Running Smarter

I do have a tendency to overdo things and I’m sure that’s why I’ve been struggling with injuries for the better part of a year. Right now, I’m still dealing with Achilles tendonitis and 2nd metatarsal syndrome. Neither injury is keeping me from working out, but they are taking an awful long time to go away. That’s why I’ve started to train more sensibly:

• I’m running three times a week and not on consecutive days;
• I’m warming up with Radio Taiso and a 5 minute walk before I start running;
• I’m running by time, not distance, increasing by 10% each week;
• I’m wearing a heart rate monitor and running at around 140 beats per minute;
• That means I’m running really slowly, around 6:30/km pace;
• I’m only running hills once a week;
• I’ve been doing 10 minutes of daily workouts, targeting legs, glutes and abs;

But that’s not all!

On the four days a week that I’m not running, I’m cycling and swimming. With an Olympic-distance triathlon in July, I need to train for those as well. I’m swimming at least 1,000m twice a week and cycling around 50km a week. If I follow my homemade schedule, I’ll be doing more than what the triathlon requires by the time it comes around.

Looking ahead

To be honest, neither Mt. Norikura nor the Imizu Triathlon phase me very much. I don’t need to take either of them very seriously and can just enjoy each occasion. I am, however, a little anxious about two other events in August and September.

On August 30th, I’ve registered to run the 70K Utsukushigahara Trail Run in Nagano prefecture. I’m not altogether sure I’ll be ready for that, even if I approach it with a “go slow, have fun” attitude.

And then, just two weeks later, I’m heading back to the Izu peninsula to attempt a solo, do-it-yourself, full Ironman-distance triathlon. It will mark exactly one year since I last saw my best friend, Keith, before he passed away, and since he organized the half-Ironman I did there last year, I want to do this to honor his name. I’ll have the support of Shun, who I did last year’s half with, and maybe some other people down there will come out to cheer me on.

It will be a huge challenge to complete both those events, two weeks apart, without injuring myself. Still, that which does not kill us only makes us stronger.

Last year I did it twice, but both times tried to run it. The first time, also in the rain, I bailed out with two mountains to go. I got lost, was freezing cold in t-shirt and shorts, and didn’t have the will to continue.

Two months later, on a hot day in June, I tried again, and again I got lost. In fact, I wasted so much time running on roads around mountains to get back on course that it became a mammoth 37km effort, and I was exhausted and dehydrated when I finished.

This time, I decided not to run, and started a little closer to my house. I also started at 5am, an hour earlier than last year, so made quick progress over the first two mountains – the two Gongens – and was on my way east across the alps long before breakfast.

I learned well from last year’s mistakes: I knew the course much better, I was dressed in rain wear, I had more than enough water for the whole trip, gloves to prevent blisters from holding my hiking stick and grabbing tree branches, and a better sense of where to conserve energy.

My biggest mistake this time around, not that I had a choice, was wearing shoes that weren’t waterproof. I got soaked in the rain and the water flowed into my shoes.

Nevertheless, I surprised myself at just how quickly I was moving across the mountain range. I was at Sarubamijou, the most eastern point, by 9:10am, about three hours ahead of last year! And whereas last June I collapsed on a bench and rested for half-an-hour, this year I devoured a Danish pastry and headed off again quickly.

The rain was light, but relentless, and cloud covered all the surrounding mountains leaving very little to look at. It was hardly surprisingly that over 21km and seven hours I didn’t see another person!

The long climb up Mt. Yagi was hard, especially as my waterlogged socks were causing blisters on my toes and heels. Still, with only Mt. Atago left to go, I pushed on.

Incredibly I was out of the mountains before midday and made my way to Ogase Ike car park in the hope my wife would come and pick me up.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get hold of her and after changing my socks and putting some band aids on my feet, I plodded another wet 5K home on the roads.

In the end I covered 27.4km in 7 hours and 30 minutes, climbing around 1,500 meters in the process.

I felt a lot more confident today and feel I can extend the course by doubling back part-way, but not until I get some waterproof shoes!

There is a clear lack of full marathon options for us in Gifu. In fact, there are only two marathons that I know of: the hugely popular Ibigawa Marathon and the almost unheard of Kisogawa Marathon. Both events have their merits, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a third option? One that we can organize and run whenever we feel like it?

Here are some requirements I think are necessary if we were to set up our own marathon.

A Gifu Runners Marathon should…

1. be in Gifu (duh!)
2. have parking
3. have toilets
4. be on roads or paths with little traffic
5. have no roads that require waiting to cross
6. have a route that is easy to memorize without signs or map-checking
7. have opportunities to get aid
8. be flat enough to make personal records achievable
9. be accessible for all participants
10. be flexible in case of bad weather, road works, etc.

Gifu prefecture is a big place, and I can’t pretend to know of the perfect place to hold this kind of event, but I’d like to propose one route that I’ve traveled a few times. Here’s a map of the course with proposed start, finish, turnaround and aid markers:

View Gifu Runners Marathon in a larger map

Let me address the 10 points above.

1. The proposed Gifu Runners Marathon is in the heart of the prefecture, just north of Mino City. The Nagara River is well-known for its white-water rafting, and the mountains it runs through are simply beautiful.

2/3. The proposed course starts at the Shinbu Kominkan (新部公民館) bus stop. I assume there is parking and toilets there at the community center or at the shrine next to it. The course I’ve plotted is along the rather quiet Route 324. It’s 10.5km in length (for reasons explained later) and finishes at Minamikodakara Onsen, which I know for sure has parking and toilets.

4. The road is on the opposite side of the river to the main road (Route 156) and is only really used by cyclists, farmers and local residents. Obviously we would have to keep to the side of the road, but traffic shouldn’t be a problem.

5. Because there is nothing but mountains on one side of the road, the only roads that need crossing are narrow, country roads, like those you see between rice fields. I’d be surprised if you had to stop running.

6. The route is easy to memorize because it’s one road. If you stick to that road you can’t go wrong. Turn right or left and you’ll either run into the mountains or the river! The end of the 10.5km stretch is easy to recognize because it’s a hot spring with a big car park and even a train station.

7. Because we don’t have enough people to set up multiple aid stations, the course is kept short. A full marathon would be “there and back” twice. Ideally, three volunteers would be needed. One at the start, one in the middle and one at the end. That would enable aid and encouragement to be given every 5km. A rolling aid station in a support car or on a bike would be possible if we have only one or two volunteers. Also, because the course is divided into 10.5km sections, we can offer a 10K and half-marathon, too, if there’s interest.

8. The route is reasonably flat. Running upstream is a slight incline, approximately 30m over 10.5K, but the next 10.5K would obviously be running back downstream. There may be one noticeable hill, but it’s quite tame, perhaps only elevated an additional 30m itself.

9. The course is about 45 minutes drive from both Gifu City and Kani City. There is also a train from Minokamo and Seki, but it doesn’t run very frequently. By car, you can simply drive up Route 156 and turn off before the first tunnel. That turn off is our starting point.

10. I wouldn’t expect many of us to take part so changing the weekend because of bad weather, sickness, injury, or whatever shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Let me know your thoughts. If you would like to push ahead with this idea we can organize a time to go and check the course out.

I originally decided to run Kakegawa because I wanted to run a 3 hour, 30 minute marathon and couldn’t do that in last December’s Nara Marathon because I was injured. Kakegawa was not so far from home and the course didn’t look as hard as Nara.

Another reason for choosing Kakegawa was that race numbers and are sent out in advance by mail, so there’s no need to go down the day before to check in at an expo. I had intended to drive down in the early hours of the morning, but in the end we made it a family weekend away and booked a hotel anyway!

On the Saturday, we rode the Oigawa Steam Railway, taking in some beautiful views of the tea fields and rivers. The train was like nothing I had ever ridden on before. All the passengers were tourists and the staff entertained us with music, singing, photo shoots and commentary. The atmosphere was like a party! We finished the day with pasta and pizza at an Italian restaurant, just as we had done before the Nara Marathon.

I took an early bus to the marathon start and whiled away a couple of hours looking at the food stalls, sports shops and watching the acts on stage. The event was very well put together, but it lacked the epic-ness of Nara. Maybe because it was my second marathon and the excitement wasn’t quite there.

The day started with some cloud, but the sun was strong and things warmed up quickly. I wore a sleeveless shirt, a hat and sunglasses. I regret not putting on sunscreen as I would later get sunburn.

My strategy was to start off slowly so I tucked in behind an older, gray-haired guy who looked like he knew what he was doing. He was wearing a racing bib, short shorts and had those little round energy patches stuck on his neck. Without earphones or a watch, I figured he must be so experienced that he just knew how fast to run. For the first few kilometers we moved along at a little over 5:00/km pace which was just perfect. From the 5km mark, he seemed to be slowing a little and everyone was passing us. I figured this was experience in action and stayed with him, thinking everyone else would burn themselves out early on while we had lots in reserve.

By 9km, my running app told me that I was about 2 minutes behind my target pace and that gap was growing. I didn’t want to, but it was time to leave my pacer and find another one. For the next three kilometers I followed another runner going at about 4:55/km pace. That felt comfortable and would allow me to slowly claw back the lost time… until I needed the toilet. I knew I’d have to go at some point, and I decided to go early to give myself more time to catch up.

I lost about a minute and a half at the portaloo which put me over three minutes behind schedule. And this was where I made a bad decision, one which I’d pay for later on. Coming out of the toilet, having had a 90-second standing rest and now relieved of bladder concerns, I grabbed a cup of water and felt amazing. I knew that the next 10km were almost flat and that this would be my best chance to get back on pace before the hills that were to come later, and so I took off. I flew past packs of runners, logging kilometers as fast as 4:32 and 4:24. I quickly reeled in the lost time, bringing the difference down to about one minute behind, and then I settled in at 5:00 pace behind another “pacer”.

All this time I had been so focused on time and pacers that I had missed the first couple of fruit stations that lined the course, and I hadn’t taken in much of the scenery, either. Not that there was much to look at though. Trees, rice fields, the usual Japanese countryside. Before the half-way mark, there was one long stretch along a big river and then we ran right under a massive, and I really mean monstrously massive, wind turbine. That was extremely cool. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

As soon as we crossed the half-way point, my pacer suddenly sped up. I wasn’t too keen, but since I was still behind schedule and the hills were getting closer, I tried to go with him. I kept up for about three kilometers, running around 4:50 pace, but decided to back off at 24km. It was becoming very clear to me that even though I was close to a 3:30 marathon pace, I wouldn’t be able to maintain it over the hills that were to come. In fact, knowing that there was a very up and down stretch for 10K at the end of the race was really depressing. The official pacers had told us before it all began that we should consider the marathon as two races. One up to 30km, and then a second one after that. They described the hill section as very, very hard, and although the elevation chart didn’t show it to be as bad as Nara, it was still a daunting prospect.

The first big hill started at the 27K mark and continued for three very long kilometers. My pace slowed to 5:18, 5:24 and 5:44 as I ran past the first batch of walkers. I was pretty happy to have made it to the top of the hill without stopping, but I was starting to physically suffer and for the next two kilometers downhill I could only manage 5:24 and 5:36. By the 33km point, I had to resort to walk breaks. From that point on, I moved between 6:00 and 7:00 pace.

There were a lot of walkers. As the day went on, the sun rose higher and it got warmer and warmer, up to around 20C, and I was getting very thirsty. Even though there was a water station every 3 or 4km, I was run/walking up and down hills for around 20 minutes between drinks. That’s a long time when your body is gradually shutting down.

The tea farms that covered the hills around the latter part of the course were indeed beautiful, but I, along with dozens of other 3:30 marathon hopefuls were walking wounded, literally hobbling along together, disappointed that we couldn’t fulfill our ambitions.

As much as I wanted to lay down, close my eyes and sleep, I knew that my wife and son would be waiting for me and would be frustrated if I took too long! As another incentive, I was still well on schedule to beat my Nara Marathon time of 3:57. In fact, from the 36km mark, I was calculating in my head whether I could just walk to the finish and still set a new PR!

The last fruit station at 39km was very welcome. I had oranges, kiwi fruit and a banana, washed down with a delicious cup of cold water. From that point, I knew that I’d beat my PR even if I just walked so I was able to relax and enjoy the finish. I felt really lazy walking up the final hill towards the finish line. People lined the road cheering and I started to look out for my family. I didn’t expect them to come as they had spent the day at the exotic bird zoo, and parking the car at the marathon ground would be difficult… but then I heard that familiar call, “Daddy! Daddy!” and sure enough Mami and Riku were waiting for me just before the finish line! I ran over to them, stopped and gave them both a big kiss, then trotted off to the finish.

I finished in 3:47:42 and was 758th out of 5,723 runners. Riku came under the fence to join me at the finish line where the runners were treated to one last fruit station. I gave Riku a strawberry. There was no medal or finisher’s towel, but a few minutes to lay down and then eat a snow cone was enough for me.

I got a lot of encouragement and congratulations on Facebook and Twitter before and after the race, which was really nice. There are a lot of lovely people out there! Thanks everyone!

I will need a long time to recover and get over my laundry list of injuries before my next race, which is the Mount Norikura Marathon in June. Since that includes an 18km uphill stretch, I won’t be going for any records that day so can just take it easy and enjoy it.

First of all, I’m following the advice of a friend who told me to set three time goals so if you miss the first you can still aim for the second and third. My goals are: sub-3:30, 3:45 and 3:57:26, the last being my current PR which I set in the Nara Marathon last December.

What I’m up against

The biggest challenges I’ll face are undoubtedly the heat – the forecast is 21C and sunny, and whether the foot and knee injuries I’ve been hampered by reveal themselves early or late in the race.

To combat the heat, I’ll dress in a sleeveless white shirt and cap. I’ll make sure I drink water regularly in the days leading up to the race and at every water station on the course (every 3 or 4 kilometers). That should keep me hydrated. Also electrolytes in sports drinks are supposed to keep cramping at bay so I’ll drink some of them, too.

As for the injuries, well, I’m resting this week, but will go for a very short test run on Friday. There’s not much I can do about the pain in my second metatarsal joint (base of the second toe). My Nike Lunarspider LT+2 shoes are reasonably well cushioned so I will just cross my fingers.

I’ve been doing leg raises and planks all week to strengthen my hips and glutes in the hope of relieving the stress on my right knee, which feels similar to the IT band syndrome I suffered in my other leg last year. The possible hamstring pull that made last Saturday’s run so painful has subsided a bit, but is likely to haunt me late in the race. I must be careful to take small steps and not overextend my stride.

In my favor

My 3:57:26 PR in the Nara Marathon came after a two month period of injury, where I could hardly run at all. In fact, I was just two weeks into the Couch to 10K program I was using for rehabilitation! I think the last C210K workout I did before Nara was a run/walk which consisted of just 9 minutes of running… with walk breaks! I’ll be going into the Kakegawa Marathon with a few long runs in my legs including a new, half-marathon PR.

Because of that injury, I ran Nara with my left knee wrapped in a compression sock, a heavy-duty knee brace with steel springs in it, and I had an ITBS strap above that. Japan video blogger, BusanKevin, affectionately referred to me as the “roborunner”! In Kakegawa, I won’t be weighed down by any knee braces.

The Nara Marathon was extremely hilly. Kakegawa, on the other hand, has a long stretch of mostly flat road, and although the last section is hilly, the elevation graph shows it’s not as bad as Nara. In fact, the biggest hill is only a 60m climb, which is smaller than some of the hills I train on. Of course, I realize that in the last 10K of a marathon, even small hills feel like mountains.

Setting the pace

While I ran Nara at 5:30/km pace, I’ll need to run Kakegawa at 5:00/km pace to get close to 3 hours, 30 minutes. Although that looks like a big jump, considering I ran the Kakamigahara Half-Marathon at 4:30/km pace in warm weather, it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

I’ll take the advice of Osaka-based runner and friend, Scott Brown:

I’d start just a tad slower than your marathon pace and build to just a bit over. Let the speed/race come to you.

And who would argue with a 2:45 marathoner?!

I took the rest of the week off from running, but went swimming twice and did two 20km bike rides at night, the second of which I finished in under an hour, which is pretty fast for me on my mountain bike.

When Saturday came around again, I was ready for my final long run before the Kakegawa Marathon. 20km, while sensible, didn’t sound enough so I cycled 37km immediately before the run, turning it into a “brick workout”.

I made it through the run, but at a cost. I had a really bad strain behind the knee (maybe a slightly pulled hamstring), and while not as bad as the previous week, my foot was hurting again. I was also troubled by the knee pain from the week before. All of this, of course, was on the same leg which makes me think there’s some kind of domino effect going on, where one injury causes the next.

Anyway, this final week before Kakegawa is one of complete rest. At most, I’ll take a walk and do a very short, easy run a couple of days before the race to see how I’ve recovered. I’m using the RICE method of rest, ice, compression and elevation, and already I’m feeling a lot better.

I’ll write up my Kakegawa race plan very soon.

For a long while I’ve been intrigued by a 70 kilometer trail run in the Utsukushigahara highlands in Nagano prefecture. The whole race is run at over 1,500m above sea level. That not only makes for some spectacular views (I may be running above the clouds!), but it also means it will be much cooler up there on August 31st than down here in Kakamigahara.

Only 400 people get to do the full 70K loop around the mountains so I was quick to sign up immediately when registration opened this week. I learned a harsh lesson last year when the Ibigawa Marathon filled up in just 8 hours and I missed out.

One of the attractions of Utsukushigahara, besides the beautiful location, was that only 30% of last year’s competitors finished within the 12-hour time limit. What a challenge! This year, though, the cutoff has been extended to 15 hours after the other 70% understandably complained. I’ll probably be grateful for the additional time when I’m struggling along the course myself this summer.

70K is a long, long way, but I’d rather not think of it in terms of distance. It’s better, and not so daunting (for me anyway) to think in terms of time. While my longest run to date is only 46km (on the roads), I have done some pretty long challenges. Last year’s homemade 113km triathlon in Shizuoka took 12 hours, my 37km run over the Kakamigahara Alps took 10 and a half hours, my first (failed) attempt at the same Alps took 7 hours and a 110km bike ride I did last summer also took 7 hours. By the time this race comes around, I should have another handful of all-day challenges under my belt.

Utsukushigahara will be the first step towards a goal even greater than doing an Ironman. You need to have completed two 70K+ trail races in order to qualify for the UTMF, that’s the Ultra Trail Mount Fuji, a mind-blowing 160km run around Japan’s most magnificent mountain. It seems odd planning so far in advance, but at my age, the years are passing quicker and quicker. It doesn’t seem too far fetched to aim for Ironman Hokkaido in 2014 and the UTMF in 2015. After that, maybe I’ll hang up my running shoes and return to a life of beer and computer games!

On Monday, the day after the Kakamigahara Half-Marathon, I cycled 33km.

On Tuesday, I hiked and ran my way across a mountain range in Inuyama. Over 9km, I scaled Mt. Hatobuki and Mt. Nishi, both for the first time.

On Wednesday I went swimming.

On Thursday I ran twice; 5K in the morning and 10K in the afternoon.

On Friday I went for a bike ride. It was short, but included three big climbs up Mt. Donguri.

I finished the week on Saturday with a 32km long run in the beautiful area of Hichiso in Gifu. I tried to run at my target marathon pace, but was struck down with foot and knee pain towards the end. With less than two weeks to go to the Kakegawa Marathon, I’m resting, icing my foot, and doing loads of leg raises to strengthen my hips and hopefully stave off any more knee injuries.

I got a few things in the mail, too. First, I got the bike pedals and shoes I ordered from Wiggle UK. The shoes were too small, as expected. I actually realized they’d be too small a minute after ordering them and tried to cancel, but Wiggle had already started processing the order. Anyway, I’ve been in touch with them now and a larger size are currently on a plane over Siberia.

I got my Japan Triathlon Union membership card which looks very fancy. It gives me discounts at a couple of sports clubs that I’ve never heard of before!

I also got my race information for the Imizu Triathlon in July. Sure enough, it’s had the name changed from “Ebie Triathlon” because the bike course crosses the new suspension bridge, taking in more of the city than just the Ebie marine park. I look forward to riding on that!

Finally, I got my bib number and race package for next week’s Kakegawa Marathon in Shizuoka. One of the reasons I chose Kakegawa was because I wouldn’t have to go the day before to check-in since they mail you your bib number in advance. As it turns out, Mami and Rikuto are coming with me and we’re going the day before anyway! There’s a steam train in Kakegawa which Rikuto wants to ride on. You’d think they might want to cheer me on while I race to go sub-3:30, but no, they’re going to a flower park instead. Oh well, I guess standing around watching people run isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. Does your family cheer you on?

One month earlier I set a 1:30:07 PB on a freezing, snowy day in Inuyama. To beat that, and go sub-30, I prepared an ambitious plan of progressively faster intervals starting at 4:25/km pace and finishing at 4:00/km. The running app on my phone gave me feedback so I knew exactly how I was doing.

This was the first race I’ve ever done that started in the afternoon. In fact, it started at 1:00pm with the sun beating down upon us. Temperatures soared to 19C and the cloud that was forecast never came. The only reprieve was a cool breeze.

I lined up nearish the front, but the start was crowded and slow. I did the first kilometer in 4:58, which already put me 33 seconds off pace. The next 9 kilometers fluctuated between 4:16 and 4:23, giving me a 43:53 first 10K. Not bad, only 20 seconds behind schedule, but I wasn’t comfortable at all. My mouth was dry and I really didn’t feel like I could go much faster. So much for running a negative split!

The first of four water stations wasn’t until about 9km. I took two gulps and poured the rest on my head. I was way behind my teammate Sako-san, who even when taking it slowly after a 6-hour trail race the previous week could easily cruise through a half in under 1:30. At the turn around, I was about two minutes ahead of Nathaniel, and Keith was a few minutes behind him.

The second 10K took me about 46:30. I felt heavy legged, and while the massage insoles I had put in my shoes were doing a remarkable job of preventing my usual ball-of-foot pain, I was getting nasty blisters on my toes. My calves, too were starting to fail me, and I really felt like I was plodding along. I even found myself in a mid-race chat with Tsubouchi-san, who runs in a Pikachu hat. He knew me from YouTube and actually appeared in one of my other race videos.

I wasn’t at all surprised that I had fallen so far behind pace, but I became increasing concerned about how I will fair in next month’s full marathon in Kakegawa. I will need to average 4:59 to go sub-3:30 there, and here I was running 4:45s at the end of a mostly flat half-marathon!

The one big hill in kilometer 20 agonizingly put me over 5:00/km pace, but I had just enough in reserve to run a 4:28 final kilometer. That burst of speed, although not quite the 4-minute kilometer I had planned, was enough to get me in under 1:35:00. I ran 1:34:53 to be exact, my fourth fastest half-marathon time.

Nathaniel and Keith also struggled, but kudos to another teammate, Mariko, for knocking 5 minutes off her 10K PB.

I will be hoping for a cool, cloudy day in Kakegawa next month. I will conjure up a more realistic race plan for that one and share it with you here in advance.

JTU Membership and Imizu Triathlon

Last year I did the Ebie Triathlon in Toyama prefecture and had such a great time that I wanted to do it again. This time around, I wanted to step up from the beginner’s “Challenge” race to the Olympic-distance “Standard”, but that required registering with the JTU (Japan Triathlon Union). I managed to do that online and then signed up for one of the 450 spots available in the race. Interestingly, they’ve renamed the triathlon from “Ebie” to “Imizu” which is the city in which it’s held. I guess that means the race won’t just be around the Ebie marine park, but will cover more of the city, maybe including the new suspension bridge they were building last year. That would be cool.

Hokkaido Ironman

Now this is really exciting. There used to be a full, official Ironman event in Japan, but it was moved to Korea, I think because of Mad Cow’s disease here, or was it Foot and Mouth? Anyway, until this year, there has only been a half-Ironman in Japan. It’s by the Chubu International Airport in Tokoname, just south of Nagoya. I know that area and it doesn’t appeal to me at all, especially for the 42,000 yen asking price.

Hokkaido, on the other hand, is somewhere I have never been and would dearly love to visit. Mami, my wife, would love to go there, too, so I’m tentatively penciling in Ironman Hokkaido in August 2014 as the goal for this whole “Long Countdown” journey. I’d love to say “I WILL DO IT!”, but the 2013 event sold out in three days so there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to get in next year, no matter how much I want to. But, I’ll give it a go! Entry looks likely to open in February 2014.

300km in 7 days Challenge

Chris (@Cicirunner) challenged me to run, bike, swim, hike or walk 300km in one week when I get 300 subscribers on my YouTube channel. I foolishly agreed, but then it isn’t something I should shy away from because when I do a full Ironman, I’ll have to do 226km in a single day! Doing 300km in seven days will be a good test. I’ll have to plan it out carefully so you can expect another blog post on that nearer the time. I’m at 259 subscribers as I type this.

Kakamigahara Half-Marathon

This Sunday is the 1st Kakamigahara half-marathon. Until now they’ve only gone up to 10K, but this year they’ve extended it over a new bridge which we get to run on before it’s even opened to cars! I’ve been thinking about my race strategy and think it’ll be wise to attempt a negative split – something I haven’t done in my last three races. Because of the heat (it’s an afternoon start!) I’ll start off at around 4:30/km pace and try to step it up 5 seconds every 4 kilometers. That should get me to the finish very close to 1:30, if I can follow the plan strictly and last the distance.

Injury-wise, I’m okay except for what feels like bruising on the ball of my right foot. It could prove a problem on Sunday, but I’ll probably just run through the pain and worry about it afterwards.

A Week in Training

With so many races in February and March, it’s hard to get any kind of routine going, so I’ve just been trying to do something active everyday. I felt good enough after last Sunday’s 10K race in Seki to go for a 3.6km walk on Monday. On Tuesday I hiked up Mt. Gongen (2.6km, ~250m ascent) followed by a fantastic 2,000m in the pool. On Wednesday, I went on a 70km round-trip bike ride with a friend to Gujo Castle. The return trip was in the rain! I ran a slow 11km on Thursday with a big hill climb at the end, and cycled 32km to the Mt. Kinka Driveway on Friday (pictured above). I’ve skipped swimming this evening and will take Saturday off before Sunday’s race.