Howdy, how's it going?

That, believe it or not, is the name of a beauty salon in my town. You've got to love Japan.

Anyway, I hope you're all going ok. Just thought I would check in and let you know that I'm still resting. Hoping that six weeks of not running will heal my hamstring/glute problem and any other hidden niggles I may have. I have a race scheduled for March 29, so starting in January would give me three months to get in shape.
I hate running in the cold weather anyway. I shouldn't complain, as a friend in Maine was just telling me about their snow, ice, sleet, freezing rain and other horrors...but I love to complain about the cold.

Just returned from two and a half weeks in Thailand - Bangkok, where my daughter lives, and Phuket, where her new Aussie boyfriend did the Laguna Challenge Half Ironman. He did well and it was a lot of fun to watch. Big race with lots of pros.

So... I wish I was still in Thailand, but when life gives you ice, make ice cream, I suppose.

Since I'm eating a lot and putting on weight, I'll end this with
Chow,
Bob

Half Marathon - Made It!

Sunday, November 16

Today was the Toda Half Marathon in Saitama, the prefecture north of Tokyo. Fairly big race with 3,500 in the Half, 2,500 in the 10K and 2,000 in the 5K and 2k "family run."

The weather was close to ideal, cool and mostly sunny, with some wind but not too strong.

This is my favorite race and I always do quite well, 3rd or 4th in my age group. In fact, I have the second fastest time in the 30 years of the race in the 60s age group - 1:23:30.

But not this year. Due to the continuing glute/hamstring problem, I hadn't run hardly at all for 5 weeks...and the damn thing was still sore. But with rest, physio, acupuncture and kinesio tape I was hopeful that I could make it through. Optimum hoped-for time was 1:38:27 (4:40/k) but I thought that 5:00/k or even slower would be more likely.

So...final result was 1:39:22 (4:42/k), good for 16th in the age group out of 281, not that that means anything.

I went out a bit cautiously, then picked it up after 6k when it seemed like the glute would hold up. It was sore, but manageable. Still, I maintained a sensible pace (4:32ish). When I got to 10k I was pretty sure I would get home ok, but then I realized, whoops, I'm not in shape to run a half marathon!

In addition to not having run the past 5 weeks, I've only done 3 runs of 20k all year! So the last 4k was pretty tough, and I slowed quite a bit. Then I started cramping in my right calf the last 400m and barely made the finish line.

Anyway, I was quite happy that the glute/hammie held up, and all in all I enjoyed the race. Back next year with a vengeance!
Actually, I might even do the 10k next year. Age group was won in 39:53 and I can do that easily.
Today's age group half was won in 1:25, then 1:27, 1:30, 1:33, so would have been 3rd or 4th on a normal day.

Oh yeah, I was also way above Kenyan-thin weight, having gained 2.5kg the past 5 weeks.

Off to Bangkok on Thursday for 2-1/2 weeks to visit my daughter and her boyfriend, who will be doing the Phuket Half Tri on the 30th, which we will go to watch. So hopefully I'll feel ok after 4 days rest and will be able to run a bit with him. But slowly.....

Rest, Acupuncture and Oxygen

Week of 10/27 ~ 11/2

I did two easy runs Monday and Tuesday, then tested my sore glute/hamstring (pain seems to be right in the middle of the two) on Wednesday, which did not go well. Ran 3,000m of the 5,000m time trial, at about half marathon pace, steadily getting slower and more sore, so bagged it.

It seems that "active recovery" is not helping, so I am just going to rest until the 16th, and hope I can run a Half pain-free. Which I am beginning to doubt, since it is still sore today if I try to jog for a few steps.

I went to an acupuncture guy in my town, and he is quite good. It definitely felt better after both visits, although obviously not healed yet.

He also has a hyperbaric chamber, called "oxygen capsule" in Japanese which is much easier to understand, so I tried that for 30 minutes on Saturday (only 2,000yen/$20!). Can't say that it helped, but who knows? The literature on it is contradictory. Of course most of the stuff on the web is very positive, because it's put out by the companies selling these things, but even some of the objective articles indicate that hyperbaric therapy could possibly help reduce inflammation and promote healing (it does in fact seem to help heal wounds). Other pieces downplay any positive effects, and of course, the question is whether just 30 minutes or even an hour will do you any good.

It's like lying in an MRI thing...or like a coffin - appropriate since I did it on Halloween. The oxygen is under pressure (so it's forced into your blood and not only blood but tissues, hence the possible healing effect), so your ears get unpleasantly pressurized, in fact a bit painful for 6-8 minutes. I was almost ready to press the button to call the sensei, but then my ears normalized and I nodded off for the last 5 or 10 minutes. Anyway, interesting, and interesting that this guy would have one, it being just a small clinic out in the suburbs. He says rugby players come in to use it, so I guess the japanese sports world knows about this kind of therapy.

So I won't be running, may not post anything next week.
But I hope you are all healthy!

Managed an Easy 10K

Week of Oct. 20 ~ 26
21.9km

Rested Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, as the hamstring was still sore. Then Harrisson, the Frenchman who knows everything about everything, or at least everything about everything that he is interested in (obsessive knowledge-gatherer, in a good way), told me I should be doing "active recovery," explaining to me how the muscle fibers in my leg work.

So I jogged a bit on Thursday, 6k on Friday, a bit on Saturday and then did 10k on today at the Namban Rengo 10K, Half and barbecue. Did it in 50:03, so 5:00 per k, which is better than a jog but certainly not a quick pace. It was a bit sore, but didn't get worse, so that was good.

I thought I should stretch it a bit at the halfway point, but that was a mistake - made it feel worse.

It did feel somewhat more sore afterwards, but not really in the hamstring - more like the lower butt/glute, which is where I originally thought it was. So I guess it's not actually a strained hamstring, which seems to be a good thing, but it doesn't really matter, I just need it to get better fairly soon, as I have a Half on Nov. 16th, which is my main Fall race. 3 weeks away, so hopefully it will be ok by then.

At any rate I was actively recovering today, I hope.

By the way, it was a beautiful day, about 26° - too hot for some, but I prefer the heat. We had 80 people out for the club event, held along the wide bank of the Tama river in the southern part of Tokyo. Both the races and BBQ were great fun, and I drank a lot of Australian wine and ate a huge amount of food (we even threw some shrimp on the barbie, mate, as Paul Hogan used to say).

Hammy Niggle

Week of Oct. 13 ~ 19
13.4km

That's right, 13km. I rested for two days after Sunday's 10K race, then assuming all was fine, went out for the club interval workout Wednesday night. Ha ha, no, we do not do intervals as the first workout after a race! Said my hamstring to me, as it became painful on the second interval. Hey, I wasn't even going that fast, but...too fast, obviously. So I jogged a few 400s, which was also a mistake, should have just shut it down completely.

Anyway, rested Thursday and Friday, then ran an easy 8k on Saturday, but only because an old friend was visiting from the states and wanted to do a run and dinner. Fortunately, he's no gazelle and was content to jog around slowly. Hammy was slightly sore, but not bad and didn't get any worse.

Now I'm just resting until it gets completely better, another day or two or whatever.

Have a club 10K run next Sunday, so I hope to be ready for a good run there. Then my main race is a Half on Nov. 16th, which I WILL be ready for.

So kiddies, today's lesson is: always be even more cautious than you think is necessary.

Until next week....

10k Race - 38:51 - 3rd Age Group

Week of Oct. 6 ~ 12
44.5km / 27.6 mi.

Monday
No school due to typhoon in morning, but actually it was just a hard rain storm, and it cleared up at noon.
3:00 - 14k with 7 easy out, 7 hard in. 1:15:30, splits 45:38/31:51 @6:14/4:33/km.
Felt good coming back, helped by a (mostly) tailwind.
26C/79F, 45%
56.9kg

Tuesday
Weights and core at the gym.
57.3kg

Wednesday
7:30 club track workout. 12.5k with 1200, 1000 x 2, 800 x 3, 400.
4:54, 3:49, 49, 3:07, 10, 12, 85.
Felt ok. 1200 was warmup, Ran the 1000s well, eased up a bit on the 800s and 400.
Starting to taper for Sunday's race.
20C/68F, 65%
 57kg

Thursday
12:30 - 8k easy. Legs tired.
HS X-country meet. Before this year, no American School in Japan boy had ever broken 15:00 on the course (a hard, hilly 4.4km) - that's about 30 years. Today, we had 3 under 15:00 - quite amazing.

Friday
Rest. Gym workout.

Saturday
Rest.

Sunday
Nagareyama 10K road race. 38:51, 3rd in 60s age group out of 368 men. Overall 157 out of about 3,600 total. It was in Chiba prefecture, 2 hours travel from home.
I felt good and ran well. Knew there were two 60s ahead of me, but couldn't catch them (they started further ahead). They ran 37:45 and 38:14, so were well ahead. Thought I was in 3rd, but wasn't really thinking about it, was just trying to run a good time. Held back a bit the first 7k, then went harder, but even so the first 5k was faster than the second.
Splits: 3:46/57/51/48/49/52/4:05/54/56/53. Not sure why the 7th was slow - there was a hill and I guess I slowed a bit. Worked hard the last 3k, mostly running alone.
My goal was to run in the 38s and win the age group or at least be in the top 3, so was happy to accomplish that.
Course was pretty flat, a few short hills, nothing difficult. Weather was perfect - 21C/70F, no wind.
This was a really good race from all viewpoints (except I only got a medal and a small towel), I wish I had known about it in previous years.
Next year I'll go back and run 38:00.
But in order to do that, I have to think about my training. The race effort was really much harder than anything I do in training. Of course, that will always be the case, but...it should be "harder", not "MUCH harder." I need to do more to prepare for race efforts. Maybe I will take an extra day off - Friday - and go harder on Saturday. Instead of 3k intervals, do a hard 10k effort. Or a hard/long hill workout.
I have a half marathon next month (16th), which I think is going to be very tough.

From Good to Bad, Weather-wise

Week of Sept. 29 ~ Oct. 5
64.5km / 40 mi.
Would have been 78k with a 14k run on Sunday, but bagged it.

Monday
3:30 - 14k, 8k easy with the kids, 6k tempo alone at 4:43/4:30 (3k/3k).
Felt fine on the tempo run. A beautiful day for running!
26C/79F, 60%, sunny
57.3kg

Tuesday
Rest. No time to go to the gym.

Wednesday
7:30pm. 15.5km. 7.7k + 800m warmup. 1000m x 6.
3:57/49/47/50/47/38 (2:30~3:00 200m jog + walk)
Felt good, ran hard, pushed the last one.
20C/68F but very humid.
58.5kg

Thursday
3:30 - 9.5k with 2 easy 300m hills.
26C/79F, sunny
57.3kg

Friday
3:30 - Team 5k time trial in the park (flat, w/ 5 small hills)
20:07 - Ran hard. First two miles 6:31, 6:47. Running alone after the first mile, trying to catch the boy ahead of me, who is our 10th boy (strong team). Didn't quite catch him. But beat the other 15 boys and of course all of the girls. Top girl ran 21:12, which is pretty good for a HS girl on a practice day, and a hot day to boot. (They don't have a meet tomorrow.)
27C/81F, sunny, felt a bit hot.
57.3kg

Saturday
2:30 - 18K easy in 1:47:00. 6:12 out, 5:42 in.
25C/77F, 70% (rain coming).
57.3kg

Sunday
Chilly with fairly hard rain, didn't feel like going out in it. Legs are tired, so a rest day, or probably two, since a big typhoon will hit tomorrow morning, is ok. The weather may clear by late afternoon, however.
46.8kg

Only 50K But 4 Hard Runs

Week of Sept. 22 ~ 28
50.5km / 31.4 mi.

This is what happens when I start running with the HS kids: shorter and harder.

Monday
3:30 - 10k including 4-mile tempo run with the 4 top varsity girls.
Mile splits: 7:25/6:57/6:55/6:44. Total 29:01 @4:32/km.
I felt good and the girls also had no problem with the pace. The pace was supposed to be 7:07, but we were so slow on the first mile (so much for me as the pacer) that we sped up and just kept going at a high pace. BTW, this is a loop in a park with one hill and quite a bit on dirt paths. It's not run on a track.
Didn't feel hot, but the humidity was very high.
25C/77F
56.9kg

Tuesday
12:00 - Weights and core at the gym.
56.9kg

Wednesday
7:30pm - 8k incl. club 5,000m time trial. 19:24
Splits: 3:50/56/53/57/48.
Felt tired all day, but good once the running started.
Was following Padraig, but he slowed on the 2nd 1000 so went past him and then had no one to follow. But felt good on the last k. Next month, Padraig!
22C/72F, high humidity (rained just before)
58.4 (but much lower at night, didn't eat much during the day)

Thursday
3:30 - With JV boys 8.5k incl. 4 x 300m hill moderate pace and with Varsity girls 2 x 500m hill fairly hard.
So not really a "hard" workout, but not so easy, either.
26C/79F and again, high humidity.
57.3kg

Friday
12:00 - Weights and core at the gym
No time to run, but had decided on a rest day anyway as legs are sore.

Saturday
3:30 - 14k with 4k warmup, then 4k,3k, 2k at a pretty respectable pace.
4k: 16:43 (4:09/14/20/20) 5' walk
3k: 12:42 (4:15/16/11) 4' walk
2k: 7:56 (3:57/59)
Felt good on all of them.
22C/72F, 60%, cloudy - felt cool.

Sunday
4:00 - 10k very easy.
25C/77F, 60%
56.7kg

Good 5K x 2 Workout

Week of Sept. 15 ~ 21
72km / 44.7 mi.

Monday
3:30 - 12k in 1:07:50 - 36:26/31:23 @6:04/5:14 per km.
No school, easy day.
25C/77F, 60%
57.4kg

Tuesday - Weights and core at the gym.

Wednesday
3:30 - 5.5k with kids - included 5 x 500m hill at moderate pace.
7:30 - track workout. 11.4k with 1600, 1000 x 2, 800 x 2, 400 x 2.
6:24, 3:46/42, 3:05/05, 88/91(jog/walk from 3:00 down to 1:30 in between).
Good workout, ran the 1000s hard, eased up on the 800s and 400s.
Abt. 24C/75F
58.6kg

Thursday
3:30 - Intervals with varsity girls. 7.1k with 400 x 2, 800 x 3, 400 x 2.
Cruising pace at about 94 for 400s, 3:23 for 800s. (1 min. after 4s, 1.5 min after 8s)
26C/79F, sunny
57.5kg

Friday
12:00 - Weights and core at the gym.
3:30 - 12k in 1:11:52 36:45/35:06 @6:07/5:53.
Easy, legs tired.

Saturday
Am - running around the 5k x-country course, including up/down an 800m hill 3x, but won't count this, as i was mostly standing around.
Our top 3 boys all ran in the 16:40s, on a course with two big hills, so quite good.
3:00 - 14k with 5k x 2 fairly hard: 21:27 and 21:25. 6:00 walk in between. This was good, as I expected to run 22:30 or over. Didn't look at the 1000m splits while running.
22C/72F - cool!, 65%, cloudy
57kg

Sunday
1:00 - 10k easy in 59:50.
26C/79F, sunny.                                                                                                

Looking forward to the 5,000m time trial on Wednesday.

80K On The Nose

Week of Sep. 8 ~ 14
80km / 49.7 mi.

Monday
3:30 - 14k. 8k from school along back streets to the Tamagawa river and back with the varsity girls. 24:00 4k out, 20:38 in.
The 6k alone in the park at tempo pace: 4:32/31/30/27/34/20.
Felt so-so on the 8k, but good on the 6k. I call these runs "tempo" but actually I couldn't go much faster even if I wanted to (given that I did 3 "hard" workouts in the previous 6 days).
24C/75F, 80%
58kg

Tuesday
12:00 - Weights and core at the gym.

Wednesday
7:30pm - Club track workout. 11.6k with 1200, 1000 x 2, 800 x 3, 400.
4:59, 3:50, 3:51, 3:00, 3:01, 2:55, 87 (2:50 jog/walk after first 3, 2:10 walk after 800s).
Sluggish on the 1200, then felt ok. Ran hard.
23C/73F, Very humid (had rained just before).
57.2kg

Thursday
3:30 - 10.4k with 2k warmup, 100m x 4 strides, 800 x 3, 400 x 2, 400 x 2 with varsity girls.
3:22/22/21, 94/100, 98/88 (90 sec after 800s, 60 sec after 400s)
First meet is on Saturday, so the purpose was not to run fast, just to run at about race pace (race is 3.3km for girls).
Then 4k in the park @5:20/k.
21C/70F, 85%
56.7kg !

Friday
12:00 - Weights and core at the gym.
3:30 - 14k in 1:24:20 @6:00/k. (6:13/5:50) Legs tired.
26C/79F, 60%
56.7kg

Saturday
3:00 - 18k in 1:38:27. Out 55:00 @6:07, in 43:27 @4:50.
Didn't feel so good going out, legs felt weak, but was ok after stretching. Last 2k were 4:31/29.
26C/79F, 60%
57.3kg

Sunday
3:00 - 12k very easy. Legs stiff and tired.
26C/79F, 50% - a beautiful day!

Saturday morning was the first American School cross-country meet. Slightly too warm and humid, but pretty good weather for running. Our kids did great. In fact, our top boy, Evan Yukevich, ran the fastest time ever by an ASIJ boy on that course! Shocked us all. 14:57 for 4.4k, and it's a tough course. 3rd fastest time ever on that course, and that's more than 30 years of races. And he's only a junior. Obviously, running with the Namban club this summer helped him.... :)
Our second boy was only 15 seconds behind him, and third was another 15 seconds back. 4th and 5th are also pretty good, so we have a powerful boys team. Our top girl was not there, but 2nd and 3rd girls ran very well - faster than we expected. They came in 2nd and 3rd out of all schools, and they are only a 10th and 9th grader. So it should be an exciting season.

Ok Week, Standing Desk

Week of Sept. 1 ~ 7
60.8km / 37.8 mi.

Monday
Hard rain - took a rest day. Will run intervals with the kids tomorrow, instead of the usual rest day.

Tuesday
2:00 - weights and core at the gym.
3:30 - 5.8k with 400 x 4, 800, 400 x 2 with varsity girls.
87/90/89/88 3:05 90/78 (1' after 400s, 2' after 800)
30C/86F, 65%
58kg

Wednesday
3:30 - Easy 7k with JV boys.
7:30 - Club track workout. 11k with 1000 x 6.
3:59/41/42/43/46/38. Felt good from the second one. Wanted to get under 3:40 for the last one.
25C/77F - felt quite a bit cooler than previous weeks.
57.7kg

Thursday
Had to go to a long narration all afternoon (I was the director, not the narrator) so couldn't run. (Can't run in the morning, because I sleep in the morning - up all night trading stocks, or in most cases, just watching the market as it doesn't move.)

Friday
1:00 - weights and core at the gym.
3:30 - 3k easy with kids as a warmup for their 1 mile x 3 loops tempo run, which I timed, then 10k alone in the park. Going from 5:26 to 5:10 per k.
30C/86F

Saturday
12:15 - 10k with 5k tempo run. Ate an hour before, so felt a bit heavy, but was able to do a decent 5k even in the heat. 29:13/22:50 @5:51/4:34.
31C/88F, 65%
57kg ! But then a huge pizza dinner, so goodbye 57. Bob says: Pigging out occasionally is ok!

Sunday
3:00 - 14k in 1:18:54. 42:31/36:23 @ 6:04/5:11. Felt ok.
22C/72F ! 70%
? kg

I have been bothered with a pain in my upper right hip when I sit for more than about 10 minutes. Standing, running, lying down (on a firm surface) are fine. The longer I sit, the worse it gets. I decided that a standing desk would be a good idea, and coincidentally, read an article here about how bad sitting is for you. However, standing desks cost about 200,000 yen ($2,000). So I made my own! And it works great. (Standing also burns calories.)

Decent 19:20 5,000m TT

Week of Aug. 25 ~ 31
57.3km / 35.6 mi.

To answer Scott's question about my low weight, not doing anything differently, just meticulously recording every calorie I eat (weighing my food - restaurant meals are estimates), which makes you very conscious of what and how much you are eating. The total is not important (assuming you're keeping it at fairly low levels, with the occasional splurge), what's important is being very aware of your consumption.
For example: Should I have a piece of toast with peanut butter? Hell no, I know how many calories I'd have to write down for that! I'll have some low-fat yoghurt and a banana. Result: lower weight. And there is no longer any peanut butter in my kitchen cabinet. No bread, either.

Monday
4:00 - 4.6k. American School cross country season starts today.
Easy run with JV boys. Ran 18 yesterday and have a time trial on wednesday, so just a very easy day.
29C/84F, 70%
57.4kg

Tuesday
Weights and core at the gym.

Wednesday
7:30pm - Club 5,000m time trial. Only had time for a 3k warmup, but included stretching and strides, so felt ready to go.
Time was 19:20. Splits 3:52/51/53/58/46.
It was a cool night, so that helped (humid, though).
Felt very good after the first 1000 and had a good group of 6 running together. Didn't feel like we slowed the 4th 1000, but kicked well the last 1000 and especially the last 400. I certainly don't consider this to be "fast", but it was a good run.
22C/72F, 90%
57.6kg

Thursday
3:30 - 10.5k including 400 x 4, 800, 400 x 2 with varsity girls.
92/91/91/89 3:14 91/86 (top 2 girls ran the last one in 72). 3.4k alone in the park @5:20/k. Legs felt fine.

Friday
12:00 - gym workout
3:30 - Easy 6k with JV boys (13 of them). About 6:00 pace going out, 5:00 pace coming back, when we ran Indian file type fartlek, where the last guy runs up to the front, when he gets there the guy who is now in last runs up to the front, etc., etc. It's a fun way to do a workout and the kids enjoyed it.
26C/79F, rain off and on.
57.1kg

Saturday
2:30 - 16k in 1:30:42 @5:40/k.
47:32/43:09 @5:56/5:23. Felt ok but legs tired at the end.
27C/81F, nice sunny day.
58.2kg (big dinner last night)

Sunday
3:00 - 12k easy at about 6:05/k. Legs tired.
27C/81F, 60%, beautiful day
57.4kg

Pretty Good Week

Week of Aug 18 ~ 24
72.7km / 45.2 mi.

Monday
4.45 - 14k. 43:30/34:21 @ 6:13/4:54
7k tempo with 5k @5:00, 2k @4:40.
Managed to feel ok after stretching at 7k.
Legs still had some tiredness from 20k on Saturday, so 5:00/k felt fast enough.
30C/86F, 70%
58kg

Tuesday
Weights and abs at the gym

Wednesday
7:30pm - club track workout 14.2k with 1000 x 4, 800 x 2, 400
3:50/44/40/40/3:02/2:59/80 (200m jog + wlk in 2:45, 3:30 after 4th, 2:30 after 800s)
Worked hard in the heat. Felt real good on the 3rd and 4th. Had several guys to run behind, which helps a lot. 800s were hard but kicked well on the last one.
30C/86F - at 7:30pm
57.6kg

Thursday
Rest. Had to go out in the afternoon. Could have run 5-6k at 12:00, but it was 35°, so took a rest day.

Friday
12:00 - Gym
5:00 - 14k. 43:04/37:48 @6:09/5:24. Felt pretty good coming back.
31C/88F, 55%
58.3kg (big dinner and lots of wine at an Italian restaurant on Thursday)

Saturday
3:30 - 12.5k with 2k x 4 hard.
9:20/8:49/8:38/8:24. (4:00 walk)
Felt terrible at first, finally able to run after 3 bouts of stretching. Thought the first would be about 10:00, so was happy with 9:20. Thereafter felt better and better! Last one was 4:17/4:07.
29C/84F, 70%
57.9kg

Sunday
3:30 - 18k in 1:50:06 @6:08
Legs tired, easy pace.
31C/88F, 60%
58.2kg

Good 84km Week

Week of August 11 ~ 17

84.2km / 52.3 mi.

I guess it was a good week, considering that the high humidity made it difficult to run.

Monday
4:30 - 12k. 6k out at 6:00 pace, then after some good stretching, started back at a good pace. However...got a hamstring twinge after 3 minutes so walked 100m back to a handy fountain and drank a lot of water. Started up again, slightly slower, but the first k was still 4:20. Next two were 4:32 and 4:37, then 4 mins later got another twinge. Immediately stopped, walked in circles for a while, then jogged back home. Too bad as I was feeling good, but proud of myself for being smart enough to stop the instant I felt something.
30C/86F, 65%, sunny
58.8kg

Tuesday
Rest day. Gym for weights and core.
57.9kg

Wednesday
7:30 - Club track workout. 14.2k (6.6 warmup) with 1200, 1000 x 2, 800 x 3, 400.
4:50, 3:47, 3:48, 3:02, 3:00, 2:58, 79.
Abt. 3:00 (200m jog) after first 3, 2:15 after 800s.
Felt good from the 1000s. Worked hard to stay with some guys (and girl).
After these workouts, by the way, I lead most of the group (about 80 people) in a 15min abs workout, which they seem to enjoy (and is very good for them).
27C/81F, 70%
57.9kg

Thursday
3:00 - 14km in 1:27:02.
44:21/42:41 @ 6:20/6:06. VERY humid - hard to run. Plus legs felt heavy. Light rain at first, then heavier, then stopped. Actually, it was easier running in the rain - could feel the humidity more after it stopped.
27C/81F, 92%
57.5kg

Friday
12:00 - Weights and core.
5:00 - 12k in 1:11:30. 37:12/34:18 @6:12/5:43.
Felt so-so.
32C/90F, 60%, sunny
57.7kg

Saturday
3:30 - 20k in 1:56:45
60:23/56:22 @6:02/5:38. Had lots of time, so decided to do an easy 20k - long for me! Started to rain one minute after I started. Hard for 5 mins, then off and on. Sun came out 5 mins before I finished.
24C/75F, 80-90%
57.5kg

Sunday
3:30 - 12k in 1:11:28.
37:34/33:54 @6:19/5:39. Heavy going out, ok coming back.
30C/86F, 80%, cloudy
57.4kg

Hot, Then a Typhoon

Week of Aug. 4 ~ 10
68.4km / 42.5 mi.
The weather was as above, so not your ideal running week.

Monday
4:30 - 14k in 1:18:11 @5:36/k
44:14/33:57 @6:19/4:51
Legs not moving going out, but ok coming back, after considerable stretching.
33C/91F, 60%
58.3kg

Tuesday
Weights and core at the gym. Temp. got up to 36/97.

Wednesday
7:30 - Club track workout. 13.4km
1000 x 6 4:09/3:55/53/54/54/44 (2:30-3:00 in bet.)
Sluggish on first one, then felt ok. Happy with the last one, picked up the pace and kicked well.
29C/84F, 70%. Didn't feel so warm, because there was a strong breeze, but various therms showed 29.
58.3kg

Thursday
5:00 - 14k. Very easy pace, legs tired.
31C/88F, 60%
58kg

Friday
12:00 - Gym workout
3:30 - 12km.  "Easy" pace, but legs tired so it didn't feel easy. Also very humid - 65% but it felt higher.
30C/86F, 65%
57.9kg

Saturday
1:30 - 15km. Namban Rengo club trip down to the seaside town of Kamakura. About 7k run past the Great Buddha, then up into the hills past some other temples, then back to the beach. Others ran more in the hills, but I wanted to do a tempo run, so ran 4k out, 4k back along the beach road. 18:00 out and 18:20 back (into the wind, so was working harder). Distance approx, but it was about a 4:30/k pace.
Then beer and Thai food on the beach. Typhoon coming so high waves closed the beach to swimmers, but the weather was ok.

Sunday
Typhoon. Rain stopped in late afternoon, but wind still strong and legs tired, so took a rest day.

Kamakura runners:

Nice Week But Hot Weather!

Week of July 28 ~ August 3
76.8km / 47.7 mi.

28° was a cool temperature this week, and we're looking at 33/34/35 next week.

Monday
4:45 - 12k in 1:03:47. 6k easy in 36:22 @6:04/k, 6k tempo in 27:25 @4:34/k.
Felt really heavy and sluggish going out, but after 3 stops for stretching and some strides felt ok coming back. Running at 5pm is much cooler, with a breeze. Only ran 12k, due to time trial on Wednesday.
28C/82F, 60%
58.2kg

Tuesday
12:00 - weights and core at the gym.

Wednesday
7:30pm - Club track workout. 6.8k warmup, then a 5,000m time trial.
Time was 20:01 (4:01/01/00/04/3:55).
Felt good and was moving well, even had on my racing shoes, but was only running 4:00 ks! They felt like 3:50 or less and also felt like I was speeding up each one...but wasn't. Which goes to prove that heat and humidity slows you down more than you realize.
27C/81F (?), humid.
58.3kg

Thursday
3:00 - 12k, Out in 31:00, In in 28:12 @ about 5:30-35. Legs felt surprisingly good. Had to run at 3:00, but ran on a shadier course than my usual one.
34C/93F
58.2kg

Friday
12:00 - weights and core.
3:00 - 10k, same course. Out 29:36, In 26:24 @5:54/5:17. Hot but felt ok.
34C/93F
58.2kg

Saturday
4:30 - 12k with 6k very easy and 6k hard in 25:41 @4:16/k. Felt good, ran a strong pace all the way, picked up last 300m. Course may be a bit short....
33C/91F
58.1kg

Sunday
4:30 - 18k in 1:44:18 @5:48. 53:51/50:27 @ 5:59/5:36.
Felt ok.
33C/91F
58.6kg (3 nights of drinking quite a lot of wine, including dinner at a nice Italian restaurant on my World Cup pool winnings, caught up with me).

Finally, an 80K Week!

Week of July 21 ~ 27
80.4km / 50 mi.

It's been a long time since I had an 80km week. Too embarrassing to tell you how long, but it's only the third time this year! The various niggles and sorenesses have kept my mileage down - basically all due to trying to do too much, too soon after races. I used to be able to recover quickly from races but just can't anymore.
Feeling good now, though, except for tired legs....

Monday
1:00 - 16k with 8k very easy, 8k at a moderate tempo pace (5:03/k). I intended to go faster the last 4k, but the legs were not cooperating. They felt tired, and it was very humid.
28C/82F, 70%, sunny
59.1kg

Tuesday
Gym workout
58.3kg

Wednesday
7:30pm - club track workout. 14.4k with 6.2k warmup.
1000 x 4, 800 x 2, 400
3:58/47/44/42  3:02/01  82 (200m jog plus a bit extra rest after each - under 3')
Even with the warmup, legs still not ready to go on the first one. Felt ok from the 2nd one. Hot, humid.
28C/82F
58.5kg

Thursday
3:30 - 14k in 78:39 @5:37 (5:52/5:22)
Felt ok. Finished just before a big thunderstorm.
33C/91F, 70%
58.3kg

Friday
11:00 - Gym workout
4:00 - 12k in 1:10:23 @5:52. Legs tired, hot!
33C/91F, 55%, sunny
58kg

Saturday
3:00 - 12k with 4k warmup, 3k, 2k, 2k tempo (cut down from previous weeks' 4/3/2, which is too much in the heat).
3k: 15:09 (4:49/4:06/5:14) 4' rest
2K: 10:04 (5:04/5:00) 4' rest
2K: 9:48 (5:00/4:48)
Quads and thighs really heavy. Couldn't move at all on the warmup, finally able to run 5:00 pace but had to push to do that. Heat, humidity, general tiredness? I really should run a bit later, or at night.
34C/93F, 70%
58.3kg

Sunday
9:00pm - 12k in 1:12:34 @6:01 (6:21/5:44)
34° during the day, so waited until 9:00, when it was much cooler, with a breeze. However, I was still a bit full from dinner.
We usually eat dinner at 5:00 - neither my wife nor I eat much for lunch, so we're hungry by 5 - but she's agreed that I can run at 5:00 and we'll eat about 7:00. Will try that next week.
27C/81F, 55%
58.1kg

No Niggles - How Nice!

Week of July 14 ~ 20
67.8km / 42 mi.

Thanks for the comments on the fainting spell, No more problems, I guess it was just a weird, one-time thing.
No niggles at all, which is very nice. Tiredness for sure, but no pains.

Monday
Rest after the hard run (21k, lots of ups and downs) on Sunday.

Tuesday
Gym workout, no run.

Wednesday
7:30pm Club track workout. 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1000, 800, 600.
2:24, 3:05, 3:52, 4:44, 3:51, 3:02, 2:12
Worked hard to stay with my man Padraig, mostly unsuccessfully. Felt "just ok", legs seem to still be a bit tired from Sunday.
26C/79F, very humid
58.4kg

Thursday
3:00 - 13k with 12k very easy, and 100m x 10 barefoot striders in the middle.Was running in the park, so just took off my shoes and ran back and forth on the grass for a bit.
31C/88F, 70%
57.9kg

Friday
11:30 - gym workout
3:00 - 12k again very easy pace. Felt weak, plus it was very humid. I guess I should eat more.
27C/81F, 83%
58kg

Saturday
1:00 - 14k with 4k warmup, 4k, 3k, 2k tempo, 1k back home
Felt quite good!
4k: 17:54 (4:24,29,32,29) 5min walk
3k: 13:05 (4:20,23,22) 5min walk
2k: 8:21 (4:19,02) Decided to push the last k.
Didn't look at my watch for these, just hit the split button.
26C/79F, 90% with dribbles of rain off and on.
58.9kg

Sunday
2:00 - 14k at very easy pace. Back to legs feeling very tired.
28C/82F, 70%
58.4kg

They say the rainy season is supposed to end on Tuesday, and sure enough, the forecast for Wed,Thur,Fri, Sat is sunny, 31,31,31,32 degrees!

Hope you all had a good week. Now back to watching the athletes I really envy - golfers! They just stroll around and make a lot of money. I refer to the British Open, of course. Love the British announcers. Talking of the South African John Coetzee, who is small and pudgy: "Now here's John, he's got a comfortable look about him. He's built for comfort, not speed."

Curious Incident

Week of July 7 ~ 13
69km / 42.9 mi.

The curious incident was not a dog in the night (Sherlock Holmes) but a fainting spell! See Friday.

Monday
3:00 - 12k. 6k very easy warmup.
6k in 28:27 @4:44/km
Felt ok after stretching (after warmup), but legs still a bit heavy.
24C/75F, 85%!
58.2kg

Tuesday
Rest. To a hot spring resort with my wife for wedding anniversary. Ate a lot and drank a lot of wine.

Wednesday
7:30pm - club track workout.
1200, 1000, 1000, 800, 800, 800, 400
4:58/3:59/4:03/3:14/3:15/3:09/82 (200 jog plus a bit of walk in bet.).
Felt ok, but just didn't have it to run fast.
Steady rain, puddles on track, but that was not really the problem - just had no oomph.
23C/75F, rain
??

Thursday
12:00 - 16k very easy. Legs very tired and heavy. A long, slow run.
28C/82F, 88%
59.6kg

Friday
12:30 - gym workout.
Then came home, went upstairs, and fainted! Fortunately my wife heard me fall. I guess I hit the floor hard (got a few scrapes). All I remember is feeling a bit woozy. Woke up with my wife leaning over me with her phone in her hand, calling an ambulance. I went downstairs and thought I was ok, but started feeling woozy again, so rode to the hospital. By that time, I was ok.
Very strange. I think it was a combination of not eating much the day before or in the morning, sitting in the sun for a while, then doing a gym workout without drinking anything.
So I have to eat a bit more, and definitely drink more in the hot weather.
58.6kg - lost 1kg in one day - again, this is measured early in the morning.

Saturday
Felt fine today, so did a hard workout, but not real fast and cut it down a bit.
11k with 3k warmup, 3k x 2, 500m x 2. (Usually 3k x 3)
14:31 (abut 4:50/k), 14:01 (abt. 4:40/k).
500s in 2:04, 1:59, but it may have been a bit short.
Legs very stiff, otherwise felt ok.
32C/90F, 60%, sunny
58.8kg

Sunday
12:00 - 21.2km. Went to Zushi beach (below Yokohama) for a run up in the wooded hills with 7 other people. 2:40 running time, total 4 hours with many stops for rest, water, views and to let people catch up. Easy pace the whole way, but LOTS of uphill, including many stairs, stone steps, steep hillsides. Legs were ok, no soreness, but got very tired. Beer and BBQ on the beach afterwards, an enjoyable day.
27C/81F, but quite a bit cooler up in the woods.
59.6kg

The hills in the background are not exactly where we ran, but hills just like that.

Fun Event - 3-Hour Relay

Week of June 30 ~ July 6

62.4km / 38.7 mi.

Monday
3:30 - 14k with 7k easy in 42:03, 7k tempo in 30:50 @4:24/k.
Stretched after the 7k warmup and then felt ok. Good pace, was working a bit, but not too hard. (which is how a tempo run should be).
I didn't look at my watch each km, which is a new way of running for me, and which I rather like. Run completely how you feel.
26C/79F, 50%, cloudy
58.3kg

Tuesday
12:00 - Gym workout

Wednesday
7:30pm - Club track workout - 14.4k with 1000m x 6.
After a good warmup, 3:46/43/44/44/49/42
(200m in between, 2:50~3:10, 3:48 after 4th)
Felt good, ran well. Had people to follow, except on the 5th one. Worked fairly hard, but comfortable.
26C/79F, 64%
58.5kg

Thursday
12:00 - 8k very easy - legs tired.
29C/84F, 50%
57.8kg

Friday
Rest. No time to run and anyway, a "race" tomorrow.

Saturday
10km. Summer Festival 3-Hour Relay in a park at Odaiba (Tokyo waterfront area).
This was a fun event where you could enter teams of 2 to 10 people, who run for 3 hours. Each person runs a 2.5k loop, handing off to the next person (or however you want to do it). At least it was supposed to be 2.5k - it turned out to be 1.85k (garmin), which was actually better, as we all ran as hard as we could - "fun" for us turned out to not mean jogging around.
The club had two teams - the Work Team of 5 fast guys (although 2 of the fastest couldn't make it and were replaced with 2 slower guys) and the Play Team of 3 guys and 3 girls, including me.
The Work team came in 3rd out of 110 teams, running 27 laps or just about 50km. The Play team, whose 3 girls were all good runners, ran 24 laps and came in 7th! As a "fun event" there were not many strong teams, but 7th was still a surprise.
I ran loops of 7:01, 7:16, 7:18, 7:14, or about 3:54/k (with 38-39 mins in between). I was really working hard, and fortunately had other runners about the same pace to try to catch or stay with each loop. The weather was off and on light rain, which was actually good - much better than blazing sun.
Interesting relay, first time I had ever heard of that format, and it worked well (needless to say, they used chips to track the teams).
They had food and beer vans at the site, so we had a nice post-race lunch/celebration.
Oh, and the Work team's prize for 3rd place was a very large bag of fireworks - rather strange.

Sunday
1:00 - Gym workout
3:00 - 16k in 1:31:08 @5:42/k.  Out/back was 47:32/43:36 @5:56/5:27.
Recovery run, felt ok.

2 Fairly Good Workouts

Week of June 23 ~ 29
59.3km / 36.8 mi.

Monday
2:30 - 5.9k very easy. Planned 8, but got twinges in the hamstring, so stopped. 10th day of running in a row, as I didn't rest last week, although only one of those days was a hard workout.
27C/81F, 50%
58.4kg

Tuesday
12:00 - Weights and abs in the gym.
59.2kg

Wednesday
7:30pm - 5,000m time trial. 5k warmup.
19:41 (3:52/59/59/56/54). Felt good. Ran right behind two guys for 4,000m, then they pulled away. Actually thought I was going faster (just pushed the split button, didn't look at the watch), but I'm nowhere near racing shape. Also it was very humid.
22C/72F, humid
59.4kg (but 58.5 before running)

Thursday
3:30 - 10k easy in 59:00. Legs a bit tired.
28C/82F, 50%
58.2kg

Friday
12:00 - Weights and abs in the gym.
3:30 - 14k in 1:18:20. 41:04/37:15 @5:52/5:19/k
27C/81F, 50%
58.2kg

Saturday
3:00 - 14k with 4k warmup, 3k x 3, 1k jog.
3ks in 13:49, 13:38, 13:04 (4:17/23/24) 5min walks in between.
Could hardly move the first 4k with heavy legs, but managed to get loosened up.
Planned to be happy with a 4:30/k pace.
24C/75F, 90% (rain before and after)
58.2kg

Sunday
3:00 - 4.4k easy, then faster. Planned to run 8 or 10k, but dark clouds were rolling in and thunder started at 2k, so turned around. Didn't feel like getting drenched and didn't want to run in lightning. First 2k legs were dead heavy, but picked up the pace and tried to get in an extra k, but rain started after 200m, so turned around. 600 to go, picked up the pace. 400 to go, rain a bit harder, picked up the pace. 200 to go, raindrops getting bigger, sprinted for home. Got slightly wet, but made it - the downpour began 20 seconds later.
28C/82F, 90%
58.4kg

No Aches, Pains, Nothing

Week of June 16 ~ 22
70km / 43.5 mi.

After two weeks of pretty much no running, all my aches and pains seem to be gone. Have some soreness in my right glute, but I don't feel it when I walk or run. And as I told Scott Brown, I switched from my bed to a futon on the floor last night, and it didn't hurt nearly as much when I got up this morning. So maybe my old mattress is the problem (it's fairly firm, but I guess not firm enough).
Anyway, after testing the right hamstring with two very easy runs last Sat and Sun, which produced no pain at all, I started in this week as below, albeit gently.

Oh, and I've gone on a SERIOUS diet to come closer to my Kenyan-thin ideal. Cut out almost all carbs, except for some at dinner. By that I mean oatmeal, cereal, crackers, bread, etc. I'm now getting my carbs through lots of fruit (mainly bananas) and vegetables (discovered frozen vegetables, which are good and handy - easy to heat up with tomato sauce). Lots of protein from beans, yoghurt, lowfat milk and protein powder.
Still counting calories (weighing all food, except at dinner and restaurants, which I estimate), which is the secret, I think, to consistent weight loss/maintenance.
And keeping beer/wine to a minimum, 2 or maybe 3 times a week, but only one or two beers, two glasses of wine. (One beer: 130kcal, one glass wine: 120kcal.)
Went from 60kg to 58kg in 12 days. 58 used to be my goal, but now I'm aiming for 57 or less, which will be pretty thin. Thin and fast.
I'm even doing my abs work every night - aiming for the Brad Pitt Fight Club look. (Want an intense workout program? Google (or better, Duck Duck Go) Brad Pitt Fight Club Workout.)

Monday
3:00 - 8k in 43:20 @5:26/k. Hamstring ok, cruising easily.
28C/82F, 40%
58.1kg

Tuesday
2:00 - Gym workout
3:00 8k in 44:00 @5:30/k. Easy run.
26C/79F, 50%
58.6kg

Wednesday
7:30pm - club track workout.
600/800/1000/1200/1000/800/600
Just ran at an easy pace, about 4:45/k. Hamstring was fine.
59kg

Thursday
3:30 - 10k in 56:10 @5:37/k
Felt kind of tired and weak - lack of fuel?
27C/81F, 50%
59.1kg

Friday
11:00 - Gym workout
3:00 - 10k in 56:45 @5:39/k (59:22/57:22).
Legs still a bit tired.
28C/82F, 40%
58.3kg

Saturday
3:00 - 14k with 4k warmup, 3k x 3 tempo, 1k home.
3ks in 13:18, 13:32, 13:22 (13:30 is 4:30/k)
Felt ok, not great. First hard workout in 3 weeks.
28C/82F, 50%
58.1kg

Sunday
3:30 - 10k very easy. Legs quite tired.
22C/72F, 60% (after rain).
58kg

On a side note, I'm in first place in my World Cup pool. I've got Argentina, Columbia and Costa Rica, 6 for 6 so far (Costa Rica - football superpower!). Bought them in an auction, with each person (8) putting in 6,000 yen. Clever of me to choose the South American teams, right? But much to my wife's disgust, I have to cheer for Columbia over Japan. Even though Columbia has already qualified for the second round, I need the points.

Race Cancelled

Week of June 2 ~ 8

Not much of a week. Monday and Tuesday were rest days after the 10K race on Sunday.
Wednesday was supposed to be 6 x 1000 on the track, but after two fairly easy ones, the hamstring felt sore, so stopped. A surprise, as it hadn't been sore in the race or afterwards.
Continued to be sore when walking that night and a bit the next day, so rested thursday and friday, as I was supposed to run a 10K leg in a triathlon relay on Saturday.
This was on an island, Oshima, off the coast a two-hour jetfoil (hydrofoil) ride from Tokyo. However, the weather was terrible - strong wind and rain - and after we got there, they decided to cancel the races (relay and an individual triathlon). The third year in a row it has been cancelled! They need to re-think their date!
I was just as happy, since I probably would have had to just run at a very easy pace, letting the team down.
They did have the "post-race" party though, and those triathletes know how to party! It seemed like most of the 6,000 yen entry fee went for beer and food.
Then today was a beautiful day.

So....rest until Wednesday, test out the hamstring and if/when it is completely healed, get back into training. The plan is, from once I start in June, through July, August and September, to train hard and diet hard, getting much thinner and hopefully faster, then race in Oct/Nov/Dec.

Hope you all have a good summer (winter) of training also!

43:33 on a HOT day!

Week of May 26 ~ June 1

50km / 31 mi.

Monday
10:30 - 8k in 47:26 @5:56
4:00 - 5k in 28:30 @5:42
Legs felt heavy in am, better in afternoon.
22C,24C/72F,75F
59.2kg

Tuesday
3:00 - weight and core workout in the gym.
4:15 - 10k in 56:19 @5:38. Easy run.
25C/77F
59.2kg

Wednesday
2:30 - 10k with 1000m x 4 alone (couldn't go to the track workout at night).
4k warmup, 1000m x 4 in 4:34/31/20/12 (3:00 walk), 2k warmdown.
Very stiff at first. Stretched four times and finally able to run. Getting down to 4:12 was good.
26C/79F
59.5kg

Thursday
1:00 - 7k in 40:15 @5:45. Felt ok
27C/81F
59.5kg

Friday, Saturday
Rest

Sunday
Munatsuki 10K. 43:33 for 18th overall out of 220 men (no age groups).
This is run on the (fairly wide) path along the Arakawa, one of Tokyo's major rivers. It's a nice little, low-key race. The club had 4 in the marathon, 6 in the half marathon and 5 in the 10k.
The major factor today was heat! It was at least 29C/84F and possibly hotter in the sun. As a result, none of the four finished the marathon (really no sense in running 42k in that heat) and only four finished the half. Us 10k runners all did pretty well. I was happy with 43 minutes and was happy to pass two young guys in the final 3k, who had pulled away from me earlier. Ha! Anyway, I didn't feel too great (I guess no one did), but pushed to the end and maintained my pace pretty well, I think - there were no km markers.
Fellow club member Harrisson and I had a joint birthday party afterwards with 17 people, where we all all stuffed ourselves on a buffet. Serious diet from tomorrow! From right now, in fact.

Most of today's Namban Rengo runners

Cake made by Harrisson, which tasted as good as it looks!

Back At It

Week of May 19 ~ 25
44.2 km / 27.5 mi.

Counting this Monday and Tuesday, I took 9 days off to rest my hamstring, which did the trick.

Monday, Tuesday
Still resting, also HS Far East track meet, which the ASIJ kids won (girls first, boys second, overall first). Pretty impressive, because some of the military bases (Kadena, Kubasaki) have big teams. We have some very talented (and hardworking) kids.

Wednesday
7:30pm - club track workout.
Tested the HS with 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1000, 800, 600, all very easy at about 5:20/k pace.
No problem - didn't feel anything.
Weight: 59.6kg - not TOO bad after 9 days rest

Thursday
7:30pm - multiclub 5,000m time trial at the track.
This is a great chance to do a good 5,000 "race", but of course I took it easy.
21:38 (4:22/28/26/08/14). Again no discomfort at all in the hamstring.
The race, however, was a bit of an adventure. They run it in 3 groups - 20:00 and over, 17:30-20:00 and under 17:30. I ran in the first group, starting at 7:00. At 7:05, it began to rain. At 7:10 the skies opened up - hard downpour with strong wind. In a matter of minutes, we were splashing through deep water. Then at about 7:45, it stopped. Talk about luck! Hard luck...
The first group had 123 people in it, of which quite a few elected not to finish. Just as the rain started though, I did a quick count of people ahead of me. There were about 90, and I wasn't going THAT slow. There are a lot of good club runners in Tokyo, including women.
They combined the 2nd and 3rd groups, which started at 8:00. 115 runners. It was won in 15:30. It's fun to watch the fast guys.

Friday
12:00 - weights and core in the gym.
3:30 - 9.8k @5:30/k. Slight twinge in the left (other) hamstring at 9.4k, so walked 200m and jogged in. Smart! Felt ok, but quads a bit sore.
Weather: 22C/72F, sunny
Weight: 59.2kg

Saturday
Happy birthday, Bobby!
Ran 7.3k at an easy 6:00 pace, with 5th and 6th ks @5:22.
Ate a HUGE dinner at night - at a restaurant with a buffet and free-flowing wine. I have a total lack of control at buffets. Good that I only have one birthday a year.

Sunday
1:00 - (after eating *nothing* in the morning and still feeling rather heavy) 12.5k
3.25k warmup, then:
3000 - 13:06 (4:14/22/29) 5' walk
3000 - 12:59 (4:17/23/19) 5' walk
2000 - 8:38 (4:18/20) 1.25 warmdown
Felt (just) ok, but legs were tired on the 2,000.
Anyway, it was a good workout, the first in quite a while.
Weather: 28C/82F - I like it this way!
Weight: Afraid to get on the scale.

Next week I have a 10K race on Sunday.

Bad Hamstring!

Week of May 5 ~ 11
38.5km / 23.9 mi.

Monday
Despite the fact that my right hamstring got sore right at the end of my run yesterday, I went out today and ran for about 2 hours up and down hills. Well, I had committed myself to going with a group of club members. And I did run very slowly. The hamstring was a bit sore, but not too bad, still...it was a stupid thing to do.
As proven by my half marathon "race" on Sunday, despite not having run for 5 days.

Sunday
Sendai Half Marathon. This is one of the main cities up in the area where the earthquake and tsunami were, two hours north of Tokyo by bullet train. It's a nice city and a nice race - I won my age group here two years ago.
So...I started out and could feel the hamstring right away - just a slight soreness. So I took it easy, running the first 4kms at about 4:45/km pace (race pace would be 4:10 or under). It didn't get any worse, so picked it up for 2k to about 4:25. At which point, it began to hurt more. Which meant my racing was over for the day. I just cruised along for 15k at about 5:20/k with slight pain, which didn't get any worse. But it was one of those feelings where you know if you try to run faster, it will be all over.
So I just enjoyed the crowds and the sights of Sendai. It was a nice day, too, quite warm - 23C at the start.
Pretty big race - 2,200 women and about 8,700 men. Popular marathoner Kawauchi was 4th. One of the Japan-based Kenyans, Maina, won in about 1:02.
One of the women in our club, Amanda Rice, who is a near-elite runner (2:39 marathon) and is a dentist in the US military, WON the women's open division in about 1:18. So that was fun. A group of nine of us went up there for the race.

I'll rest for ten days or two weeks or however long the hamstring takes to heal completely. Am scheduled for a 10k race on June 1 and a 10K in a triathlon relay on June 8, so I hope to be able to run those.

Just an Easy Week

Week of Apr. 28 ~ May 4
41.4km / 25.7 mi.
An easy week, partly because a had a slight cold from Sunday. It ran the usual course of my (infrequent) mini-colds — 2 days sore throat, 2 days runny nose, 2 days coughing.

Monday
3:30 - 8.4km Easy with HS track team
24C/75F
59kg

Tuesday
11:30 - Weights and core at the gym.
Cool and raining, so took a rest.

Wednesday
7:30pm - club 5,000m time trial. BUT, I ran 5,400m! I know I can't count 12-1/2 laps, but it seems that I can't even count 2-1/2 (I take my 1000m splits every 2-1/2 laps). The third 1000 split was 1,400. I don't know how I did that. For one thing, it's too dark to see my watch very well.
Anyway, the splits were 3:58/3:58/5:29/4:03/4:00. 21:29, which would work out to 19:54.
Not very good and slower than I expected. But I felt like I was going faster, which is not a good sign. I guess the cold affected me. Also, the humidity was about 100% - had been raining off and on all day and evening.
17C/63F
59.5kg

Thursday
3:30 - 8.8k with 2k warmup/down and 200 x 4 x 4 at a track with the HS girls (the slower ones).
All from 42 to 45 with 30sec. rest and 400 jog in between sets.
Felt only so-so.
24C/75F, sunny
59.5kg

Friday
Rest
No time to run, but also legs tired and sore.

Saturday
The TELL (Tokyo English Life Line) charity race, for which I am the race director. Nice day, good turnout, everyone had a nice time. Had over 500 runners, including 20 from the club, one from the track team (top boy, who placed 5th in the 5k in 17:05) and about 10 others from the team who served as volunteers.
Too exhausted afterwards to run.

Sunday
12:30 - weights and core at the gym.
1:30 - 16k in 1:18:10 @4/57/k
Out: 44:09 @5:31, In: 34:01 @4:21, although I stopped 200m short of home because my right hamstring started to hurt. I could feel it a little with one k to go, and then there was a slightly sharper pain, so I stopped. Not sure why that happened - residual damage from the 200 x 16 on thursday?

Sendai Half Marathon next Sunday. Hope to have a good run.

Recovery Week

Week of April 21 ~ 27
40.1km / 25 mi.
One extra day of recovery due to a niggle on Wednesday. Decent run on Sunday, though.

Monday
Rest after race on Sunday.

Tuesday
Rest / Weights/core workout.

Wednesday
7:30pm - club track workout.
600/800/1000/1200/1000/800/600
But didn't make it...
2:21, 2:55, 3:35, 4:37, stopped 700m into the 2nd 1000 when my left inner thigh started to hurt.
Obviously running too hard after the race on Sunday. Stupid, should have been an easy day.
The 3:35 felt good, though....

Thursday
Rest

Friday
12:00 - weights/core workout.
2:00 - 16k in 1:29:18 @5:35
10k in 58:12 @5:49, 6k in 31:05 @5:11.
Thigh was ok.
22C/72F, sunny
59.7kg (Indulging myself after the race.)

Saturday
Rest - HS track meet

Sunday
2:30 - 16k in 1:19:01 @4:57
Out: 43:54 @5:29. In: 35:07 @4:23
Felt pretty good, although quads are still slightly sore from the race.
22C/72F, a beautiful day for running.
59.6kg

Next week is the club 5,000m time trial on Wednesday. Would like to run a good one, but unfortunately, the forecast is for rain. Next race is the Sendai Half on May 11.
Hope the weather is nice where you are, too!

10 Miler in 1:05:34 for Age Group 4th Place

Week of Apr. 14 ~ 20

Monday
3:30 - 8.6k easy/moderate run with team.
3.9k out in 22:06 @5:26, in 16:57 @4:21, +slow .8k
A bit sore from yesterday (13k up/down), but ok when running.

Tuesday
12:30 - Weights/core workout
3:30 - 8.3k with 2k warmup, 400 x 4 xc 2, 150 x 2
83/83/81/81 83/83/81/79 25/25
Legs a bit stiff and tired, but worked hard.
21C/70F, sunny, windy
58.9kg

Wednesday
7:30 - club track workout
1200, 1000, 1000, 800, 800, 400, 400
5:04, 3:59, 4:03, 3:26, 3:27, 103, 103
legs heavy and tired (but not sore). Ran the 1000s at a decent pace, but cruised the others, easy on the 400s  (first 400 was supposed to be 800, but cut if off).
17C/63F
59.3kg

Thursday
3:30 - track workout with HS team.
100 x 4, 300 x 4 x 2
300s in 67/68/66/69/71/66/66/64 with 2nd group girls
Legs very stiff on warmup, but ok on 300s.
22C/72F, sunny
59.3kg

Friday
Rest

Saturday
Rest

Sunday
Kasumigaura 10 Mile Race
This race is in Ibaragi pref., 70 mins northeast of eastern Tokyo, so a trip of about 2.5 hours from my house (left home at 5:10am). It's a big marathon (16,481 men), big 10 Miler (4,169 men) and a 5k. Add in the women and a few thousand in the 5k and it's an event with 25,000+ people. 10 Mile start was at 9:20.
I was hoping to run under 67, possibly under 66, and ran 65:34, so was quite pleased.
The course was good, basically flat with about 4 fair-sized (not difficult) hills, and temperature was about 11C/52F with a slight wind.
I felt good from the start and settled into a nice pace. Soon found myself running alone, but it seemed that I always had people to catch up to and pass (I was maintaining my pace, they were slowing down). Felt fine the entire way, although I had to push the last 2-3 km to maintain the pace - legs were getting tired. Had a slight kick at the end, but not much.
Splits were 4:06/00/12/09/07/3:59/05/06/01/06/03/3:52(?)/4:15(?)/07/3:59/4:30 (1.09k). Aver: 4:04/k
This got me 4th in the 60s, out of 784 men. Overall 117 out of 4,169.
Clubmate Mike Trees from England won the 50s by 2 minutes in 54:40 (he's 52), 29th overall.
As an interesting aside, I was thinking that it's quite possible that I was the only person in the race who ran faster than his age (mine is 66). It's very doubtful that anyone in the 50s did, and the only two in the 60s who could have were 1st and 2nd in 61:30 and 63:30, but hey, they were probably 60.
Did not get any prize - top 6 (10?) in each division got a medal with the place number - only! Cheap race!
Winner was a pro runner from the Yakult team (beverage co.) in 48:??, 2nd was a university runner also in the 48s.
Next up is a half marathon on May 11th. I should do some 10k tempo runs before then - 21k will be quite a bit harder than 16.

Chasing Kids

Week of Apr 7 ~ 13
61.5km / 38.2 mi.

Monday
3:30 8.1k with track team. Easy run with 3 x 1k hilly loop at a good pace.
14C/57F

Tuesday
12:00 - Gym workout
3:30 - 8.6k w/ team. 2.3k warmup, 400m x 8 with the fast girls.
80/79/83/78 80/79/78/76
Walk 2:30-3:00 in bet., jog 400 bet. sets.
20C/68F
58.7kg

Wednesday
7:30pm - club track workout
1200, 1200, 1000, 1000, 800, 800
4:54, 4:55, 3:45, 3:54, 3:11, 3:17
(200m jog + walk in bet., abt. 3:00)
Hard days Tues and Thurs, so ran at comfortable pace. Only pushed the first 1000.
16C/61F
58.5kg

Thursday
3:30 - with track team. 200m x 4 x 3
40/42/40/41 38/41/39/41 41/40/38/39
(35 sec. walk in bet., 400 jog bet. sets).
Into gale force wind on the home stretch (2nd and 4th of each set).
Worked hard behind the four fastest girls.
22C/72F, windy!
58.6kg

Friday
11:30 - Gym workout
1:00 - 16k in 1:25:06 @ 5:15/k
44:21/40:45 @ 5:34/5:06
Legs a bit heavy.
16C/61F
58.6kg

Saturday
Rest

Sunday
11:00 - 13k (approx) run up in the highlands west of Tokyo with Namban member Jon Morrell.
1:05:53. Straight up a mountain, partly slow climbing, then down a long gradual slope (trail, road), then 2 loops around a park, the second at a good pace in 6 minutes. Pleasant run, good workout.
Abt. 17C/63F, sunny
58.4kg

Next week I have a 10 mile race on Sunday. For some reason, there are a few 10 mile races in Japan.

Not Much Distance, But 3 Good Workouts

Week of Mar. 31 ~ Apr. 6

43.6km / 27 mi.

Monday
3:30 - 10k. 6.4k easy and 100m x 6 strides with the HS track team.
3k alone in the park in 14:53 @ 4:59/k
17C/63F, 30%, sunny
59.1kg

Tuesday
3:30 - 8.6k. 2.3k warmup and warmdown. 400 x 8 on the track with the 6 fastest girls.
85/82/80/79 85/81/81/79. 2:00-2:30 walk in between, with 400 jog in between sets.
Good workout!
15C/59F, windy
58.9kg

Wednesday
3:30 - 5.3k easy with the team.
7:30 - club track workout 1000m x 6. Only 1.2k warmup.
3:54/52/52/54/57/47 (100m walk, 100m jog)
Felt ok, legs a bit tired.
14C/57F
59.1kg

Thursday
Have run 8 days in a row, so took a rest. Hard rain anyway.

Friday
Another day of rest.

Saturday
First HS track meet. Top boy ran a 4:18 1500m (with no competition), which is not bad.
4:00 - 12k in 57:05 @4:45/k
32:41/24:24 @ 5:27/4:04 (with good stretching after 6k)
Legs fresh after two days rest! Even so, felt a bit stiff the first 6k, but then felt good once I got going the second 6k. Was surprised to go through the first k in 4:02, so kept it up pretty well and ran the last one in 3:55.

Sunday
Fulfilled an obligation as a member of a Japanese family by going with my wife and family of cousins to a Buddhist temple and graveyard for the first anniversary of my father-in-law's death. The Japanese take these things seriously, in that they feel obligated to do it, so do it. There are ceremonies after 49 days, 6 months (I think), 1 year, 3 years, 7 years...maybe others. You go to the temple and the priest chants for 10 minutes, then gives a 5-minute explanation about some aspect of Buddhism (usually paradise, today he mentioned that the/some Buddhist gods were derived from Greek gods, which I had never known, nor did the wife and cousins. Have to look that one up.) Then you give him $300. Basically, these ceremonies are a way for the priests to make money. Then you go and wash the grave (where all the family ashes are stored) and put flowers and incense on it. Then you go for lunch and beer. It's a two-and a half hour trip for us, so it was an all-day affair. Nice to see the cousins, anyway.

19:09 5,000m Time Trial

Week of March 24 ~ 30
75km / 46.6 mi

Monday (No HS track practice - spring break)
4:00 - 12k in 1:00:15 @5:01
34:16/25:59 @5:42/4:20
Felt good, workout went as planned - 6k @4:20/k
16C/61F - nice that the weather is warmer.
58.3kg

Tuesday
Gym workout - weights and core

Wednesday
Club track workout - 5,000m time trial
19:09. Splits: 3:50/50/50/53/46
Good run - wanted to run 3:50 ks. Followed or tried to catch people the whole way. Last 300 alone, but had a good kick. Felt good but had to push the entire way.
Quite a bit faster than the 7k race last Friday.
14C/57F
58.9kg (58.5 before the run)

Thursday
3:30 - 12k in 1:07:46 @5:39
Easy recovery.
12C/54F
59.3kg


Friday
12:00 - Gym workout
1:00 - 12k in 1:06:02 @5:30
Legs stiff - DOMS from Wednesday?
18C/64F
58.9kg

Saturday
2:30 - 15.6k with 10k at quick tempo pace.
4.6k warmup. 10k in 42:37 @ 4:16/k
4:12/18/14/20/15/16/17/15/20/10
Felt good, but not great. Held the pace well. Wore my 10K/half racing shoes, a bit lighter than usual.
This is to help prepare me for a 10 mile race on April 20th.
21C/70F - nice day, warm, but not too warm.
59.3kg

Sunday
4:00 - 12k in 1:09:53 @5:50.
Easy run - recovery from yesterday.
17C/63F, 70%
59.3kg (have to lose this extra kg)

Enjoyable Ekiden

Week of Mar. 17 ~ 23

47.4km / 29.5 mi. — Race on Friday

Monday
3:30 — 8k. 5k easy with HS team, 3k alone in 13:06 @4:22/k
15C/59F, windy
58.1kg

Tuesday
11:30 - Gym workout - weights and core.
3:30 - 4.6k easy jog to and from the track where the team trains.
18C/64F, very windy!
58.2kg

Wednesday
7:30pm - club track workout. 8.8k
1200, 1000, 1000, 800, 800, 800, 400
5:26, 4:06, 4:10, 3:28/27/28, 1:46
Took it easy (race on Friday). Picked up 1000s a bit, but at a comfortable pace.
First time I gave the club this workout - I like it!
9C/48F
59kg

Thursday
Rest

Friday (national holiday)
9:30 Tama-ko Ekiden, 10k with warmup.
This is a 4-person per team ekiden on a cycle path around a lake (Lake Tama, actually a reservoir). Each leg 7.242k, I suppose that's accurate enough.  Tama-ko is where I used to do my long runs - it's 9km from my house, so I don't get out there anymore. Anyway, it's my "home course."
It was a nice event, with 362 men's and mixed teams, 16 women's teams and two kids' races.
The weather was good, about 12C/54F, but windy.
The club had 5 men's teams, which finished 15th, 27th, 34th, 40th and 110th, and one women's team, which finished 5th. I was on the middle team. Time was 29:18, with splits (probably not exactly accurate) of 3:59, 4:05, 4:08, 4:04, 4:08, 3:58, 3:53, 3:59, 0:59. The first 400m was straight into the wind, then the next 3.5k were partly into the wind (kind of diagonal, but not too bad), and then with the wind, although that part of the course is sheltered by trees on one side and houses on the other. The course is fairly flat, with a bunch of small rolling hills and one up/down section of 100m each.
I felt good and ran hard the whole way. Our first runner was our slowest, and I ran second, so I passed 25 people and was passed by just two. That was fun! Probably a lot of teams had just one good runner, who they put first - a lot of the people I passed were pretty slow.

Saturday
Rest - left calf a bit sore. But it's always good to rest a day after a race - more than a day after a Half or Full marathon!

Sunday
2:30 - 16k in 1:21:21 @5:06/k
43:54/37:27 @ 5:30/4:41.
Felt good coming back - comfortable pace.
15C/59F, sunny
58.7kg

Next week the weather is supposed to be warm all week. I'll probably try to run a good time at the club 5,000m time trial on Wednesday night.

No Problems

Week of Mar. 10 ~ 16
75.5km / 46.9 mi.

Pretty good week with no training problems.

Monday
3:30 - 12.5k with track team. 2.4k easy, then 3.5 x a very hilly 1k loop at a hard effort.
3.6k easy to park and one 3k loop alone at a good pace: 4:31/k. Felt ok.
8C/46F, windy so felt colder.
58.2kg.

Tuesday
Gym workout - weights and core.

Wednesday
7:30pm - Club track workout. 11k with 3.5k warmup.
1200, 1200, 1000, 1000, 800, 800
4:37, 4:24, 3:37, 3:31, 3:04, 3:03 (abt. 3' jog/wlk)
Felt good in warmer weather! Legs fresh. Felt good on the 1000s and pushed them - finished strongly on the 3:31. 800s were relaxed.
15C/59F
59.2kg

Thursday
4:00 - track practice cancelled due to rain and high levels of PM2.5 pollution. (You would think the rain would lower it, but apparently not. It doesn't bother me at all.)
12k alone in the park in 1:07:58 @ 5:40/k
3kms in 17:36/17/04/16:00.
11C/52F, light rain and wind
59.3kg

Friday
12:00 - weights and core.
1:30 - 8k in 44:48 @ 5:36/km. No time to run more.

Saturday
3:00 - 16k with 6k warmup. 4k 17:29 @4:22. 3k 12:40 @ 4:13. 2k 8:15 @ 4:08. (5 mins. walk) 1k warmdown.
I like this workout. Felt ok, although it was a chilly day.
11C/52F but windy

Sunday
12:00 - 16k in 1:28:44 @ 5:34/km. Easy, felt so-so.
13C/55F
58.2kg

Consistent Training

Week of Mar 3 ~ 9

74.5km / 46.3 mi.

Monday
4:30 - 12k in 1:02:20 @5:12/k
35:15/27:06 @ 5:52/4:31
Last 3k was 13:14 - faster than my 3k intervals last Saturday - legs just felt better, that's all. Last k was 4:05.
9C/48F
58.9kg

Tuesday
1:30 - Weights/core in the gym.

Wednesday
7:30pm - Club track workout 1000m x 6.
Only 1km warmup. 4:30/3:54/54/52/49/42
Felt ok, but wearing lots of clothes. Happy with the last one.
Had lots of people to run with.
7C/45F. Rained all day but stopped at 7:00 - lucky!
59kg

Thursday
American School track practice has started.
3:30 - 12km. 2.3k to the track. 600/400/200 x 2, 400/200.
Ran with the middle group of girls (out of 3), at a decent pace (400s about 86).
2.5k back to park, then 3k alone in park in 15:41.
7C/45F, very windy
58.7kg

Friday
11:30 - Weights/core in the gym.
3:30 - 13km.  With team. Easy 25min run, 100m hill x 8 easy, 1k, 3k x 2 alone in the park in 16:28/16:14.
5C/41F, light snow
58.4kg

Saturday
3:00 - 15k. 4.5k warmup, 4k, 3k, 2k, 1.5k warmdown.
16:40 (3:59/4:13/15/13) (5:00 walk)
12:39 (4:09/16/14) (5:00 walk)
8:19 (4:08/11)
Felt pretty good. Lighter.
9C/48F, some wind, but not too bad.
58kg

Sunday
3:00 - 14k. 1:19:30 @5:40
41:30/37:54 @5:56/5:25.
Easy run.
9C/48F
58.3kg

Pretty Good 82K Week

Week of Feb. 24 ~ Mar. 2

82.5km / 51 mi.

Monday
3:30 - 12k in 61:03. 35:23/25:40 @5:54/4:17/k
6k @4:17 was pretty good, and I felt good.
8C/46F

Tuesday
Rest

Wednesday
7:30pm - 12.5k. 5,000 time trial on the track.
19:40 @3:56/k. 3:50/58/59/4:04/3:49
Felt good. After 1000m, was following two guys, which helped a lot, otherwise would have slowed down more. Passed them with 1000 to go and ran strongly last km.
9C/48F, no wind
59.6kg (been putting on weight)

Thursday
4:00 - 12k in 1:04:46. 35:11/29:36 @ 5:52/4:56/k
Felt ok.
9C/48F, light rain
59.3kg

Friday
12:00 - Weights/core workout.
1:30 - 16k in 1:21:16. 43:29/37:47 @5:26/4:43/k.
Short walk after 8k. With wind coming back. Running easily both ways.
16C/61F! Warm enough that I wore shorts and a t-shirt - delightful.
59kg

Saturday
3:00 - 14k. 4k warmup, 3k x 3 hard, 1k warmdown.
3k in 13:37 (4:31/37/29), 13:29 (4:25/31/33), 13:16 (4:26/28/22). 5 mins walk in between.
Chilly with drizzle, so bundled up - not conducive to running fast. Also 8k @ 4:43 yesterday may have been a bit too tiring. Felt just "ok", but worked hard.
8C/46F, rain
58.9kg

Sunday
3:00 - 16k in 1:31:03. 47:03/44:00 @ 5:53/5:30/k
Felt so-so. Cold and light rain, so not a pleasant run.
6C/43F, light rain - better than snow!
59kg

Getting Back Into It

Week of Feb. 17 ~ 23

67.3km / 41.8 mi.

After the interruptions of returning from Bangkok and two heavy snowfalls, I'm getting back to a regular training schedule (almost).

Monday
Rest — still a lot of snow and ice on the ground.

Tuesday
12:00 - Gym workout
4:00 - 12k in 1:00:47 @5:03/km
33:37/27:09 @ 5:36/4:32 - no break after 6k.
Cold and windy going out, but with the wind coming back.
Felt good on the way back, running comfortably - went from 4:46/k to 4:22.
Weather: 6C/43F, 20%, windy
Weight: 59.2kg

Wednesday
7:30pm - club workout on the track. Total 12.3km.
600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1000, 800, 600
2:32, 3:08, 3:50, 4:41, 3:50, 3:02, 2:13
100 jog/100 walk after each, about 3:00.
Cold! Felt "good" from the first 1000 and ran hard from there.
Weather: 4C/39F
Weight: 58.6kg

Thursday
3:30 - 12k in 1:02:57 @ 5:15/k
34:15/28:42 @ 5:42/4:48 - brief walk after 6k.
Felt ok.
Weather: 6C/43F, 30%
Weight: 59kg

Friday
12:00 - Gym workout
4:00 - 16k in 1:26:42 @ 5:25/k - walk and stretching after 8k.
46:56/39:45 @ 5:52/4:58
Cold going out, but with the wind coming back.
Felt ok, knee hardly sore at all.

Saturday
Lots of walking with Frank and Lorraine Tai of Los Angeles (here for the marathon), as we took in Ginza, Meiji Jingu shrine and Harajuku.

Sunday
Cheered for club members in the Tokyo Marathon (about 25 of them) until 1:30, then went to the Palace and ran 15k in 1:21:55.
10k at 28:57/27:33, then 5k in 22:22.
Then went to the club's post-race party, always a fun event. Ate and drank too much.
Great weather for the marathon, by the way, 6-7C, sunny, almost no wind. So course records set in both men's and women's divisions.

Good shot of the leaders at 5.5k (following the pacers).

Japanese favorites Fujiwara and Miyawaki (front), both of whom bombed out. Five other Japanese ran under 2:10, however, with two under 2:09.

Nice photo of a wedding taking place at Meiji Jingu shrine.

Ome Marathon Cancelled!

Well, that was a bummer. Today's Ome Marathon (actually 30K and 10K - in Japan, everything is a "marathon") was cancelled (on Saturday) due to heavy snow on Friday. We got even more snow than we had a week ago - the two heaviest snowfalls in Tokyo in 40-50 years…in one week!
It rained some on Friday night, which didn't melt much snow, just made it heavier and harder to remove. Out in the hills of Ome, the western edge of Tokyo, they probably had even more snow, and no way to remove it all from 15km of road, certainly not so that 15,000 people could run there safely.

And the snow was "heavy": some fell off the roof of my house and put a dent in the hood of my car — a big dent!

So instead of resting and carbo loading on Saturday, I shoveled snow and carbo loaded, adding wine along with the spaghetti.

Had run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and was feeling pretty good. Oh well, will put my efforts into the club 5,000m time trial on the 26th.

Did 5k + 5k on the treadmill in the gym today - park and bicycle path still too icy/slushy for running.
Boy, do I hate treadmills.

Next Sunday is the Tokyo Marathon, which is always a fun day. Cheering for club members (I think we have about 25 running) and then a great post-race party, this year at a British pub, called for some reason, Footnik.

Hope you are all enjoying good weather — hot or cold, but not snow.

Snow!

Week of Feb 3 ~ 9

Saturday brought the most snow in Tokyo in 45 years — 27cm, and it seemed like more.
I shoveled 90 minutes today, in front of our house and a ways down the street, and it was wet, heavy snow. That was a good workout, so I didn't run - would have had to run on a treadmill in the gym anyway - most roads and paths are not clear.

Monday - Back from Bangkok
Tuesday - More rest, also rain and some snow.

Wednesday
7:30pm - Club track workout.
6 x 1000, but cut first 2 to 800 since my knee was quite sore.
3:31/3:29 4:19/08/09/11 (walk in between).
It was freezing cold, so hard to run, and I didn't feel good anyway.
Weather: 2C/36F, windy so felt colder.
Weight: 59.5kg (up from pre-Bangkok weight, but not so much)

Thursday
3:45 - 12k in 1:05:06. Out 36:03, In 29:02 @6:00/4:50
Felt good coming back.
Weather: 5C/41F, cloudy
Weight: 58.7

Friday
12:00 - Gym workout W/ core
3:15 - 16k in 1:23:10
Out 46:02, In 37:08 @ 5:45/4:38
Last 4k in were 4:40/40/20/07, so last one was faster than Wednesday night.
Felt good, knee was not too sore going out, and fine coming back.
Weather: 7C/45F, sunny
Weight: 58.4

I realized that I really need a long warmup, with several walks and light stretching, before my knee feels ok. This is my problem on Wednesday nights - I only warmup up about 2k. I need to get there earlier and do a 5 or 6k warmup.

Saturday
Heavy snow all day
Sunday
Snow shoveling

Next Sunday is the Ome Marathon 10k - a race only for masters, so a bunch of good runners show up in each age group (10 year age groups). I hope to run a good race. Will do a pretty easy tapering week, after Monday.

Back from BKK

Got back from Bangkok (and Krabi) yesterday, had a great trip. Ran 8 out of the 11 days, with 4 hard workouts. Ate a lot, of course, but only gained 1.5kg, which should come off soon, I hope.

I generally ran in the late afternoon, in about 31C heat, but it didn't bother me - in fact, I loved it (it snowed in Tokyo today - I didn't run). And if you wait until 5:30 - 6:00 it cools off quite a bit.

I ran in Benjakitti Park, just in back of the central Sukhumvit area, which has a 1.85k loop around a nice lake, marked every 100m. Did a few hard interval workouts there...lots of joggers…probably the first time anyone has run fast there for years.

We had no problems with the protests/demonstrations, except for being inconvenienced a bit. Actually, that is mainly what they are doing - inconveniencing people, especially drivers, by blocking several main intersections. It's pretty silly.

They say these protests are by the elite and middle class, but I'll tell you, most of them don't look middle class. They look like laborers and even young toughs. Well, they're obviously unemployed, since they're camping out for weeks at a time. But even the ones who bus in look like "the lower classes". The weekend parades and concerts (which they have a lot of, to keep the campers entertained) do draw ordinary people, though.

One night some of my daughter Jennifer's co-workers said, Are you going to the show? Jennifer asked what show? They said there would be various popular singers at such and such an intersection, where a big stage is set up. They weren't going to protest, just to hear the show. But of course the leaders announce, 40,000 people came to the protest.

The Krabi coast was nice, Koh Phi Phi and all those little islands are cool. Nothing to do there, just chill out at a resort, but that's fine with me. Of course, we took the tour to Phi Phi to see "The Beach." Our tour guide was funny, he kept referring to Leonardo Cappuccino. I had a nice road through the countryside and along the ocean to run on.

Were there this many people on "The Beach" when Leo was there?

It's a tough life, but someone has to do it….

86K Week - Not Bad

Week of Jan 13 ~ 19

86 km / 53.4 mi.

Switched my Thursday and Sunday runs from two times (8k and 12k) to one time (16K with 400m walk in the middle). It's hard enough to run once in the cold and wind, much less twice. And by going out at 6:00/k pace and coming back at close to 5:00, it's almost like two runs.

Monday
12:30 - 6k in 37:13 @6:12/k
3:30 - 12k in 34:57/31:12 @ 5:49/5:12
Mileage was low the last two weeks, so did an extra run. And THEN decided not to do anymore two-a-day.
Weather: 9C/48F, 6C/43F
Weight: 58.5kg

Tuesday
Weights and core.

Wednesday
7:30pm - club track workout.
3k warmup, 1000, 1200, 1000, 1000, 800, 800, 200 x 2
4:10, 5:08, 4:00, 3:50, 2:58, 2:57 (200m walk in between)
1st one knee was very sore from 700m, so stopped at 1000 (shd hv bn 1200).
By 3rd, it was only slightly sore, from 4th it was ok. Felt good on the 200m pickups at the end!
Weather: very cold
Weight: 59kg, but 58.2 before running

Thursday
3:30 - 12k in 1:06:39 @5:33. 36:32/30:06 @6:05/5:01
Coming back I thought I was running about 5:30 pace, but it was 5:00, so that's good.
Weather: 7C/45F, 30%, sunny
Weight: 58.7kg

Friday
3:00 - 16k in 1:27:33 @5:28
46:02/41:31 @5:45/5:10 (400m walk and stretch in between)
Knee a bit sore, but felt ok.
Weather: 8C/46F, 30%, sunny
Weight: 58.6kg

Saturday
3:30 - 12k with 4k warmup, stretching, 8k in 35:29 @4:26.
Felt good, wanted to run faster, but couldn't, somehow. Too cold? Also, knee was sore, which doesn't prevent me from running this pace, but maybe sub-consciously causes me to take it easy.
Weather: 7C/45F, no wind.
Weight: 58kg

Sunday
3:00 - 16k in 1:25:48 @5:22
45:54/39:52 @ 5:44/4:59 (400m in middle).
With the wind coming back. Felt good coming back. Wore an elastic brace on my knee and it seemed to help.
Weather: 6C/43F, a bit windy
Weight: 58.5kg

Next week I'm off to Bangkok on Thursday for 10 days, to visit my daughter. Looking forward to running under a warm (ok, hot) sun. Probably won't post next week, so talk to you in two weeks.

Getting Back Into It

Week of Jan 6 ~ 12
68.2km / 42.4 mi.

This week I felt like I was still recovering from the holidays. Also the cold and wind and slightly sore knee are de-motivating. Finally had a decent run on Sunday.

Monday
3:00 - 12k in 1:06:56 @5:35/k.
About 6:00/k going out and 5:00/k coming back (with the wind).
Weather: 8C/46F, windy
Weight: 58.6kg

Tuesday
Gym workout (always includes about 30 minutes of core work)

Wednesday
7:30pm - Club track workout 1000m x 6, total 9.2km.
4:07/3:58/55/51/52/46 (walk 200m in between)
Chilly rain, slight wind, although not terrible for running.
Was not warmed up for the first one, knee was a bit sore for the first three, but fine the second three. Happy with the last one.
Weather: 7C/45F, rain
Weight: 58.4kg

Thursday
3:30 - 10k easy in 57:32 @5:45/k
Weather: 9C/48F, windy so felt colder.

Friday
11:30 - Gym workout and 5k on the treadmill.
Too damn cold (5C) and windy, also knee was sore.

Saturday
12:30 - 8k easy in 47:35 @5:56/k
3:30 - 12k in 1:07:17 @5:36/k.
Out @ 5:50, in @ 5:22, felt ok last 6k.
Weather: 5,7C, 30%, sunny, no wind.

Sunday
3:00 - 12k with 4k warmup, a bit of stretching, then 8k tempo.
34:57 @4:22/k.
4:24/35/18/19/20/24/25/12.
Felt good after I got warmed up on the first 2k.
Weather: 9C/48F, 40%, no wind.
Weight: 58.4kg

I Like 12Ks

Week of Dec. 30 ~ Jan. 5
65.5 km / 40.7 mi.

It seems like 12k has become my preferred distance. It's not too short, not too long, doesn't overly aggravate my knee, and doing 6 easy out and 6 faster back makes for a good workout.

Monday
4:30 - 11k with 2k warmup, 2k x 4 hard, 1k warmdown.
2ks in 8:52/49/32/02.
Felt a bit sluggish the first two, but felt good the last two.
Weather: 9C/48F
Weight: 58.5kg

Tuesday 31st
Out to dinner with wife's cousins and drinking til 12:00 together in a hotel in Tsukuba.

Wednesday - Track closed for New Year's holiday.
AM - watched corporate New Year Ekiden (won by Konica-Minolta).
Back home at 4:30pm.
5:00 - Easy 6.5k
Big dinner for New Year's.

Thursday
AM - watched Hakone collegiate ekiden
3:00 - 12k in 1:05:15 @5:28/k
35:07/30:08 @5:51/5:01
With wind coming back. Knee sore going out, which is usual, still a bit sore coming back, which is not good.
Weather: 10C/50F, windy
Weight: don't want to know

Friday
AM - watched Hakone collegiate ekiden
2:30 - 12k in 1:08:39 @5:43
36:23/32:16 @6:04/5:23
Weather: 8C/46F

Saturday
3:30 - 12k in 1:07:13 @5:36
37:07/30:06 @6:11/5:01
Back with wind, but planned to come back at a decent pace. Last 2k @4:35.
Knee quite sore going out, but ok coming back.
Weather: 10C/50F, 30%, windy
Weight: 59kg

Sunday
3:00 - 12k in 1:06:52 @5:34
36:06/30:46 @6:01/5:08
Planned easy 12k, but felt ok coming back so ran first 4k @ 5:15, then 2k @4:53.
Should have run twice, but it's hard enough to get out once when it's cold (I hate the cold). Also, there were two NFL playoff games on in the morning (that's American football, Aussies!).
Weather: 7C/45F, 20%, sunny
Weight: 58.3kg