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.