, but not huge, there is good competition in each age group, it's a basically flat course on a wide, smooth asphalt surface, it starts at 11AM (the later, the better for me), it's in a nice green area and goes around a lake, and is very well organized. Also, there are two places with 180° turns after long straights, which I like because you can see who is ahead and behind you, and by how much (if you are trying to finish high in your age group) and also wave hello to your friends who are running.
I ran a Half on Sept. 29 in 1:31:30 @4:20/k (26°), so wanted to run 4:10 pace today - 1:27:54.
Went out a bit slower than that - just seemed comfortable at 4:14 or a bit more, but that was ok, as I was planning to pick it up at 15k. Had a few people to run with or behind most of the way and basically just felt real good the first 15k.
Planned to pick it up at 15k and I did - just put the hammer down. I felt good and fortunately got into a good rhythm with another guy and we ran side by side for 4k. Managed to pick up the last k a bit more and had a good kick - in fact, I outkicked the first woman on the track at the end - sorry!
I had noticed an "old guy" running a little ways ahead of me at about 8k, so I put in a little spurt at 10k (the 4:03) and passed him. He apparently also figured I was in his age group, so he pulled back ahead. This happened twice more, after which I was content to just cruise behind him, feeling pretty sure that I would leave him at 15k - and I did. Beat him by 1:15 (he was 5th). At the awards ceremony he said he was rather shocked when I ran away from him.
So, 1:28:27, which is not great, but not bad. And I felt good the whole way, which was the best part. No hint of pain in my knee or anywhere else.
60s winner was 1:26:05. Actually, when I was 60 I won the age group in 1:23:30. 3rd was only 20 seconds ahead of me - next year!
1k splits: 3:59, 4:18, 14, 14, 20, 14, 14, 15, 18, 20, 03, 13, 19, 15, 18, 03, 08, 03, 11, 10, 3:53, 0:23 (.1k)
5k splits: 21:05, 21:22, 21:08, 20:34 (16K to 21k: 20:25)
Participants:
10K men: 1,780
10k women: 841Half men: 2,740Half women: 650
There were 264 in my age group. I got a Mizuno shoe bag for finishing 4th.
