It
took me two weeks to recover from the 24-hour relay race I did back in late
July. At that point, I got an unexpected opportunity to change my life. I have been waiting
and looking for a chance to do that for a very long time. Indeed, it was why I
came to Japan. I had to then put running very much onto the back-burner so that
I could first get a new job, wind up my life in Kyoto, relocate to Tokyo and
start a new career.
Since
moving to Shinjuku, Tokyo - for the first 10 weeks I barely ran at all. This
last week was the first time I have managed to run 6 times in one week, getting
in three sessions and a long run. This morning I ran 5km to the Imperial
Palace, ran two laps of its 5km outer moat path and back to my new home. I had
always hoped to see the Imperial Palace in Tokyo at some point during my time
in Japan, but never got around to it until my recent life change. It is famous
as a place for running, with a fully pedestrianised circuit path in the heart
of Tokyo. Today was the first long run I have done for about 5 months, and it
felt good, until the last mile at least!
I
have lost a lot of fitness. I do not have anyone giving me guidance or training
schedules anymore. Due to working late evenings during the week I cannot join
in sessions with a running club. I cannot find a track near where I live where
I can train. Being based in Shinjuku is not a good starting point for
long runs. Though I feel, strangely, optimistic about getting
back into training and racing. I will have to go
back to old school ways of road training only, by myself, for a while. I have
entered two races early next year and this has given me the motivation to get
out on the cold dark nights this last week and hopefully continue to do so in the weeks ahead.
