A good 5km

I turned up to Oda Field in Yoyogi Park on Wednesday dreading the idea of running 5km. My neck was hurting a lot - some kind of glandular pain - and I felt weary. But I figured I'd give it a go.

Then, after running 2km, my shoelace came undone, but I kept going.

And I was rewarded with a half-decent time - 17.33. My equal second best time. Of course, now I wish I'd run just a bit faster. Sub 17.30 would have been nice. But all things considered, I can't complain.

Did a good 2 hour run the next day.

New 5km PB!

Today, at Oda Field in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo, I ran 17.32 for 5km. The time is only 1 second faster than my previous PB, but it's a major breakthrough for me. It felt easy all the way and I never went into oxygen debt - so I know I can do a faster time. I've upped my weekly mileage and lost weight - and now I can see it's paying off. This was my only PB of the year.

I'm doing Okutama Ekiden on Dec. 7; Shibuya Ekiden on Jan. 18 and Tokyo Marathon on March 22. Hopefully, my times will keep improving.

Stuck in a rut

The week before I joined my running club I ran a 5km race at Yokota Airbase and finished in 18mins 01seconds. Soon after joining the club my 5km time PB dipped to 17.55, then 17.49, then 17.45 and after a pause to get over an injury I ran a 17.33, but my most recent 5kms are boringly similar 17.51, 17.51, 17.55, 17.59, 18.10 and today 18.05.

I dropped my house key in today's race and had to double back and pick it up, but even if that cost me 6 seconds it leaves me lingering in the high 17s again. I think I'm stuck in a rut.

17.51 for 5km

I did the Namban Rengo club time trial tonight. I turned up late (I can never get there from work on time) but I jumped in with the guys who had started and ran with them for 6 laps before doing the other 6 and a half by myself. 17.51 is OK. It's 18 seconds off my last TT and I had very poor preparation for this run (involving late nights and beer).

I seem to run a lot of 5kms around this pace - my 5 best times on the track are 17.33, 17.45, 17.49, 17.51, 17.51

On April 21 I'm running a 10km in Adelaide and I want to go under 36 minutes for the first time.

Knees improving?

Did a 5km time trial - alone - at the track last night. I arrived to run too late with Namban Rengo but did a 5km run myself and ran 18.07. I was happy enough with that, it was hard to stay motivated, and my shoelace came undone after 6 laps.

My knees feel much freer thanks to Idaten massage center. They have really freed up my quads and hips, so I've run pain-free for a few days. I hope it continues.

My time was OK wasn't it!

I've just been looking back at times I've set on the road for the 5km, and I just realised that my 17.56 compares very well. My fastest 5km time set in a road run is 17.55 - but that was on the Imperial Palace course, which we all know is not really 5km. I let myself keep that time because of the hill on the course - I figured it makes up for the lack of distance. But 17.56 on a flat, correctly measured course is perhaps a better run. I went through 3km at 12.37, but just after that my stomach started cramping (I spent the previous day suffering nausea and stomach cramps - something I ate I think).

Today I ran 35 minutes. Just a leg loosener. My knees felt excellent at the start, but after 20 minutes the ITB problems were back.

I'll keep doing the recovery program and hopefully my knees will adjust to regular running.

5,000m at Komazawa

I ran at the Shibuya Track & Field day today. It was a very well organised event (made a little less organised by Fabrizio and me not knowing we had to register and holding up our race) and the weather was perfect.

My legs, however, were far from perfect. I had a shocker. Right from the gun I felt rough. Actually I felt hungry, thirsty, sick, undertrained, tired, old and slow. 'Tired, old and slow' sums up how I usually feel, but all seven maladies occuring at the same time saw me struggle from lap 1. That said, I went through lap 4 about 20 seconds up on my 17.30 schedule. Then I quickly began falling apart. Fab became a yellow Namban spec in the distance, while I worried about coming dead last.

For the first time ever I got lapped. And by three people. I struggled to finish, crossing in 18.11.

Fabrizio won his category I believe - assisted a little by the dramatic collapse of one of his rivals right in front of him. Another Nambanner Jo made the 200m final. And we had other people in the 1,500.

It's not much fun running with insufficient training, but I entered this event a long time ago - before embarking on my Steve-inspired Slow and Steady Wins the Day program (which was never intended to win this day).

Terry Fox fun run 2007

I ran the first 5km of the 10km Terry Fox fun run today. I didn't take it too seriously. My watch didn't work, so I don't know what time I did - but it was about 19 minutes. Jay came through a bit after me in a bit over 19 minutes.

I had to go to work at 11am, so although I felt a bit bad having to tell the official who was leading me on a bicycle that I would be pulling out, I had to end it after 5km.

Then it was like a duathlon. I ran back to Hibya Park, got my bag, then had 7 minutes to cycle to work. I didn't quite make it on time (not very acceptable in Japan). But I was only 5 minutes late.

My ITB is tight on my left knee. I could really feel it, like a hard lump, when I was cycling after running. Feet were fine.

A NEW 5,000M PB!!!

I'm happy. Everything went to plan tonight and I managed to run a 17.33. That's 12 seconds off my PB.

I faded near the end—the lack of quality training miles showed—but overall I ran fairly even splits. In fact I surprised myself, running within 1 second of my schedule until 7 laps. At this point fellow club member Jay took over and put us back on schedule. jay finished in a great 17.26.

I was down 6 seconds in 17.30 pace with 4 laps to go, so I was happy to pull back 3 seconds.

As with my last Godo (godo means 'together') time trial, I got a bit confused about the laps. I forgot that our team's fast runner Patrick had lapped me, so the lap board was right for him, not me. I surged with what I thought was one lap to go, only to realise when I looked at my watch that I had another lap to go. My legs weren't at all happy about that, nor my heart, but I managed to find something for the last lap.

Thanks to everyone who stood in the rain to cheer the Nambanners on.

I guess everyone finishes a run thinking "I could have gone faster" - but this time I really feel like I could. I feel fine now, when usually I'm shattered after a 5km.

My knees felt sore on the train on the way to the TT - nerves making me a hypochondriac, I felt a sore throat coming on too. The pain and sore throat miraculously went away went the gun fired.

Right, time to stop blooging and enjoy an Ebisu beer and a cheesecake.

Another 5km, another high-17-minute finish

I tried a different approach to running 5km at the track tonight - time splits. The time splits were right, but I don't have the feeling in my legs for staying on a schedule. I ran the first lap 6 seconds too fast, then was right on schedule for the next two laps, but then I didn't get a time check until 1km to go - and I was 24 seconds behind! I lifted the pace and finished in 17.49. A good run, but I could have done better. So my fastest 5km times are now 17.45, 17.49, 17.51, 17.55. I really need to make a breakthrough and get under 17.30. I feel with a pace-maker or a person giving me time splits I can do it.

3rd at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium

After all my complaining about my leg I managed to get it together to race today. Now for the whinge bit - it's the first time my time hasn't gone down. I ran 17.51. My PB on the track is 17.45. So maybe my leg wasn't perfect - I know my training hasn't been. But, I kicked really well on the final bend to sprint past the third place guy - so for two races in a row I have placed. This is the kind of running I was looking forward to, consistent top 3 results and a bit of fun (tactics, sprinting, the thrill of pack racing - instead of getting dropped at the start).

Because I'm new to running and I don't know my opponents I have adopted the shoe theory of running - the better the shoe the better the runner. Looking around before my race I was surprised to see my opponents wearing heavy training shoes. I thought "This'll be easy, they're all joggers." What I hadn't noticed was they were all carrying little bags. And with 5 minutes to go they all opened those little bags and took out very fast looking spikes! Suddenly my theory had relegated me to the worst runner in the field, or nearly worst, there were only two or three of us without special shoes. Funny enough my theory was entirely wrong. Racing flats took 1st and 3rd place.

The elite mens 5km was won by a Kenyan. He strolled around for a 14 minute 5km. He made it look SO easy. Apparently his PB is 12.58, so it really was like a walk in the park for him to run a 14.







First lap, making my way to the front










Leading, it's starting to hurt. The guy behind me went on to win in 17.20.















Early on












5000m









Getting to the finish (running so slow I'm nearly not in the frame)













The Olympic torch.

Run for Africa

On Sunday I managed to drag myself out of bed for the Run for Africa 5km around Imperial Palace (it was actually a little shorter than 5km). I really enjoy the course, downhill to start and quite a long climb to the finish. I managed to hang on to the lead group until about 3km, but the heat and speed got to me and I had to let them go. I finished 5th though - my best result, and my time was OK too - 18.19 (which probably works out to about 18.35 for a proper 5km).



Today, two days later, I did a 2 hour training run. I felt really good - didn't start 'staggering' until about 5 mins to go.

But getting back to the Imperial Palace, more correctly known as Kokyo. If you're only in Tokyo for a short while and you want to go for a run there's no better place to go. Also, take the time to check out the gardens inside the walls - entrance is free and you can spend a whole afternoon exploring the gardens and trails.