Tokyo

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.