32k in the rain.

On the day of dreadful weather like today, it's essential to make a prior appointment with other runner fellows, otherwise I would have skipped this long run today.

Thanks to the company by Jason and Neil, Paddy and I did 32k and Christian 38k (with 4:30 pace!!), despite the rain, muddy road and headwind sometimes.

This made my weekly mileage 123km, monthely mileage 393.5km. Considering that I had injured weeks, I should be happy about these numbers.

In the evening, I got trial acupuncture by Russ. I thought I should do something for my quad after this high mileage weekend because it was getting tight these days. It was the first time for me so I was a bit scared, but it was fine and he gave me many useful advieses. He did something (I couldn't see what he was doing...just too scary) for loosening my tight muscles. I hope it will work on my problem.

On the last words for today....
Congratulations to Gebrselassie! 2:04:26 a new marathon world record!

Effect of training camp.

Last weekend, I joined Harriers (A membership running team that former Namban speedster Taro runs) training camp in Kurumayama, Nagano. We did nothing but running, sleeping and eating for 3 days.

The total mileage we ran for 3 days is over 80km at 1600m altitude. It was a bit too much for my injured part (right quad), but somehow I could survive without any serious injury, which was good.

This week, I am enjoying the effect of this training camp. When I did a 10k build-up run at the track on Wednesday, I could successfully build up the pace up to 4:03/k and felt OK. Today, I again joined Harriers 20k pace run and easily managed to run with 4:35 pace, I could even speed up to 3:55 pace at the end.

Perhaps the altitude difference is one of the factors why I feel easier at the higher pace. I hope this effect will last as long as possible, preferably until mid November!

Never underestimate the damage after a race.

After Suzu tri, I had no sore at all and felt perfectly fine. I thought "Gee, tri is amazing! I won't need any recovery period". Then I did 30k a week after the race and next day I did a tempo run and felt great!

Two days later, when I was doing quick move drills (knee-up), I heard a big crack in my front-right hip joint and pulled the quad (大腿四頭筋). I went to see a doctor* and he said that this is the muscle you use intensively for bike, not running, so it should be caused by not having enough recovery time after the tri. He has a point.

Lessons I learned. Never underestimate the damage after a race. Even if you don't feel it, your body is tired.

I took 4day complete rest, then started to run again. It's been 10 days and today I ran 22.5km, carefully. It's a kind of giri-giri, but I am still hoping to catch up for my real race Tokyo Women's Marathon in November. I am trying to be optimistic, cautiously though.

*Kimura Seikeigeka Iin (木村整形外科医院)
The sports doctor Taeko and Yoshiko introduced me a while ago. It's in Hatsudai. He knows very well about running. I felt his diagnosis and explanation was quite reasonable. If you have someone to help you in Japanese language, it's worth seeing him.

Coming back to runner's life.

The tri experience left me glorious memory. Now, I quickly have to shift to runner's training programme.

This morning, I ran 31km. This is the first over 30k since London Marathon in April. I started around 6:30am. The weather was perfectly cool with a little bit of rain. I ran through Yoyogi park, Harajuku, National Stadium area, Akasaka Palace, 3 laps of the Imperial Palace, then came back with the same route.

I ran about 5:40 to 5:11/km pace and felt OK till the end. Good.

I came across Gareth and Katakura-san in Yoyogi park when I came back.

◎Tuesday, 21 Aug.
Run: 11.5k fartlek at Yoyogi Park
Swim: 1.1k

◎Wednesday, 22 Aug.
Run: 5.5k in the morning at Yoyogi Park
15.2k in the evening at Oda field, 1200/1200/1000/1000/800/800 5:00/4:58/3:56/4:01/3:19/3:05

◎Thursday, 23 Aug.
Run: 5.8k jog

◎Friday, 24 Aug.
Run: 6k jog
Swim: 1k

◎Sunday, 26 Aug.
Race

●Weekly mileage (run)
67km

◎Tuesday, 28 Aug.
Run: 11.5k

◎Wednesday, 29 Aug.
Run: 5.5k in the morning at Yoyogi Park, 14.6k in the evening at Oda field (5k TT 21:24 total, 4:37/4:24/4:16/4:11/4:06)

◎Thursday, 30 Aug.
Run: 10.5k at Yoyogi Park

◎Friday, 31 Aug.
Run: 10.3k around the neighbourhood

●Monthly mileage for August (run)
384.7km

◎Saturday, 1 Sep.
Run: 31km