July 1 Morning Run and Body Weight Home Circuit Training

I went for a quick run this morning, 1 K at my half marathon pace,
and another at my 10 K pace.
There was a slight discomfort in my left angle,
so I didn't push any further.

After coming home from the run,
I did some body weight circuit training
to train other parts of my body.
Please check out the You Tube video below
for more details.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJHdJRkrIeY

June 30 2016 Midnight Test Run after Injury

I went out for a test run after resting for an entire week,
because the pain in the left calf had subsided,
and there was little discomfort in the muscle.
I started by jogging, and slowly picked up the pace.
For the details of the training tonight please see below:
810 M: 5:38
1 K: 5:07
Rest: 30 seconds
1 K: 4:28

My body felt light,
and my cardio-vascular system wasn't entirely out of shape
despite complete absence of card-core running training for an entire week.
That's probably thanks to the home and park workout
I did during the break.

I will re-start my running training in full swing.
But I'm not going to increase the distance too soon,
nor the pace.
I will go slow.
Another injury would significantly set me back on my strength-building effort.
I don't want to let that happen.

June 27 2016 Body Weight Park Workout

It's my day off today.
I have all day to myself.
When I woke up,
it was sunny and the sky was cloudless,
so I took my futon upstairs to dry it in the sun.
After that I changed into my athletic outfit,
and hit the park near my house to do some body weight workout.
There were a few kids play baseball,
and one middle-aged running doing laps,
but other than that it was deserted.
I set my smartphone on this mini-tripod
I bought from a dollar shop and had my workout recorded.
It was a little less than 15 minutes.
I hit my legs, abs, chest, back, shoulders and trap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL2YVnT92QM

June 26 2016 Weighted Total Body Workout

With my left calf still not fully recovered,
I did exercises that are doable
even with the injured calf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDgU8sZ0Y5A

Land Crawler

Two days after I got my left calf injured during running training,
I did some body weight total body workout mainly target at back.
I call it land crawler as the movement is pretty much the same as
that in one of the swimming styles--crawl.
The only difference is you do this not in the water, but on the floor.
As you crawl, you try not to let your arms touch the floor.
This way your back, and also the back of your shoulders keep contracted.
You imitate the kicks in swimming too,
but the floor prevents you from kicking forward,
so the leg movement is strictly backward,
engaging your hamstrings.

Today I coupled it with a workout targeting the muscle on the opposite side of the body,
namely the chest. I did slow push-ups today.
In slow push-ups, you extend the eccentric phase by four seconds,
stay for four seconds when the chest is the closest to the floor,
and then come back to the initial position in four seconds,
all the while squeezing both of your arms inward
so that chest muscle contraction is maximized.

I did both exercises for 30 seconds alternately,
and did them four sets without rest both beween sets and exercises.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAN56oHyl3E

June 23 2016 Midnight Upper Body & Core Training

As I had my left calf injured while running,
I must take a break from running awhile.
Meantime all the other parts of my body have no major problem,
so I hit my upper body and core tonight.
I did pull-ups ten sets of three reps.
And I did the same sets and reps for dips as well.
As a finisher I did 5 sets of one-minute core training.
Please click below to see exactly how they look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYz7h-bjJ_o

Calf Injury

Last night after coming home from work,
it was still raining,
but as I have written here many times,
rain doesn't bother me,
so I went for a short training run.

I was running around the quarter-pie-shaped road around the park near my house comfortably
when something snapped and a sharp pain ran through my left calf,
and I came to a sudden halt. I walked slowly to protect the calf,
but the pain would not go away.
I limped for a while and started running slowly again
till I reached home, bearing the unusual pain that plagued the calf.

After I got home, I applied some lotion on the calf,
and massaged it.
But the muscle didn't feel sore, nor was I able to identify the exact location of the pain.
I stood up again and walked, trying to figure out where the pain came from.
It felt like coming from a fairly deep area in the calf.

I logged on to my PC and did some research.
I punched in, "calf, sudden muscle pain", and pressed enter.
Soon I found out that my symptom matched that of a typical torn muscle,
or 'nikubanara' in Japanese.

An immediate treatment recommended for this injury was icing,
a webpage said, but the pain was minor, so I skipped icing,
and immediately applied a cool wet medicated adhesive pad on the painful area,
and went to bed.

The next morning I woke up to find out the pain was still there.
I realized that the pain was of different sort form common muscle pain.
I must walk very slowly for a while, though my cardio-vascular capacity is
strong enough to run a marathon right away if asked.
I also need to avoid running for quite a while
because the injured area may get worse
if you re-start your training before full recovery and the muscle in the damaged area ruptures again.

It could be frustrating that I cannot to what I like to do.
Bur fortunately I have many other things that I enjoy doing,
such as English training and core exercises, and upper body workouts,
none of which requires a strong calf in perfect condition.
So I'm saying to myself for now that my left calf needs a long vacation
because it's been working so hard for months.
Hopefully, by the time its vacation is over,
it will have been ready for even more challenging training,
just like workers will be refreshed and ready to work productively after a long vacation.

June 22 Morning Body Weight Workout & Short Run

When I woke up this morning, it was raining slightly.
Putting my feet into sandals, I went out into the yard
and check out my tomatoes.
They had grown larger, with some of their fruits riper in deeper red
mainly because of the rain two days before
and the subsequent sunny weather on the following day.
Inspired by their steady growth,
I decided to do some home body weight workout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5N5-iWxC-8

After that I hit the road in the rain to have a short training run.
Today's result is as follows:
Warm Up 160 M: 0:55
650 M: 3:19
650 M: 3:09
650 M: 2:52
Cool Down 160 M: 0:57
Total 2270 M: 11:14 (equivalent to a 4:56/K pace)

70 K Bike Ride Around the Boso Peninsula

I went for a 70 K bike ride with some friends of mine.
We left Chikura at 9:30 a.m. and come back 7 hours later.
We enjoyed seeing scenic views of the blue sea and green hills along the way,
and also enjoyed having some good local food at the roadside station in Miyoshimura Village.
It shouldn't have been too challenging distance-wise,
but the route was rich in undulation,
so that made the journey more challenging that it would have
if it had been a flat course.

June 17 Friday Night Yoga Session

I am doing yoga tonight
instead of going for a training run and doing muscle training.
This is because I have a big athletic event scheduled for this coming Sunday.
I am going on a long bike ride in the southern part of the Boso Peninsula.
Me and my friends are going to cover around 80 K through a route
that is rich in undulation.
It requires a lot of stamina, and giving my legs a complete rest for a whole day
seems like a sensible move.
Hence, no running tonight.
Just stretching and deep breathing
to relax my body and cardio-vascular system.

June 17 Thursday Midnight Run in Hakodate

I ran between the Goryokaku area and JR Hakodate Station tonight
after coming back to my hotel from a seminar at Hokkaido Kyoiku University.
I ran 6.6 K in 35:10 at a pace of running every K in 5:19.
I want to write a lot because I learned so much about
running in a wet condition in the Muteki running tabi.
But I'm too exhausted to keep on writing,
so I will write more tomorrow.

June 16 Thursday Morning Semi-Barefoot Run in the Rain

When I woke up this morning, it was raining,
so I decided to go for a training run.
I don't mind running in the rain.
In fact, there is a peculiar joy about running in the rain.
You can have the road all to yourself
because most runners hate running in the rain,
and, plus, the rain helps your body to keep its temperature at appropriate level.

I ran in my five-finger shoes, instead of Muteki,
as I was afraid the new running tabi shoes could get dirty from muddy splashes from the road.

I ran 2.92 in 14:07 today,
which is a 4:50/K pace.
This is my average half marathon pace.  

June 15 Wednesday Midnight Interval Training Wearing "MUTEKI"

I did interval training at my 10 K pace
after coming home and having a late night meal.

The result is as follows:
1st K: 4:26
300 M Jog: 2:00
2nd K: 4:12
460 M Jog: 2:38
Total 2.76: 13:18 (equivalent to a 4:49/K pace)

I ran in Muteki,
whose absence of cushioning doesn't allow you to take big strides.
So I took small quick strides to land on the ball and minimize the shock of landing.
It is a very efficient way to run a long distance.
But even in a short training session at a relatively fast pace
I'm becoming more and more comfortable running in small strides.
If you want to see what running in small strides looks like,
please check out Mr. Hiromi Taniguchi in the You Tube video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_mH7QnJFNg

June 15 Wednesday Morning Barefoot 3 K Run

When I woke up this morning,
I felt like running barefoot,
so I taped up my sole and hit the road.

I did alternate Ks again between my full marathon and half marathon pace.

The result is as follows:
1st K: 4:58
Rest: 30 seconds
2nd K: 4:39
Rest: 30 seconds
3rd K: 4:49
Total 3K: 15:29 (equivalent to a 5:10/K pace)

After coming home from the training run,
I quickly hit a shower and had breakfast.

Today's breakfast is as follows:
half an avocado and 'nori' seaweed, Chinese corn soup,
half a grapefruit, and a glass of milk with roasted soybean flour in it,
and some cashew nuts.

June 14 Tuesday Night 5 K Interval Training Wearing Running Socks "Muteki"

I ran 5 K wearing "Muteki".
Muteki is a Japanese word that means "invinsible" in English.
Muteki is footwear made for running.
It was modeled after traditional Japanese socks called tabi
which has a split toe.
Tabi is made of cotton, and is typically coordinated with kimono.
Muteki is also made of cotton inside,
but it also uses nylon on the outside
in order to increase durability.

Muteki is super light and sole protection is minimum with thin rubber,
and cushioning is non-existent.
It allows the wearer to feel the texture of the soil,
and also to achieve the most efficient running form
that is least-damaging to the body.

When I first ran in Muteki, I felt slight discomfort on the toe.
But after a few training runs, they become more comfortable on my feet.

Today I did alternate Ks between my full marathon and half marathon pace.

The result is as follows tonight:
1st K: 5:43
Rest: 30 seconds
2nd K: 4:42
Rest: 30 seconds
3rd K: 5:10
Rest: 30 seconds
4th K: 4:48
Rest: 30 seconds
5th K: 4:56
Total 5K: 27:19 (equivalent to a 5:28/K pace)

June 14 Tuesday Morning Build-Up Run

After giving myself two days of complete rest,
I went this morning for a practice run.
I went around the quarter-pie-shaped road near my house four times
to cover altogether 2.6 K.
I timed each lap,
aiming for my full marathon pace in the first lap,
my hall marathon pace in the second,
and my 10 K pace in the last two.

Today's result was as follows:
1st 650 M: 3:21
2nd 650 M: 3:10
3rd 650 M: 2:53
4th 650 M: 2:47
Total 2.6 K: 12:12 (equivalent to a 4:41/K pace)

A quick shower and fresh fruits and veggie after the run
made me feel like a new man.

June 12 Sunday Morning Political Talk and Haircut

When I woke up this morning, I was noticeably more fatigued than usual.
It was presumably because of the 8 K run on the previous night.
I could have pushed myself and run.
But instead I enjoyed a slow morning.
I watched on TV some political programs,
and discussed with Madam, whose father was an LDP law-maker
for then Tokyo City,
pluses and minuses of making education free.
Though she does not openly expresses her political opinions so often,
she always has a say about almost all of the issues discussed publicly,
and she and I had some interesting exchange of opinions.

Though a political program was still on on NHK,
I needed to leave home for a haircut,
so I got changed and took off.

My hairdresser owns a salon called fleuRir,
and it's in Tama Plaza.
The owner goes by the nickname of Toki-san.
And he's so da*n good.
You should go there for a haircut someday.
http://www.fleurir-salon.com/

June 11 Saturday Midnight 8 K Run

After I got off work at 5:30 p.m.,
I went to a sports shop in Ueno.
I went there to check out Vibram Fiver Fingers.
I tried on a pair and asked questions about a few other models.
I found out that my size is M41,
but all of them were pricey,
so I didn't make a purchase.

When I came home,
a parcel had been delivered.
It was a pair of running 'tabi'
Tabi is traditional Japanese sock-like footwear.
Traditional tabi is made of cotton.
The running tabi I bought are also cotton inside,
but they are nylon outside to increase durability.

Though traditional tabi have hooks above the heal for fastening,
my running tabi has shoe strings just like regular jogging shoes.

I tried them on and ran 8 K to see how they would feel on my feet.

They were super light, and cushioning was non-existent.
The rubber on the sole is of very good quality and the grip on the road is good,
but it is very, very thin,
so you can't strike your heel when you land.
That's the whole point.
The shoes only allow you to land on the ball of your foot,
this forcing your leg to fully activate all of your leg muscles.
It helps your make your legs stronger.

I ran 8 K comfortably in 38 minutes 34 seconds.
The details are as follows:
1st K: 5:07
2nd K: 4:26
3rd K: 5:19
4th K: 4:31
5th K: 4:30
6th K: 5:17
7th K: 4:53
8th K: 4:26
Total: 38:44 (equivalent to a 4:50/K pace)

June 11 Saturday Morning Comfortable Walk and 1 K Run

When I woke up this morning, I was so sleepy,

so I did some exercise in futon 

just to get my heart thumping and get myself fully awake.

I know tons of stuff good for that purpose,

so it didn't take me a minute before I was ready to get up and go.

Once out of bed,

I quickly changed into my running wear and hit the road.

I started off by walking first

as I listened to a track from English Trainer Volume 48

(http://www.bizcom.training/et/index.html)

to do some listening and speaking training.

After walking 500 M, I felt warmed up,

so I started jogging.

I ran 1 K at my full marathon pace of 5:20/K.

Once I was back home from the quick morning workout,

I had grapefruit, avocado and corn soup to fuel myself.

In no time I was ready to rock. 

June 10 Friday Night 3 K Run

I ran between home and Keisei Shizu Station.
It was 3 K.
I ran the distance in 14:32,
which is equivalent to a 4:54 pace.
A quick shower was a bliss for my tired body.

June 10 2016 Friday Morning Interval Training

Warm Up 160 M: 0:55
1st K: 5:13
Rest: 30 seconds
2nd K: 4:52
Rest: 1 minute
3rd K: 4:11

Did some shoulder workout on my way back home.
Nice and quick.
But feel so refreshed.

June 9 Midnight Interval Training: Race Pace Mixed Ks & Home Body Weight Workout

I had a two-hour corporate seminar today.
It required a lot of concentration and mental stamina.
So when I came home, I was bushed,
and couldn't bring myself to exercise right away.
So I had the light meal made for me by Madam first,
and spent some time relaxing as I surfed the Web.
About half an hour later, I started feeling recovered,
so I changed into my running wear and hit the road.
I didn't feel motivated to do the same old routine,
so I decided to do some interval training for a change.

I started off at my full marathon pace of between 5:20/K and 5:40/K.
I then took a short rest of 30 seconds to set off for the second K
which was run at my half-marathon pace of 4:50/K.
Finally, after one-minute rest I aimed at my 10 K pace for the third K.

Thanks to the variety, I was able to do the training without feeling bored.

Today's result is as follows:
1st K: 5:25
Rest: 30 seconds
2nd K: 4:46
Rest: 1 minute
3rd K: 4:22

After coming home from the run,
I did some body weight workout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM4iVN3vFeI

A Book to be Published

I co-authored a book.
It's mainly for Japanese learners of English
who need to take the TOEIC Test.
It explains the abilities being tested,
and how to improve these abilities.

The explanation is logically very clear,
and the tips are practical so that anyone can use them.

June 9 Morning Body Weight Exercise & Short Run

As soon as I woke up this morning,
I listened to a track from English Trainer Vol. 48
and did some English training.
I did it for 30 minutes and got out of futon
to do some home body weight workout.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivx9ygBgipc)
I did it for 10 minutes.

After that I hit the road in the rain in my five-finger shoes.
I ran 2.92 K in 14:52.
It's equivalent to a 5:05/K pace.

After coming home from the exercise,
I had breakfast which consisted today
of half a grapefruit, a cup of hot milk,
half an avocado with 'nori' seaweed,
and chicken-flavored Chinese corn soup with egg in it.
Note I'm making my at-most effort to take in three major nutrients
from various kinds of fresh food.
A couple of compromises today are a can of sweet corn,
and ready-made chicken stock.
Someday I will make corn soup from fresh chicken and corn...

June 8 Wednesday Night 2.5 K Run in the Rain

When I came home from work,
it was slightly raining,
so I decided to go for a short training run.
Rain used to bother me,
but not any more
ever since I ran in a storm this past April.
Anything unfavorable weather conditions better in scale
than that storm have become easily tolerable.

A light meal was made for me by Madam,
so I enjoyed it with a couple of glasses of red wine.
Once the meal was finished,
I quickly put my feet into my five-finger shoes,
and hit the road.

The midnight street was deserted,
and I had the road all to myself.
That's another thing I have come to like about running in the rain.
I can have the road all to myself.

I kept a slightly faster pace than usual,
and ran 2.5 K in 11:43,
which is equivalent to a 4:40/K pace.
Not bad.

I will run tomorrow morning,
come rain or shine.
Or should I say, especially if it rains!

June 8 Wednesday Morning 2.5 K Run & Park Muscle/Cardio Workout

This morning as soon as I woke up,
I did English training in bed.
I listened to a track from English Trainer Volume 48,
and did listening, Japanese-English quick translation,
repeating, shadowing, and dictation.
It took me 30 minutes.

Once done with it,
I changed into my athletic outfit,
and hit the road.
My legs were heavy from jumping squats two days before,
so I started off slowly.

Halfway through, I dropped by a park
to do dips, jumping knee tucks, and pull-ups.
Just like on the previous night,
I extended both the concentric and eccentric phase by hour seconds
when I did dips and pull-ups
in order to maximize muscle gain.
Also, I held for four seconds at peak contraction as well as
at the least contracted position to improve my static strength.
Jumping knee-tucks were especially tough.
They elevate your heart rates like crazy,
and make the other adjacent exercises tougher,
because you had to do them in a state of being tremendously out of breath.

I did each exercise for 30 seconds with a minimum rest between exercises
as well as between sets.
Today I did them three sets.

By the time the park muscle/cardio workout was over,
I was drenched,
and I could feel that much of the glycogen in my leg muscles was gone.

So I ran the rest of the way very slowly like a man who hadn't had any meal
for days.

Once I got home, I quickly hit a shower,
and had breakfast.
Today's breakfast consisted of half an avocado with 'nori' seaweed, a whole orange, a piece of apple, a cup of soy milk.

I ran 2.5 K in 12:44 today,
which is equivalent to a 5:05/K pace.

June 7 Tuesday Night 2.5 Run & Park Muscle Training

After coming home from work,
I worked on PowerPoint slides for forthcoming lectures.
I've got some new projects coming along with my routine work,
and I wanted to get ahead with the routine work,
so that I could have more time for the new project.
After getting it done,
I hit the road to sweat.
I stopped by a park long my regular running course,
and did dips and pull-ups.
I did them with a special focus on increasing muscle mass.
When that is the goal,
the best weight to do it is to extend both the concentric and eccentric phase
of your movement, as well as holding for four seconds at peak contraction.
I did this technique from a number of my fitness mentors,
the biggest influence among whom probably is Mr. Elliott Hulse.
So my hat is tipped to him.
I did dips and pull-ups alternately for 30 seconds
with a minimum rest between exercises.
Once the muscle training was over,
I got back on the road again.

Today I ran 2.5 in 13: 27,
which is equivalent to a 5:22/K pace.

June 7 Tuesday Morning 2.92 K Run

When I woke up this morning, I ached all over from muscle training on the previous night,
so I decided to go for a slow run to relax my body.
I slipped my feet into my five-finger shoes, and slowly started running.
I was a bit afraid that my right heel might hurt,
but that didn't happen.
The pain occurred only  when there was a direct impact on it.
As long as my form was good, and I landed on the ball of my feet,
there was almost no pain.
I comfortably ran 2.92 in 14:38,
which is equivalent to a 5:00/K pace.

After coming back home,
I had a massive breakfast
consisting of fresh melon, fresh grapefruit,
fresh avocado with 'nori' seaweed,
chicken-flavored soup with okura, shiitake mushroom, and 'hijiki' seaweed in it,
and walnuts bread.

June 6 Monday Night Run & Body Weight Muscle Training

I ran 2.6 K in 12:08.
The details are as follows:
650 M: 3:16
650 M: 3:05
650 M: 2:59
650 M: 2:46
Total 2,600: 12:08 (equivalent to a 4:40/K pace)

After the run I did body weight muscle training.
I did five exercise:
1) Jumping squats (20 reps)
2) Hand clap push-ups (20 reps)
3) Tower training (30 reps)
4) Jack knives (20 reps)
5) Dive bombs (10 reps)

For more details please see the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFR7r3-o4dI

June 6 Monday Morning Run & Core Training

I ran 2.64 K this morning in the park.
I ran in jogging shoes because the right heel was in slight pain
from the 10 K barefoot run yesterday,
and I wanted to protect it from serious injury.
Also, the track in the park is covered with wood chips,
but the skin on my sole isn't strong enough to run on them without protection.

I began at a slow pace to warm myself up,
and gradually picked up the pace.
Today's result is as follows:
640 M: 3:49
500 M: 2:30
500 M: 2:30
500 M: 2:21
500 M: 2:17
Total 2,640 M: 13:29 (equivalent to a 5:06/K pace)

After running, I did some core training.
It consisted of two exercises: swimmers and bicycles.

In swimmers you lie on your stomach, crawl with your arms,
and kick with your legs.
They engage your back shoulders, and hamstrings.

Bicycles are a popular abs workout.
You lie on your back, and crouch so that your right elbow touches your left knee,
and then switch the side to crouch so that your left elbow touches your right knee next,
and repeat the movement.

Today each set was 30 seconds, and there was a short rest of 10 to 15 seconds between sets.
I was drenched with sweat, so that tells you how effective it was in burning calories.

June 5 Sunday Afternoon 10 K Barefoot Run to the "Machinowa" Commercial Festival

There was a commercial festival in Central Sakura
（http://machinowa.info/）
to promote local businesses.
My friend from high school days plays a major role in it.
I wanted to go there and say hi to him.
But just going there wouldn't be fun.
So I decided to run to the event barefoot to surprise him.

My home and the event venue are 10 K apart.
But the run was comfortable,
except that in the last couple of kilometers
blisters developed here and there in the right sole,
but I reached the goal
before they ruptured.

I enjoyed having a pop called "Hokuso Cider" sold at this office.
It hit the spot especially after a long run under the sun.

I enjoyed having a fun talk with my friend.

It took me 52:54 to cover approximately 10 K today.

Jogging Shoes: Necessary or Not Necessary.

Jogging shoes.
Are they necessary or not?
In my opinion, they are both necessary and not necessary.
It depends on the situation.

For example,
as urban fashion items,
they can be extremely handy.
Compared with regular dress shoes,
jogging shoes are rich in colors and comfortable.
Also, they give you that casual relaxed look.

On the other hand,
as athletic items, they are important items for many,
and not so important for some.

For many runners who are used to landing on their heel
when running
the cushioning in their running shoes provides comfortable assistance.
Without them, they can injure their feet as well as other parts of their body.

For runners who have strong feet and legs,
they may be unnecessary.
In fact, I saw many runners who were not wearing shoes
when I ran Kasumigaura Marathon.
Most of them had very thick calves and looked strong.
For these barefoot runners,
shoes are extra weights and simply unnecessary.
The rubber sole on jogging shoes may give them protection
from injury,
but that too won't be necessary
if the pavement is smooth,
or if you are running on soft grass.

To conclude,
jogging shoes are both necessary and not necessary,
depending on your situation.

As for me, I often enjoy running barefoot,
and wear shoes when I run on wood tips to avoid injury,
and also when my feet are a bit fatigued.

June 4 Morning Short Run: How Saturday Morning is Special for me

The Saturday morning is the sleepiest moment in my weekly cycle.
I finish work at 9:45 p.m. on Friday night,
and start work at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.
There aren't many hours in between.
With a slight shortage of sleep, plus being the end of a week,
I feel slightly fatigued on Saturday mornings.

I usually do not try to push myself when feeling tired.
So this morning as well,
instead of going right barefoot,
which is the style I am increasingly becoming hooked on,
I put my feet into regular jogging shoes,
and ran inside the park,
instead of running around the park on a concrete road.

There is a track in the park,
and it is filled with wood chips.
Every morning it is filled many people,
mainly the elderly,
who enjoy walking.
They almost always walk counter-clockwise.
I almost always run clock-wise to see their faces
and smile at them when I pass them.

This morning I only ran 1.34 K in 7:00,
which is equivalent to a 5:08/K pace.
Much slower than my regular under 5:00 pace,
but that's OK.

Saturday morning is a very important moment for me.
It marks the beginning of the last working day of the week.
I want to start is comfortably.

I will make up for the insufficient distance coverage,
as well as the absence of training on the previous night
(I skipped my running training on the previous night
because I had a slight stomachache
from having too many nuts!!)
after finishing all the work for the week and feeling freed!

June 3 Morning 2.5 K Run & Body Weight Workout

I ran 2. 5 this morning as always
in my new (but quickly getting worn out) five finger shoes.
The weather between rainy days during the rainy season is so beautiful.
It's so beautiful that even those who usually have zero interest in workout
will feel like getting out and and moving their body on a day like today.

Anyhow, I ran the distance in 12:13,
which is equivalent to a 4:53/K pace.

After coming home from the run,
I did some body weight training.
It only takes between three and four minutes.
No equipment is needed except for a towel.
And you can do it if you have a little open space
on the street.
For more info. please check out the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4FIYn0Xs5s

One exercise is invisible because of a bad angle
in my video shooting,
but I am doing an exercise called "Swimmers"
where you lie on your stomach and move your arms
like you do breast stroke in swimming,
making sure your hands don't touch the ground.
It's good for your back and the back of your shoulders.

June 2 Midnight Weighted 2.5 K Semi-Barefoot Run

I ran 2. 5 K in five-fingers shoes with no cushion.

I ran with a 2 kg weight in each of my hands.

I mentioned the benefit of weighted run in one of my previous posts.

Today I would like to write about another benefit

that I didn't mention before.

That's efficiency of running from.

When you run with weights in your hands,

a small inefficiency in your arm swing can cause extreme discomfort.

Naturally, you adjust your arm swing

so that the discomfort will be minimized,

thus giving your the most efficient arm swing.

Somehow your body remembers that arm swing of yours.

So even when you run without weights,

you automatically run in that form, 

thus arriving at a more efficient running from.

When I first learned this benefit,

I thought the same could be said about

private corporations trying to find ways to cut costs

when they struggle financially.

It seems to be a universal truth

that things thrive in adversity,

and regress in peace...

Tonight I ran the distance above in 12:11,

which is equivalent to a 4:52/K pace.

Not bad when you consider the extra 4 kg of weight

that I carried while running.

Hopefully, I will gradually increase the distance of weighted running.

June 2 Morning Run and High Intensity Park Cardio

When I woke up this morning,
I was a little tired from the workout from the previous night,
but looking out the window,
it was sunny and the air felt dry.
It's perfect for getting out to sweat.
So I quickly changed into my athletic wear,
and hit the road,
but my legs were heavy,
and so was my body.
So I decided to walk first.
A couple of minutes' walk took me to a nearby park,
which was covered with green grass reflecting the rays of the strong sun
in early summer.
My heart lifted at this sight.
I started jogging, breathing in the fresh air and feeling the warmth of the sun
on my arms.

Several minutes later I reached another park
that has a structure made of wood and metal
for kids to play on.
Using part of it, I did lying pull-ups,
and also did jumping knee tucks and pike push-ups
in a open space near the structure.
I spent 4 minutes doing these exercises.
Once done, I hit the road again and carried on with the run.

I covered 2.5 K today in 12:28,
which is equivalent to a 5:00/K pace.

I ran in shoes today, not barefoot,
because the bright colors of the shoes lifted my spirits.

June 1 Midnight Weighted 2.5 K Barefoot Run

I ran 2. 5 K without wearing shoes
with a 2 k dumbbell in each hand in 11:57,
which is equivalent to a pace of 4:47 per K.
Not bad.

The purpose of weighted running is to increase resistance.
When you prepare for a race with much undulation,
the best thing to do is to run a course rich in undulation.
But that ideal situation is not always available.
It's especially true with most of the roads available in my neighborhood.
Also when training late at night, you don't want to get too far from home.
One solution is to carry weights to increase resistance.
This way, although you are running a flat road,
you can reproduce a situation where you are running an uphill.

One added bonus is stronger grips, bi-ceps and shoulders.

Last year when I first did this weighted jogging,
I ached all over on the following morning.
But I don't think it will happen tomorrow.
Though it was definitely much less comfortable
than regular running without weight,
I didn't feel too bothered by the weights.
I hope that's because my shoulders and bi-ceps
had fundamentally become much much stronger than before
in terms of endurance.