Taking Care of Business

Week of Feb 7 ~ 13

Plan: 0/24/10/22/20/20/30 - 126km
Ran: 0/24/11/24/20/20/30 - 129km / 80 mi. 11:33

Ran acccording to plan, with two extra hills on Thursday. Legs were feeling pretty tired at the end of the last run.

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:30 - machines and core at the gym
12:30 - 24k in 2:11:15 @5:28
28:36/27:19/26:40/42/21:55 @5:43/28/20/20/29
Felt ok.
Weather: 8C/46F, 40%, sunny

Wednesday
7:30pm - 3000, 2000, 1000
11:45 (3:54,54,56), 7:51 (3:54,57), 3:44
400m jog 5" after 3000, 300m jog 4:30 after 2000
Felt ok, worked pretty hard.
Weather: 4C/39F
Weight: 60.9kg

Thursday
3:00 - 24k in 1:58:16 8.5/7k hills/8.5
27:37/19:12/34:24/15:23/21:39 @5:31/29/hills/4:24/20
Hills - 500m 5 hard up, 3 hard down
Up - 2:27/21/17/23/17/53/55
Dn - 2:40/47/42/50/01/1:53/1:53
Back 8.5k at marathon pace! And legs felt ok. Definitely getting into shape.
Weather: 9C/48F, 20%, cloudy
Weight: 60.3kg

Friday
3:00 - about 1:54 @5:43
Weather: 4C/39F, snow
National holiday, so we went to visit my wife's father. Garmin lost satellites after 9k, I suppose due to the snow.
Legs a bit tired, but felt ok. Snow was no problem.

Saturday
3:00 - 20k in 1:53:57 @5:42
Weather: 3C/37F, light rain
Weight: 60.3kg

Sunday
2:00 - 30k in 2:34:48 @5:09
27:52/16/13/24:38/14/23:32 @5:34/27/27/4:56/51/42
Progressive run, although not trying to. Planned to pick up the second half, which I did, although legs were tired and quads had some discomfort the last 10k. Thought the last 5k would be slower, but did ok.

This was a pretty tiring week. Next week will be easier because I will taper from Thursday for the Ome Marathon 10K on Sunday. The main race is 30k, a very old (45 years) and popular race (about 12,000). The 10k is for high school and masters (over 40) runners. The age groups are very competitive - one of the most competitive masters races in Japan. I doubt that I can get into the top ten in the 60s. Of course, I haven't been doing 10k training, but I probably couldn't anyway. Long term weather forecast is for rain - hope not.

A Good Week

Week of Jan 31 ~ Feb 6

Plan: 0/24/10/22/20/20/30 - 126km
Ran: 0/24/12.3/22/20/20/30 - 128.3km / 80 mi. 11:29

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:30 - machines at core at the gym.
1:30 - 24k in 2:07:51 @5:20
27:04/04/26:13/14/21:15 @5:24/24/15/15/19
Slight discomfort in the thighs last 4k.
Wore new Asics Sky Sensor Neos, which are great. Light. but not too light, with a solid feel in the forefoot (no insoles). These will be my marathon shoes.

Wednesday
7:30pm - 1000m x 6 in Yoyogi Park.
3:50/48/52/51/52/46 (interval: 200m, 2:40)
Felt ok, but not great. Nice workout, with a group of about 12 running in the 3:40s (4 in the 3:30s).
Temp: 6C/43F.

Thursday
12:30 - 22k in 1:49:55
8.5k/5k hills/8.5k
27:04/18:45/23:26/16:33/24:05 @5:24/22/hills/4:49/48
Hills: 500m x 3 hard up, 3 hard down. For some reason, it's hard to run fast downhill, but I finally got the last two down to 1:48 and 1:50 (which is still only 3:36/40 for 1k).
Weight: 60.8kg
Weather: 9C/48F, 30%, sunny

Friday
11:30 - machines and core at the gym.
1:00 - 20k in 1:52:56 @ 5:39
Easy pace, quads sore last 4k, but good that they are sore, since that means I am working them hard.
Weather: 12C/54F, 20%, sunny

Saturday
2:30 - 20k in 1:52:40 @5:38
Quads sore last 5k.
Weight: 60.1kg
Weather: 10C/50F, 40%, sunny

Sunday
2:30 - 30k in 2:32:11 @5:04
27:26/17/26:41/24:54/23:55/21:55 @5:30/21/21/4:59/47/23
Wanted to do a progression run, so pleased to have done that. Also wanted to do the last 5k in under 4:30 pace, so pleased with that also. Legs felt pretty good all the way.
Weight: 60.3kg
Weather: 11C/52F, 40%, cloudy

Shifting the hard day from Friday to Thursday and doing easy pace runs Friday and Saturday seems to work well.

Lower Mileage, But Not an "Easy Week"

Week of Jan 25 ~ 30

Original Plan: 0/15/9/15/22/15/30 - 106km (week of reduced mileage)
Revised Plan: 0/20/9/22/0/20/35 - 106km
Ran: 0/20/10/22/0/20/35 - 107km / 66.5 mi. 9:22

Revised the plan upon finding out that I would have an all-day business trip on Friday.
So moved the hard hill/tempo day to Thursday, the day after the interval workout. Actually, I had been toying with the idea of doing this anyway, since my legs tend to be more tired and sore on Friday than Thursday, due to DOMS. And it worked well...I felt better during this workout than usual. I will keep doing this, with easy pace runs on Friday and Saturday. (I usually have more time to run on Thursday than on Friday anyway - gym Friday morning.)

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:00 - Machines and core at the gym.
3:00 - 20k in 1:50:08 @5:30
27:51/27:47/27:03/27:27
Legs felt ok but slight discomfort in quads last 5k.
Weight: 61.1kg
Weather: 8C/46F, 15%, sunny

Wednesday
7:30pm - 5,000m time trial in Yoyogi Park (asphalt 1.2k loop)
19:25 Didn't get the splits, due to not knowing where they were.
Expected to run about 20:00, so was happy with this. Felt good and had a bunch of people to run with.
Weather: about 5C/41F, no wind

Thursday
3:00 - 22k in 1:50:25
8.5/500m hill x 10/8.5
27:27/19:01/5k hills in 24:52/16:18/22:46 @5:30/26/hills/4:39/33
Felt ok on hills (4 hard up, 2 hard down) and pretty good coming back (under 4:40 for 8.5k is a nice tempo run).
Weight: 61.2kg
Weather: 8C/46F, 15%, cloudy

Friday
Rest

Saturday
11:30 - 20k in 1:47:12 @5:22
26:49/26:50/26;32/27:00 @5:22/22/18/26
Legs felt good going out, tiring last 5k.
Weight: 60.6kg
Weather: 5C/41F, 25%, sunny

Sunday
2:00 - 35k in 3:05:54 @5:19
27:56/28:34/28:19/27:25/24:45/35/16
@5:35/42/40/29/4:57/54/51
Felt ok. Legs tired last 10k, but was able to hold the pace under 5:00/k without a problem.
Weight: 60.9kg
Weather: 6C/43F, 15%, sunny

As you can see, the weather is nice for running in the winter in Tokyo. I would prefer it a bit warmer, but I guess I shouldn't complain. In fact, next week is supposed to be warmer.

A Tiring Week

Week of Jan 17 ~ 23

Plan: 0/24/10/20/22/20/30 126km
Ran: 0/24/10/20/22/20/30 126km / 78 mi. 11:22

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:00 - Machines and core at the gym.
3:00 - 24k in 2:07:21 @5:18
26:54/27:01/26:23/26:17/20:45 @5:23/26/17/16/11
Felt good. Left thigh had some discomfort the last 4k, but I didn't plan to pick up the pace anyway.
Weight: 61.1kg
Weather: 8C/46F, 20%, sunny

Wednesday
7:30pm - 10k with 2000/1000/2000/1000
7:34, 3:41, 7:41, 3:38 (jog/walk in between of 4:30, 3:00, 4:34).
Good! Getting faster. Had several people to run with and wearing light racing shoes also helped. First time to wear them since I tore my calf muscle, but there was no problem.
Weight: 60.8kg

Thursday
3:00 - 20k in 1:50:48 @5:32
28:03/28:08/26:46/27:49
Felt ok, but left calf slightly stiff.
Weight: 61.4kg
Weather: 8C/46F, 20%, sunny

Friday
11:00 - Machines and core at the gym.
3:30 - 22k - 8.5/500m hill x 5/8.5
27:42/19:15/hills (4 up hard, 2 down hard)/17:10/24:11 @5:32/30/4:54/50
Both calves stiff and sore from Wednesday. I was a bit nervous at the start of the hills, but ran them ok. Ran 8.5k in at a nice pace.
Weather: 7C/45F, 20%, sunny

Saturday
20k in 1:52:31 @5:38
28:12/28:07/27:47/28:24
Legs heavy, calves stiff, knees a bit sore last 5k, which felt like a long ways.
Weight: 60.4kg
Weather: 9C/48F, 20%, cloudy

Sunday
12:30 - 30k in 2:47:18 @5:34
29:21/28:16/28:29/25:53/27:07/28:10
Weather: 7C/45F, sunny
Did not run my usual bike path, so relied on the garmin, however I got lost for a while so had some extra time and distance which I then tried to compensate for...anyway, the time and distance were close to being correct.
Legs tired and heavy last 10k and especially last 5k. I will cut back on the distance some next week. 100-110k. I think running 15k on Tues,Thurs,Sat instead of 24/20/20 will make quite a difference.

Piling On the Miles

Week of Jan 10 ~ 16

Plan: 20/10/20/22/20/30km
Ran: 20/12/20/22/20/30 = 124km / 77 mi. 11:14

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:00 - Machines and core at gym.
1:30 - 20k in 1:55:29 @5:46
28:48/57/54/48
Reduced from the usual 24k due to concerns about a sore thigh (very sore last Sunday).
It was a bit sore from the start, but did not get worse. By the way, I discovered that triathletes do not refer to "pain," they call it "discomfort." I like that, so from now on, there's no pain, only discomfort. (If you are at the point where you have real, undeniable pain, you are at the point where you stop running.)
Weather: 6C/43F, 20%, prtly cloudy

Wednesday
7:30pm in Yoyogi Park. 3000, 2000, 1000.
11:52 (5:30 jog) 7:51 (5:00 jog) 3:43
No discomfort in thighs or anywhere. Felt pretty good, ran hard and had other guys to run with. All under 4:00/km pace, with the 1000 faster than last week. I like this workout.
Weight: 61.7kg
Weather: about 4C/39F

Thursday
2:30 - 20k in 1:49:24 @5:28
27:31/17/01/34
Felt ok - no aches or pains.
Weight: 61.8kg
Weather: 6C/43F, 15%, cloudy

Friday
11:00 - 22k in 1:54:44
8.5k / 500m hill up&down x 5 (4 fast up, 2 fast down) / 8.5
28:14/19:22/hills/17:20/24:41 back @4:57/56
Morning and cold, so felt only so-so. But hills were faster than last week. Legs tired coming back, could go no faster.
Weather: 3C/37F, 20%, sunny

Saturday
4:00 - 20k in 1:51:26 @5:34
27:52/43/53/56
Felt ok - legs tiring last 5k.

Sunday
2:00 - 30k in 2:39:39 @5:19
28:17/28:03/27:46/25:42/25:14/24:35
@5:39/36/33/07/02/4:55
Cold! Cold wind against me going out. The plan is to come back faster, which i did, but had to work to run at that pace. Not comfortable. Last 4k left thigh and knee had some discomfort. I actually expected to slow down the last 5k, so that was good.
Weight: 61.6kg (it is HARD to lose weight. I really want to get down to 60kg.)
Weather: 6C/43F > 3C/37F, 0% > 15% (first time I ever saw 0% humidity), sunny

Mileage Goes Up, So Does Pain

Week of Jan 3 ~ 9

Plan: 126km 24/10/20/22/20/30
Ran: 126Km 24/10/20/22/20/30 78mi. 11:31

10 weeks to the LA Marathon and my mileage is now where I want it. Had some thigh pain at the end of the week, though, which was understandable.

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:00 - Machines and core at the gym
3:00 - 24k comfortably in 2:07:11 @5:18/k
27:19/26:39/26:12/26:22/20:37 @5:27/20/15/16/09
Quads sore last 4k but picked up the pace a bit.
Weight: 62.1kg
Weather: 9C/48F, 20%, sunny

Wednesday
7:30pm - 10k. 1000m x 6 in Yoyogi Park (track closed for 4 months)
3:58/51/54/57/52/48 (200m jog. Total run/jog time 6:30).
Running hard! This is as fast as I can go....
Weight: 61.7kg
Weather: Abt. 5C/41F

Thursday
3:00 - 20k easy in 1:56:05 @5:48
29:01/29:44/28:16/29:03
Easy because quads a bit sore and did not want to stress calf, etc. after last night.
Weight: 62kg
Weather: 9C/48F, 15%, cloudy, windy

Friday
11:00 - Machines and core at the gym
1:00 - 22k in 1:57
8.5 out easy @5:44
500m hill up/down x 5. Up hard 4, Down hard 2
8.5 in @5:01
Hard workout. Wind against me going out and up the hills. Quads heavy last 5k.
Weather: 6C/43F, 5%, sunny, strong wind

Saturday
2:30 - 20k comfortably in 1:50:45 @5:32
28:09/27:37/27:24/27:35 @5:38/31/28/31
Quads sore coming back.
Weight: 61.8kg
Weather: 9C/43F, 30%, sunny

Sunday
10:15 - Out my usual bicycle path with 8 other people. Afterwards we went to the onsen (hot spring place) near my house for hot bath and food/beer.
30k in 2:40:20 @5:21
30:00/29:15/28:00/24:12/23:45/26:08 @6:00/5:51/36/4:50/45/5:01
Planned to go out easy with slower people, then pick up the last 15k. Left thigh started to hurt quite a bit at 10k. Rested a bit at the turnaround, then started out faster and it felt better, although still sore. Had to work hard to run sub 5:00 pace for 12k, fortunately with two other people, but then it hurt more the last 3k, so slowed to about 5:15.
I don't think the pain was serious, just the effects of a 126k week and the hard workout on Friday. Rest tomorrow and we shall see....
Weather: 4C/39F rising to 10C/50F, sunny

Working Back Into Shape

Week of Dec. 27 ~ Jan 2

Plan: 118km
Ran: 112.3km / 70 mi. 10:05

Happy New Year - Hope you all have an injury-free year of running!

This is the first week of my new training program, which will basically be:
Mon - off
Tues - 24k. Comfortable pace, picking up last 4k
Wed - 9k. Hard intervals (6,000m)
Thur - 20k. Comfortable pace
Fri - 22k. 8.5 easy, 5k of 500m hills (4 hard up, 2 hard down), 8.5 good pace
Sat - 20k. Comfortable pace
Sun - 30k. 15k comfortable, 15k hard. (Can vary somewhat)
After a few weeks, will have to include some marathon pace runs.
Total: 125km / 78 mi.

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:00 - machines and core at gym.
1:00 - 24k in 2:10:35 @5:26
27:51/27:32/26:48/21:24
Felt ok. Wanted to pick up last 4k a bit more, but quads tired and sore.
Shoes: 240g K-Swiss (turns out they are Blade Light), no insoles
Weather: 8C/46F, sunny

Wednesday
7:30pm - 5,000m time trial in Yoyogi Park (the track is closed for 3 months). We have a nice 1,000m loop.
21:21. Was able to run this pace with no problem, but actually did not feel like I could go any faster. Definitely not in shape! Had company (Rie, a good woman runner), which helped a lot. Would have been slower on my own. Legs felt ok.
Shoes: 225g Saucony, no insoles
Weather: about 4C/39F, no wind, didn't really feel too cold.

Thursday
3:00 - 20k in 1:51:15 @5:34
28:12/27:58/27:03/28:00
Felt ok except for various minor aches and pains the last 10k. Happy to run at an easy pace.
Shoes: 240g K-Swiss no insoles
Weight: 61.9kg
Weather: 6C/43F, cloudy

Friday
10:00am - 23.5k in 2:07:35 @5:28
28:17/28:38/25:40 (hills)/26:42/18:16
500m hills (Up/down x 5 = 5k). Up hard, down easy x 3. Up hard, down hard, up easy, down hard. Got that? It's a quad strengthener!
Quads sore and legs tired coming back but picked up pace to 5:20/k, then "kicked" last 2k @5:08.
I think this is a really good workout and should build strength for the marathon.
Shoes: 225 Saucony no insoles
Weather: 4C/39F, up to 8C/46F, sunny

This was the 31st. In Japan, as a general rule, you go to your relatives (in my case, my wife's relatives), arrive about 4:00, then drink and eat until 12:30, finishing with "year crossing" soba noodles (long noodles for a long life). Then the morning of the 1st you eat New year's foods and drink sake. In other words, you gain a lot of weight!

Saturday
Back home at 5:00 and ran 10k. Surprisingly, considering yesterday's hard run and all the food, I felt quite good. Planned to run very slowly, but ran 27:11/24:54 and was just cruising easily the last 5k.
Weight: 62.5kg

Sunday
3:00 - 25k (as planned) in 2:07:39 @5:06
26:40/26:33/26:00/24:26/23:58. @ 5:20/19/12/4:54/4:48. Last 2k: 4:44,39
Felt ok. Planned to pick up last 10k to under 5:00/k, which I did. Had some slight niggles in the calf last night, so was a bit wary of it, but it was fine. i am 99% sure it is 100% healed.
Weight: 62.4kg
Shoes: 240g Nike Cage+ with insoles
Weather: 10C/50F, 35%, sunny