Kyohou no Oka 20 K Road Race 2016

Kyohou no Oka 20 K Road Race 2016 (or Kyohou Grape Hill 20 K Road Race 2016)
took place on Sept. 18 in Yamanashi City 114 km to the west of Tokyo.
I renewed my PB of 1:34:47 from Year 2014 to finish at 1:34:11,
improving the time by 36 seconds.
I am very happy with the result.

I would like to write a brief report of the event below.

On the evening of Saturday, Sept. 17,
after leaving work I went to Shinjuku
to catch Azusa 27 leaving at 5:30 p.m.
In a little less than two hours I arrived in Kofu
where a room had been booked for two nights.
My bilingual companion had already arrived there,
and she and I went grocery shopping together
instead of dining at a local restaurant.
We found so many good ready-made dishes
and fruits that were significantly marked down.
After checking in at the hotel,
we had some of the food from the store in the lounge.
There were tables and chairs,
and even a microwave oven was there.
When I asked a receptionist if it's OK to eat there,
she said no problem.
The discount food from the local store was quite satisfying.
It was carb-intensive, and atypical compared with what I usually eat.
But it is important to eat lots of carb before you run a long-distance race.
I went to bed early to give myself a good rest.

Seven hours of sleep allowed me to rise quite refreshed.
After taking a quick shower, I changed into my athletic gear,
got packed, and went down to the dining lounge to have breakfast.
The food served by the hotel was satisfactory,
rich in carb and not too oily.
But I supplemented it with some fruits from the grocery shopping on the previous night.
I was careful not to eat too much.

A shuttle bus was available between the hotel and the station.
A local train had already pulled in when me and my bilingual companion got there.
A ten minute ride took us to JR Yamanashishi Station.
A long line of runners were waiting for a shuttle bus to arrive.
We didn't wait any longer than ten minute before the fist bus arrived
and took us to the race venue.

My high school friend Eiro had already arrived there
as he got there by car.
Soon other members of my running team arrived.
We were a group of eight, six runners and two cheer girls.

At 9:40, the gun went off to signal the start of the 20 K division.
Me and four other runners slowly went ahead along the wall of cheerers on both sides of the road.
Ten minutes later the 10 K division started, and one female runner from our team followed the 20 K pack.

By the time the 10 K division started, some of us in the 20 K division had almost reached the 2 K mark. It was one of the hardest part of of the first half
with an upward incline continuing for almost 4 K before a brief break shortly before the 5 K mark.
The road is not wide enough to allow an easy passage through runners.
The steep incline soon made all runners gasping for air and made their heart rates elevate quickly.
The road was filled with heat generated by the runners,
and it was suffocating.

Though I ignored the water station at the 2 K mark,
I immediately got myself ready to hydrate myself when the one near the 5 K mark was in sight.
I already felt significantly hot from climbing almost 4 K.
I grabbed a cup of sports drink and quickly finished it. And then I grabbed a cup of water, had a sip,
and threw the remaining over both of my arms.
A momentary cold feeling lifted my spirit for a second,
but it was soon replaced by an agonizing pain caused by yet another insanely long,
and steep upward incline.
From this point on the course basically continued to go up until the turning point.
In no other time was the rain felt to be such a blessing!
It allowed my increasingly heating body to cool off.
I tried not to push myself too hard, saving my energy for the final phase of the race.
I pulled my chin down, slightly bending my upper body forward,
making it easier for me to take quick small steps
to efficiently gain momentum forward.

The turning point felt to arrive a lot earlier than I thought it would.
I had a lot more energy left than in the previous races.
It lifted my spirit.
When I crossed the electro-magnetic bar running across the road and heard a beep,
a panoramic view of the trail that I had just come up opened up before me.

From this point on, it's all downhill, except that there were three ridiculously steep upward inclines at 12 K, 15 K, and immediately before the goal.
The one at the 15 K mark was the toughest.

Before the race begun, my biggest concern was if I would be able to withstand the landing shock in the declining phase
in my sock-like shoes "MUTEKI". They have no cushioning except for a very thin rubber sole, so I have to absorb all of the landing shock on my own feet and legs.

I went down carefully at first. But soon I realized that the grip of the sole on the road was firm, and my running form was solid enough to cope with the shock. So I injected the pace and accelerated.

Once fully in gear, I ran like a tornado down the winding road,
almost looking forward to reaching those heart-break hills.

When I came to the first of the three near the 12 K mark,
I was still full of power, and no sign of fatigue was in my legs
even after I reached the top.
Another downhill continued for three kilometers,
and there came the second, which was the longest, and steepest.
Most runners suddenly slowed down, and I was one of them.
But pushing yourself would be suicidal.
Some gave up running, and started walking.
I didn't because that would be damaging to your motivation,
and also to the mechanics of your body.
I took even smaller steps so as not to over-exhaust the glycogen in the legs.
I took a steady breath to make sure my heart rates were kept even.
But no matter how hard I tried to keep my breathing steady,
the resistance of the slope inevitably took a toll on my legs,
increased my heart rates, and made my breathing more difficult.
I could feel my body temperature go up further.
A stronger runner overtook me. But I didn't care.
It was not a battle with someone. It was a battle with myself.
Can I control myself? Can I put under control all the pain, anxiety, urge to quicken the pace...
Can I control the demon in me that wants to opt out and end it all?
...
I saw runners take a right and go out of sight.
That's the top of the hill. Twenty more meters to go. Fifteen more.
And then ten...And finally I was on top!
An intolerable heaviness overwhelmed my thighs and calves.
I was not able to pick up the pace right away.
But I knew what to do when my legs were in extreme fatigue.
I swung my arms strongly, and the legs responded accordingly.
Soon the road started going down again.
The pain I had felt a minute before was soon forgotten
when I felt cool air passing over my face as I hammered through the road.

A sign was in sight on the left side of the road that said 2 K remaining.
And then came the last of the three heart-break hill.
Aid workers' encouraging voices reached my ears.
They all said it was the last.
I mustered up all of my remaining force and took small but steady and strong steps.
Strong arm swings helped just like before,
but my arms were as tired as my legs,
so they too got weaker and weaker after ten seconds or so.
Once the arm swings got weaker, so did my steps.
The top was visible, and yet seemed so unreachable.
I kept on telling myself, "This is the last. Once I reach the top, it's all down hill to the finish."

I visualized the goal in my mind.
Just then I felt something splash in my head,
and my body suddenly felt light.
I felt as if I was floating on a cloud,
and I had reached the top.
A tough-looking female runner was gasping for air next to me.
She was unable to immediately regain her original pace.
I went past her like a sea breeze, picking up the pace down the winding road.
The cheer girls were in sight.
They found me and waved their hands.
They became bigger and bigger as I forged along the road,
and just as I pasted them I heard the shutter sounds.
The announcement from the speakers at the finish area became louder
as I went on.
Turning another corner, the finish line was finally visible.
I ran down the last down slope like a rolling fire ball.
Immediately ahead of me was a guy in Tiger Mask costume.
He was strong and fast.
Would I be able to overtake him?
I swung my arms strongly like Eliud Kipchoge in the Rio Olympics.
Some cheerers were surprised how strongly I was finishing after running so many miles.
But it was no surprise to me when I considered all of the hard training I had gone through
in the past three months.
All my effort paid off.
I was going to achieve my goal of finishing this challenging race
in the least protective shoes, "MUTEKI".
I closed my eyes, put on a last spurt, and then opened my eyes again
just before crossing the finish line,
and threw up my arms in the air in victory,
and shouted, "Yattah!!"

The race was over.
All the tension immediately left my body.
I felt as if I had just taken off a jacket made of lead.
I walked slowly to an aid worker who read my chip with a sensor, and detached the chip from my number bib.
I received my official certificate a minute later, and saw my time.
It said 1:34:11.
I regretted a little that I didn't run faster
because at this moment I wrongly believed that my PB was 1:33:**.
But later when I double-checked my previous times,
and discovered that I had surpassed the best time from 2014,
I was ecstatic!

My next race is a 10 K race in November.
My goal is to run it barefoot and finish under 45:00.
A whole new set of tactics are required for a shorter distance.
I am going to do some research, and would like to write a training plan for myself
so that I can peak at the race.

http://kyoho-no-oka-marathon.com/course/