Six days until Yotsukaido Gas Light 10 K Road Race 2019. Just wanting to get the feel for the course and mentally rehearse the race, I hopped on my scooter to the venue after dinner, and test-ran the entire course.
I parked the scooter in the park near the start line, and took off my windbreaker pants and down-jacket to get ready.
There was some traffic near the start area, but after running for a couple of kilometers into the residential district, it suddenly became quiet, and I was alone on the road.
In the first 2 kilometers there are two steep downhills and uphills. With my legs still fresh I'm hoping to run through this zone under 8:10, though there will be no knowing how fast I'll be going because I won't wear my Ironman running watch. It's too distracting to run with the watch on.
The last few hundred meters of the first 2 K are going down slightly. I want to pick up pace there. Then the course turns left into a long stretch. The road surface is very smooth there. It's perfect for barefoot run. But the last half of this zone is a slight upward incline. This is where running efficiency is most important. If I run too economically, increasing cadence, but shortening strides too much, I can sacrifice time. If I use my quads and calves too much here, my heart rates will go too high, and I can struggle in the second half. I will probably life my knees nice and well so that I can smoothly turn the landing motion into forward movement by using tendon more than muscle.
In the last K of the first half and the first K of the second half, the road condition suddenly gets worse. It gets rough, and the paint of the line is poorly-maintained. So it will be rather uncomfortable 2 kilometers. But this is also the area where I get to see runners who are still on their way to the turning point. I usually get some real good cheering yells from my runner friends around here. I'm hoping they will lift my spirit.
Once the poorly-maintained zone is over, the next 3 kilometers are downhill. This is the only opportunity for me to mark any significant gain, because the last 2 kilometers are ups and downs, and the legs are expected to be suffering from building lactic acid. With roaring cheers from both sides of the road I will give it everything I have to maintain the pace that leads me to the target.
During the test run, what was originally only a slight discomfort in my left calf became a pain, which I had to deal with by slowing down. It must be cure before any serious running training. So tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, I will avoid running and do some core training instead. But I will make it intense, and do it many sets so that I can keep my cardio.
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