New Year's Barefoot Run

Dec. 31, 2018-Jan. 1, 2019

22.6 K: 2:10:03

About an hour before the New Year I was running in bare feet to the water treatment plant where I was going to run some laps around the plant.  

With a massive cold wave having hit the Kanto region, it was blisteringly cold, especially the asphalt road. As I ran along, I feared my toes could be permanently damaged from frostbite. But in less than 5 minutes, I got used the cold. 

The road condition wasn't ideal tonight, so I had to run rather carefully, not to cause injury in my soles.

When I reached the water plant, and started doing laps around it, I hadn't decided how many laps I'd do, but I wanted to cover at least half marathon distance, so that'd be 7 laps. 

I ran the odd numbered laps counter-clockwise, and the even numbered ones clockwise, so as not to lose count. 

I welcomed the New Year while doing the laps, kind of striding over the temporal boundary between Year 2018 and Year 2019. I thought of a few new year's messages arrived on FB from my friends, but soon the thought was gone, and I was into the run. 

I came home between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. I took a shower and stepped on the scale. I weighed just 60 kg. Good start. I want to one more kilogram to run Tateyama Wakashio Marathon 2019, weighing 59 kg. That's one of my first fitness goals of Year 2019. The key to success, I believe, is a good diet, especially a sufficient intake of fresh veggies. 

Tomorrow afternoon I am going to visit my bilingual companion and her folks in Chigasaki, and on the 2nd, we are going to cheer Hakone Ekiden runners on along Route  134. 

Tokyo Marathon Test Run

Dec. 29, 2018

On Day 2 of my winter break 2018 I test-ran part of the new Tokyo Marathon course. We covered a staggering 34.8 K (or perhaps more according to a GPS watch belonging to one of my accompanying runner friends) thanks to fun chats throughout the run as well as special meals I took with runner friends who accompanied me for the event.

We left Raffine Running Style Kanda at 9:35 a.m. Our first destination was the Naruto Taiyaki Shop in Asakusa Bashi. It's 4.8 K from the run base. We expected that a 40 to 50 minute run would get us there. 

Passage through the course was smooth as cream as pedestrians were few at early time of the day. We reached the taiyaki shop around a quarter past 10. We fueled ourselves with a taiyaki with each one's favorite kind of sweet stuffing in it, except that Mr. H had two, instead of one! His voracious appetite came across to me as his exceptionally high motivation to complete the run.

Once our stomachs were filled, we maintained a steady pace along Kiyosubashi Dori toward Asakusa. In the official race Asakusa is the 15 K mark. In today's run it's 6.5 K from the run base. 

Kiyosubashi Dori is lined with many interesting shops, and we never got bored streaming down the straight road northbound. At one time we ran past toy maker the Bandai Corporation's office building outside of which there are a bunch of anime character figures. Some enjoyed photo-shooting. One had a memorial photo taken of him and anime hero the Ultra Man

In no time the iconic giant red 'chochin' lantern of the Sensoji Temple came in sight, and we found ourselves in a crowd of visitors from every corner of Japan as well as the world. A magnificent view of the famous Sky Tree electromagnetic tower could be enjoyed when we turned the corner in front of the front gate to the temple. Suddenly a memory flashed back of the day when I ran the Tokyo Marathon myself both in 2011 and 2012, and also of how my heart lifted at the sight of it. Back then Asakusa was the 28 K mark, and my legs were already significantly pained due to lack of proper training. But cheering from the sidewalk pushed me forward. 

Leaving Asakusa behind we were now going back where we came from down Kiyosubashi Dori, except that this time we took a left into Kuramaebashi Dori to cross the Sumida River to hit Kiyosumi Dori to go along it till we reached the official halfway point in the race in Monzennakacho. Unitl we got there, we crossed a number of bridges which gave a certain amount of undulation to what would be the otherwise rather flat new course. We made a brief stop at the Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine and did the sacred ritual cleansing our hands and mouth before approaching the shrine, bowing twice in front of it, clapping our hands twice, and then bowing once again. (See the picture above.) 

With warm rays of the sun on our back, we head back toward Kuramaebashi Dori, across it, and then back to Kiyosubashi Dori. Some of us started complaining they were hungry. It was only natural. We hadn't had anything to sea since we had a taiyaki around 10. It was already past noon. We were scheduled to have lunch at Yoshinoya's Beef Bowl Restaurant in Ginza Sanchome, but there were still several kilometers to cover before we reached there. One of us, Yuko, was so hungry that when she saw a large sign of a brokerage firm in red and yellow, she thought it was a sign of a yakitori restaurant whose sign is also red and yellow. We all laughed when she said that. But most of us were starting to experience a minor degree of hunger-induced illusion/hallucination, and we were all desperate to reach the restaurant before we completely ran out of gas.

Fortunately, three hours and twenty-one minutes after we left Raffine Running Style Kanda, we reached Yoshinoya's Beef Bowl Restaurant in Ginza Sanchome at 0:56 p.m. We ate their famous beef bowl like wolves that hadn't had a bite to eat for weeks.

At this point, three of us were expected to leave the pack and retire. But with their body's batteries fully charged, all of us were willing to go on farther.

There were 12 more kilometers to go, and our next destination was the Shinagawa turning point 6 kilometers from Ginza. For two of us anything longer than what we had already run was well beyond their usual training distances, and there was a significant amount of challenge in the attempt. I told them they were free to opt out when they were too tired to go on as there were train stations along the route at a fairly regular interval of about 1.5 kilometer. They took it as a psychological  blanket, and agreed to come along.

About an hour and a half after we left the restaurant in Ginza, we reached JR Shinagawa Station, where two of us felt they'd run enough for the day, and took a train back to Kanda. Three of us remained. We took a pee break and discussed how to reset our motivation to run the remaining 6 K. We agreed to have a cup of coffee from a nearby convenience store. We knew caffeine was dehydrating and not good for running, but it was getting colder and colder as the sun slowly got lower, we definitely needed something nice and warm to drink. 

A cup of coffee made us feel like new runners. We picked up the pace along Hibiya Dori toward the finish line. Around the official 38 K mark we came to the Shibakoen Park, where a magnificent view of the Tokyo Tower soared up into the beautiful winter sky. We had some memorial photos taken, talking on and on about how the view could lift the spirit of runners and allow them to fight their way through building fatigue and relentless pain.  

When we finally left Hibiya Dori behind and took two turns into a narrow shopping street leading to Gyoko Dori where the finish line was, it was almost 3:40 p.m. This final stretch is cobbled as opposed to asphalt-paved. It's lined with stylish shops of all kinds. Pedestrians walked on both sidewalks. They were fashionably dressed, enjoying their year-end shopping. Vehicle traffic was not allowed for the day, so we kept the street all to ourselves. Somewhere in our minds we all must have pictured ourselves running toward the imminent finish line. 

At 3:45 p.m. we reached our goal, celebrating our feat with a high five. The sound of hands clapped echoed in the street...

That evening I had my best party of Year 2018 with those four runner friends of mine who helped me achieve my year-end athletic goal.  

PR for 1 K Renewed! (3:20.11)

Dec. 28, 2018
Warm up 4 K: 23:47.49
Rest: 1:00.20
1 K fast run: 3:20.11 (PR)
Rest: 1:00.71
Warm down 6 K: 34:59.45
Total 11 K: 1:04:07

I have renewed my PR for 1 K. I'm so glad. I was originally planning to do intervals with six sets of 1 K run @ a 4:30/K pace. But I changed my mind at the last minute, and went for a time trial after a short warm up run. The result was the new PR. I immediately felt burned out after that, so I warmed down for about half an hour and finished for the day. 

But boy, was that tough!! I started off at such a fast pace right from the beginning, so before I turned the first corner, which is around 300 M from the start line, my legs started feeling heavy due to building lactic acid. What's unexpected was, though, that discomfort started building in my upper arms also. I wondered why at first. Then I figured that it was probably because of a forearm exercise I did yesterday. I did it till failure, so a certain amount of micro tear probably occurred in the arm muscles. So they were probably more susceptible to the oxygen debt created in my body by the significantly fast pace.

The second half of the run was even tougher, with my breathing becoming harder and harder with each step. I could feel I was slowing down. But I didn't want to slow down, because I was going for a new PR. But pushing further seemed next to impossible. One side of me said, "Just settle for what you can do." But a second later another side of me asked, "Is this the best you can?" I was torn between two voices, but even during this constant dialogue between the id and the superego, my ego continued to move his legs frantically, trying to get to the finish as soon as possible. Metabolic resistance created by the oxygen debt was reaching the peak. And a feeling of suffocation was unbearable. I couldn't keep my eyes open, because a mere perception of the remaining distance made me want to stop running right there and cry. I kept on going with my eyes closed, and on, and on... Next time I opened my eyes, I found myself only a few yards before the finish line. A moment later I crossed the line and pressed the stop button on my TIMEX. It said 3:20.11. I improved my time by 0:10.84 from the previous record of 3:30.95.

Winter Break Day 1: A Short Bike Ride to a Cafe

Dec. 27 was my last working day of Year 2018. It's 28th today, the first day of my brief winter break. I'm at a local Starbucks cafe as I'm writing this. I came here on my Kawasaki Vulcan S 650 ABS. It's been a while since I hopped on it last. The machine was dusty because I was too lazy to clean it after past rides. This morning I had plenty of time, so I pulled it around to the garage from the backyard where I park it at night, and cleaned the cask wheels. A ten-minute quick wash made it look nice and shiny. I was satisfied.

Deciding what to wear is an important part of one's motorcycling experience. It's cold and windy today. So wearing leather for both top and bottom is a must. I have two pairs of leather pants, one thinner than the other. I picked the thinner one, because I wasn't expecting a long ride. I also have a number of leather coats. They are different in color, length, and finish. I picked a long black coat by Y's. It covers my neck well. Also, the leather is thick enough to block the cold wind. There was one other reason that is totally irrelevant to its functionality. I just like the way Mickey Rourke rides a cruiser wearing a long black leather coat in Sin City, and wanted to mimic that style of his, though with a helmet on and also with the front all buttoned up, preventing the tail of the coat flying in the wind as in the picture below, I must be far from looking like him!

One thing I realized when winter break started is that I am awfully poor at handing free time. I am so used to busy schedule, with most of my energy focused on maximizing quality output in my business. But just because I have plenty of free time does not mean I should kill time for things irrelevant to work. Life is short, and time is the most precious asset in it. I want to use it for something that can contribute to it.

Since you don't want to ask yourself what to do every time you have free time, I usually have a set of core activities in mind and choose some from among these choices. They are: reading, watching movies, exercising, riding my motorcycle, and dieting. Today I have actually already done three of them: dieting, movie-watching, and motorcycle-riding.

As far as dieting, I made miso soup with no artificial seasoning and lots of veggies.

With movie-watching, I watched one Star Wars DVD last night, and another this morning.

And I just came to the cafe by motorbike.

So, two more activities, and I will have covered all five.

Right now I'm about to read. On the table right in front of me are "Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harari, "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoevsky, and "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley. I'll begin with "Crime and Punishment" and after that, I'll just go with the flow.

Restaurant "Osanai"

Dec. 12, 2018

After teaching a seminar to junior high and senior high English teachers at the Aomori Prefectural School Education Center, I dropped in at Osanai's a minute walk from JR Aomori station. 

Osanai's is a small restaurant catering to the needs of both locals and travelers. The interior design is average, and there is nothing spectacular about the facade, but the joint is always packed with customers. 

The most popular item on the menu is "Kaimisoyaki", or local scallops topped with beaten egg and boiled in miso soup.

Today I had it together with fresh scallop fringe sashimi as well as fermented herring, which was highly recommended by my former high school classmate, Mr. Shinichiro Nakamura.

I enjoyed having all of them. 

In less than 15 minutes, I will be catching a local train to Shinaomori station, where I change from a local to a bullet train to head back to Central Tokyo. 

I have a lecture starting at 7:00 p.m. at BizCom Tokyo Center, the place where I belong. 

Teacher Seminar in Aomori

I'm writing this in a room of the JAL City Hotel in Aomori City. Aomori City is the capital of Aomori Prefecture which is the north-most prefecture of the main island of Japan. It's before 8:00 a.m. In about a couple of hours I will be talking to 85 public high school English teachers. In 2003 the ministry of education, science, and technology stipulated English proficiency standards for them. Fifteen years have passed since then. Some have not reached any of these standards yet. The purpose of my seminar today is to motivate them to take action to reach one of the standards.

I genuinely believe that all teachers are capable of achieving the goal. The only reason, I presume, that they haven't done so yet is because they have had other priorities, whatever they may be. That the administrative body organizes an event like this to invite the teachers to remind them of the importance of proving their proficiency in terms of some kind of standardized test is enough to let them know that it's a priority.

My approach is three-fold. One, I am going to tell them a story to illustrate that I was once in their shoes. I will do this to connect with the audience.

Two, I am going to make them believe that achieving the goal is doable.

Three, I am going to show them how to do it and make them want to try it by doing a series of activities together which take them from "can't do" to "can do".

My closing message to the audience today is that a teacher making life-long endeavor to improve her English skills is the best role model for her students.

I believe the message will reach their heart.

26.4 K Run in MUTEKI

Dec. 24, 2018

9.9 K: 52:40.35 (one water stop and pee break)

2.2 K: 11:12.66

2.2 K: 13:02.72 (one water stop and pee break)

2.2 K: 11:07.69 (one water stop)

9.9 K: 52.15.84 (one pee break)

Total 26.4 K: 2:20.19

I wanted to run a long distance. But I walked 10 K in the afternoon to do some window shopping, and 30 K felt too much. But 20 K seemed too little. So I settled for somewhere between the two, and aimed at 25 K or there about. 

I decided to run the 9.4 K shuttle course and add three laps of the 2.2 K loop around the water plant (see below) to cover 25.4. But as I was running, I wanted to run just a little bit longer, so changed part of the route. Later when I got back and measured the total distance of the route I actually ran, it was 9.9 K. So the total distance tonight ended up being 26.4 K. I was glad that my training distance was longer than I had originally planed. I was also glad that I negative-split it, running the second half faster than the first half.

5 K Barefoot Jog (2.5 K Weighted + 2.5 K Unweighted)

Dec. 21, 2018

2.5 K weighted: 15:54.84

2.5 K unweighted: 15:15.69

I ran 2.5 K in bare feet with a 2.5 kg dumbbell in each hand, and another 2.5 K without them. I couldn't run any farther tonight. I have an early start tomorrow. I need to save energy.

12.6 K Run with Two Fast Runs Mixed in

Dec.20, 2018

Warm up 5.3 K: 34:44.75

Rest: 1:00.18

2 K fast run: 8:57.73

Rest: 1:00.26

Warm down 3.94 K: 23:54.34

Rest: 1:00.21

1 K fast run: 3:43.07

Warm down 0.28 K: 2:15.72

Total 12.6 K: 1:17:36  

After doing the recovery run on Monday, I had a corporate seminar two days in a row. The one on Tuesday was two hours. I had a 90-minute lecture after that in the evening back at my school in Akasakamituke. On Wednesday I had an even longer seminar which was 7 hours, the last 3 hours of which was all in English. My mind's batteries were pretty empty. I couldn't muster motivation. I chose to rest both Tuesday and Wednesday. Thanks to the rest, I felt recovered tonight. So I went out for a practice run, hoping to throw in some fast runs, but without deciding how many.

A 3.6 K jog took me to the water plant below. I ran around it counterclockwise till I came to the pack near the southeast corner where tap water is available. I rested for a minute and took off for a fast run around the plant. My target tonight is 9:54. One lap is 2.2 K, so it is a 4:30/K pace. I finished in 8:57.73. I ran at a 4:08/K pace. I was glad.

Due to the way faster pace than originally planned, I was naturally burned out after that first fast run. So I jogged back where I came from. When I reached the park near my house, my motivation was back, so I decided to do one more fast run, this time only for 1 K. I aimed at finishing under 4:00, and came back in 3:43.07. Not bad.  

I slowly jogged back home and called it for the day.

21 K Barefoot Recovery Run

Dec. 17, 2018

21 K: 2:10:17 

After doing a long run on Sunday, I would normally give myself a full rest, but today I did a recovery run instead, mainly because I was inspired to do so by the news of 70-year-old Gene Dykes who broke the world best time for men's 70s age group at the Jacksonville Marathon in Florida held on Dec. 15. He made dramatic progress after getting advice from a coach who pushed him into training more often.

I discovered a new route on Google Map, which is 9.4 K one way. 

I did one lap of the 2.2 K loop around the water treatment plant, and came back the same route. 9.4 doubled, plus 2.2 makes 21 K. I think it's a good recovery run following a 30 K run on the previous night.

I had a good late night meal consisting mainly of fresh veggies and fruit, and just a little bit of starchy stuff, which is baked sweet potato. Sugar content is high there, but it's rich in fiber also. 

I weighed slightly over 59 kg after the run. One more kilogram to go to reach my weight goal of 58 kg. 

Weekend Long Run: 30 K Run

Dec. 16, 2018

30.05 K: 2:52:28 

I ran 30 K in 2:52:28. I ran in minimalist split-toe shoes MUTEKI. I wasn't sure if I could make it when I started  off, because I was a bit tired from a chronic lack of sleep. Plus, I took Mom to Ueno in the afternoon to help her buy swimsuits, so I couldn't relax the way I usually do by doing something like riding my Kawasaki Vulcan S 650 ABS to a nearby cafe to enjoy reading and blogging. But it was important training for my recent biggest goal of running my first sub-4 barefoot marathon at Tateyama Wakashio Marathon 2019. Also, a 34 K test run on part of the Tokyo Marathon course is scheduled on the 29th of this month with a number of runner friends of mine. I am the leader who leads the group, so I should be comfortable with the target distance. My initial plan was to lap the water plant several times to cover a certain distance, but I didn't want to lap it so many times, so I needed to find a good shuttle course to gain a substantial distance so that by combining the distance gained from the shuttle run and that gained by lapping the water plant, I would be able to cover a near 30 K distance. Above is the new 7 K shuttle course between home and the water plant that I discovered on Google Map. 

The plan worked like a charm. The combined distance gained from taking a one-way trip to the plant along the new course is 7 K, so when you come back on the same course, the total distance is already 14 K. If I ran 16 K more, I'd make 30 K. This number could be almost reached if I lapped the water plant 7 times, because one lap is 2.2 K, and 7 times 2.2. is 15.4. 14 plus 15.4 makes 29.4 K.3. An additional lap around a quarter-pie-shaped loop near my home, which is 650 M in distance, would make tonight's training a solid 30 K run.

I put on wind-breaking pants to keep my legs warm. But I put on a regular running T-shirt with long sleeves to allow for ventilation. But in case it should feel too cold, I had a wind breaker on as well. 

Halfway into the new shuttle course, I found myself enjoying it a lot. The biggest reason is that it's dark and quiet. I love running alone in the dark. I can focus on my mind-body. I can almost hear the tick-tuck of my physical mechanism, the inner working of my mind-body.

From years of training, I knew that the first several kilometers were rarely comfortable. The legs feel heavy and cardio is not warmed up yet. It is only after running 7 K, in my case at least, that I start feeling light. And that's exactly when I started feeling like I was on a wheel, and with feathers! 

From the 7 K mark on, I started lapping around the water plant. One lap is 2.2 K. My eventual total running distance would be determined by how many laps I would run. Five makes 11 K, six 13.2 K, seven 15.4 K. I went on without deciding how many, vaguely hoping that my motivation would last till I hit at least five.

Lapping the same route over and over has both good points and bad points. One bad point is that it can be boring. Think of doing the same thing over and over at work. It's not exciting unless you love it almost to the point of being addicted. I enjoy making small efforts to keep myself motivated. Tonight I ran one lap clockwise, and the following lap counter-clockwise. This forced me to use two different mindsets alternately. It helped me stay alert.

 What is a benefit then? Of course it's easy to judge your condition. You can easily compare your feeling in one lap with that in another. Also, it's easy to mentally calculate your total running distance. One thing I realized while running tonight was that while running the 7th lap, I suddenly felt my energy tank was empty. It almost came in an instant. I wasn't ready. I had no choice but to slow down. I quickly did mental math and figured that I had just run half marathon distance, the distance I'm so used to running.  Ordinarily, when I have run that distance, the game is over, and I get rewarded with food and sports. Tonight I had no emergency food with me. The only thing I had was tap water available along the loop at every 2.2 K. What did I do? Tonight I did two things. One, I accepted my limitation. There is no energy left. My glycogen is gone. So is my visceral fat, the fat around my internal organs. There is no way I could pick up the pace any more, not to mention sustain the same pace. Two, and this is important. I tapped the reserve tank to sustain my effort: subcutaneous fat, or so-called belly fat. 

Your body stores body fat in two different areas: around your internal organs on the one hand, and under the skin on the other. There is an order in which they are used as energy for activity. The fat around the internal organs, so-called visceral fat, is used first. The fat under the skin, so-called subcutaneous fat, is used next. Most daily activities do not require such a large consumption of calories. And therefore, visceral fat suffices. That is one reason, most people have so much difficulty getting rid of belly fat once they have gotten it. 

However, in a critical situation, such as the one I experienced tonight, you have no choice but to rely on subcutaneous fat in order to sustain your physical activity. It's the money you keep under the mattress. It's not a lot, but does in a pinch. 

I kept my motivation by thinking that now I was burning what little calories left in my subcutaneous fat reserve. Every step forward meant a sure weight loss. I was steadily getting closer to my ultimate weight target of 58 kg in which I want to run Tateyama Wakashio Marathon 2019.

My legs were sore, and my upper body was stiff. But the thought that I was doing what was important to achieve my goal kept me going. And when I finally reached home after successfully covering 30 K, a smile was back on my face, and I was so glad that I didn't give up.

To minimize physical soreness on the following day I did sufficient stretching before getting inside home. Once I took a shower and hit the bed, I kept on sleeping for 11 hours non-stop. When I woke up, I was engulfed with indescribable mental calmness. 

I had breakfast consisting of a grilled sardine, a pack of fermented soybeans, and boiled broccoli and spinach. There was little starch food on my plate, because that would kill my effort on the previous night. 

After having breakfast, I hopped on my Kawasaki Vulcan S 650 ABS, and went grocery shopping at a local organic veggie shop, and bought sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beat roots, edible chrysanthemum, dried shrimp, and locally grown kiwi fruits, and so on.  

Tomorrow I have a corporate seminar in Yokohama and a lecture in Akasakamitsuke. I must stay at a hotel that night to get ready for a 7-hour seminar starting at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning. I want to do all the jobs at my highest energy level. So I will skip running training on Tuesday night, and restart it on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, I might go out for a jog just to loosen up my whole body that's a bit sore from the big training yesterday.

 

One-Hour Jog

Dec. 14, 2018
11.6 K: 1:07:22

It was one of the coldest nights this winter. My whole body was still a bit sore, and my lets even sorer from interval training on the previous night, but I thought it's better to jog, no matter how slow it may be, to loosen up my tense leg muscles and other fatigued muscles, so I bundled up and hit the road.

I ran the usual 6 K shuttle course with hills as well as a 600 M straight shuttle course connecting the hilly shuttle course and the water treatment plant, and added two laps of the 2.2 K loop around the water plant.

The streets were deserted, and the cold and stillness of the night kept me focused throughout the training. Overall it was a good practice run. I will give myself a complete rest tomorrow night to get ready for a solid long run on Sunday night.

  

Interval Training: 3 K

Dec. 13, 2018

Last night I was scheduled to do intervals, but I had an early start to give a seven-hour seminar all by myself, and worked overtime to tie up some loose ends at the office after that instead of going straight home after the seminar. So when I got home, I didn't feel motivated enough to do intervals, especially because it was bloody cold outside. So I did high intensity interval training from home instead.

Tonight I felt reasonably recovered, so I was finally able to muster up enough motivation to do intervals. I warmed up by jogging about 4 K, rested for a minute, and took off for the first fast run. I aimed at 3 K at a 4:30/K pace. The target finish time is 13:30. I finished in 12:41.08. That's well under the target, and means that I ran at a 4:14/K pace. I didn't feel like I was running that fast. In fact, I felt heavy, and was thinking that it was due to the HIIT that I had done on the previous night.

But when I was done with the first fast run, I felt burned out, and couldn't bring myself to go for another fast ran. So I jogged for 4 K and finished for the day.

The detail of training tonight is shown below:
Warm Up 4 K: 25:20.86
Rest: 1:00.33
3 K: 12:41.08
Rest: 1:01.52
Warm Down 4 K: 23:48.96
Total 11 K: 1:03:52

25 K Run in MUTEKI

Dec. 9, 2018

25 K: 2:22:16

I ran 25 K in 2:22:26. I ran in split-toe minimalist shoes MUTEKI. I'm too burned out to write any more, except that after I took a shower I weighed a little under 60 kg. It's the first time in 32 years that my weight is below 60 kg.  

************************

It's Dec. 10, 2018. I woke up feeling recovered. Thanks to quick stretching right after the training last night, there is little stiffness left in the legs. I took off my clothes and stepped on the scale. I weigh exactly 60 kg. A slightly increase in weight is probably due to a small meat I had after the training: boiled broccoli, fresh arugula ([ﾙｯｺﾗ]), and a small bowl of miso soup with beaten egg, sliced shiitake mushroom, and chopped spinach. Not much, but just enough to supplement my body with all the minerals and vitamins that I lost through perspiration.

When I woke up this morning, though, I thought I would be hungry. But to my surprise, I didn't feel like a big breakfast. So I had left-over miso soup with dried sardines in it. They had gotten soggy from soaking up all the soup. They are a good source of protein. I had some fresh arugula left over from last night, so I had it too. But other than that I didn't eat anything. Not that I wanted to keep the weight I had. I simply felt mysteriously satisfied with that soup alone.

At noon I was in Ueno, buying sushi at Ohedo's to eat it with my bilingual companion later on. While I was waiting for my order to be ready, I grabbed a few dishes of nigiri. By then I was reasonably hungry. I had cod's white roe to take in cholesterol. I had two dishes of yellow-tail. Most yellow-tails are grown in sea farms nowadays. But the one I had was wild one. How can you tell? The chef said so. But how can you tell he tells the truth? Well, I know it's true, because I've seen meat from a wild yellow-tail countless times because my parents were running a sushi restaurant, and I had seen the real McCoy for years until they retired. The meat from a fish grown in a sea farm is very fatty, usually unnaturally marbled while that from a wild one is less so, and looks kind of evenly pinkish. I had four pieces today. They were quite satisfying. 

Now let me get back to talking about my training last night. I started off without deciding how far to go. My first destination was the Kashiwai Water Treatment Plant. On the map it says it's 3.6 K away from home. Last time I Google-mapped the route it said 3.7 K. Funny. Anyhow, whichever is right, it's a good distance for warm up. 

It was the coldest night this winter, so I bundled up. I had my headset on and listened to a lecture by Brian Tracy of "The New Psychology of Selling". Brian is an excellent speaker, witty, informative, and enthusiastic. His speech would keep me motivated during the run.  

Once I reached the water plant, I started lapping it. The course is very easy to run. There isn't much traffic, especially late at night. The road surface is fairly well-maintained with few pot holes or rough spots. Also, it's rich in undulation. All four races scheduled for next year are hilly. It provides me with a perfect condition for preparing for the races.  

How many laps I would do was a big question. I said to myself minimum six. 2.2 K by six makes 13.2 K. Suppose it's 3.7 K between home and the plant, a round trip makes 7.4 K. 13.2 plus 7.4 K makes 20.6 K. It'd be a solid run.

As I was about to finish my 5th lap, though, I felt like going farther. It's not easy to gather up motivation to go for a long run. It's only once or twice a week at best. I'm too busy to do it on weekdays. So I wanted to take the opportunity when I felt strong enough to go farther.

Inner talk set in. I said to myself, "All right. One more lap, and it's six. Your original target. Then you can go home, take a warm shower, and crash." This has a tremendously powerful influence on my sub-conscious. It stops resisting. My mind-body is not relaxed. I feel less fatigued. A mere prospect of approaching end of hard training is sufficient to reset your motivation.

When you are relaxed, you feel less tired. When you are done with the 6th lap, naturally you are ready to go farther. I continued to move on.

While running the 7th lap, I found myself continuing to talk with myself. Doing a little math also. 2.2 K by 7 makes 15.4 K. 15.4 K plus 7.4 K makes 22.8 K. That's a good distance, because it's already beyond half marathon distance. I'm feeling good. But then suddenly I start feeling hungry! Oh, God, what should I do? Go home soon and eat something? That thought was so tempting. But then another side of me says something else: "Hey, Gak, good for you! You've finally reached the point where your body fat is mostly gone, and you're tapping the love handles for energy!" I have this personal goal of running a full marathon next January weighing between 58 kg and 59 kg. And shedding a few pounds off my waist is a big contributor in further weight loss. I could feel renewed motivation rising up inside me. But since I hadn't run beyond half marathon distance for so long, it started taking a toll on my legs. I felt slight tightness building up in my left hamstring. I made conscious effort to loosen up my body. I even slowed down a bit. I checked my running form and tried to eliminate any element of inefficiency.

When I finally completed 8 laps, I felt tremendously rewarded. I went back the second half of the shuttle course between the water plant and home to cover 25 K in 2:22:16. 

Barefoot 9 K Build-Up

Dec. 7, 2018

Warm Up 550 M: 3:30.58

1st 4.6 K: 25:38.62

2nd 4.6 K: 23.25.49

Warm Down 550 M: 3:28.66

Total 10.3 K 56:03.34 

Ever since I got a huge bloody blister in my right sole I had avoided running barefoot, but it's heeled now, and pain is all gone, so I went out for a practice run without shoes tonight. The moment I hit the road I realized how much I had missed that great feeling of directly contacting the cold pavement on my sole.

I chose the 4.6 K loop shown in the picture above. It's my recent favorite. There are some reasons. One, it's rich in undulation. I can practice strategically adjusting my running form according to the level of incline of slopes for maximum running efficiency. Two, the road surface condition is largely smooth, but occasionally rough. This forces me to pay careful attention to the road condition as I go on. It's something you are constantly required to do when you run a barefoot race without knowing the road condition in advance. 

Tonight I made the session a build-up one by running the second lap faster than the first one, mainly to keep myself motivated. I'm not good at staying motivated when running a long distance at the same pace. The so-called pace run is something I tend to avoid doing. But I think it's OK. Everyone has a weak point. I do many kinds of other quality training. They should make up for the absence of pace run.  

Wednesday Night Hill Intervals: 3 Sets by 2.2 K

Dec. 6, 2018

Warm Up 5.45 K: 34:22.00

Rest: 1:00.04

<Intervals: 6.6 K>

1st 2.2 K: 9.22.05

Rest: 1:00.36

2nd 2.2 K: 9:42.34

Rest: 1:00.19

3rd 2.2 K: 9:24.31

Rest: 1:00.28

Warm Down: 5.45 K: 32:51.55

Total 17.5 K: 1:39:43

A day after doing a 14 K run, I thought I would be too fatigued to do intervals. But I wasn't. So I hit the road as usual. Just to keep myself motivated, I chose to them in a different course 3.7 K away from home, around the Kashiwai Water Treatment Plant. (See above) One lap is 2.2 K. There is a park across the street where tap water is available. It's good for hydration. There is a bush in one corner, which serves as a natural Porta Potti. 

The 2.2 K loop largely looks flat, but you'll notice once you run that there is slight undulation. Plus, there are two moderate down slops and one steep downhill, and one long and steep uphill on one of the longer stretches. It provides me with a perfect environment for building the skills and strength required to run the coming two races scheduled next January and February. Both are extremely hill races.

Although my body shouldn't be in an ideal condition because I donated blood just a couple of days ago, I wasn't too out of breath after running the target distance that was slightly longer than usual. (I usually do intervals with 1 K) Again, I believe it owes a lot to my recent weight loss. 

If I continue to stick to my recent veggie-centered, low starchy diet, and if I discipline myself with rigorous training, it seems not impossible to reduce my weight to below 60 kg. Should that happen, running will be a lot more fun, and I will be prepared to do even more challenging things with higher targets that I would never have imagined myself achieving... 

Post-Race Jog with One Fast Run

Dec. 4, 2018.
Warm Up 5.9 K: 35:48.46
Fast Run 2.2 K: 9:02.64
Warm Down 5.9 K: 36:38.17
Total 14 K: 1:21:29

Two days after the race on Sunday, the pain in the soles was gone, and I was ready for a practice run. It had rained a bit before I got home, and the road was wet, but the air was unusually warm for the season, so I hit the road in shorts and short-sleeved shirt. I took off without deciding how far I would go. I just wanted to go with the flow, and follow my instinct.

I headed for the Kashiwai Water Treatment Plant 3.7 K from home. When I got there, I jogged around it once, and then did a fast run around it once, and jogged around it again, and jogged back home.

It's 2.2 K to make a full circle around the plant. It took me 9:02.64 to run it. It translates to running 1 K in 4:07. Not bad.

I donated 400 cc of my blood yesterday. I also lost a significant amount of red blood cells from running a long and fast race. There are big disadvantages for the fast run, but I felt light throughout the run. I think it owes a lot to my recent weight loss.

I weighed 60.5 kg when I got home from the run. That means I have lost almost 2.5 kg since I ran the Aqua Line Marathon. The weight loss was mainly achieved through constant running training, vegetable-centered, low-starchy diet. It works for me. I will stick to it for a while.   

Race Report: Hadano Tanzawa Minase River Half Marathon 2018

On Dec.2, 2018 Hadano Tanzawa Minase River Half Marathon 2018 took place. I finished in 1:41:46 gross, and 1:41:24 net. It is my third best time for this particular course. My PR is 1:38:44 net from the previous year. Time wise I'm almost three minute slower. But nevertheless the race this year is far more memorable for me, because for the first time in my life did I run the entire distance of a half marathon in complete bare feet. Now when I say "complete bare feet", it means not even having kinetic tape on the sole for minimum skin protection. Up until the race began, I had run two races in this way. But both races were 10 K. I had run longer distances in training. But not in any races. In training you can choose to run those roads that are suitable for barefoot training. Smooth pavement, and no rough surface, and all that. But in a real race, you just accept everything that's presented to you. And I knew from my careful observation in the previous year that the road surface condition in this course sucks!! But that's my whole reason why I wanted to go for it. If I could run it barefoot, I would be able to run any race in the same way. 

The gun went off at 8:45 am in brisk cold air of early winter. The first 5 K includes two shuttle stretches rich in undulation. I could feel sweat beading on my forehead. Near the 5 K mark I dropped by the aid station and grabbed a cup of sports drink. There is still a long way ahead, so I slowed down a little to have the drink without choking. 

Once past the aid station, the course turned northbound toward the Tanzawa mountain range. The road started climbing for a while, and then after running for about five minutes it turned westbound into a long series of ups and downs that was going to last for 9 kilometers. 

I felt light thanks to a slight weight loss after the Aqua Line Marathon in October. I had some fun chats with a few runners who showed their interest in my barefoot attempt. I was full of energy and high spirits, and my soles were both still intact.

Then came an area where the road surface suddenly deteriorated. I almost came to a complete halt because of unexpected pain that traveled through my backbone. I almost walked instead of running, carefully choosing to step on areas that were less rough no matter how slight the difference may be. Once the rough part ended, I sped up to make up for the time loss. But in no time another rough part came. I  had no choice but slow down, being overtaken by God knows how many runners coming from behind.

When I finally reached the highest point in the race near the 15 K mark, I almost cried with joy. The iconic suspension bridge welcomed us runners. As I crossed it, I enjoyed the comfortable feel of the stone tiles on my sole. I enjoyed two cups of drink at the aid station, one cup being water and the other sports drink. 

Once I left the aid station behind, I changed gears and hammered down the hill, overtaking one runner after another who were exhausted from working too hard on uphills. I was pleasantly surprised at my brisk cadence. It was thanks to frequent slow-downs due to the bad road condition. I was actually recovering thanks to the slow-downs, so I still had enough energy left in my tank to put on a substantial spurt. 

Every now and then the road condition got bad, but thanks to an adrenaline rush I didn't feel much pain. I pressed on, and on, and on.

When the finish arch was finally in sight, I saw my bilingual companion and her friend chatting with each other without having the slightest expectation to see me so soon. I waved at them. They finally noticed me approaching. But I quickly run past them, and they had no time to get their smartphones ready for photo-shooting!  

I kept a good pace around the track and kicked one last time down the final stretch to cross the finish line at the time that I mentioned before.

I was engulfed with a tremendous feeling of satisfaction both because of an unexpectedly good time, but more because of the fact that I kept the promise I had made with myself--to complete a half marathon in complete bare feet.

That night I stayed at a hotel in Machida City. I finally started feeling significant pain in both of my soles. I found myself limping while strolling through town to look for a place to eat in. But I couldn't shake a grin off my face, because I was so damn happy to have achieved the goal.

My next challenge is almost seven weeks ahead. It is Tateyama Wakashio Marathon 2019 in the last Sunday of next January. My goal is to run a barefoot sub-4 marathon. I will wholeheartedly commit myself to doing it for the next seven weeks so that I wouldn't need to make a lame excuse for not being able to achieve it. 

Final Phase Conditioning (3): 13 K Jog

Nov. 29, 2018

With three days remaining before Hadano Tanzawa Minase River Half Marathon 2018, I went out for a slow jog for an hour and 17 minutes 33 seconds. I set off without deciding how far or how long I would run, but just went with the flow. It was pleasantly cold, and there was no wind. It's a perfect condition for a jog at an easy pace. I didn't want to make it to mechanical, so I went into a terrain that I don't normally explore, the area around the Kashiwai Water Treatment Plant. When you run around the plant, it's roughly 2.2 K. There is one downhill and one uphill. The remaining part is flat. It's a good loop to do intervals and hill sprints I thought.

Tonight, although I stuck to a very easy pace, but carefully chose roads that were rich in undulation, because the race I'm running this Sunday is characterized with ups and downs. I wanted to be mentally prepared. As far as physical preparation goes, there isn't much I can do to improve my fundamentals.

Overall, it was a very refreshing, pain-free, and stress-free, relatively long run. I am glad I ran.

Tomorrow I will give myself a complete rest. I will do some stretching. But other than that, I will crash as soon as I get home to get ready for an early start on Saturday morning.

Body Weight Cardio Intervals: 7 Sets by One Minute

I had an hour jog scheduled for tonight. But it was rained out. So I did body weight intervals instead, mainly hitting the muscles required in running.

Final Phase Conditioning (2): One-Minute Alternate Runs

Nov. 27, 2018

With five days remaining before Hadano Tanzawa Minase River Half Marathon 2018, I did speed-focused training: one-minute alternate runs. I was inspired to do it when I came across the training while reading "Running with the Kenyans" by Adharanand Finn. It's less stressful than interval training, but good when you do not have many hours to do long slow cardio, but still want to have a good sweat. 

After brief warm up I did ten sets of alternate runs, one slow run and one fast run. Before jogging back home, I stopped by a small park and did swing push ups to hit my chest and core. 

I was not going to eat anything after the training, but I was so hungry that I had a bowl of miso soup, a pack of fermented soybeans with black sesami seeds and dried shrimped sprinkled on them, and a small piece of left-over grilled sea bream. Nothing starchy, because that would have killed my effort to lose weight for the race. 

Final Phase Conditioning Before "Hadano Tanzawa Minase River Half Marathon 2018"

Nov. 26, 2018

Ran for 1:47:55 in bare feet.

Six days to go before Hadano Tanzawa Minase River Half Marathon. My ultimate goal there is to complete the race in bare feet, and to finish under the time set at the Road Race Chikura in September. Speed is not my concern as I renewed my PR for 10 K two weeks ago. But I hadn't run half marathon distance since 12th of this month, so I wanted to run a distance close to that of the race. 

I started off without deciding on how far I was running. Instead I went with the flow, running a number of different courses that I run regularly until I felt I ran enough for the night. I'm not sure how many Ks I ran, but I have a pretty good idea of my running pace; it was between 6:00/K to 6:15/K. So I probably ran around 17 or 18 K. I stopped before I felt burned out, because it would take time to reset your motivation after that.

In addition to getting used to the race distance, I had one other goal tonight: to check my running form to minimize damage to the bare sole. I chose a few new routes on purpose that I had not tried before in order to activate my system to spontaneously adjust to the changing road surface condition. It worked. Thanks to the training tonight, I will not be so stressed by sudden or unexpected changing of road conditions. I will adjust my running form accordingly just as I did in the training tonight.