Time to Get Serious

This week marked the end of my period of marathon recovery, and of running short intervals with the high school kids and easy runs the other days. Next week I start summer training in preparation for fall half marathon and possible marathon races.
That training will consist of first, six weeks of hill training, then nine weeks of short, long and generally hard stuff.
The hills will be 1km hard, 1km easy x 5, with 5km warmup before and 5km after at whatever pace I can run (20km). Those will be on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Wednesday will be fast intervals on the track. Thursday and Saturday will be 15k easy (total 100k).
The first week I will start off with only 6k of hills. The second week, Tues and Wed will be easy because there is a big multi-club 5,000m time trial on Thursday that I want to try to run fast.
Looks like a fun summer!

Week of May 9 ~ 15
59.3km / 37 mi. 5:09

Monday
3:00 - 7.5k with kids at decent pace.
Legs, inc. calves, felt ok.

Tuesday
11:30 - Gym workout for upper/lower body and core.
3:00 - 5k. Speed workout with track team girls. 550 x 1 @ 1:59, 400 x 4 @ 81,79,79,81.
Temp: 24C/75F, rain.

Wednesday
7:30pm - 8.8k at track, 800,1200,600,1200,600,1200,600
Very easy - just a recovery workout.
Weight: 60.9kg
Temp: 15C/59F, chilly and rainy.

Thursday
3:30 - At 300m track with the girls. 300 x 4, 200 x 3
60,58,58,56. 200s: fast, fast, cruise.
Temp: 16C/61F, chilly and rainy.

Friday
3:30 - 15k in 1:14:11 @4:57
26:53/24:00/23:18 @ 5:23/4:48/4:39 last k in 4:06
Felt good. Nice day.
Weight: 60.8kg
Temp: 25C/75F, 50%, sunny

Saturday
HS track finals. Top boy ran 9:11 for 3000m (1st), 4:16 for 1500m (2nd).
Top girls ran 2:34 for 800m (1st), 5:26 for 1500m (2nd, almost 1st)
Very warm (hot) day.

Sunday
3:00 - 20k in 1:43:31 @5:10
27:03/26:28/25:00/25:00 @ 5:24/18/00/00
Nice run, felt ok.
Weight: 60.9kg
Temp: 24C/75F, sunny

One More Easy Week

This was a relatively easy week, and I will have one more before I get into hard summer training. In fact, the coming week will be even easier than last, as the HS track team will be tapering for their Finals on Saturday.

To answer Scott's query, upcoming I have a multi-club 5000m time trial on May 26th and a 5k ekiden on May 29th, which I will run hard, but are not serious races. Then nothing but hard training (I will post a schedule next week) until mid-September. Will probably do a half at the end of September, maybe one at the end of October, and then either another half or a marathon in November or December, depending on a possible trip to Bangkok or Hawaii to see my daughter, who is moving to Bangkok. (There is a Bangkok marathon and Half in November).

Week of May 2 ~ 8
44.6K / 27.7 mi. 4:05

Monday
3:30 - 8.7k (approx) 52:17
Easy run with track girls, 6 x 100m strides afterwards.
Temp: 24C/75F
Weight; 61.2kg

Tuesday
11:30 - Weights and core at gym.
3:30 - 7.5k. 400 x 9 (3 sets of 3) at 300m track.
90/87/83/83/83/79/83/79/80 (70-90" walk/jog, 4' bet. sets)
With 4 girls, legs felt ok.
Also ran 600m behind the Takushoku university ekiden B team (16 guys), who were doing 12,000m (40 laps!) starting at 3:50/k, down to abt. 3:30/k. They were just cruising easily.
Temp: 17C/63F, light rain

Wednesday
7:30 - 7.6k. Back on the track, instead of the park!
1600, 1200, 1200, 800, 400
7:11, 5:33, 5:22, 3:21, 98
Legs tired, so VERY easy.
Ran the last 800 and 400 barefoot. The track has been resurfaced and is rough, so I tore some skin off one toe.
Weight: 60.9kg

Thursday
3:30 - 5.2k. 300 x 3 x 3 at 300m track.
Left calf sore due to running barefoot last night (after 9 400s previous day). It was a bit sore when walking, but felt fine when running, so I ran.
64/65/66/62/63/66/65/57/63
Calf felt more sore afterwards, so I'll rest the next two days.

Friday
11:30 - weights and core at gym

Saturday
TELL (Tokyo English Life Line) charity 5k/10k race, of which I am the race day director. A busy, tiring morning, but everything went well and a good time was had by all (about 700 people).

Sunday
3:00 - 15k in 1:20:32 @5:22
Calf still tight when walking, but ok when running. Just a nice leisurely pace on a lovely day.
Temp: 25C/77F, 40%, sunny
Weight: 60.6kg

Feeling Good

Week of April 25 ~ May 1

62.3km/38.7 mi. 5:51

Monday
3:30 - 9.6k. 9k (approx) with track team (1500/3000 boys) in 46:13 with second half at a good pace (4:20/k?).
75m x 8 barefoot on artificial turf.
Weight; 61.2kg
Temp: 16C/61F

Tuesday
11:00 - machines and core at gym.
3:30 - at 300m track. 400m x 9 (3 x 3) with girls.
83/86/83/81/83/81/82/83/84
(100m walk, 100 walk, 200jog bet. sets)
After a good warmup, felt pretty good.
Weight: 61.8kg
Temp: 21C/70F

Wednesday
7:30pm - in park. 5,000m time trial.
20:29 (4:04/05/07/08/05). Not trying to run all out - a moderately hard effort.
Legs felt good. Surprising, after 20k on sunday, good run on monday and 9 400s on tuesday.

Thursday
Rest. Business trip.

Friday
1:00 - 20k in 1:40:14 @5:00
27:36/26:01/23:25/23:12 @5:30/13/4:41/36
Along the shore in Makuhari. Nice run. Felt stiff going out (and into wind), but ok coming back.

Saturday
HS track meet all day

Sunday
10:00 - 17.4k of hills (constant up/down including some very steep places) at Ome.
2:07:54.
8.7k out - very easy in 1:08:50.
8.7 in - 59:04. Very easy for 39, fast for 15:30, easy for 4:30. A nice run.

An Enjoyable Week

Week of April 18 ~ 24

63.4k/39 mi. 5:31

The people of the Tohoku region in Japan where the earthquake/tsunami hit are still suffering a lot of hardships, and there are many charity events and activities aimed at helping them. You may have already donated some money, but if not and you would like to, or if you would like to donate a bit more, I am participating in a fund-raising activity that one of the women in my club organized. Each person logs their mileage from March 20 to April 30, and then contributes a certain amount per kilometer. The person can also have supporters who contribute. Any amount per kilometer is ok, in fact, a small amount such as 10 yen/cents is fine. So if any of my readers would like to support me, let me know by email to tokyoracer@me.com and I will tell you the final total and send you a PayPal request for money.
As you know, I have not been doing big mileage recently, so I suspect the total will be just under 350km.
The money will go to the Japan Red Cross relief efforts.
Thank you.

Monday
3:00 - 9.5k in 51:42.
Easy/average pace with ASIJ track team, including two hilly 1k loops.
100m x 4 barefoot on artificial turf.
Legs a bit tired but not bad, considering did 20k @4:14 yesterday.
Weight: 61.7kg

Tuesday
11:00 - machines and abs at gym.
3:30 - at Fuchu 300m track. 600, 400, 300, 200 x 2 with track team girls.
2:10/85/58/40 2:02/81/60/36. 2' after 6 & 4, 1.5' after 3, 5' bet. sets.
Good workout., legs felt fine.
Temp: 11C/52F, windy

Wednesday
7:30 - 9.5 in Yoyogi Park. 2000, 1000, 2000, 1000.
9:01/4:17/8:57/4:09.
Legs felt ok.
This workout was written up here
with a nice photo of yours truly.


Thursday
3:30 - 6.8 at Fuchu track.
400 x 4, 300 x 4, 200 x 2 with track team girls.
82/86/85/85, 64/61/62/60, 36/37
Temp: 16C/61F
Weight: 61.1kg

Friday
11:00 - machines and abs at gym.
12"30 - 10k in 50:00 (25:49/24:11). Felt ok.
Temp: 19C/66F

Saturday
Rest
American School track meet. Terrible weather - very windy, with rain on and off, mostly on.

Sunday
1:30 - 20k in 1:40:16 @5:00
25:56/24:49/24:25/25:05
Legs feeling stiff last 5k.
Weight: 61.5kg
Temp: 20C/68F, sunny, a beautiful day!

Some Speed and a Good 20K

Week of April 11 ~ 17

This week's schedule planned around running with the ASIJ track team and a 20K "race" on Sunday.

Monday
10:30am - 6k easy in 34:09 @5:42
Not much time, but didn't feel like doing more.

Tuesday
11:00 - machines and abs at the gym.
3:00 - on the 300m track.
6.5k inc. 400 x 8 with the girls.
80/82/78/84/84/80/78/82 (150m walk in between).

Wednesday
3:00 - 9k with kids at easy/average pace.
7:30 - 10k in the park. 3000/2000/1000. Very easy pace.

Thursday
3:30 - 7.2k at 300m track with the girls.
400 x 4 83/82/85/84
300 x 4 59/62/62/62. Felt ok.

Friday
11:00 - machines and abs at the gym.

Saturday - second day of rest to prepare for a 20k run tomorrow.
Also ASIJ track meet. Our top boy ran a 4:21 1500. Not bad.

Sunday
9:00 - Marathon time trial (the Not the Nagano Marathon) organized by another club for people who had entered the (cancelled) Nagano Marathon. All major races in eastern Japan in March and April were cancelled. They offered 10, 20, 30, 40K and full marathon. There were 75 runners, including 11 from Namban Rengo.
The course was a wide, flat bicycle path next to a river. Hardly anyone on it, which was good. It was a 5k course, marked every k. You went out and back, etc. Temp at the start was 14C/57F, which rose to 17C/63F or more, but the course was in shadow for the first hour. One of our guys wanted to run a sub-3 marathon, so I decided to pace him for 20k. Hit 1:24:50 (4:14/k), so just under 3:00 pace. I felt good - legs got tired the last 2k, but it was a nice run. Quite happy to feel that good just 4 weeks after the marathon. It was a nice event and an enjoyable day. And the guy I paced finished in 2:58:54!

Back At It

Took one week off after the marathon and have been running the last two weeks, mostly easy, but some up-tempo stuff with the American School track team. I run with the 1500/3000m girl runners - the boys are too fast over short distances.

Week of 3/28 ~ 4/3

Monday
10k in 56:35 (27:40/28:54)
Quads sore after 6k, calves slightly sore. Should have run 6k.
Temp: 11C52F
Weight: 62.3kg (gained about 2kg after the marathon)

Tuesday
11:00 - Wt. machines and core
2:00 - 5k in 29:37. Quads and thighs sore.

Wednesday
7:30 pm. 10.5k with 5k time trial. Easy in 24:50. Quads felt ok.

Thursday
3:00 - 7.5 easy with kids, part of it on a hilly loop.
Weight: 61.7kg

Friday
3:00 - 7.5 easy with kids in 39:34
100m x 8 barefoot on artificial grass.
Abs and other exercises with the team.

Saturday
Rest

Sunday
10:30 - 16.6k to/from and around the Palace.
29:04/26:25/26:39 (5k + 26m)
Easy with other people.
Temp: 10C/50F

Week of 4/4 ~ 10

Monday
3:00 - 8.4k. 4k warmup, 300 x 10 @62sec., last 2 @58
With girls, good workout.
Temp: 13C/55F, windy
Weight: 62kg

Tuesday
3:00 - at 300m track. Easy 1200, 1500 in 6:16, jog 600, 1500 in 16:36, jog 600. 1500s: run straights, jog turns.
Temp: 15C/59F

Wednesday
3:00 - 8.4k with kids at about 5:30/k. Legs stiff.
7:30 - 9.4k in park. 1000m x 6.
4:56/53/58/46/59/42.
Took it easy but felt much better than in the afternoon.
Temp at 3:00 - 19C/66F

Thursday
3:00 - 8.5k. 2.1 WU,400 x 2 strides, 400 x 8.
83/85/85/83/87/86/87/85. With two girls. Legs a bit tired.
Temp: 20C/68F, windy (it's windy every day).
Weight: 61.9kg

Friday
10:00 - 8k easy in 44:59.

Saturday
Rest

Sunday
10:30 - 15k in 1:14:38 @4:59
26:49/25:28/22:20 @5:22/06/4:27
Temp: 17C/63F
Legs felt ok, but stomach feels heavy due to extra weight. Esp. during last 3k at about 4:20/k.
The sakura (cherry blossoms) are 100% full! And no wind today. The wife and I went to Koganei Park with wine, cheese and crackers - along with 1000s of other people (most people were under the trees, and there are LOTS more trees).

New Favorite Song, New Favorite Singer

Brandi Carlile - The Story