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.