Fuji Susono Half Marathon 2017

My running club Namban Rengo organise an annual trip to Gotemba to participate in the Fuji Susono Half Marathon and 10K, which is around mid-May. As my birthday is also around this time, I thought it would be good to go away on this overnighter to an onsen resort next to a brewery. Saturday saw a group of nearly 30 Nambaners travel from Tokyo to Gotemba in Shizuoka Prefecture. We took in a quick dip in the onsen waters before giving in to the temptations of some deliciously brewed beer at the resort brewery restaurant. It was clear that the group focus was more on the onsen, food and beer combo rather than athletic excellence, which suited my birthday mood.

The half marathon has a couple of thousand participants. The race began with 300 metres on a running track, before the course left the stadium with a 100 metres flat section to a main road. Then there was a right turn onto an uphill section up to the 5K point. That’s right, 4.4km of uphill running. I took it very easy for the first flat 400 metres of the race, and gradually moved through the field before reaching the 5km point. The course then turned left onto an undulating loop for the next 5km, then re-joined the earlier main road for another 3km of uphill running and then again taking in the same 5km of undulating roads.

The last couple of KM’s was downhill along the main road back to the stadium. I was really struggling with dehydration by this point and was expecting a fair few runners to come hurtling by as I was barely able to pick up my speed, but was surprised that only one runner did. As I entered the stadium and crossed the 300 metres to go line, I realised I could scrape under 1 hours 27 minutes if I ran the last part of the race in under a minute, so I managed to find some reserves from somewhere to inject a little increase in speed to finish in 1 hour 26 minutes 56 secs. This is 10 minutes slower than the half marathon PB I ran in January, but Fuji Susono does involve an awful lot of uphill running.

After I finished, I watched the half and 10K finishers coming in, unwisely getting sunburnt in the process. The 10K race is a straight 5K up hill and 5K downhill affair, on the same course as the half. Returning as a group to the onsen resort after the race, we could ease our aching muscles with a good soak in an open air onsen before reminiscing about the day’s events, aided by the excellent beer of the brewery. 

Tokyo Marathon 2017

Things were not going well with my running by the summer of 2016. I had really lost my way in life, being forced out of my job, was going through a divorce, facing financial ruin, and worst of all I was only running 4 miles once or twice a week.  I did, however, apply for Tokyo Marathon entry, thinking that I probably would not get selected in the ballot but that it might help increase my chances for a future ballot. In September 2016, I got accepted into Tokyo Marathon. It was what I needed. Nothing short of getting a place in Tokyo Marathon could have forced me to turn my life around and start training consistently again.

Finishing straight at Toda Half Marathon in Nov 2016

In September and October, I struggled to get used to running 5-6 days a week again. The first target was to run over 40 miles a week, and it took me a few weeks to do that. I started doing long runs again on a Sunday, going to the Tamagawa River and running along there. The first 2 hour run almost killed me. I did a 10km time trial in November and a half marathon in Toda, Saitama the following week. Somehow, I managed to run 1 hours 19 minutes 54 secs at that half, so that really encouraged me to believe that perhaps I could aim for a good marathon time. I really ran above my fitness that day, drawing on years of previous racing experience to get the pace spot on – and starting the race 100% fresh.

Ekiden action in Yoyogi Park, Jan 2017

By December last year I started running twice a day a couple of times a week, and was averaging 70 miles plus throughout December and January. I could feel during my training runs that my fitness was rapidly improving. The highlight of the Tokyo Marathon training was running a new PB of 1 hour 16 minutes, my first PB since 2011, in the Shinjuku Half Marathon at the end of January. This made me start thinking that I had a realistic chance of running sub-2 hours 45 mins for the marathon.

On the way to a half marathon PB in Shinjuku, Jan 2017

Tokyo Marathon 2017 was my second marathon. I finished in 2 hours 52 minutes. I got to half way in 1 hours 22 minutes and 30km in 1 hour 57 mins. By 35km though I knew I was in big trouble as I turned around at a giant cone to head to the finish line, and I jogged the last 2 km at a painful crawl. So, I missed my target, but I had achieved a bigger goal of falling back in love with running and getting reasonably fit again. And more helpfully, if you finish Tokyo Marathon in under 2 hours 55 minutes, and are a non-permanent resident in Japan, you can avoid the ballot and apply for Semi-elite entry into the next years Tokyo Marathon.

Tokyo Marathon 2017 splits

It took me over 1-hour to hobble the 2km from the Tokyo Marathon finish line in front of Tokyo Station to the bag collection area. My legs almost gave way and I had to grip a wall a couple of times to remain upright during that walk, as my legs were totally spent. Even in the throes of pain, I was already thinking about how I can return and run Tokyo Marathon in 2018 and break that 2 hours 45 minutes barrier. From now and until I achieve that aim, all my running and training is going to be about smashing down that barrier.

Tokyo Marathon 2017

Namban Rengo post-Tokyo Marathon party

New Year: New Running Club

I have joined the Tokyo based Namban Rengo International Running Club. I have really missed being in a running club. Namban Rengo’s main training night is Wednesday. They currently meet in Yoyogi Park at 7:30pm for an immediate start, warm-up not included. Since I moved to Tokyo in October, I have not been able to go along as I usually work until about 8pm on weekdays. However, December 23rd is a National Holiday in Japan, thanks to the Emperor’s birthday falling on that day. I could finally get a chance to try out the club!

About 10 runners showed up, down from the usual attendance of 50+ so I was told, due to the holiday. The session was 5x1000m around a loop inside Yoyogi Park, with about 2 minutes interval between repetitions. Then the following week, on Wednesday 30th, I could go to the club meet again as my office was closed for the week. I won’t be able to go along to the main club night again for a few months. For the last Wednesday club session of each month, there is a 5km time trial, again inside Yoyogi Park. About 15 runners showed up, and the course was two 2km loops followed by a 1km smaller loop. I enjoyed setting off and running in a pack again, but soon had to drop off the leading pace. My finishing time was a new Personal Worst for the distance. So I went into 2016 knowing that I really have to up my game.

This morning's Saturday hill training group

Luckily enough for me, a few of the club members meet every Saturday morning at Akasaka Palace for a hill repetition session. I went along to that this morning. We did 8 repeats in total. A good session and it certainly got the heart rate up and legs turning over, and running with others certainly helps you to push yourself harder than you would do alone. Some club members also organise long Sunday runs. I will definitely be going back for more training sessions with the club this year.

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.

Maishima 24 Hour Ekiden Road Race

After I ran in the Kyoto Ekiden in February for the Kyotamba team, one of my team mates, Okura, asked me to join him and another team, P-Man, for  a 24 Hour Ekiden Road Race in July. As it was 5 months away into the future I agreed with little thought given to the reality of what I was signing up for. Well, last weekend I took part in this race.

P is capital letter of Physical, Powerful, Passion,
Pure, Proper, Practical, Perfect, Pretty and so on.

Due to the disruption and damage caused by Typhoon Nangka, which had battered the Kansai region of Japan during the 2 days prior to the race, the start of the Ekiden was pushed back 5 hours to 17:00 on Saturday 18th July and shortened to 19 hours. The race was held on Maishima, an artificial island just off the coast of Osaka, which was created to host a variety of sporting events and is known as Sports Island.

Teams were made up of 18 runners, with 120 teams taking part. I was surprised when I arrived at the venue about just how big an event this was. After setting up our team tents and equipment, I asked P-Man’s team leader who would run the first leg. Okura pointed to another man and said that he was the first runner, but the other guy shook his head and made it clear he didn’t want to do it. Okura then asked me if I wanted to go first, and I said yes.

Team P-Man after the race

So just before 17:00 I lined up with 120 other runners under the watchful eyes of a couple of thousand spectators for the start. The atmosphere was filled with excitement and the crowd counted down the last few seconds to the start. The race began at a blisteringly fast pace. I wanted to try and run a fast time on this first leg as I knew my fellow team mates would look carefully at my result, but also because I wanted to put the team in a good position.

P-Man finished 5th in 2014 and had high hopes of bettering that position this year. The first 200 metres of the course was straight, before turning to a short and steep downward slope. As I ran down it I must have been in about 30th place, and began to try and work my way through the field. It was tricky though as the course was really narrow in parts and I did get held up a little because of this. I completed my first lap in 4:20, handing over the team Tasuke, which had an inbuilt racing chip to monitor how many laps the team completed, to the next runner.

Runner change over area

After the first leg I made my way back to the team tent and lay down for an hour. This was unchartered territory for me as I had never run for much more than 3 hours previously. In total I ran the course 14 times over the 19 hours. My times did slow down but not by as much as I feared. I think the slowest lap that I ran was 4:43. I was given a 3 hour rest period between 23:30 and 02:30, during which I got about 30 minutes sleep. I actually felt pretty good after I woke up. I got to see dawn breaking over the city skyline of Osaka in the distance as I was completing one of my laps in the early hours of the morning.

Night running

Though there were some very serious teams with top quality runners taking part, there were also a good number of teams taking part just for fun. For example, I had to weave around male runners dressed in skimpy skits and wearing wigs, a team that all carried a rugby ball around with them, and I also recall passing a woman dressed in a full chef’s outfit carrying a large metal mixing bowl at one point during the night!

Sometime late on Sunday morning

The atmosphere became incredibly charged again during the last hour of the race, and it was exciting running the course on my last lap with less than 30 minutes remaining, accompanied by roars and cheers from the by then thronging crowds.  With 10 minutes remaining, race officials closed off the runners change over area. Then it was left to the runners already on the course to keep running the circuit until exactly 12 noon when the race ended

7th Team Trophy

After packing away the tents and equipment, we went over to see the closing ceremony. Team P-Man finished 7th overall and we were presented with a trophy. Though I felt exhausted, I have to say that I do not feel as tired as I did after completing a full marathon. I think it will only take me a few more days to recover. Team P-Man is going to meet up again in the next few weeks for a celebratory drink, which I am looking forward to. I suspect I will be asked to join the team again next year, though at this point the thought of doing this all over again, plus another couple of laps over an extra 5 hours of racing, seems barbaric. Maybe that’s why the team will meet up is in a few weeks’ time, when the stiff legs and fatigue have lifted. Over a few beers with team mates, it will be hard to say no, as after all, next summer seems so far away.

Japan Masters Athletics 3000m Race, Osaka

It has been a while since I last did a race. Over 2 months in fact. Training has been going well. For a long time I have not been improving. Though for the last month or so, I have started to slightly improve my repetition times and to be able to do sessions that I have not been able to do for many years. No major progress, but it is encouraging. So I was looking forward to running a 3000m track race at a Japan Masters Athletics meet in Nagai Park, Osaka, held yesterday on the last day of the Golden Week national holiday.

10 days previously, I had jogged up to the hard packed sand track in Sonobe, the town where I live, and ran 2400m, or 6 laps, as hard as I could, as a little workout to round off the week and a test of my current fitness level. I was surprised to finish it in 7:46, which is less than 80 seconds per 400m pace. I had ran the same distance on the same track 4 weeks previously in 8:18, so this was a decent improvement. I began to think, if I could run a race on a proper track after a few days easy running to freshen up, a new personal best could be a realistic possibility.

I arrived early at Nagai Park yesterday, partly to avoid the renowned Golden Week traffic nightmare, but also because I did not know what time my race was. I had to wait 7 hours for my race! I took it easy, lying down for most of that time in a shaded area with other runners trying to reduce our time spent out in the strong sun. I felt relaxed. I reflected on the fact that I had been to Nagai Park once before in November last year, to do a 10KM road race, coming second in the second fastest time I had ran that distance. Everything was pointing towards a good race for me.

31 men lined up for the 3000m men`s race at 3:30pm. Race Officials put out a table on the side of the track to hand out cups of water during the race, so it was hot! The start was fast, but though I tried to hold back on my initial pace, I found myself in third place after 200 metres, and I moved up easily into 2^nd place by 400m. The man in 1^st place was well ahead by that point. I remember going through 600 metres in about 1:51. I thought, I am on course for a personal best if I can hold the pace at about 76 seconds per 400m.

After I had ran 1500m, the man in third place overtook me on the straight section. I must have been slowing, but as I was out by myself I was not too concerned and tried to tuck in behind him and use him to drag me along at a good pace. Then, as I approached the lap counting sign, showing 3 laps to go with 1800 metres already ran, 3 race officials leapt out in front of me onto the track trying to flag me down. What was this? I realized I was being forced to withdraw from the race.

There was a problem with the race number that I was wearing on my vest. Due to a mistake or miscommunication issue not of my making, I was not given the correct race number to wear. I and the starter race officials both had only realized this as I lined up on the start line of the race. I waited anxiously as 3 officials (not the same 3 who forced me out of the race) talked amongst themselves about what to do. My name was on the official race entry list as I had entered weeks before. I had paid my race fee, of about 15 British Pounds Sterling! At the last moment, they said I could run the race but had to tuck my vest in! I was taken by complete surprise when the other officials leapt in front of me during the race, as I have never been forced out of a race before, but I quickly realized it was about my race number.

I packed up quickly and went home. What a massive disappointment, waste of time and money, and an embarrassment. I had been planning a summer campaign of track races. There are few to no decent road races during the summer months ahead, whereas the Japan Masters Athletics Association organize regular track competitions throughout the year. I know that the problem that led to me being given the incorrect race number is very likely to reoccur, so for the time being I will not do any more Japan Masters Athletics Association races. This means there will be very few chances for me to race until the Autumn when, due to the cooling temperatures, the number of road races picks up. 

Kansai Masters Ekiden Championships

The 2015 Kansai Masters Ekiden Championship was held in Wakayama Prefecture last weekend. There were several relay races, for different age groups and genders, plus an open relay. Kyoto Prefecture were the reigning champions and had to hand back the winner’s trophy during the opening ceremony. I’d been called up to join the Kyoto team and hoped that we could win it back!

Kyoto Masters Team

The first race was an over 35 years of age men’s relay. I’m only a few months shy of my 35^th birthday so had to sit this one out. I watched the first leg runners get off to a breezy start on the track with the lead runner clocking 72 secs for the first 400m and 3:01 for 1000m.

The first Ekiden race gets underway

The only race I was eligible to run in was the open race. The first section was 3.1km, followed by three 2.4km sections. On the Kyoto team bus to Wakayama in the morning of the race, I was informed by the team manager that he wanted me to run section one AND section four, as he wanted to pull out due to an injury he’d picked up the week before whilst acting as an official pacer for the Kyoto Marathon. I can’t say that I was thrilled by the prospect of running twice, as I didn’t want to overdo it and get injured, but concealed my misgivings.

Ganbare (do you best) Kyoto!

At 1:10pm I lined up with the other open section runners for what was to be the second race of the day. After only 50m I realized that the pace wasn’t going to be fast so I took the lead. The first 700m was on the track before the course left the stadium and wound its way through a car park, onto a short section of cycle path, down a side street, with the last 300m back on the track. As I ran through the car park I knew I had a healthy lead as I couldn’t hear any other runners steps, but I didn’t want to relax too much at this stage as I wanted to give the other two runners in my team a good lead, as after all, I was going to have to run again for the last section and wanted to have as easy a run as possible the second time around.

Changeover at the end of the first leg

It was a warm day, though with a gusty wind, as the stadium was very close to the coast. Near the end of the first section I eased off the pace a little, wanting to save something for my second run. On the last bend of the track I lifted the team tasuki (sash) over my shoulders and then held it out for the next runner in my team at the changeover point, where a crowd was gathered. After handing it over, I looked around and could see that our team had about 250m lead over the second team.  My time was 10:13, which was a decent enough pace, being about 3:18 per km.

Results from the first leg of the open race

I took it easy whilst the second leg runner was out, but was a little surprised to see her return in second place, about 80 metres down on the lead runner. Once our third team runner was out, I started doing a few easy striders to get ready for my next outing, having changed vests to show my fourth leg number. I got a lot of amused comments from other runners when they realised that I was going out again! As our third section runner entered the stadium I jogged over to the changeover line, and could see that he had also lost one place, leaving me to pick up the tasuki (sash) in third place. Any thoughts of taking this second run easy were displaced when I sensed that victory was possibly if I worked hard. After about 300m I caught the second placed runner as we entered the car park. The lead runner had a much bigger lead, and I didn’t catch up with her until half-way around the course on the cycle path. It was nice to win the race and break the finishing tape to gain valuable points for our team. My time was 8:11 for the 2.4km, so a slightly slower pace than for the first section.

Results from the last leg of the open race

Sadly, Kyoto came last out of the six Kansai prefectures this year. Osaka won overall on points. On the bus back to Kyoto I asked the team manager why we’d done so badly, and he explained that he couldn’t get a full team together to enter into the women’s race, so we’d missed out on loads of points – scoring zero in that event. He also said that he wanted me to run in the over 35 men’s race next year. I will, but only for one leg next time!