Midnight Intervals: 6 Sets by 1 K @ 4:25 with 1-Min Rest Between Sets

May 28, 2021

Warm Up 3.6 K: 20:00.82

Rest: 1:00.25

<Intervals: 6 Sets by 1 K @ 4:25>

1st K: 4:17.88

Rest: 1:00.62

2nd K: 4:15.87  

Rest: 1:00.26

3rd K: 4:17.25

Rest: 1:00.15

4th K: 4:13.11

Rest: 1:00.63

5th K: 4:25.75

Rest: 1:00.48

6th K: 4:20.50

Warm Down 3.4 K: 21:54.07

Total 13 K: 1:13:47 

It'd been a while since I last did intervals. I felt fit and strong. But I was a little afraid if my aging mind-body could withstand the intensity of the training tonight. 

I warmed up for 20 minutes before doing intervals. I like this twenty minutes. It's 20 minutes of inner talk, talk between my mind and body, so to speak. My mind-body complex concluded that I was nice and fit. More than strong enough to go through all six sets strongly. And I believed it. 

My mind-body judgment was right. I completed all 6 sets under the target of 4:25, except for the 5th, where I was 0.75 second slower. But the margin is negligible. I'm afraid I was a little too bullish in the 4th set. I was going a lot faster than I thought I was, which affected my performance in the following K. 

With the interval session completed fairly satisfactorily, I wrapped up my training tonight with another 20-minute warm down jog. This is another favorite time of mine on interval night. Immediately after the interval session, soreness in the legs is maximum. Breathing is still extremely rough. All I can do is limp at first, barely dragging one leg forward after the other. But slowly the soreness eases off as I run along.  About 5 minutes or so into it, breathing suddenly starts feeling so easy, which makes you feel as if you've got lungs twice as large. I love that moment. You kind of feel omnipotent.

Back home fresh bonito sashimi awaited me. I was so glad that I didn't eat it before the training. I would have spewed it all up if I'd had. With my stomach empty, my body felt so light during intervals. And with an empty stomach, the late night meal tasted so good after the run. 

Midnight Barefoot Run

May 26, 2021

10.4 K: 57:00.84

1 K: 4:01.71

2.5 K: 14:47.30

Total 13.9 K: 1:15:49

I listened to three different lectures while jogging. All of them are by Brian Tracy. He is a world-renowned motivational speaker, very successful entrepreneur, sales consultant, and time-management specialist. The list goes on, but I'll stop here. He is very informative. I use his ideas in my work and they always work. 

The first lecture was about being productive. He went through a number of points, but I only took a mental note of one thing: start your day at least two hours prior to going to anywhere with a healthy active habit, like exercise for instance. Then spend at least 30 minutes reading something motivational or educational for your career. 

The second lecture was about creativity. In his opinion creativity is simply improvement. Anything that contributes to making something better is a creative act. 

The third lecture was about improving your communication. According to Brian, the most important thing in improving your relationship with anyone is to make the person feel important. He gave us 5 tips, all of which start with the letter 'a'. They are approval, admiration, appreciation, and two other things which slipped out of my mind. I must review them tomorrow morning. 

That's the mental side of my training session tonight. On the physical side, I started off with some awful soreness in my glutes mainly resulting from the high intensity cardio two days ago. I didn't think I would be able to pick up pace. But to my surprise, my legs were fairly light and my breathing was surprisingly easy. I even surged in the last K of the 11.4 K course that I had originally planned to run for the night. But then when the last fast K went so well, I decided to add another 2. 5 K to wrap up tonight's session. People say if you jog after a fast run, the benefit of the fast run goes up. So I put that theory into practice.  

 

High Intensity Cardio

May 24, 2021

1 K: 5:40.81

2 K: 5:43.77

3 K: 5:42.62

4 K: 5:42.26

Rest: 1:45.39

High Intensity Cardio: 11:36.33

4 Sets by [High knees (30 sec) + Knee to elbow push ups (30 sec) + Jumping leg lunges (30 sec) + Burpees with hand-clap push up & jumping knee tuck (30 sec)]

(30-second rest between sets, but no rest between exercises)

Rest: 1:36.33

5 K: 6:38.02

6 K: 6:19.89

7 K: 5:58.12

8 K: 5:52.07

Total 8 K: 1:02:35

 

Midnight Hill Jog

May 17, 2021

9 K: 50:38.68

1 K: 3:57.33

2.5 K: 14:35.20

Total 12.5 K: 1:09:11

I was off today. I buried my nose in this project that will keep me occupied for the  coming few months. It's not a completely new task. Much of it is revising work. But nonetheless it requires a lot of careful thinking and concentration. Phase 1 of Project 1 is about half done. But I'm fairly ahead of schedule. So, I felt a bit relaxed at the end of the day. I wanted to talk to my body more than my mind, so I threw myself in running gear and hit the road at midnight for that great feeling of keeping all the street to myself. 

I ran along this out-and-back 6 K course without setting any goal. If I feel good when I hit halfway, I may run longer than 6 K. If not, I'll just settle for 6. 

When I got to the 3 K mark, I did feel awesome. So, I ran back and forth between the 3 K and 4 K mark two additional times to make it a solid 10 K run.

With 1 K remaining, I kicked to finish strong. I ran the last K in under 4 minutes. Bravo! I could have called it for a day. But knowing the benefit for a slow jog after a fast run, I gave myself a bonus 2.5 K run just to warm down.  

I feel my mind-body has been going through a transformation from middle age into early old age. Explosive power is slowly but surely waning. But at the same time, I feel a benefit of loss of such power. For example, running economy is definitely improving. Because you have significantly less power, you cannot rely on it. And therefore out of the instinct of survival your mind-body tries to compensate for it with something else. And that is running economy. I feel my body has become a lot lighter too. I weighed myself on the scale after a shower. I did weigh a little lighter. From now on, it will be harder and harder for me to cling to my muscles. It's a sad reality. But again, every cloud has a silver lining. A lighter body can be an advantage in long distance running. So we'll see. 

Midnight Jog & Park Workout

May 14, 2021

When I finished a project that I was scheduled to complete by the end of today, I finally felt completely freed from all the pressures of the world, and immediately got in a mood to refresh myself by something not sedentary. I decided to hit the road for a jog and a nearby park also for a little workout.  It was late. Not even a soul was seen. Not even a cat nor a dog. I had the street and the park all to myself. There is a tremendous feeling of monopoly about running and working out outside late at night. Is it akin to the feeling that the former president of the US feels when he gets a new tower built in an exclusive location of the most exclusive area of the heart of a big city? No way I can tell... 

0.5 K jog: 2:50.11

Part Workout 1: 4:10.52

5 six-second swing push-ups 

12 lying pull-ups by 3 different grip widths

2.9 K jog: 16:12.77 

Part Workout 2: 4:03.99

5 six-second swing push-ups 

50 supinated grip arm flexes to hit bi-ceps

0.5 K jog: 3:20.51

Total 3.9 K: 30:37.51

Sprint Training: 5 Sets by 180 M

May 9, 2021

Warm weather makes me want to run fast. I don't know why. But you can act on the temptation without knowing why. And the result? A great feeling of accomplishment. And improved fitness.

<Jogging 1>

1st K:  5:44.13

2dn K: 5:20.08

3rd K: 5:29.65

4th K: 5:30.15

Rest: 1:30.33

<180 M Sprint>

1st: 27.75

Active rest: 2:00.66

2nd: 31.34

Active rest: 2:00.76

3rd: 31.36

Active rest: 2:00.762:00.38

4th: 33.96

Active rest: 2:00.41

5th: 35.50

Active rest: 1:28.08

***********

<Jogging 2>

1st & 2nd K: 12:11.44

3rd K: 5:52.04

4th K: 5:40.85

Extra 500 M: 2:49.50

Total: 10.3 K: 1:02:18

Golden Week Holiday Project: 2-Hour LSD

May 2, 2021

20.4 K: 2:01:25

I got one important project done today. To reward myself for the good job done, I gave myself a gift: 2-hour LSD!

I listened a few different audio programs while running. One is a lecture on how to ride a motorcycle on rainy days. The rainy season starts in about a month. I will be riding my motorbike on rainy days more often. I wanted to remind myself of potential risks.

I also listened to Brian Tracy's lecture on leadership. In the lecture Brian refers to power leadership and ascribed leadership. The former is demonstrating leadership by the power given to the position of the leader. The latter, on the other hand, is leadership that is created by virtue of leadership qualities that one demonstrates. He also says someone can naturally become a leader even when he or she is not in a leader's position by demonstrating qualities of a leader. One of such qualities is taking full responsibility for whatever result. He goes on to say that you generally feel in control when you take full responsibility for everything that happens. On the other hand, if you have a mental habit of blaming others or something for undesirable outcomes, you tend to feel out of control. I don't like feeling out of control. It sucks. In riding a motorcycle if you are out of control, you are in big trouble. In the worst case scenario, you die. 

There were many other important messages, I can't remember all right of the top of my head. I need to listen again to review other important messages to get ready for an important event this coming weekend. 

Tonight I went for a run without fixing a running distance. About 7 K into it there was a fork. One way, you'd end with 11 K. The other way would add extra 6 K. I chose the latter because I was feeling good. 

Overall I was feeling a great effect of a successful tempo run that I had done about a week before, and also a 10 K jog that I did on the following night. My form felt efficient and seemed to flow very smoothly. Also, breathing was easy throughout the session. I'm excited to do some quality interval session in a day or two. 

3rd Anniversary of the Day I Got My License for Large Motorcycles

April 9 was the 3rd anniversary of the day I got my license for riding large motorcycles. According to Japan's traffic law if the size of your motorcycle engine is larger than 400 cc, it's classified as a large motorcycle. You have a different license from the one which allows you to ride a motorcycle whose displacement is 400 cc or smaller. You must be first licensed to ride a regular size motorbike to be eligible to go for the other license. 

Many people, when they get their license to ride a regular size bike, will buy their first motorcycle, and after riding it for some time, become interested in riding a larger bike and go to get the other license.

As for me, after getting my first motorcycle license, I kept wondering whether I should buy my first bike or go on to get the other license, which would open up a wider selection of motorcycles to choose from when I am legally licensed to ride a motorcycle of any size. After almost 2 months of consideration I decided not to buy a motorcycle until I got the other license.

I restarted going to the driving school where I got my first motorcycle license. I got a discount of US$185 because I was a former student and also it was within a year of my previous graduation.

I went to driving school between Dec. 28 or 2017 and Apr.4 of 2018, come rain or shine. I still keep all the record of my schooling, because I feel so proud of myself for making time to go there even when I was busy and tired just to make my youth dream come true. 

The day I finally got my license renewed at the license bureau on Apr. 9, 2018, I was so happy that I donated my blood at the blood donation center adjacent to the bureau!

After being officially licensed to ride any motorbike, my next goal was finding a good one for me. It didn't take long to achieve this goal. The end result is the photo above. 

Once I got my motorbike, my next goal was to be legally allowed to carry a passenger on the rear seat. It takes a year of riding. I was especially careful not to violate any traffic rules. My role model was motorcycle police officers. (They still are!) I had every reason to be a careful driver, because again according to Japan's traffic law, if you violate traffic law, you get penalty points. The number of points varies according to the degree of seriousness. Now if your accumulated points reach 3 within a year of getting the license, your license is suspended. And in order to be freed from this suspension, you need to get over two hurdles. One, you must take a lecture. This usually takes place at some sort of government building so bloody remote from everything. Two, you must pass on a technical driving test, which according to most teachers at the driving school is so super difficult that few can actually pass. It means license suspension within a year of licensing can lead to going over the whole process from scratch! Alas, that would be a huge waste of time and money. I never wanted that to happen.

Luckily, my generally poor driving technique didn't allow me any reckless attempt. So, a year passed fairly peacefully. A year later, I found myself happily enjoying carrying my bilingual companion on the rear seat and going places. 

With this goal successfully down, my next goal was waiting two years to be officially allowed to carry a passenger on highways. I took every opportunity to carry my bilingual companion on the rear seat to go places not only to have fun but also to gain experience and become more skilled at it. 

And this past 9 of April finally the day came.  Anticipation had built up so emotionally till the very day that when the day actually came, my nerves were kind of too exhausted to feel any excitement.  But of course, I was happy. There was this warm feeling spread all within my heart. I was like, "I finally did it."

When I say I finally did it, it's not some sort of actively achieving something super challenging. It's more achieving a passive goal of not violating traffic law. And this goal is not just for the first 3 years of licensing. It's my eternal goal as a motorcycle rider. This is because I truly believe that with careful observation, sensible judgment, and continuous training, anyone can be a better rider, and that a well-mannered rider can inspire people to think that the world of motor vehicles can be a friendly community, rather than that of selfish and reckless riders and drivers. 

My riding training continues...