Uji River 10K Road Race

The 30^th Uji River 10K Road Race, which I ran yesterday morning, was most definitely not a flat or fast course. It was the first 10K that I’ve raced in for over 2 years. I took my place on the start line in Uji Sports Park, alongside 1000 other runners in the 10K event, and also at least another thousand runners who’d entered the Uji River half-marathon race, for a combined start. This was the biggest field that I’ve raced in so far in Japan.

As I was warming up, I saw a small team of Japanese Self Defence Force soldiers doing their own warm up preparations, with Taiko drums. Once the starting pistol was fired, they started an impressive performance of traditional Japanese drumming as the field passed by.

I’ve learnt that front runners of Japanese road races tend to start at a sprint, and as the race was downhill for the first 2 miles, I was prepared for a fast start. I was surprised, given the crowded start line, to get clear and to be able to run freely with plenty of space around me after only a few metres.

After about 800m, the road turned sharply left as we exited the sports park and continued our descent towards Uji River. I lent forward slightly to increase my pace and to take advantage of the lay of the land, but tried to run relaxed. I could see a couple of runners a few metres ahead of me and I worked towards catching them so that I could run in their slip stream and use them to shield me from the wind.

Just before we’d ran 2 miles, the road levelled out and the course took us through a narrow stretch of shops lined with many spectators that shouted encouragement, with some waving placards. There then followed a long steady climb along a road that ran parallel to the river, to the turnaround point, this being an out and back race. Just before the 5K marker, the half-marathon runners were diverted away towards a path along the bank of the river. Seeing the front runners of the 10K whizz past on the other side of the road just before I went around the turnout point, I realised that I was in 27^th place. I was overtaken by three runners on what was to be the last downhill stretch back along the road overlooking the river.

Then the climbing started. It was tough; 2 miles of uphill running with no let up. I expected to lose several places as my pace inevitably slowed, but pleasingly, this didn’t happen. After a long drag, we finally turned back into the sports park, for what I thought would be a gentle climb back along the same road that we’d started the race down. However, a race marshal directed us off to a branch road. As I turned onto it, I saw another steep uphill section ahead.

The runner immediately in front of me was obviously disappointed to see another, unexpected ascent, as he seemed to literally wobble at the sight and ground to a virtual halt. Passing him as I slogged up that last hill, I entered a running track stadium and stretched out for the finish line, expecting the youngster I’d passed on the final hill section to out sprint me at any moment, but he never came back.

I finished 29^th in 36 minutes 41 seconds. Not a great 10K time, but considering the hilly nature of the course, I’m pleased with it. After the race, I went to a tea room overlooking a Japanese garden, which was behind Byodoin Temple, for a refreshing drink of Uji’s famous green tea.

Tunnel Vision

The last week has been a bit of a car crash, as far as running and training is concerned. Gaining entry to the track in Kyoto Tamba on Monday after work, I did a 400M repetition session. It was a struggle as I had a bit of a cough. By the following day, it had developed into a full blown chest infection. As a result, I didn’t get many runs in this week.

I read about the ‘neck rule’. If you have a virus or infection centred above the neck, then you can still train. If, however, the problem is below the neck, then you should lay off running until you’re on the mend. I took two days off. By Thursday, I was bored, so popped out for an easy couple of miles. After 3 miles, I had real trouble with my breathing, so stopped. I started to retch, and then vomited onto the trail that I was stood on. Nice.

I have been sick only once before whilst out running. I went out for a run with a former member of the Swedish Winter Olympic team in the summer of 2000 whilst working in Maryland, USA. I knew little about running at the time, only doing a couple of jogs a week. Bjorn suggested that we did a hill session, and chose a monster of a hill to do it on. We ran hard from the bottom to the top of the hill, and then jogged slowly down, before repeating numerous times. Anyway, I vomited sometime near the end of the session. It’s so rare an event, it’s memorable. 

A few days of enforced rest were in order. Yesterday, much of Japan was covered by a heavy blanket of snow. It is difficult getting out for runs in these conditions. You have to balance the desire to train consistently with the risk of falling over and picking up a serious injury. Helpfully, the infrastructure of modern living provides a solution. I have read about runners who train in multi-storey car parks when there is heavy snow and ice. There are no such buildings in Sonobe - the rural town where I live. Road or pedestrian tunnels offer another alternative.

When I lived in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, I used to train in the Tyne Pedestrian Tunnel. It took about 60 seconds, running hard, to cross from one side of the River Tyne to the other.  Charlie Spedding, who won a Bronze medal in the men’s Marathon in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, is said to have likewise trained under the Tyne. I believe that it is currently closed for repairs; it did look like it needed a face lift.

Luckily for me there is 598 Metre long tunnel through a mountain, about half a mile from my apartment in Sonobe. I struggled up to it through several inches of snow earlier this evening and did a few easy laps. At least the snowy vista from the tunnel entrance looked nice.

The chest infection is not completely gone, but I am on the mend. A few more days of easy running are needed before I can start training again.