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….