Thursday, March 31, 2016

APET and Professor Koichi Watanabe's Art Exhibition

I finished doing the last of altogether six 5-hour seminars today.
I was physically completely worn out, 
but psychologically I was so rewarded and deeply satisfied.
The greatest satisfaction came from the fact
that this spring I customized all of my seminars as much as I could
by addressing questions from participants during the seminars
instead of hammering through them rigidly as scheduled.
One participant even brought copies of his textbook
because he was so at a loss about what to do with it.
His problem was everyone's problem, I thought,
so I made time to share his concern with the rest of the participants
and invited them to suggest solutions, and commented on their ideas.
The teacher looked nervous at first, 
but when the seminar was over, 
he left the venue with a smile.
I also did my best to positively acknowledge participants' concerns
whenever they asked difficult questions.
Years back when I was far less experienced than I am now,
I tended to regard difficult questions as stumbling blocks.
Now I can look on them as "needs".
If I can address them well, I can bring the seminar to a higher level of success.
Anyhow, I was so tremendously glad when they said 
that there were so many practical ideas 
that they could put into practice right away.
That's what I was aiming at more than anything else!!

When the last seminar was over, I walked from Toranomon,
across Hibiya Park, all the way to 養清堂画廊 (Youseido Art Gallery) in Ginza
to see my old friend Mr. Koichi Watanabe's art exhibition.
To see some of his works, please check the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/gakuji.yamagata/media_set?set=a.10207427779905364.1073742001.1013476131&type=3&uploaded=16

 

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Alternate Ks and Mixed Ks

Three of the four seminars for school teachers were over.
I wanted to refresh myself before the last one that's scheduled for Thursday,
so I decided to go for a quick run.
I am planning to go for a 30 K run this coming Sunday,
so I didn't want to tire myself too much.
From among a number of training choices
I chose alternate Ks because it is the least stressful one.
I started by warming up with a short jog for about five minutes.
I then went for my first K at my marathon pace of 5:20/K.
After than I rested for 30 seconds before going for my next K,
which was run at my half marathon pace of 4:40/K.
When this was over, I had a choice between carrying on with alternate Ks
and raising the pace to turn the training from alternate Ks to mixed Ks.
I decided to continue with the former because I didn't feel strong enough.
When I was done with 4 K, I had the same choice again.
But this time instead of repeating alternate Ks,
I wrapped up the training by raising the pace to my 10 K pace of 4:30/K
for my 5th K.
When it was over, I was completely done.
I took a two-minute rest and slowly jogged back home.
I am going to give myself a full rest for three days until Sunday
when I am going to run 30 K.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

A Two-Hour Jog

With exactly three weeks remaining I started increasing the distance of of my running training.
Today I ran 21.2 K in 2:00:28, including occasional breaks here and there to hydrate and fuel myself at a park and a convenience store respectively.

It was a pleasant run at comfortable full marathon pace of mine, with refreshing mild winds.

I feel very confident of my overall strength and endurance
as I was able to put out a last spurt fairly easily in the last 1 K,
and also because I felt practically zero pain in any of my leg joints nor muscles.

An unbelievable lightness of my body was a pleasant surprise.
As soon as I got home and took a shower,
I stepped on the scale to find out that I weighed two kilograms lighter than my usual weight.
I would like to welcome this weight loss as a good thing
because it's definitely a merit in a marathon.

My next big challenge comes next weekend
when I am scheduled to go for a 30 K jog.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Cruise Ks + 100 M Sprints, and The Story of How I Got Over My Pukey Feeling

When I came home, the sky was clear and the moon was beautiful,
so I decided to hit the road to get my heart pumping.
I did cruise Ks five sets at my full marathon pace of 5:20/K,
and did five 100 M sprints as a closure.
Today's result is as follows:

Warm Up:  6:11 (slow jog)
1st K: 5: 10
Rest: 30 seconds
2nd K: 5:06
Rest: 30 seconds
3rd K: 5:21
Rest: 30 seconds
4th K: 5:14
Rest 30 seconds
5th K: 5:12

Rest: 2:13

1st 100 M: 16.36
Rest: 1 minute
2nd 100 M: 16.26
Rest: 1 minute
3rd 100 M: 16.10
Rest: 1 minute
4th 100 M:16.57
Rest: 1 minute
5th 100 M: 17.29

I felt pukey after the 3rd sprint,
but I figured that one last push would not make me really puke,
and decided to go for one more.
When the fourth set was over, I really felt like my heart would come up to the throat,
and make me suffocated,
but said to myself another set would make a full set of five,
and that I would rather die in the sea of my own puke than quit,
and went for one more set.
When it was over, though the time was significantly worse than the previous four,
I felt great and had completely forgotten about the extreme discomfort 
that I had felt only half a minute before.

Monday, March 21, 2016

APET

APET is an abbreviation for Academy of Professional English Trainers.
It is the name of the educational service my company BizCom offers to English teachers working at all levels.
There are nine seminars falling into mainly three different lines.
One of them focuses on participants English ability itself,
and there are six different seminars falling under this line.
I am in charge of all six.
On March 20, and 21, two of these six seminars were held at BizCom Osaka Center.

The one on 20th was Active Grammar.
Its main focus is to help participants brush up their ability to express themselves
with intermediate to advanced grammar.
But there is a secondary purpose to the seminar.
Participants can get tips for how they can teach grammar to their students at their schools.
Many learners of English have an unfortunately negative image of grammar
mainly due to the way it was taught to them at school.
But it has an unshakably important place in one's overall communication ability,
and therefore it cannot be neglected.
The primary goal of the seminar is having participants realize
that grammar can be learned and also taught in fun ways.
Gathering from comments I got in questionnaires after the seminar,
my effort was quite successful.
I had quite a few of them say, "The seminar was packed with practical ideas
I can immediately try in my next lesson!" and similar comments along the same line.

The one I just finished a couple of hours ago is called Active Speaking.
The main purpose of this seminar is to help participants
become comfortable with conducting their lessons all in English.
The seminar divides a lesson into several parts,
and then examine the classroom English the teacher needs
in order to teach is smoothly.
Some activities are simple to manage.
But there are activities that require a high level of sophistication.
Management of pair practice and freer activities is particularly challenging to many participants.
And it cannot be taught verbally, so I ask all the participants to learn it by practicing it over and over again.
But grown-ups do not enjoy mechanical repetition.
So it is my job to make the repetitive practice interesting
by inserting episodes and data every now and them
to reinforce the purpose of it,
as well as by encouraging peer feedback
because participants often feel motivated getting a positive evaluation for what they did.

Feedback I got from the participants in today's seminar was very positive.
I also got some very honest request that's very constructive and useful for me
to further revise the seminar.

Teaching two 5-hour seminars two days in a row was physically challenging,
and mentally fairly strenuous, but it was tremendously rewarding.
What's most exciting about all of the APET seminars
is that the participants are teachers,
so what I teach does not stop there.
They teach their students, so my influence will spread all beyond them.
Filtered through the teachers' perception and individual skills and philosophies, of course,
but nonetheless it goes beyond them.
That's what I truly love about what I do.


Thursday, March 17, 2016

A Long Slow Run

I went for a long slow walk because I was in a mood for it.
I just left without setting any target in terms of distance.
There was no way I could tell exactly how many Ks I ran
because I had no running app on my cellphone.
But I had a rough idea of the distance from my past runs.
I took a familiar route in and around my neighboring area
within the radius of 8 K. 
It wasn't too cold, and winds were almost non-existent.
Perfect for a pleasant run.
I cruised at a comfortable pace of 5:52/K
to cover 13.6 K in a time of 1:19:53.
I didn't feel any pain in my legs,
and breathing was easy.
With one K remaining before reaching home,
I still had a reasonable amount of energy left in me,
so I put on a spurt, running at around my 10 K pace.
About half an hour after taking a shower to wash the sweat away,
I was engulfed with a feeling of minor euphoria
while I was having avocado with dried nori seaweed,
a piece of apple, and a decopon orange
to refuel myself with all the vitamins and minerals
lost in the exercise.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Mixed Ks and 100-M Sprints

Reading "From Last to First" by Charlie Spedding while on a train back home
made me want to hit the road,
so though I was a bit tired from intensive prep for two seminars coming this Saturday and Sunday, I changed into my running outfit as soon as I got home,
and after a short warm-up run I did mixed Ks.

In mixed Ks you run at three different paces.
In my case they are full marathon pace, half marathon pace, and 10 K pace.
They are 5:20-40/K, 4:40-50/K, and 4:30/K respectively.

I change the duration of the rest after each K 
depending on the intensity.
For example, after the K at full marathon pace, I only rest 30 seconds.
But after the half marathon pace, the rest is twice as long, namely 1 minute.
After the 10 K pace, it's even longer, 2 minutes.

Three Ks make one set, and you repeat the cycle.

Today I got right into the training without pre-fixing the number of sets.
I instead went with the flow.
This is the style of training I adopted when my motivation was low.
It has the benefit of making it easier for you to get out and do the training.
If you fix the number of sets in advance when your motivation is not so high,
you feel sluggish, and in the worst case you skip the training entirely.
That's not good, so it is far better to just get out and run first,
and if you are in a good condition, you just continue your training,
and when you feel like quitting, you just quit without pushing yourself.
So far, this style seems to be working for me,
because I have been training more regularly than the same time last year
when I would use my busy work schedule as a lame excuse
for not running as much.

Anyway, I felt reasonably tired during the 5th K
so I decided to give myself one final push in the next K
which was 10 K pace,
and call it a day.
But when the 6th K was over, and I took a two-minute rest,
fatigued eased, and I had renewed motivation,
so I decided to wrap it up with one more K at comfortable full marathon pace.

Though I thought I ran the last K rather slowly, 
when I checked my time at the goal, it was under 5 minutes, almost 20 to 40 seconds
earlier than the target time probably because of a lingering effect of the previous K
which was rather fast.

Today's result is as follows:

1st K: 5:29
Rest: 30 seconds
2nd K: 4:54
Rest: 1 minute
3rd K: 4:23
Rest: 2 minutes
4th K: 5:06
Rest: 1 minute (30 seconds longer by mistake)
5th K: 4:38
Rest: 1 minute
6th K: 4:17 
Rest: 2 minutes
7th K: 4:54
Rest: 2:13

Sprint 1: 17:36
Rest: 1 minute
Sprint 2: 16:76
Rest 2 minute
Sprint 3: 16:79

It was pitch dark in the park where I did the sprints,
and I couldn't run faster because I was afraid of tripping to fall over.
So the times above were the best I could get.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Cruise Ks, Sit-n-Kick Ks, and 100-M Sprints

I did interval training and some sprints this morning
to get the heart pumping and the blood running.

I began with cruise Ks as warm up.
In cruise Ks you run 1K at comfortable pace.
In my case this is a full marathon pace of 5:20-5:40/K.
You then take a short rest of 30 seconds
before starting your next set.
I did it 5 sets today until I kind of felt bored
and wanted something else for a change.

The second training I did was sit-n-kick Ks.
The difference between cruise Ks and sit-n-kick Ks is this:
While in cruise Ks, you keep the same pace throughout the distance,
in sit-n-kick Ks you put on a spurt in the last 100 M.
This I believe helps you develop your ability to change the pace in a race flexibly.

When I did sit-n-kick Ks two sets, I was reasonably fatigued,
so I decided to call it a day
as I was expecting to take the TOEIC Test in the afternoon,
and I didn't want to completely wear myself out.

But as I walked back home, my heart rates quieted down,
and the fatigue I had felt a minute before seemed eased.
So I decided to burn some extra calories by doing 100-M sprints.

Villagers huddled together in the park for Cherry Blossom Festival,
and the smell of burning charcoal reached my nostrils
as I ran around it.
Strong men were scaffolding a portable shrine.
Grandchildren of local elderly people were there to help out.
Housewives were preparing veggies needed to make festival food.
And cherry blossoms were shivering in the hazy shade of leaving winter.

I did 100-M sprints three sets.
The first two were all right.
But then the last one was unbearably painful because I pushed myself,
and I almost felt like I was going to puke,
so I quit.

Today's result is as follows:

<Cruise Ks>
Warm Up K: 6:52
Rest: 30 seconds
2st K: 5:05
Rest 30 seconds
3nd K: 5:12
Rest 30 seconds
4rd K 5:19
Rest 30 seconds
5th K: 5:09
Rest: 1 minute

<Sit-n-Kick Ks>
6th K: 5:01
Rest 1 minute
7st K: 4:59
Rest: 2 minutes

 <100-M Sprints>
1st Set: 15:20
Rest: 1 minute
2nd Set: 15:28
Rest: 1 minute
3rd Set: 15.89

I still don't feel motivated to run longer distances.
I try not to think it's a bad thing.
I am no superman.
I was reasonably burned out after the Ohme 30 K Road Race.
Forcing myself to do hard training would only create a counter reaction.
I will stick to a comfortable pace for a while
and wait for a burning desire to develop from within
to compel myself to cover longer distances.




Tuesday, March 8, 2016

How It Is That I Do Not Feel So Cold

I don't feel so cold even in winter.

There are three reasons.
One is a high level of muscle mass.
Two is use of warm underwear.
Three is high exercise metabolism.

Let me explain them one by one.

<High Muscle Mass>
My muscles generate heat from within,
and I always feel warm because of it.
I am relatively muscular for a man of my age.
People say I am.
And I personally make effort to be that way.
I have good reason for it.
I am a runner who trains regularly for races,
which allows me to keep my legs strong.
I also generally feel good about myself
when I'm not out of shape.

<Warm Underwear>
I have warm underwear on,
and it keeps me warm
on days that are unbearably cold to most people.
I don't know about you,
but I have a long commute.
It's good or bad depending on how you look at it.
I personally consider it good
because there isn't much you can do
except for reading books or studying a language.
As for me, I do both, which is good for me,
because I'm a teacher.
But that does't mean that I am completely problem-free.
In fact, I used to feel extremely uncomfortable
commuting in suit.
It's unbearably hot in summer,
and clothes get bulky in winter.
Not only that both your jacket and pants get worn out quickly
as a result of constant friction.
I didn't like it,
so some years ago I started to commute in casual clothes and sneakers,
and to change into my business attire in a secret dressing room near my office.
This gives me greater freedom as to what to wear,
and that goes for underwear too.
My favorite is running spandex pants with raised back.
Boy, they keep you warm no matter how cold it may be!!
One added bonus is that my suits and business shoes now hardly ever get worn out.
That means I need to buy new business clothes far less frequently.
Isn't that friendly to your wallet, or what?
And since I am relatively in shape thanks to the regular exercise mentioned above,
I don't need to spend all that much on clothes either.
Believe it or not, when you are nice and fit,
you look great in the plainest of clothes, such and jeans,T-shirt, and tight-fitting leather coat.
So all I get is this T-shirt and that T-shirt every now and then,
plus some second-hand stuff from thrift shops.
But I don't feel cheap at all,
because, hey, you simply look nice and relaxed in those
when you are fit.

<High Exercise Metabolism>
The last reason why I don't feel so cold even on the coldest of winter days
is I can immediately raise my body heat by doing exercise.
My easiest and most effective way is towel training.
All you do is grab one end of a towel with one hand,
and grab the other end with the other hand.
Put a lot of pressure on it, and then raise it and bring it down
while keeping pressure on it.
You keep it for 30 seconds, and rest for 15 seconds,
and repeat that cycle until you feel warm enough.
There are many different variations of this towel training,
but that's not the point.
My point is if you know how to boost exercise metabolism easily,
cold winter days won't be such a big problem any more.

Today, I illustrated three reasons why I don't feel so cold even in winter.
None of them is miraculous.
All of them are simple, and anyone can apply my practices in their daily life.
None of them costs a lot either.
In fact, most of them mean less money out of your pocket.
I hope you will give it a try.




Monday, March 7, 2016

"From Last to First: A long-distance runner's journey from failure to success"

Earlier today I received an email from Amazon
that said the book I had ordered would arrive much sooner
than originally scheduled.
It's "From Last to First: A long-distance runner's journey from failure to success" former British long distance runner Charlie Spedding.

Athletically speaking, he was absolutely nobody when he was young.
But then he made continuous effort eventually to become the bronze medalist
in men's marathon in the Los Angeles Olympics.

I'm very curious to know how he decided to rise from his early inferior performance,
and also how he was able to carry on with his training
which I believe was so hard that he wanted to puke.

I am looking forward to reading it as much as 
I am looking forward to sharing with you what I have learned from it. 

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Mixed K's + 100-M Sprints

I did some long distance training combined with sprints.
The result is as follows:

1st K: 5:32
Rest: 30 seconds
2nd K: 4:36
Rest: 1 minute
3rd K: 4:23
Rest: 2 minutes
4th K: 5:08
Rest: 30 seconds
5th K: 4:45
Rest: 1 minute
6th K: 4:32
Rest: 2 minutes
1st 100 M: 15:30
Rest: 1 minute
2nd 100 M: 15:00
Rest: 1 minute
3rd 100 M: 15:73
Rest: 1 minute
4th 100 M: 16:13
Rest: 1 minute
5th 100 M: 15:77
Slow Jog: 5:00

I began with 1 K at my full marathon pace (5:40/K).
After a 30-second rest I ran another K at my half marathon pace (4:40-4:50/K)
The rest after this was a little longer--1 minute.
Then the 3rd K was at my 10 K pace (4:30/K)

This is one set. And I did it two sets today.

To wrap up the exercise for the day,
I threw in some anaerobic element by doing 100-K sprints
at my maximum speed.

Last time I did it, my best time was 16 seconds something.
Today I finished within 16 seconds in four out of five.
Slowly but surely I am getting faster.


Thursday, March 3, 2016

200-M Hill Sprints (3 Sets)

I had a little over 30-minute morning workout.
It consisted of three components:

1) a slow jog (3K)
2) lying pull-ups (30-seconds ×5 sets)
3) 200-M hill sprints (3 sets)

Lying pull-ups mainly targets back, lats, bi-ceps, and forearms.
Instead of doing them slowly to extend contraction time for maximum volume gain,
I focused on density--doing as many reps as I can within 30 seconds.
I am not fully aware of all the benefits of density-based training yet.
But one thing I know is that it's highly intense,
and you can get yourself burned out pretty quickly,
so it's a good option when you don't have a lot of time for workout.

The result of the hill sprints is as follows:
1st Set:  33:95
Rest: 2:00
2nd Set: 34:06
Rest: 2:00
3rd Set: 34:85

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Alternate K's (5 K) + 100-M Sprint (5 Sets)

With Monday's training rained out,
I had a huge load of energy saved up,
so I went to a nearby park and did alternate K's (5 K)
with good marathon pace and half marathon pace being alternated one after another.
The rest after the marathon pace run was 30 seconds,
and the one after the half marathon pace was a minute.
The sky was blue and the park was surrounded with Kawazu cherry blossoms
that bloom a few weeks earlier than the famous Someiyoshino kind.

I felt hungry after covering 5 K because I did the training without breakfast,
so I thought I would call it a day,
but as I headed back home,
I felt like burning a few more calories,
so I 100-M sprints, 5 sets
with a one-minute rest between sets.

It was extremely refreshing at first, but soon I ran out of energy,
and recovering in one minute became hard,
and my time became worse after each set,
and when the last set was over,
I almost fainted with my vision all blurred
like it was covered with a thin layer of white silk.

Today's result:
1st K: 5:15
Rest: 30 sec
2nd K: 4:31
Rest: 60 sec
3rd K: 5:06
Rest: 30 sec
4th K: 4:37
Rest: 60 sec
5th K: 4:58
***********
1st 100 M: 16:13
Rest: 60 sec
2nd 100 M: 16:23
Rest: 60 sec
3rd 100 M: 16:68
Rest: 60 sec
4th 100 M: 16:85
Rest: 60 sec
5th 100 M: 17:67