Resting

I am resting. And boy it feels good. Last Saturday I was feeling tired - very tired in fact - so I went back to bed after breakfast then realised I don't have to go out for a run anymore. So I stayed in bed more or less all day. It felt like a weekend somehow! I still go for running now and then, but only for 5 miles - just easy runs.
And I will take a break from this blog , too. I hope this is also well-deserved. Thank you very much for reading, and for your support.
See you soon!

Loch Ness Marathon

So I completed the Loch Ness Marathon on Sunday, and returned back home safely yesterday (but it was late and I was too tired to post... It is a 9-hour train journey from Inverness to London).

First, I have to start with the weather. When I set off to Inverness on Friday morning, it was the blue sky that greeted me. I had expected it would turn into gray as I head the north, and eventually into the rain. I had seen it many times before. Amazingly, however, the good weather stayed with me all the way up to Inverness. Saturday was a cloudy day, but the good weather returned on the race day. There was even a sun at the start! If I heard him correctly, the MC was saying that it was the first time that they had a good weather in the Loch Ness Marathon (and it will be the last). I am told the weather was totally miserable last year, so I definitely got lucky there. (On the other hand, this may be God's balancing act, as I already had a my share of miserable weather already in Boston this year) So the conditions were excellent for running - dry, chilly and no wind. Actually I did not feel the wind at all until I entered Inverness.

Second, the course. The map in the official site does not indicate but I was told by several sources that this is a hilly course. Then just a few days before the race, I finally saw this definitive elevation profile courtesy of Thomas's blog. As he mentions, it looked remarkably similar to the Boston Marathon, and having run there twice I thought this could be my advantage. At the same time, my heart sank as I know how difficult the Boston course is. So was it like Boston? Yes and no. It was generally similar but with important differences. Most of all, for the first ten miles the Boston course is pretty much all downhill. This enables runners to go fast, obviously, but if you get carried away it will also burn your legs (the mistake I made in my first Boston). Whereas the Loch Ness, there were several and quite tough uphill sandwiched between the downhill. As a result I found it very difficult to get into the constant pace. I was hoping to run the first ten miles in a good time, but it wasn't to be. On a positive note, the seemingly difficult long uphill from the mile to 17 and 19 was nothing compared to the Heartbreak Hill in Boston.

Another important difference was that, although the Boston marathon also starts 26 miles away from the city and a majority of course runs through the countryside, from the mile 20 the number of spectators begins to increase, and you feel that you are close to the city and therefore the finish. In the Loch Ness, even at mile 24 I was running in the middle of nowhere. When I saw the castle, I couldn't believe that I was already back in Inverness, but this joy was over in two minutes! After crossing the bridge, I had to run away from the centre towards the athletic stadium where the goal was waiting for us. This was also a tricky path, because the registration on Saturday and the bus ride to the starting line also originated from the same spot, we all knew exactly where the stadium is. However, we were not allowed to take the short cut, and even though the stadium was in sight we all had to go round what felt like miles to the tired legs. That was hard psychologically, although I appreciate its necessity to cover exactly 26.2 miles.

Finally, it was extremely well-organised (the bus to the start departed on time!) and the spectators were vocal and supportive. In such a small marathon you cannot expect a large number of spectators, but my only disappointment was that there was hardly anyone in this long uphill at the 18th mile. I am sorry about repeating the comparison with Boston, but at the Heartbreak Hill spectators are heaving to encourage and push us over the hill. To be fair in the Loch Ness the hill comes in the middle of vast farmland (it is in a residential area in the Boston course) but for us runners this is a make or break point of the race. I really wish in the future the spectators will flock to this hill to cheer us on. Maybe it needs a snappy name and a good marketing campaign - how about "The Monster's Hill"?

Sunday: Loch Ness Marathon, 3 hours 3 minutes and 35 seconds

Off to Inverness

Thank you for reading this blog, and following my training for the Loch Ness Marathon. Looks like I made it, and all that's left to do is to run 26.2 miles on Sunday morning. I am travelling to Inverness tomorrow, so I will report back the result on my return home on Tuesday.
See you then!

Today: 6 miles
This week: 28 miles

Rehearsal run

I went to the Victoria Park this morning to do the "rehearsal run". I don't know exactly what that means, but I ran for 3 miles at the pace I want to be on Sunday. So I wasn't pushing myself too hard, and yet the pace turned out to be satisfactory (about 6 minutes 50 seconds per mile). If I could run like that on Sunday, I will be a happy man!

Yesterday: 6 miles
Today: 8 miles
This week: 22 miles

I feel good

I think for 98% of Londoners today was an utterly miserable day - but not for us! Hard-core runners love rainy days. As long as the wind is not too strong (which thankfully wasn't the case today). I am glad to say today I had the best run ever since I had started training for the Loch Ness marathon back in May. Of course I was soaked to the skin, but who care about getting wet!

Today: 8 miles
This week: 8 miles

Get ready

I did the last of long runs in preparation for the Loch Ness marathon today. I wasn't quite as sharp as last week, but I don't think it matters. There is nothing I can do now, but to rest well and be fresh for the Big Day next Sunday.
Friday: 6 miles
Today: 12 miles
This week: 49 miles

Coming together

When I started this blog, I wrote that in preparation for the marathon I am following the book called "Advanced Training" by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas. This is the third time that I am following their training schedule, but once again I am impressed that this is a very well thought-out plan. I am saying this now, because even at the start of this week I felt so tired that I was not 100% sure if I would recover enough to run the marathon next week. After the diet of easy runs, however, I think I am getting my strength back!

Yesterday: 6 miles
Today: 10 miles
This week: 31 miles

Last of intervals

As soon as I started running, I found a flaw in logic in my entry yesterday. (Running really clears up your mind!) If you cannot maintain the 5-km pace for a mile, obviously, you are not running at the 5-km pace! But this is what happens anyway when you start the interval training. Today I began way too fast, going a mile in 5 minutes and 55 seconds. I know this doesn't sound much, but I am not a sprinter and my legs were completely destroyed by this run. The second lap was 5 minutes 59 seconds, and the third and last lap 6 minutes 8 seconds. Boy it was hard! I didn't remember one-mile VO2 Max was this hard.
Happily, this is it for the interval training in this training - until next time I will train for a marathon!

Today: 7 miles
This week: 15 miles

PS I just bought a new CD by Crowded House called "Time on Earth". I have been a fan since their second album in 1986, so I am biased, but despite the long absence their new songs are very good indeed.

Week 1

Yes, Week 1! This means there are less than two weeks left before the race. Boy doesn't that sound good? (Yes it does!) 16 weeks down, two to go. This week's training diary shows all relatively easy runs, except for one day on which I will have to do VO2 Max runs consisting of 1600 meters times 3. Well I guess that's not really an interval training (I mean, I won't be able to run at 5-km pace for a mile!)

Today: 8 miles
This week: 8 miles

Running well, but still tired

My weekend long run went well again yesterday. I was satisfied that I managed to run at the fast pace last weekend, but my pace was even faster this week. It is reassuring that I am running quite fast without really trying. I think this is thanks to all the VO2 Max training I have put in. (Usually you cannot run any faster when your heart rate cannot cope, not when your legs give out)
So that's very positive. On a negative side, I am still suffering from general tiredness. Then I checked my diary again and I seem to always have a breakdown at this point of training - it must be accumulation of fatigue for the last three months. I guess that's why they recommend to start tapering off three weeks before the race.

Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 15 miles
This week: 56 miles

Off and on

I finally took a day off yesterday - I could no longer see any point to keep running while feeling so tired. As always the rest worked! I managed to go out for a 15-mile run this morning. I also included a 5-mile run at the half-marathon pace, and in the last mile I recorded 6 minutes and 16 seconds; probably the fastest mile I have ever run in the tempo run (Apparently I did just over 6 minutes per mile in the interval run, according to my training diary, which I found hard to believe!) So all went well but I am feeling tired again this evening... Oh well I am planning to go for only a short and easy run tomorrow, to my great relief!

Today: 15 miles
This week: 33 miles

Tapering off

This is Week 2, and I started to taper off. Which is just as well because I am feeling tired at the moment. And it is not just legs, but my whole body is aching. I have misgivings about the sharp drop-off in my workload, but the reality is I could only do short and easy runs yesterday and today. I hope I will feel fresh again soon, so that I will be able to re-think my strategy as to how I am going to spend the last three weeks.

Today: 8 miles
This week: 18 miles

Autumn sky

Over the weekend the weather felt like summer, but it suddenly turned autumn-like today. The photo on the left is the sky from Canary Wharf around 6 p.m. - I took it because it looked very much like autumn. The autumn also means it will be colder, which is good for running. The best temperature for running is probably 10 degrees celsius; we are getting there!

Today: 10 miles
This week: 10 miles

A little anecdote about this photo. I had to put down my shopping bag in order to take this picture, and I was moving away from it as I wanted to get a better composition. Within 5 seconds a security guy ran toward me asking if it was my shopping bag. Just shows you how tight security is at the moment, especially in the financial district.

Bouncing back

What a difference a day's rest makes! On Thursday I had a knee pain that made me stop in the middle of run. I spent yesterday nursing my right knee, but even so I wasn't sure if I was going to able to run today. So I started timidly, but I felt surprisingly good. So I decided to pick up the pace after 10 minutes, and to my delight I could maintain that fast pace for 20 miles.

I was determined before I started the run that when I feel any sign of pain in my knee, even the slightest one, I would stop. And I did have a trace of pain in the same spot as I had on Thursday just after I hit the 20-mile mark. So I stopped immediately. I would have liked to put up a few more miles, but that will be too greedy. The most important achievement today was that I could run pain-free again.

Today: 20 miles
This week: 71 miles

Oh no, knee pain again

I was aiming for a 16-mile run this morning, but I was slow leaving home so by the time I started running I had to cut it to 13 miles. In reality, however, I had to walk the last 3 miles because, alas, the knee pain came back. The pain was more acute than that I had last week, and this time I could not keep on running. Hopefully this is just a reaction to the four consecutive days of hard work. I will take tomorrow off, and I am still hoping that I will be able to go for a long run on Saturday.

Today: 10 miles
This week: 51 miles

Unknown friends

I was running today when suddenly a runner coming from the opposite nodded to me. So I nodded back at him, not remembering who he was. Afterwards I thought hard and long, but I still don't know who it was! My theory is:
1) He was my old acquaintance but I completely forgot him
2) He mistook me for somebody else
or (I think most likely)
3) We have never met properly, but he has seem me running often enough to recognise me.

I go out for a run on the same route almost at the same time every weekday. So assuming other runners follows the same routines as I do, we must be meeting on a daily basis. Which means I may have made many unknown friends over the last year!

Today: 13 miles
This week: 41 miles

No pain, no gain

After a quite strenuous workout yesterday, at first I was inclined to have an easy day today. Then I remembered that this was going to be the last of hard training week. So I thought what the hell, I would do a long run today. Naturally I was a little anxious as I had the knee pain with less workload last week. And there was a trace of pain in my legs, but overall I completed the run for just over two hours without pain. I was relieved.

Today: 16 miles
This week: 28 miles

Dog ate my water

There are only three weeks left in my training diary for the Loch Ness Marathon. Fresh from the rest on Sunday, I headed for the Victoria Park this morning to do the interval run. This was going to be the hardest of VO2 Max - I was supposed to run 1200 metres at the 5k race pace, jog two minutes in between, then repeat the fast run six times.

Like every runner I run with a bottle of water, but I put it on the grass today as I was doing the tempo run. I know you are not supposed to break the rhythm during the interval runs, but this was going to be a long session so after the second run I stopped to have water. I could not find my bottle where I left it, however, and after looking around for a while I finally discovered the crushed plastic which barely resembled the water bottle. Then I remembered a big dog walking by while I was running. It seemed that my water bottle fell victim to this dog.

Clearly there was no point in being cross with the dog. But, please dog owners, if you see a bottle of water on the ground don't let your dog eat it, especially when you see a runner on the scene. It really breaks the runner's heart when they cannot drink water when they need it...

Today: 12 miles
This week: 12 miles

All's well that ends well

This has been a hard week. I had a pain in my knee in the middle of the week, and I have been feeling generally tired throughout the week. Perhaps it didn't help that I went out and came home after midnight twice (but it was for the Beastie Boys concerts so I have no regrets).

However, today's long run went very well. I had planned for 18 miles, but actually I managed 20 miles. I also started at a brisk pace, and the best part was that I was able to maintain that pace for two and a half hours. It was good for my confidence, especially now that there is less than a month to go before the Big Day.

Today: 20 miles
This week: 63 miles

Pain-free again

I am very happy to report that my knee pain did not get any worse yesterday. Naturally I was anxious when I started running, but thank God the pain did not return to my right knee. I was not taking any chances, however, so I cut the distance to 6 miles. As today was Friday, I had not planned any hard work anyway. I went for an easy 8-mile run, again without any pain.

I am just hoping tomorrow's long run will go well. I will be glad if I can run for 18 miles, which normally takes me 2 and a half hours to complete.

Yesterday: 6 miles
today: 8 miles
This week: 43 miles

Knee pain

When I finished the interval run yesterday, I had a pain in my right knee. I thought (hoped) it was just fatigue from the hard training. By evening it was gone, so my theory seemed right. Unfortunately, however, the exact same pain came back half an hour into running today.

Now I have a difficult choice to make. Naturally I don't want to aggravate it - there is only one month left before the Loch Ness Marathon. So ideally I should rest until this pain will be gone, but I don't know how long I will need to wait and this is very unnerving for runners.

What should I do? For the moment I pray the pain will be gone by tomorrow.

Today: 8 miles
This week: 29 miles

People are strange

I just came back from the Beastie Boys concert, and it is late so this will be a short post. Beastie Boys rock! I cannot help but feel a thrill when I hear the guitar riff at the beginning of Sabotage, even if I knew it was coming.

I did the interval run this morning. So I was on the field track in the Victoria Park, and you would think I was the only person that was crazy enough to do an interval training at 7 in the morning? Wrong! There were three other people who turned up, and that's only for half an hour I was there. It seems like many people are fond of running the shit out of themselves early in the morning!

Today: 13 miles
This week: 21 miles

Week 4

When I got up this morning I immediately felt a strain on my legs. I guess I haven't fully recovered from the marathon-pace run on Saturday, so I decided to have an easy run. I intend to reduce the weekly mileage this week, before hitting the peak (hopefully) next week.

I have read more story about Tosa. She got injured one month before yesterday's race, while she was during the altitude training in China. Two weeks before the race, she was still suffering from pain and she called her husband (who was in Japan) and cried and told him she might have to retire. I can definitely identify with this sentiment from my own experience with injury. Of course she was under the pressure thousand times bigger than mine, but as a runner the worst feeling you get is when you are unable to run when you want to. I also saw that her fellow marathon runner was asked about Tosa, and she replied "she is very influential because she really tries hard." I like the "really try hard" bit, because as a professional runner I am sure she tries very very hard herself, but (or precisely because she does it herself) she can appreciate the extraordinary effort level by Tosa.

Finally my thanks to a rubbish collector I encountered this morning. I saw he was about to come out to the street so I stopped (he was working, so he should have a priority) but then he stopped and signalled me to go. I was out of breath so I could only raise my hand as a sign of recognition, but if he is reading this blog (no chance!) I would formally like to say thank you. Please don't think we runners do not show appreciation to your kindness. We are always so grateful when somebody make way for us. It is especially helpful, as it happened to me this morning, towards the end of training.

Today: 8 miles
This week: 8 miles

Tosa wins bronze!

Reiko Tosa won the bronze medal in women's marathon in the World Athletic Championship in Osaka. She ran the Boston Marathon last year (also came on third) so technically I ran with her. It was Japan's first individual medal on the last day, so very well done to Tosa-san! She started to trail behind at the 38-km, and fell to the 5th but picked up the pace again to take over two runners. I know it's almost impossible to regain strength at that point of the race, so this really was a human-super effort and she deserves the highest praise. Also, the Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz whom I praised highly on my post from 17 August, had a no-hitter against the Orioles in his second start! So it was a very good weekend all around.

Back to my own training, which was of course much less dramatic. However I managed to complete a marathon-pace run for 15 miles on Saturday morning. In the previous weekend I could not go beyond 7 miles, so I was very relieved. The weather was more cooperative this time; it was overcast and the temperature was lower by 5 degrees. My pace per miles was as follows:
1 7:20:88
2 7:07:11
3 6:58:20
4 6:55:98
5 6:55:08
6 6:55:61
7 6:50:84
8 6:50:09
9 6:50:99
10 6:48:57
11 6:52:83
12 6:53:78
13 6:50:75
14 6:51:02
15 6:30:67
As you can see, once I warmed up I could maintain the pace between 6 minutes 50 and 55 seconds, which I was happy with. I think the marathon-pace run is important more mentally than physically; I would have been very anxious going into the race if I had had another bad run yesterday. Ideally I wish I could run at 6 minutes 45 to 50 second-pace, but that's probably too greedy...

Yesterday: 15 miles
This week: 75 miles

Baby panda

Sorry this is not a running-related post, but I am sure you will forgive me - it's a weekend after all!

I am a Mac user, and one of the Widgets on my desktop is pamda-cam from the San Diego Zoo. I used to enjoy watching a panda eat bamboo, eat more bamboo and fall asleep - sounds like an idea life to me! About a month ago, however, the panda began staying inside all the time, never going out. This lasted for several weeks, and I became very concerned about a wellness of this panda. So I went to the San Diego Zoo Web site, and discovered that this Panda, named Bai Yun, had a baby on 3 August. Having learned all this, I looked closely for a baby. It took quite a while but I finally spotted it, but it looked just like a mouse! (The black and white screen did not help). Slowly but surely, however, it began to resemble a panda (well it is a baby panda after all). Also fascinating is the way Bai Yun the mother holds the baby panda - it is just like our mother cuddles her baby. So I am having a very good time following the baby panda growing up, and since nobody seems to be talking about it (I am sure they do in San Diego, but for the rest of us) I just thought I would spread the word. It really is a great sight. The Web site is here:
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/ex_panda_station.html
but if you are a Mac user like me, you can have it on your Widget:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/webcams/pandacam.html
Good weekend to you all, and also to the mother and baby pandas!

Today: 8 miles
This week: 60 miles

With a little help from my friends

I was running along the canal this morning to get to the Victoria Park. To reach the entrance you have to clim up a little slope, so I stopped and started walking while drinking water. Suddenly I heard the shout "don't stop, keep going!" I did not realise at first it was meant for me, but then I looked over the other side of the canal and saw a few guys taking a time off from their work. They shouted at me again "come on, run!" So I happily obliged and trotted up into the park.

This incident reminded me of one day in April this year. I was running along the Thames River, when suddenly a truck stopped, the door opened and the driver got off. Then I saw him running towards me! Naturally I was very alarmed; I thought it was one of those nutters in London. But then he looked into my eyes and asked me; "Are you running the marathon tomorrow?" Yes it was the day before the London marathon, and he just wanted to wish me a good luck. I thanked him sincerely (I wasn't going to run the London marathon, but I couldn't possibly tell no to him) and he returned to his truck and drove away. It was incredible, especially to think it happened in the middle of megalopolis like London!

We marathoners can always hear what spectators are shouting to us. Although I cannot stop to say thank you to everyone, I really really appreciate your support. I am not exaggerating when I say it is only the cheering from the crowd that keeps me going in the last 5 miles of the Boston Marathon.

Today: 16 miles
This week: 52 miles

When going gets tough

There are now just over 5 weeks before the Big Day. At this point of training, I am usually in two minds. I feel I have to bring up my training run to the marathon pace. However my legs are heavy because of all the miles I put in so far, so my pace is nowhere near 7-minute per mile where I want to be. When I trained seriously for the first time, which was for the Boston Marathon in 2006, I was really panicking one month before the race. As if a miracle, however, my pace picked up as I approached the race.

My legs are very heavy at the moment, and as I have already written my marathon pace run last Saturday was a disaster. But I am just hoping it will all work out OK over the next few weeks.

Today: 8 miles
This week: 36 miles

Head start

I got up early this morning and managed to run 16 miles. One thing I discovered during this training is that, if you want to get up early and put in long runs, it is easiest to do at the start of the week. (Although this is Tuesday, we had a public holiday here yesterday so today is de facto the first day of the week) This is surprising given that my working life is as sedate as it can possible get - I just sit in front of the desk and computer all day long. However as the week goes on, it becomes increasingly difficult to get up in the morning. So I have now decided to cram the most difficult training at the beginning of the week, and gradually easing up towards the end. Then I beat myself up hard at the weekend by running long runs. This pattern seems to be working fine so far, and I just hope I will get through this for the next five weeks.

Today: 16 miles
This week: 28 miles

Nervousness of the Sprint Runner

I watched the men's 100m final in the World Athletic Championship. It was so intense! Imagine you have been preparing for this race for years, and it is over in less than 10 seconds. I cannot even begin to guess what goes through the athlete's mind at the starting line. Good thing it doesn't matter how you start in the marathon. Actually the worst thing you could possible do in a marathon is to start too fast. Moreover nowadays all the races adopt the "net time" (that is, the countdown doesn't start when the race starts, but they only start counting your time after you have crossed the starting line). Anyway the start is always jam-packed, so I always trot to the starting line. I am very grateful for this - I cannot imagine how nervous I would feel if I were a sprint runner (even though I had no chance; at school I was the slowest sprinter in the class in a bad year. In a good year I was the second from the last!)

Today: 12 miles
This week: 12 miles

Not a good week

Men's marathon at the World Athletic Championship was indeed a very tough race. The starting temperature was 29 degrees, even at 7 in the morning. Of the 87 runners who started, 30 retired before coming to the finishing line. Once again you have to remember these are all elite runners who run over 100 miles per week. I salute all the runners - it is such a great achievement to have finished the marathon in such a heat.

I had my share of heat problem today. I intended to do the marathon-pace run for 15 miles. The sun returned with a vengeance, however, and I started to feet dizzy and had to stop after 7 miles. A couple of weeks ago when I did the 12-mile run under the sun, I also felt I was losing concentration, but I was already at the 10-mile point so I was able to finish the training. Today, there was no way I can complete 15 miles. I could have slowed down and extended the mileage, but that would have nullified the whole point of marathon-pace run.

One interesting discovery from today's debacle is the following. Initially this marathon-pace training was scheduled for next weekend. When I got up this morning, however, I felt very good. I have never felt so good for weeks, so I decided to try this hard training today. The end product was disastrous. I have now come to believe that there is absolutely no relationship between how you feel, and how your run will go. Many of my best runs have ben done when I was feeling totally shit.

So not a very good week; I failed to achieve what I set out to do twice this week. Hopefully this is just fatigue from the taxing training I put in in the previous week. I wish for better runs with more fresh legs next week!

Today: 10 miles
Weekly mileage: 62 miles.

Osaka 2007

The World Athletic Championship begins tomorrow. Not only this is the World Cup of Athletics, but this time it will be held in my hometown - Osaka, Japan. Naturally I have a great interest, so I checked the schedule. I found out that the first event is men's marathon, and that comes even before the opening ceremony! This is highly unusual; it's like Beck playing Loser right at the start of the concert (but hold on, I think he did exactly that last time he played in London).

Then I noticed that the reason they start with men's marathon at 7 in the morning is the heat. Osaka is hot in summer, and it has a different kind of heat. When I lived in Japan, I go visit my family in summer, and when I returned to Tokyo I felt cooler. Even though the temperature is not that different, so it must be humidity. And Japan is having THE hottest summer in history. My parents told me they cannot touch the wooden wall inside the house, because it gets too hot! A few days ago I talked about the hot places where it seems crazy to have the marathon, in which I conveniently forgot Japan, but August in Osaka certainly qualifies. So good luck to all the runners tomorrow (actually it has already started because of the time difference). I know you are all elite runners, but I appreciate it will be hard as hell even for you.

Today: 6 miles
Weekly mileage: 52 miles.

Don't let me down

I am not sure how widely it is known that the public transport system in London is terrible. It sucks. I wasn't aware of this disaster until I arrived here. Having grown up in Japan, I made a very bad assumption that the Japanese train system is a norm. How wrong I was!

That being said, I have been free from the London underground trouble for a very long time. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am taking the first or second tube of the day. However, my luck ran out today. Having arrived at my local station, I was informed by a very bad handwriting on the notice board that the District Line is not going from the station. "Please seek an alternative route", it said. How? There is only one line going from this station; it is not exactly the Shinjuku station in Tokyo! So I arrived in office late, which meant less running. Aargh - there is nothing worse than your run taken way by the London Underground Ltd!

Today: 15 miles
Weekly mileage: 46 miles

Running in the dark

As I began to run this morning, it was dark. Actually it has been dark throughout this week in London. I don't think I have seen the sun since Saturday. Not that I am complaining; the weather has been very accommodating for us runners. I am so glad that there was hardly any day with scorching sunlight and searing heat this summer. And yes I used the past tense; sorry folks but the summer is over - at least in England.

I was talking to one of my colleagues the other day, and he told me he was contemplating running a marathon, or I think it was even an ultra marathon (that is, longer than 26.2 miles) across the Sahara desert. Now I am sure many people think I am nuts to run 26 miles for (essentially) my pleasure, but even I have never dreamt of running in the desert, especially in Africa. Running in such a hot climate is a completely different beast from "ordinary" marathons. So I checked, out of curiosity, if there is any marathon in a hot place. Lo and behold thy are everywhere! There is a Singapore Marathon, which is almost under the equator and if I remember correctly the temperature is over 30 throughout the year. Last year almost 10,000 runners defied the heat and took up the challenge - I tip my hat! It starts at 5:30, so they did choose the coolest time of the day but such an early start must pose another difficulty. Then there is a Dubai marathon. Honestly, how can you train for the marathon when you live in a place where the temperature goes above 40? I think I will stick to the marathons in a cold (and wet) climate!

Today: 13 miles
Weekly mileage: 31 miles

Back on track

What a difference a good night's rest makes! After the disappointing run last evening, I was back on running with a vengeance today. I managed 16 miles this morning, and I threw in VO2 Max training (600m times 5) for good measure.

Although I still think I was right to stop yesterday, it gives a nagging doubt to any runner; is there something wrong with me? Or am I on the verge of injury? So it was very satisfying to know that I am able to run for more than 2 hours again. What a relief!

Today: 16 miles
Weekly mileage: 18 miles

Take it easy

The 22-mile run I did yesterday had a full effect on me today. Initially I was going for a 7-mile recovery run, but I gave up only after 15 minutes. I normally go out in the morning, but today I waited until the evening so that my legs could receive the maximum rest. It was to no avail. I really shouldn't have bothered.

I am not disappointed, however. Actually I am happy that I stopped running, because sometimes it is a more courageous thing to do. Young Yasushi of last year would have gone for 7 miles this evening, but I learned from the mistake I made when I got myself injured early this year. It was a very costly and painful education, but for me it was a lesson well-learned. I am not saying I am already there, but I think I am beginning to learn when to push myself, and when it is better to just stop. I think once you know the difference between these two, you can call yourself an "experienced runner".

Today: 2 miles
Weekly mileage: 2 miles

88 miles

I did it! I ran 88 miles this week, which was by far the longest weekly mileage I've ever done. In this cycle I had done 77 miles twice, and back in January I had extended it to 80 miles (but I got injured in the following week, so I need to be extra careful next week).

I must say the push for more miles has taken its tolls. I normally go for a long weekend run on Saturday morning; I want get it out of the way quickly so that I can relax for the rest of weekend. Yesterday, however, I was just too tired to go out. So I had to run on Sunday morning in the rain, but I was so glad when I lasted 22 miles. That's the longest run done and over with!

Today: 22 miles
Weekly mileage: 88 miles

Attaboy!

I just finished watching a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angels Angels (of Anaheim). I love the Red Sox day games as it starts at 6 p.m. here in UK (so practically a night game for me, except, er, it is a daytime in Boston). This was actually a makeup game from 15 April, which was rained out. I was there! It was a day before the Boston marathon, and I had a ticket to go to the Fenway Park. Moreover, there were supposed to be marathon-related ceremonies (as they always do on marathon Sundays). I was told the ceremonial first pitch would be thrown by a famous Japanese marathon runner Toshihiko Seko - I grew up watching him! Alas it all came to naught as there was torrential rain from the start of that day. It was actually coming from the big storm, which continued right up to the start of the Boston marathon next day.

Back to the baseball game, this game marked a major league debut for the Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz. He threw solid six innings (4 runs, 3 earned, 8 hits, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts). It was a very impressive performance against the strong Angels line-up. And he got the first major-league win - congratulations, Clay!

Today: 7 miles
Weekly mileage: 66 miles

Six days

At the start of the week I wrote this could be my longest week in terms of training mileage. As expected this has been a very tough week, but thankfully I am still on course.

As I complained last week, Thursday is the hardest day of the week. And since I have been hell-bent on accumulating as many miles as possible throughout the week, I felt especially tired today. The good news is it is over now - the hardest day of the hardest week. I will only do a recovery run tomorrow, followed by a long run in the weekend. Actually I am grateful that a week has seven days, well actually six days for my training because I don't train on Sundays. I mean, just as I come to the point where I think I can no longer go on (normally on Thursday), the end comes in sight (Saturday). I am therefore very grateful that God decided a week must have seven days. Maybe he was a marathoner!

Today: 13 miles
Weekly mileage: 59 miles

Blowin' in the wind

Yesterday I wrote I don't really mind running in the rain. Unfortunately when it rains, the wind is always blowing hard. For me that's a bigger problem. This morning the rain was much lighter, only the drizzle, but the wind was stronger than yesterday.

Usually a marathon course is a loop since you start and finish at the same point, so even when it blows you can find an easy stretch where you can get the tailwind. A notable exception, of course, is Boston where the course is almost a straight line. When I ran there for the first time last year, I received a push from the back all the way through (which contributed greatly to my personal record). This year, however, was the opposite and the constant headwind was killing my legs. The Loch Ness Marathon is also a straight course; the Loch Ness is a long lake, and we will start at the other end of the lake and run towards Inverness which is situated by the sea. And I am pretty sure I will get the headwind in the Loch Ness. Yes, the heavy rain and easterly wind is Yasushi's weather forecast for Inverness on 7 October!

Today: 16 miles
Weekly mileage: 46 miles

Rained on

It was just starting to rain when I went out for a run this morning. The rain got heavier as I ran, and soon I was soaked to the skin. I should still consider myself lucky, however, given the weather we are having this summer because I think this is the only second time that I got completely wet since I started training in May.

Besides I don't really mind running in the rain. Actually I quite like it! I don't know why, but somehow I don't feel tired when I run in the rain (well, shall we say I feel less tired...) On the other hand, my pace tends to be slower so that is a drawback (and perhaps it explains why I feel less tired at the end of the run)

Strange enough (or is it my destiny?), of the six marathons I have run so far, I got rained on in three of them. I ran under the sun only once (Reykjavik in 2004) while the Boston Marathon in 2006 was a perfect condition of clouds and no wind. My first ever marathon, in Reykjavik 2003, I received a baptism of horizontal rain throughout 26.2 miles. The rain in Stockholm in 2005 and Boston in 2007 was light in comparison. And I can safely bet it will rain heavily again in the Loch Ness on 7 October!

Today: 13 miles
Weekly mileage: 30 miles

Week 7 - the longest week?

This is Week 7 in my training calendar. Technically speaking there are 8 weeks left before the marathon, but the last week (called "Race week") does not really count as training.

Now I know this is a bad karma, so I am not saying I am going to do it, but my book says you are supposed to run the longest distance this week. I find this interesting; if I am left to my own devices I would probably have put in the longest distance just before the marathon. Indeed week 3 has the second highest mileage, but this week has the highest. So I will do my best, but please remember I am not promising I will succeed!

Today: 17 miles
Weekly mileage: 17 miles

Music and running

Yesterday morning I was running in the Victoria Park, and on the other side of the park there was a festival going on (Field Day). Three weeks ago there was another festival whose site occupied a large part of the park, but Field Day seemed to be smaller in scale. I did ten loops yesterday, and each time I ran beside the festival site I could hear the music coming from the stage. It was very pleasant, and helped me finish the two-hour run on a hot day.

That being said, I never listen to music when I run. Nike introduced a while ago the small chip that goes into the shoes, which tells you on the iPod display the distance, speed etc. This was very tempting, but still I didn't feel like listening to music when I run. I don't know why - I have iPod and take it wherever I go, but except for the running. I guess I just prefer tranquility when I run; I find it has a calming effect on me. There is a practical side, too, since I started on this new route along the canal. The passage along the canal is very narrow in parts, and when you go under the bridge you cannot see who is coming from opposite. Especially dangerous are cyclists, but most of time they let you know they are coming by ringing the bell. So you have to listen out for these bells, otherwise you risk a collision with a bicycle!

Yesterday: 15 miles
Weekly mileage: 62 miles

Daijoubu

When I started out this blog (which was only five days ago) I resolved to write only about running here. And like any other resolutions it will be broken within a week, so today I am going to write about baseball. I was reading yesterday an interview by Hideki Okajima, a Japanese pitcher who plays for the Boston Red Sox. He joined the Red Sox at the start of this season, and since then he surpassed everybody's expectation and established himself as the No. 1 set-up man. In this interview I was most intrigued by the part when he talks about the game against the San Francisco Giants on 16 June.
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/baseball/mlb/column/200708/at00014174.html
(Sorry this article is in Japanese)

When he entered the game at the top of the 8th inning, Boston was trying to preserve the slim 1-0 lead. He walked the first batter and the next batter singled to the left, however. With two runners on, coming to the plate was Barry Bonds who hit the all-time home-run record No. 756 this week. Against Bonds Okajima threw two curve balls but quickly fell behind 2-0. At that point the Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell visited the mound and talked to Okajima. I was watching this game on Internet, and I remember the commentator questioning Okajima's command in English and speculating how they are communicating to each other. Well, never mind the language because Okajima was totally a different pitcher after Farrell's visit. He threw a curve-ball and two fast-balls to Barry Bonds, all strikes, and incredibly Bonds didn't swing the bat even once and he was struck out.

I was always curious what pitching coaches say in this kind of situation, but in this particular game I wondered more than ever what Farrell said during his visit, which clearly helped Okajima's performance so much. Well, it was all revealed in this interview. Actually he only said "Daijoubu?" in Japanese, which simply means "all right?" To which Okajima replied "all right." That was it! No instruction on how to attack one of the most feared batter in baseball, or fine-tuning his mechanics. Just an exchange of courteous words! But Okajima said he got his calm back thanks to this visit, and eventually he got out of the jam wothout allowing a run.

I think this episode emphasizes importance of psychology in sports. Long-distance running is also more mental than generally perceived (yes, finally I forced the topic back to running). Paavo Nurmi, nine-time gold medalists at distances from 1,500 to 10,000 meters, said "Mind is Everything; muscle, pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind." Have a nice weekend everybody!

Today: 7 miles
Weekly mileage: 47 miles

Thursday is a hard day

Once you start running the marathon, you begin to think everything in your life in terms of marathon. This is dangerous, I know! For example, my Thursday trainings are just like the 20 mile/30 km point in marathon. This is without question the most difficult point of marathon; you feel there is nothing left in your body, yet you still have to keep going another 5 miles/10 km. That’s exactly how I feel when I go out for a run on Thursdays. My body is fairly tired because of the training I have done from Monday to Wednesday, and yet I still have two more runs left before the week. By Friday it gets easier because my focus shifts to the long run on Saturday (in any case I only do an easy run on Fridays). The long-run itself is of course tough, but mentally it is easier as I know this is what I have been training for all week long. Thursday is a kind of limbo.

Having said that, my run today was relatively easy (or less hard) for Thursdays. I am sure it is all thanks to the recovery run I did yesterday (so it does work, really) Also the weather was favourable – sunny but crisp. So the hardest day of week is gone!

Today: 11 miles
weekly mileage: 40 miles

Recovery run

Last night I wrote I was "exhausted" after the first interval training in the current cycle. At least I thought I was. Wrong again! Because when I got up this morning, then I realised what truly "exhausted" means. I felt extremely tired in my body; in my mind I thought I remembered the fatigue that comes after the intervals, but clearly I have forgotten! So it was a tough day to get through. Just as well I only planned a recovery run today.

Now I am sure to many of you "recovery run" sounds like self-contradictory terms. But in truth quick and easy runs help your legs to recover. Again according to the book by Pfitzinger and Douglas, "recovery runs improve blood flow through the muscles; this process improves the repair of damaged muscle cells, removes waste products, and brings nutrients to your muscles". And I can testify this is true. Psychologically, however, it is more difficult than you think to do a successful recovery run. As a runner your tendency is to run longer and faster, which obviously defeats the whole purpose of recovery run. It is even harder to decide when to take a day off completely from running. This is the time when I wish I had a coach. In January this year I got myself a serious injury for the first time since I started training for the marathon four years ago. I will write properly about this injury later, but of course with the benefit of hindsight I shouldn't have gone out for training on that day, and the injury could surely be avoided. Proper rest and quick recovery is a big key to complete your marathon training successfully.

Today: 5 miles
Weekly mileage 29 miles

VO2 Max (not a name of new soft drink!)

Or Fartlek (in Swedish). But simply put it is an interval training. According to the book by Pfitzinger and Douglas (titled Advanced Marathoning - my bible!), VO2 Max is "the ability to transport large amounts of oxygen to your muscles and the ability of your muscles to extract and use oxygen".

The way to improve such oxygen intake is an interval training. Today was the first time I did these intervals in the current training cycle. I ran 600 metres at the 5k race pace, then jogged for one and a half minutes, and acceletrated again and repeated this process 6 times. My breathing is normally steady and hardly goes loud while running, but this VO2 Max training is an exception. By the end of training I always feel like goldfish out of water! Also I find it most demanding physically. I mean 30-minute intervals are harder than 3-hour steady run. Again according to the Pfitzinger and Douglas book; "The interval workouts put your muscles and cardiovascular system under the most stress and generally require the longest recovery time". So I am exhausted this evening, but I also know that when you start VO2 Max your marathon training is approaching an end. What a relief!

Today: 13 miles
Weekly mileage: 24 miles

Running in big cities

I am sure every runner has their favourite running course on which their bread-and-butter training is done. For me that course is here:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-kingdom/london/683590184
(I also mapped this course in the link section on the right-hand side bar)

I used to run the other way, from the City of London towards Westminster. It was OK once you hit the bank of the Thames River, but to get there I had to run along the big road with traffic. Especially during summer, like now, it was difficult because I could really feel and taste fumes coming out of the cars and tracks in my lung. Then one day my colleague showed me this route, which is so much quieter and traffic-free. It is also a nice distance (about 11 miles) which takes me about one and a half hours - just enough for my bread-and butter training. When I want to gain more mileage I make a detour to the Victoria Park, which I didn't do today since this is a recovery week.

In general I think it is easy to run in London in comparison to other big cities. There are a plenty of good-size parks all around London. I had lived in Paris for two years, and I used to "jog" (I was not a marathoner then) in Parc des Buttes Chaumont. The loop I used to run there probably took me two minutes - obviously you cannot train for the marathon in such a tiny park. If you are in Paris, you really have to head for the big "bois" on either side of the city (Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes). In Tokyo the most popular (and probably the only) running course is around the Imperial Palace. I haven't run there for ages so please forgive me if I am wrong, but I think the loop around the imperial place was about 6-km (4 miles). It was nice; I particularly liked the gentle up and down. What I didn't like was traffic, again, on the busy road that circulates around the Palace. But it is kind of silly to complain about heavy traffic in Tokyo - you just have to get used to it!

Since I started running I travelled to several cities, and I think I became quite good at finding a running route in a strange city. To me the Golden Rule is "hit the water!" If a city has a big river (for example the Charles in Boston) there is usually a running/cycling path where you can run comfortably. If you don't see a river on the map, just head to any waterfront. The best run I had while travelling was in Tallinn, Estonia. I had arrived the night before, and I was yet to visit the tourist information, but I just ran towards the sea relying on a small map provided by the hotel. I was able to find miles and miles of running path. It was on Sunday morning, very quiet and freezing cold, and I was running next to a freeze-out expanse of the Baltic Sea (naturally quite a sight!)

Today: 11 miles
Weekly mileage: 11

Half-way point

Hello, my name is Yasushi. Having successfully completed the Boston marathon in April (in what proved to be a very tough weather!) I have begun training for the Loch Ness Marathon in late May. I normally train for 18 weeks for the marathon, so this weekend marked exactly the half-way point. So far I have been trying to increase the weekly mileage up to 70, with an aim to build up my endurance. On Saturday, however, I did my first tempo run in this training cycle. The weather has been cooperative this summer, but unfortunately yesterday was a hot and sunny day. When I usually run in the Victoria Park in London, most of my route is covered under the shade. Yesterday however I was exposed to the sun as I had to measure the mile precisely. So it was a tough going, but I did my best to stick to the 7 minutes per mile pace for 12 miles.
To be honest I struggled during the month of July. Normally I find the week 12 to 8 the hardest stretch; I was feeling more and more tired but there was still a long way to go before the marathon. Thankfully next week is a recovery week, so I intend to drop the weekly mileage before the training reaches its peak from mid-August.
Weekly mileage: 72