Hill Intervals: 2 Sets by 1 K @ 4:05

Oct. 31, 2019
Warm Up 3 K: 17:41.21
Rest: 1:00.07
<Intervals: Target 4:05/K>
1st K: 3:50.64
Rest: 1:00.11
2nd K: 3:46.25
Rest: 1:00.26
Warm Down 3 K + Park Workout : 22:47.62
Total 8 K: 51:06.16

I did hill interval training this morning.
I don't usually do it in the morning. I'm nocturnal.
I tend to feel more focused at night.
Plus, traffic is less at night than in the morning.
So it's safter to run at night as well.
But last night I had a slight headache
probably from chronic shortage of sleep.
So I decided to take a short nap,
hoping that I'd be strong enough to run
after an hour of lying in bed.

When I opened my eyes again, it was 7 hours later,
and I still felt sleepy. So I slept two more hours
and got up at 10:00 am. I slept 9 and a half hours.
Though I missed my midnight training,
I felt reasonably recovered, ready to hit the road.

I changed into my running gear and headed for the hilly shuttle course
where I was planning to run last night.

My body felt heavy, and I was worried that I might not meet the challenge.
The challenge is running 1 K @ 4:05, and repeat it 5 more times with a minute's rest.

I calibrated the alignment of my joints as I ran along, trying to find the most efficient form that generated maximum power with minimum effort. I reached the venue before I was satisfied. But there was no waiting.

After taking a short break, I lifted off for the first set, hammering down the road like a thunder. I knew I was going a lot faster than my usual training pace. This time the goal is different. I usually train for full marathon. This morning I trained for 10 K. I must build greater lactic acid tolerance. To raise the threshold I must run faster, and sustain the effort at  least for 41 minutes.

The first half of the course is downhill. Iliacus muscles aren't that required. But quads are tremendously activated. I could feel them cry as I banged down the hill.

Then the second half is uphill. It's steep and long. This time iliacus muscles are  tremendously activated. I must raise my knees nice and quick and turn each kick into forward momentum. My strides got shorter to improve running economy. But if I do it too much, I sacrifice speed. I ran through a fine line between maintaining speed and optimizing running economy.

The first lap was 3:50.64. Well under the target. But I was out of breath, already on the verge of getting burned out.

I rested for a minute. While resting, I wondered whether I should go for another set or not. The first set was so fast. I felt like I'd had enough for the day. But I decided to give it another try, no matter how pathetic the set might become.

As I set off for the second run, I immediately knew that it wouldn't be a good set. My legs were heavy, and breathing was difficult. But I pressed on nonetheless.

The second set, which is going the route of the first set in the reverse direction, begins with a steep downhill. It sounds easy, but puts a tremendous amount of stress on the quads.

Once you hit the bottom of the downhill, a short flat stretch continues. This is where I readjust the alignment of my body, trying to find the best form to attack the forthcoming uphill. Then when I reach the bottom of the uphill, I change my gear, take a little shorter strides and quicker steps, and use my arm swing more to create a driving force up the hill.

The lap was 3:46.25. To my surprise the time was better than the first. I was satisfied. But there wasn't a drop of gas left in my tank. I feebly walked to and fro to calm down my breath. A minute later I weakly headed back home.

On the way back I stopped by a small park to get some water and do some bicep workout. Later on when I passed yet another park, much larger, I did hand-clap push-ups just because I was in a mood for it.

When I got home, took a warm quick shower, and had a healthy breakfast consisting of grilled fish, boiled pork guts, boiled veggies, yogurt, and fresh fruits, I felt like a new man who was so full of energy that he could do anything.

Saturday Midnight 30 K Run in Hand-Made Huaraches

Oct. 26, 2019
<Tempo Run>
13.1 K: 1:12:11
13.1 K: 1:09:14 
Subtotal 26.2 K: 2:21:26
<Warm Down>
3.8 K: 28:50.10
Total 30 K: 2:50:16.10

I ran 30 K in huaraches on Saturday night. I was exhausted and sleep after coming home from work. So I took a nap after dinner before getting out for a run.

The huaraches that I ran in tonight are made with second-hand in-soles and rope sold at out-door shops. 

They are thin and light, perfect for a minimalist runner such as myself. 

I first ran a 9.9 K course leading to the Kashiwai Water Treatment Plant. I then covered a combination of a 2.2 K and a 1 K loop twice. 

After that I returned the same 9.9 course. It's a solid 26.2 K run. 

I was so hungry when I got home. I got inside and grabbed a few pieces of fruits. This lifted my spirits. I went out again to jog another 3.8 K to make it a 30 K run. 

That I did, with my legs aching and soles sore. But when I finally got home after running those extra miles, I suddenly felt light, with all the pain mysteriously forgotten. 

That night I took a warm long bath that almost reached the point being heavenly. 

The following day, with my weekend athletic mission already accomplished, I went out for a pleasant bike ride to Chigasaki. The sunset seen from the metropolitan highway Yokohane Line was dramatic. 

Pre-Dawn Run

Oct. 26, 2019

I ran before dawn.

The last several days were brutally packed with high priority missions, and I had no choice but to hit the bed at the earliest possible time after coming home from work instead of hitting the road to refresh myself as I would normally have done, had the schedule not been so insanely hectic. But the worst is over, at least for this week. I have one more day to work, but tomorrow and the following day are off, and I have full two days all to myself. It gave me the will power to get up early, change into athletic gear, get out for a morning run!

Now back to talking about running before dawn. It was awesome. Before dawn is by far the most beautiful time of day. I know it. I've known it for so long. And I will always feel the same way about it. And yet it's the part of a day that has been least utilized by me. For an obvious reason. I come home late. The earliest I can crash is between midnight and 1:00 am at the earliest. I usually hit the sack between 1 and 2. To give myself a medically recommended sleep of 7 to 8 hours I must sleep until 8 or 9 am. It doesn't allow me to make use of the hours before dawn unless I compromise on sleep, which is the last thing I want to do.

So why did I wake up so early? Well, on Saturdays I have an early start anyway. My first lecture is 9:50 am. I've got to be at the office by 9:00 am at the latest. To be there then I must catch the 7:47 train. To catch that train I gotta leave home by 7:35 at the latest. To leave home by then I want to give myself a good one hour to take a shower, eat breakfast, and get changed. So I should be up by 6:30 am. Now if I get up this early, getting up 45 minutes earlier doesn't make much of a difference. So this morning I got up at 5:45 and hit the nearby park to do some laps around the 500 M loop.

The park was deserted when I got there. The track was mushy from heavy rains on the previous day. I had aqua shoes on. But the sole is meshy, so the moisture in the soil reaches my sole. It was nice and cool. As time went by elderly neighbors gathered in twos and threes to take a walk. They looked like herbivores who came to a swamp to drink water before predators became active...

Here and there I spotted interesting formations made of bits of dead weed. They are bands a meter or so in length and less than half a meter in width. They appeared to be bits of weed that floated on puddles created by the rain. Later on when the rain stopped, and water was absorbed into the soil, those bits of weed remained on the surface of the soil, thus leaving a trace that looked like a band or a river of weed...

I feel refreshed now almost two hours after the run. I don't think I can do it often. But I want to do it whenever I can.

Two-Hour Run (23 K) in Huaraches

Oct. 22, 2019
Warm up 880 M: 4:58.14
Rest: 24.71
6 K: 30:58.25
Rest: 1:00.41
6 K: 28:35.80
Rest: 30.50
6 K: 29:05.10
Rest: 30.59
Warm down 4.13 K: 28:08.04
Total 23.01 K: 2:04:11

I ran in flip-flops. They are light. They also protect the sole from injury. But they are not comfortable compared with split-toe minimalist shoes MUTEKI and running in bare feet. The biggest drawback is lack of flexibility. I've seen two materials for flip-flops. One is spongy, but not durable. The other is durable but does not have flexibility. Both seem not good for running a race seriously. The race is coming soon. I must decide what to wear (or not to wear). I know one guy is running the race in bare feet, and he is going to go for breaking the national record for barerfoot full marathon. He is on another level. I'm an average citizen runner. I must be realistic. About a month ago I checked part of the course. The road surface was rather rough, and didn't look good for running in bare feet (at least for me!). I have three options in mind:
1) Hand-made huaraches
2) Oleno's running socks
3) Aqua shoes

1) Hand-made huaraches match my running costume most. My running costume is a tiger print one-piece. And huaraches just beautifully blend in. But I ran a race in huaraches only once, and that race was a disaster. One of the shoe laces got loose while running, and part of a foot got scraped. I learned a better way to tie them. So technical problems are supposed to have been solved. Plus the problems mentioned above occurred in a race that was ridiculously hilly. The huaraches had to endure a tremendous amount of shock. The race in December is almost flat. So damage to the shoes should be far smaller.  Nonetheless, you never know what can happen in the race. A little anxiety remains...

2) Oleno's running socks are a realistic choice. They protect the sole. But protection is minimum. There is reddish brown, which kind of blends in to my tiger costume. They are open-toe, so there is a little bit of barefoot-ness. But I've never run a single race in those socks. Well, since I ran many races in bare feet already, there is nothing I should worry about. But as I said, the course presents a rather rough road condition. Will they withstand it? God only knows.

3) Aqua shoes at this point seem the best option. They have been already tested. I ran the Tateyama Wakashio Marathon 2018 in aqua shoes, and I renewed my PR. Tateyama has a rather poor road condition, and the shoes withstood the entire distance. So why not in the Shonan Kokusai Marathon as well. The colors are neon yellow and blue. They do not seem to match the tiger costume, but they do in a funny way, because their pattern is kind of tiger-ish. The only drawback is that there is no nakedness. They don't win much respect from cheering audiences. One merit of these shoes, though, is that they are so light and elastic that you can roll them up, and put them into a pouch that I will be carrying on my waist. So after running the first 10 K or half and if I feel that I can go the rest without shoes, I may just take them off and run the rest in bare feet. Just a thought. I might change my mind. There is still some time. I'll do more thinking and make my final decision.

Morning Jog & Sprints

Oct. 21, 2019

It's been 8 days since I ran last. I've been busy with corporate seminars and chosen to focus on work while compromising on long-distance training. Now that the hardest period is over, and also that going for a long bike ride on my day off allowed me to recharge my body's batteries, I finally threw myself into my running gear and hit the nearby park for a jog and sprints. 

I ran a  500-M loop in the park 8 times to cover 4 K, and did 4 short sprints with each preceded by 5 hand-clap push-ups.

I'm not an early riser. I am more nocturnal. But that doesn't not mean I don't enjoy running in the morning. In fact, I love running in the morning. But I  work between 12:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and get back home around 11:30 p.m. Waking up before dawn would only give me several hours of sleep. I don't find it enough. I need minimum 7 hours of sleep, preferably 8. So I have chosen to run at night and wake up late in the morning. It works for me . But whenever I get to hit the bed early, I'll try to wake up early and work out in the morning.

Tomorrow is off. I can sleep late. It doesn't matter how much I work out tonight. I hope to go for a long run tonight to make up for the absence of training in the past 8 days. In exactly one month, I have a 10 K race. I aim at breaking the 41 minute barrier. It's no big deal for many citizen runners. But it's a huge challenge for me. Years back I would never have imagined that I would even consider reaching there. But constant effort has brought me to the point where not only do I want to give it a shot, but also I feel it's doable if I put my mind and body to it. 

Double Training Part 2: 3 Sets by 6 K Tempo Run @ 4:55/K

Oct. 14, 2019

Jog 880 M: 5:22.09
Rest: 1:00.66
1st 6 K: 29:40.70
Rest: 30.70
2nd 6 K: 29:09.42
Rest: 1:04.47
Last 6 K: 29:18.83
Jog 880 M: 6:06.10
Total 19.76 K: 1:42:12  

Running volume is key to success. So I split my daily training into two parts, one in the morning, and the other at night. This way I can reset my motivation in the second session, being able to run a longer distance than when I try to run the same distance in one go.

Earlier today I ran 16.76 K. Tonight I aimed at running minimum 12 K, but ideally 18 K. On top of that I aimed to run faster. The target pace is 4:55 per K.

I jogged to the start area, which is a corner of a large park. From there I run a 6 K course three times with a short rest between sets. If I return in 29:30, then the target is made.  

The first lap was 29:40.70, 10 seconds out of the target. I was originally planning to rest for a minute, but since the time was worse, I decided to leave for the next set only after resting for 30 seconds. 

I returned in 29:09.42, more than 20 seconds inside the target. While running my second lap, I had a minor patch and wanted to slow down. But then if I did, I would fail to meet the goal twice in a row, and I stuck to the brink pace I was running at, telling myself that I could call it quits after the second set. This is all mental trick to keep myself motivated.

Once you return, the target is achieved, and then are allowed to rest awhile, your motivation comes back to you, and you soon find out that you are ready to go again. So I went for the last set.

Breathing became only slightly hard. Leg joints started hurting a little. Your body feels a little heavy. And you feel like changing a 6 K tempo run to just a 6 K jog. But as the goal approaches, you get an adrenaline rush and pain starts subsiding. I pressed on, corning an intersection like on a rail and hammering through the last stretch in track mode. I returned in 29:18.83, easily inside the target.

So I did three 6 K tempo runs to cover 18 K, and jogging to and back from the park is 880 M by 2, so it's 1,760 M. So tonight I ran 19.76 K. I ran 16.76 K in the morning, so today's total running distance is 36.52 K.

In the past if I ran more than 30 K in one day, I couldn't move an inch that night. Now I am almost pain-free. I feel I have become stronger.

1.5 Hour Run

Oct. 13, 2019
1:30:25: 16.76 K

The day after Eliud Kipchoge and his team made history by breaking the last barrier of modern athletics in the Ineos 1:59 Challenge, I was full of high spirit, ready to hit the road to prepare my mindbody for the races that I'm scheduled to run in November and December.

Ordinarily, I would do a tempo run, but I wasn't able to train for a couple of days due to a typhoon, so I decided to begin with a jog.

The air after the typhoon's gone was nice and dry. The temperature rose gradually as I ran, but I kind of enjoyed it. I wanted to run in bare feet, but I'm still treating a blister in my right sole, so for minimum protection I put on split-toe minimalist shoes MUTEKI. (See below.)

I ran the new 6 K course below that I recently discovered on Google Map. I like it for a number of reasons:

1) I don't need worry about traffic much.

2) There are a few parks along the course where tap water and toilets are available.

3) It's rich in undulation.

4) There aren't too many twist and turns. 

I ran the course twice and ran extra 3 K in the park near my house. It's all grass and felt good for my knees and feet after banging on the concrete. I covered 16.76 K in 1:30:25. Perfect conditioning workout to bring the mindbody back to racing mode.  

Tonight I hope to run again. I want to do three sets of a 6 K tempo run with the target lap being 29:30. I'll probably do it after watching the rugby game between Japan and Scotland. 

Short Intervals: 6 Sets by 400 M + 3 Sets by 650 M

Oct.8, 2019

I was too tired to run. This past two days I had a big corporate seminar. The first was in Osaka. And the other was in Osaki. Yesterday I was scheduled to run 10 K. But when I got home from the business trip, I was so sleepy because I woke up at 5:30 that morning. Plus, I was scheduled to have another seminar that was four hours in total. I knew I should save energy for the job. So I hit the bed as soon as I got home. 

Tonight I was scheduled to run, but again felt so sleepy and exhausted to run. I was worried. Absence of training could kill the benefit of the good training on Sunday... I lay in bed for a couple of hours to see how I'd feel when I got up. 

Luckily when I woke up from a brief nap, I was ready to run. But I wasn't in a mood to go for a long monotonous one.  I wanted something nice and intensive, but not too long. I decided to do some short fast reps. I jogged from home to the 400 M stretch and did  6 repeats.

To my surprise when the session was over, my energy was back. I was prepared to do a little longer run. I jogged back to the quarter-pie-shaped loop above and did 3 fast runs around it. The result is shown below:

Warm Up 550 M: 4:30.52
<Short Intervals Part 1>
①400 M Fast Run: 1:20.86
400 M Jog: 2:52.00
②400 M Fast Run: 1:29.48
400 M Jog: 2:48.00
③400 M Fast Run: 1:29.94
400 M Jog: 2:43.18
④400 M Fast Run: 1:27.68
400 M Jog: 2:45.99 
⑤400 M Fast Run: 1:25.30
400 M Jog: 2:45.11
⑥400 M Fast Run: 1:26.50
400 M Jog: 3:00.67
<Short Intervals Part ２>
①650 M Fast Run: 2:41.64
Jog: 1:20.28
②650 M Fast Run: 2:41.78
Jog: 1:35.68
③650 M Fast Run: 2:39.99
Jog: 1:25.93
Total: 42:30.93

I haven't decided what training to do tomorrow. I'll just ask my mindbody and see what it says.

Tempo Run @ 4:55/K: 2 Sets by 6 K with 1-Minute Rest

Oct. 6, 2019
Warm Up 900 M: 5:29.75
Rest: 1:00.47
<Temp Run: Target=29:30 for 6 K (@ 4:55/K)>
1st 6 K: 27:26.33 (@ 4:34/K)
Rest: 59.45
2nd 6 K: 27:58.34 (@ 4:40/K)
Warm Down 900 M: 5:57.89
Total 13.8 K: 1:08:52

Two days after interval training, I was up for yet another session of speed training. Tonight it's tempo run. My goal was running 6 K @ 4:55/K pace to cover the distance in 29:30. This alone is not challenging for me. I ran 10 K in 41:02 last year. But the goal tonight is to repeat it minimum twice with one-minute rest between reps, preferably three times.

I put on a pair of aqua shoes for minimum protection, and ran the new 6 K course below. It's rich in undulation, and good to simulate ups and downs always present in real races. 

When you run a new course, it's difficult to judge your pace. You generally tend to run faster, because you don't want to fail to finish under your target by running too comfortably. 

But that's exactly what happened in the first 6 K. I was way under the target.

I relaxed a little in the second set, paying attention to my breathing. In the target race on the 1st of December, I should be able to easily maintain the target pace at least until 36 K. And hopefully, if everything comes together nicely, I hope to be able to surge in the last 6 K. So I made conscious effort to find the most comfortable breathing tempo that is sustainable for a long time. Tonight I tried something I might want to call a waltz tempo--three steps for breathing in and three steps for breathing out. I aim at a cadence of 180 per minute, and this waltz tempo worked for me at least tonight. It became a little tough to keep when climbing a hill. But that's understandable. Plus, I was under the target, so breathing should be easier if I ran more slowly. 

Anyway, I called it quits when the second run was over because I have a very early start tomorrow, and it's a very important job where I should be full of energy.

After I got home, I took a long warm bath, and gave my legs a good massage. I feel very good about the training tonight. 

Tomorrow, I want to run the same course again, but at a much slower pace just to help my legs recover. I may run it from the opposite direction just for a change. I may run in bare feet just to feel refreshed. But I haven't decided yet. Too much rigorous planning can kill your motivation.

Interval Training: 6 Sets by 1 K @ 4:30/K

Oct. 4, 2019
Warm Up 3.71 K: 21:04.60
Rest: 1:00.17
<Intervals>
1st K: 4:13.86
Rest: 1:00.34
2nd K: 3:57.79
Rest: 1:00.31
3rd K: 4:20.25
Rest: 1:00.37
4th K: 4:17.91
Rest: 1:00.09
5th K: 4:26.90
Rest: 1:00.22
6th K: 3:52.76
Rest: 1:00.39
Warm Down 3.71 K: 23:00.42
Total 13.42 K: 1:16.16

I felt sick to my stomach before doing it, felt like shit during it, and felt like I was in seventh heaven when it's done. That's what interval training boils down to.

My minimum target was to run each K under 4:30. But I also wanted to run a couple of laps under 4:05, which is the pace I must keep in order to renew my PR in the 10 K race scheduled in November. Last year I ran in 41:02. This year I want to break the 41 minute barrier.

One-Hour Barefoot Run

Oct. 3, 2019

5.1 K: 28:33.30

5.1 K: 24:49.79

Sub Total 10.2 K: 53:23.09

1.2 K: 7:00.97

Total 11.2 K: 1:00:24

Taking a full rest on the previous night I felt fully recovered tonight. I went out for a 10 K run as scheduled. I ran in bare feet as I wasn't going to run at a fast pace. But I wanted to negative-split it by running the second half faster than the first one to add a small element of challenge. 

When I got back home, it was well under one hour of running, so I turned around and continued to jog for a little while around a 880-M loop near my house. When I got back home again, it was just past one hour, so I called it a day. 

Overall, I feel my running stability has increased since the 26.2 K run last Monday. Tomorrow I want to do some speed training. 

Nozomi Tanaka Renews PR in Women's 5000 M in the IAAF World Championships in Doha

Nozomi Tanaka of Doshisha Univ. renewed her PR for 5000 M in the first qualifying race of women's 5000 M in the IAAF World Championships by crossing the line at 15:04.66. She improved her previous PR by more than 10 seconds!

Throughout the race she stuck closely to the leaders. Shortly before the final lap a slight gap opened up between leading four runners, and Tanaka and one other runner. If she becomes one of the first five to finish, she automatically goes to the final. But otherwise she can do so only by time.

In the home stretch Tanaka gave it everything she had, and overtook the one in the 6th position. 

The second qualifying race saw a much slower pace, and Tanaka's time was one of the fastest among those who weren't among the first five finishers of each qualifier.

Congratulations to the young talent! Let's hope she'll have a good race in the final.

Note: Tanaka won the gold medal in women's 5000 M last year when the World Junior Championships was held in Finland. This was Tanaka's official debut in a senior event.

10 K Recovery Run in Aqua Shoes

Oct. 1, 2019
10.5 K: 1:11:31

What you do after intensive training is important. You feel like taking a complete rest. But if you do, you can kill the benefit of the training on the previous day. However, with some soreness remaining in your legs there is naturally a limit to what you can do. Doing yet another session of intensive training can lead to over-training. There is a risk of unrecoverable soreness that prevents you from training for days. I want to do everything to avoid that.

What's recommended by one experienced former marathoner is LSD. So that's what I did today. 

I aimed for a minimum of 90-minute run. But halfway into it I felt some pain in my right knee. It happens sometimes so I wasn't surprised. Ordinarily I would shrug it off and continue to run. But tonight I didn't have the willpower to endure the pain, nor did I feel the need to put up with it. I simply walked for a while instead. 

After running for a couple of minutes, pain returned. So I switched to walking again. Pain came back again every time I started again, but no pain was anything serious. I just dealt with it until I reached home by alternate running and walking. 

It took me 1:11:31 to cover the distance that ordinarily only takes me less than an hour. But that's OK. The purpose of the training tonight is recovery. 

Incidentally, I tried on the new pair of aqua shoes. To be totally honest, they are far more comfortable than the huaraches I ran in yesterday. So far they are THE BEST foot ware that I've ever run in. If the road is smooth, running barefoot is THE BEST. But if the road condition isn't that great, running in these can beat barefoot running. Running on poorly-maintained asphalt roads is simply painful, and not much fun, only testing a different kind of endurance from long-distance endurance. 

Race Review: The Berlin Marathon 2019

The Berlin Marathon 2019 took place this past Sunday. Kenenisa Bekele (37) of Ethiopia, who is the world record holder for both men's 5000M and 10000M, destroyed the field by the second fastest time in history, falling short only by the tiniest margin of two seconds of Eliud Kipchoge's world best time of 2:01:39 recorded also in Berlin a year earlier. His fellow country man, Birhanu Legese, who had won the Tokyo Marathon this past February, finished 2nd by running a blistering sub-2:03 marathon. Our country man, Kenta Murayama of Asahi Kasei, renewed his PR by 54 seconds as he finished 9th at 2:08:56. Congratulations to all the finishers, and those who achieved their goals.

Two days after the race I sat and watched the full race on You Tube with English commentary. I ignored much of the first half to start watching it from the 16 K mark on or thereabout. 

The race was led by three Ethiopians and one Kenyan after the 26 K mark, of which the Kenyan was the first to drop. The last of all the pacer had already gone by this time, and the leaders were all Ethiopians: men's 5000M&10000M world records holder Kenenisa Bekele, this year's Tokyo Marathon champion Birhanu Legese, and Sisay Lemma, who ran two sub 2:05 marathons in 2018. He began his running career at the age of 17 and initially competed barefoot due to a lack of shoes. He sounds like my type of man.

Of the three, to my surprise, Kenenisa was the first to struggle when Birhanu Legese suddenly injected pace at 30 K. Sisay hung on, but the legendary two records holder was left behind. 

The lap between 30 and 31 K mark was a staggering 2:48. Even great Kenenisa found is a bit too much to hang on to.

Just before the 35 K mark, there was yet another injection of pace, again by Birhanu, and to this the last remaining fellow country man, Sisay, could not respond.

With 7 K remaining, the race appeared to have been decided. But while Birhanu continued on, a drama was unfolding behind him. Kenanisa, who was once unable to respond to Birhanu's first attack at 30 K, was now back, overtaking Sisay and halving the gap between him and Birhanu in a matter of a couple of minutes. And, alas, not only did he catch up to Birhanu, he overtook him and pressed on without hanging around!!

The fortitude he demonstrated both physical and mental was on another level. His lap between 37 and 38 mark was a mind-boggling 2:52. That's Eliud Kipchoge's interval training pace! 

Kenenisa motored on, checking his watch every now and then, obviously aware of his chance of getting very close to the world record.

In the last 4 kilometers or so, he was absolutely in his track mode, with more activity seen in his arms, and his running for somewhat more bouncy. If Eliud Kipchoge had been watching the race live on TV, he must have been a really worried man!

When he crossed the 39 K mark, he was only 9 seconds behind the world record. In the next kilometer, he slowed down slightly, with the gap to the world record widening to 11 seconds. But then again he increased the pace yet again between 40 and 41 K, and when he crossed the 41 K, he was only 5 seconds away from the time Eliud Kipchoge had marked a year earlier. 

Kenenisa pressed on, surrounded by roaring cheers by the spectators from both sides of the last stretch that led from that iconic Brandenburg Gate to the finish line. For a moment I thought that super-human record by Eliud Kipchoge from the previous year might be broken by the king of track. Then when the official clock said 2:01:40 as he crossed the finish, he became the second-fastest, not THE fastest, marathoner of all time. The official time was 2:01:41, two seconds away from the world best, but nonetheless very, very, incredible time, and certainly the race was one of the most memorable of all races so far in 2019.