Week 5

I just realized that I forgot to put a miles total for last week, but I don’t think I will go back and edit, it was too meager to matter much anyways. This week I was back on track, but also got some bad news. Once again I am aiming at a phantom race. The ½ marathon I was planning on doing in July was cancelled because it is about 70k from the nuclear power plants in Japan and well… So I was talking to my buddy who got me interested in it and he says he is now aiming for one in Nagano around the same time. Sounds nice, but Nagano is about 4 hours out of my way, so I am not sure if I will do it, but probably.

Another interesting thing this week is that I finally got a gym membership. After being out of the gym for 10 months I was back in this week and it felt great. I have a treadmill and a few small weights at home that I used over the winter, but going to a gym is like being a kid in a candy shop.

This week, 34k. 8k intervals, 5k race pace, 5k intervals, 3k jog, and 13k race pace.

Week 4

Yes, I slacked a bit getting this week’s entry posted. Why? Because this week was not good and I wasn’t too enthused about writing about it. I have been having stomach troubles since I got from India and this past week just felt too tired, beyond a few short runs with the Middle School Track team, to do much of anything. Last Thursday I went back to the doctor’s office for the third time and hopefully this round of antibiotics will squash whatever I have. I am feeling ok now and this have run about 15k so far and its not even Wednesday yet, so that is shaping up well.

Week 3

Not too much to say this week. Middle School Track started so I got that going and there is a meet tomorrow. Its fun to see them run and to think about how much they will improve in the next few years.
I did not do much running myself this week. Last week on Wednesday I hurt my calf, but didn't really realize it until Thursday. I took it easy and on the race last Sunday I felt fine, but I knew it was still there. On Wednesday I went out to test it and it still hurt. So I took Thursday off and then did stairs with the kids on Friday. Saturday I did 3k to test it out and was feeling fine so today, Sunday, I did 8k but got tired really quickly. Overall, it has not been a good week for running, but I am confident that this week will be better.

Jinqiao 8k

Well, it has been an eventful weekend of running for me. Yesterday market the last day of the track season and so my end as long distance running coach. Our school traveled to another nearby school which hosted a meet of 8 area schools. Both boys and girls teams placed 5th, which to me was a little disappointing. However, we did have a lot of individual winners and placers and that was great. One of the girls, someone I have mentioned in previous posts, had to leave early for health reasons. She also had a soccer game the next day and was battling a cold. She did take 1st in the 3000m and I am sure she would have taken first in the 1500 and 800 as well as placing in the 400 had she been able to stay. I wonder a little bit if that would have skewed the scoring enough to bring the girls team to a 3rd place. We also had one boy break the school and probably the city HS record for 100m dash at 11:02 seconds. That is pretty darn fast. It was kind of sad to see the season end, but coaching is not over for me. On Monday I will start coaching the middle school team for a month (they have a short season) and many of the HS kids have agreed to come by and help out with the younger ones. That will be fun, and hey, there is always CC to look forward to next fall. I am pretty sure we can do much better than the previous year, just about everyone who ran last year is coming back and a year older so I think we could win 2nd or 3rd overall.

The second part of this weekend was that I ran the Jinqiao 8k on Sunday. The weather was pretty nice, but a bit hazy. Although this is Shanghai, so it is almost always hazy. I haven’t been training specifically for an 8k, basically I have been training to get 5min k’s and to just keep expanding the distance I can keep that up for. Right now I am on 13, but hope to be to 20 by the time I run my half marathon this summer. Sure would be nice to get under 2hrs for a ½.
Earlier in the week I had done practice run around the track so I could time my splits and sprints and I did an even split with a time of 38:something. I even stopped twice for a minute to drink some water and walk so that was good time. I was hoping for the 38 min mark, but being realistic races are always different and slower. Too many people and too much excitement usually slow me down. Today wasn’t much different. I forgot the start time, thinking it was 5 minutes later, and so was just getting to the back of the pack and working my way forward when the gun went off. Needless to say I was log jammed for the first k and didn’t have a good open path until 3k. At that point I was 3 minutes behind my pace. 3 minutes! I tried to keep just a little bit faster than pace and the next thing I knew I was passing the 6k mark and was just 30 seconds shy of 5 minute pace. I picked it up a bit and by the time I crossed the finish it was 39:30. Retrospectively I really wish I could have broke out more at the start, I may have gotten under 38, but 39:30 isn’t too bad and I felt like I could have kept running strong for another 2k which would have given me a decent 10k time.
I don’t know the split, but it was definitely negative and that is the first time I have been able to do that in a race as well as keeping better than 5min pace. I wasn’t as nervous either and didn’t feel as rushed as I have in the past. I guess I am learning a few things along the way.
The race itself was ok, but the t-shirts were a hideous yellow and red that made you look like a wearing ketchup and mustard. Very typical Shanghai atmosphere; traffic going the wrong way down one lane to get past runners causing traffic jams, wafts of industrial smoke filling the nostrils, fans ignoring the race demarcations and walking onto the course. However, I was surprised that no one pushed during the race even when I was in tight quarters. Chinese people are renowned among foreigners for pushing and cutting in line, but no one pushed me today (though someone did cut in line when I was waiting for a urinal pre-race). The course itself was ok, nothing special; it followed some pretty broad streets and new buildings so it was nice to have a little room and the roads were nice too, no potholes that I could see.
All in all a good day. I am glad I went and I think I came away with a decent time, even if I did look like a hotdog while doing it.
This week’s kilometers 12k intervals, 3k easy Vibrams, 8k 5min pace, 6k easy. Total 29k.

Week 1

I just got around to drawing out a "plan" for the 1/2 marathon this week so there is that and I got some new shoes, the Nike Free. I have only run in them twice, just haven't had occasion for them yet. I now have 4 types of shoes, though two of those pairs are looking at retirement in a couple months so I have to keep my eyes peeled for a new pair of "all around long distance" shoes. The Nikes feel ok, but a little.... not supportive. Ha! I guess that is the point though.
I also signed up for the Jinqiao 8k on the 10th of April. Will be nice to race again. I am not thinking this will be a super fun run. Honestly I hate running in Shanghai. The air tastes bad and there is no where that is quiet.
This weeks runs, 12k long run, 5k easy run, 5k intervals, 7k easy run, 4k Indian run. 33kilometers total.

Back At It

Welcome back. It’s been over a year since I wrote anything of note on this blog and I wasn’t really sure what to do with it. Should I scrap it? Should I expand it to include other tales of athleticism such as hiking? I never made a decision and so it has sat here collecting virtual dust.
Since running the Tokyo marathon I considered other races, but I just wasn’t hungry for it. I ran a 10k in the summer of 10’ and in the fall I coached cross country at my school which re-awakened me to regular running. That is not to say that I had quit running, I was still doing a few runs each week, but nothing regular. Then I went home for a time and had to deal with moving to Shanghai which at first was terrible for running as it was around 30C everyday, the sun rose around 4am and the night time was only a couple of degrees cooler, not to mention I was very busy with my new job.
In the fall I volunteered to coach cross country which was great. I had an assistant coach and talking with him and the kids each day was a good experience. I actually learned a bit too, always a good thing. My team did ok, ranking in the middle of schools we competed against, but one notable exception is that one of my girls was the ladies season champion. That was a sweet moment.
Over the winter I continued running, mostly on my treadmill, and I intended to do a half marathon in November. Unfortunately that weekend I was swamped with work and couldn’t do it. That was kind of a let down as I had never backed away from a race before. I kept at it though, but with no goal ahead of me it was kind of hard to take training seriously.
Fast forward to about a month ago and you would find me doing about 20k a week with just a bit of other training. I was asked to coach the long distance runners for the track team and jumped at the opportunity since I had so much fun coaching the CC team in the fall. I didn’t realize that track is a different animal. I felt really out of sorts when at the first practice only a handful of kids said they would distance run and the majority went for field events or sprints. Only a few of the kids from CC came out for track and the best girl only comes occasionally because she joined soccer which practices at the same time. I was also not the head coach so anything I did I had to discuss with someone else. The kids also did not look to me, but the to head coach for final decisions. Not that I am power hungry, it was just different. Since the first practice a lot of the sprinters have reluctantly done long distance training to improve their stamina and there have been a few times when I was the only coach able to make it to practice so my bond with the team has gotten better and I am enjoying it a bit more. Last week we had an informal meet with 4 of the schools we will compete against. Our runners did very well getting 1st places in 7 races and a few other ranks as well. The field events didn’t place. The CC champion girl won the 1500 meter race by 7 seconds, a blowout in track terms. It was a great meet. However, I am looking forward again to CC in the fall and I know that the champion girl will be back so that gives a good backbone to the team.

Back to me, I train with the team which has forced me to do more and more as the weeks go by. I am back up to 25-30k a week with 2 or 3 times a week doing other training. A friend of mine in Japan is doing a ½ marathon this July there and it looks like I will be heading back to help with the cleanup effort in July as well. I asked him to keep me up to date about registration; it looks like I will run that race with him.
So here I am, amping up my weekly miles, a race ahead of me, and I am hungry again. I can feel it. I want to run, hard. I want to push it. I am going to use this blog again in sort of the same way I did last time, as a training journal of sorts. I can use it to keep track of my weekly mileage (kiloage?) and anything else that comes to mind. If you all are reading this, well, welcome and enjoy, but I am writing this for me so sorry if it is a dry read. Here we go.

I'm still here

Today is April 24th and I feel good. Following the marathon I had trouble getting back into running. My knees just wouldn't hold on long enough for me to complete a long run. After fighting in early March I went on vacation for 2 weeks, during which i tried to run once or twice but had knee pain. Again coming back I tried running and did get a few runs in, about 10k being the longest, but there was always nagging knee pain. Now, I am taking it slow, doing 3-5k runs which is working out well and now I am back to running at least 3-4 times a week. In June I have set up a 10k with a few friends, we are going under the team name of Southeastern University. In July I am hoping to run a half marathon with my friend Jon. He is training towards doing a full marathon this fall. Its been nice sharing what I have learned with him.
Golden week, a 10 day holiday in Japan, is rapidly approaching. For the past 2 years I have done hiking during golden week, but this year I don't know if I will get a chance to. The weather has been pretty cold yet and the peaks are not thawed out. That picture is on top of Adatara last year, about 1800 meters up. There was snow on the way, but not enough to stop me from reaching the peak, but this year, I don't think that will happen.