Mixed Ks in MUTEKIs

I did mixed Ks today. Mixed Ks is a kind of 1 K repeats. What's unique about them is that you run them at a few different paces. They are good for getting used to different paces. They are also good for keeping your motivation by adding variety to what would be otherwise a monotonous repetition. 

First I warmed up for about 25 minutes, jogging and doing some park workout. After that I went to a 650 M loop near my house and did three 1 K repeats at varied speeds. The first K was at my full marathon pace of 5:10/K. The second K was at my half marathon pace of 4:55/K. And then finally the last K was at my 10 K pace of 4:30/K.

After doing mixed Ks I warmed down by jogging and doing alternate arm hangs for about 20 minutes.

The details of the training tonight are shown below:

Warm Up: 25:34.66

1st K at full marathon pace: 5:18.97

Rest: 30.67

2nd K at half marathon pace: 4:47.21

Rest: 45.19

3rd K at 10 K pace: 4:15.28

Rest: 1:00.28

Warm Down :21:28.30

Total 10 K: 1:03.40

Teacher Seminar in Ibaraki Prefecture

I had a 5-hour seminar with 127 junior high school teachers today in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture. This is the second year of a three-year project where all junior high school English teachers in the prefecture brush up their English to meet the recent demand for them to conduct their lessons all in English as designated by the new guideline issued by the Education Ministry.

The program of the second year is three-fold. The first is a kick-off seminar done by CEO of my company. The second is a follow-up seminar done by me. And the last is also a further follow-up seminar also by me.

The five-hour seminar today consisted of seven parts:
1) Training Review
2) TOEIC Reading Training
3) English Newspaper Training
4) TOEIC Listening Training
5) Daily Textbook Training
6) English Movie Training
7) Planning

Overall, most participants actively engaged in all activities, though from time to time some teachers looked tired from hard work that they had done before. I did my best to promote their active participation by asking questions, doing pair work, asking someone to come to the front and show a model for an activity with me.

They enjoyed acting out conversations after seeing my animated models, listened attentively when I gave theoretical explanations, and had good laughs when I joked.

The seminar finished ten minutes earlier than originally scheduled as requested by the organizer who needed to make a few important announcements before the participants were scheduled to leave at 4:00 p.m.

At the end of my session, four teachers who spent more hours on self English training than others were asked to come up to the front and make speeches regarding how they made time in their already super-busy schedule. The other teachers were impressed and some said in their questionnaires that they were inspired by their speeches to cut lame excuses and just do it! I was so glad to see them positively influencing one another.

One of the organizers handed me the questionnaires that were collected, and offered me a ride to the station in his air-conditioned car as it was still hot outside. I accepted his offer with tremendous gratitude. If I had walked there, I would have been drenched with sweat life a scuba-diver who dove in a business suit.

On the express train back home I quickly ran through all the questionnaires. Most were positive, with a few constructive criticisms. I appreciated both. Good ones make me feel rewarded. Critical ones allow me to grow.

The last of the series of three seminars takes place on September 13. I look forward to meeting the teachers, and hearing reports of how they made good changes over the course of a month and a half following the second seminar.

11.8 K Run Around the Lake Senba in Mito

I had a tremendously refreshing running session around the Lake Senba in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture. I was there for a teacher seminar on the following day, and had several hours to myself before crashing for the night. I had running gear with me, so I threw myself in it as soon as I got to the hotel, and off I went straight down the road until I came to a small bridge across a river that runs between the downtown district and the circular road around the lake. I ran the loop three laps to cover 9 K there at a reasonably brisk pace, but not too fast. I didn't want to tire myself to much as I have an important 5-hour seminar that requires focus and stamina. The distance between the hotel and the bridge is 1.8 K. So 1.4 K multiplied by two, plus 9 K is 11.8 K. I ran it in 1:06:36. I was drenched when I got back because although it was hours after sunset, it was very hot and humid. I took a quick cold shower as soon as I got back in my room, and filled my stomach with sushi I bought in Ueno, Tokyo. I ate it like a whale eats one big school of sardines or shrimp. Even after having it all, I felt like I could still eat a horse. 

Double Training: Upper Body Training & 6 K Barefoot Run

I wanted to do some muscle training, because I hadn't been able to find time to run, nor had I been able to find motivation to do so, because I had a series of teacher seminars to do and had to wake up early, and go to bed early to get ready for an early start. All the seminars for this week are over. I finally got my motivation back. I wished I could go for a long running session, but I couldn't because I have an early start on Saturday morning, not for a long seminar, but for a regular English training class. So I chose to do something that allowed me to burn many calories quick! What I chose to do was body weight upper body training. It was around ten minutes, but I felt pretty pumped up after the workout.

I went out for a short run after that. I wanted to do some cardio to get my heart pumping and blood running. So I hit the road in bare feet and ran the usual 6 K shuttle course with hills. It was raining slightly when I left home, and as I ran farther away from home, it got harder and harder. By the time I was home at 32:57.14 after the start, I was drenched with sweat and rain.

A typhoon is coming and is expected to hit my town early tomorrow morning, they say. I hope it won't cause any damage to the veggies in my backyard...

Tuesday Double Training

Today was the day for double training. I did high intensity cardio in the afternoon. And later in the evening after dinner I ran 12.5 K. I ran a 2.5 K loop in my neighborhood five laps at varied speeds to keep me motivated. The laps are shown below:

1st 2.5 K: 12:47.05
2nd 2.5 K: 12:29.73
3rd 2.5 K: 16:00.50
4th 2.5 K: 11:40.31
5th 2.5 K: 16:56.05
Total 12.5 K: 1:09:54

I did the high intensity cardio without wearing shoes. And I ran in the evening in split-toe minimalist shoes MUTEKI. Honestly, it feels much better to work out without shoes.

Alcohol-Free Weekend and Perception of Time

These days I feel time ticks a lot slower than it used to. I attribute this change in my perception of time to my recent weekends being alcohol-free.

When you are under the influence of alcohol, a relaxed moment lasts only for a moment, and as time goes by, depending on the amount of alcohol you take of course, you come to feel tired and sleepy, and can nod off before you know it. When you wake up again, hours have already passed, and after you wake up, it's hard to get immediately active because your system is tired from breaking down the alcohol from the previous night. As a result your active time gets shortened. This sucks.

On the other hand, when you have no alcohol in your system, your mind is sharp and your body active.

Now ever since I became an owner of a large motorcycle, I have been taking every opportunity to ride the vehicle, and because I want to spend as much time on it as possible, I try not to drink on weekends since they are the only time I can go for a long ride.

Last night, for example, as I had dinner after coming home from work, I had no beer which used to be a regular companion of my weekend dinner. To my surprise there is little crave for it since the prospect of a fun and refreshing midnight ride around town is much more attractive.

Because I do not drink on Saturday nights, I wake up Sunday mornings, feeling very refreshed and full of energy. I am active right from the start, watering my backyard and taking care of the veggies that I'm growing there.

Because my system is not forced to do the extra work of breaking down alcohol on the previous night, it's fully restored and ready to do a challenging workout like this.

Then comes the most refreshing part of the day: traveling from point A to point B on the bike. Time ticks away very slowly when I'm doing what I love doing, undisturbed by anyone. I even let overtake me by pulling over to the side those nearing from behind because I want travel at my comfortable speed, which is usually very, very slow, like 40 to 45 km/h. (Maybe a bit of a disgrace to the monstrously powerful engine of the Vulcan S?)

It's 6:20 p.m. now. And as I'm writing this at a lounge in the AEON mall in Yuukarigaoka, I feel like it is the end of a two-day holiday, because I feel like I have already spend so much time doing so many of my favorite things. But it's not. It's still the middle of the first day of a three-day holiday. I still have two full day-offs to myself. Unbelievable! What a wonderful windfall of an alcohol-free Saturday!

But of course, I'm not saying that I'm going to be a teetotaler. I'm not. I still enjoy drinking socially so long as it is moderate. Chatting with my runner friends over glasses of beer after running races is so much fun. It will continue to be a pleasant part of my life until the day my body's stock of enzyme to break down acetaldehyde is completely depleted.

But still, benefits of alcohol-free weekends seem enormous. I am beginning to suspect that health benefits stand out among others. The quality of sleep, for instance, seems to have improved. My eyes also seem to be less easily tired. My skin generally feels moister and smoother when I do not drink on weekends even though I am inevitably subject to ruthless bashing by aging.

I will continue to take riding over drinking, because it's more fun, and is likely to keep me younger not only at heart but also physically.

Why I Do Muscle Training

My posts here in Caveman's Mindbody Quest center around long-distance running training. But I do muscle training alongside it. There are a number of reasons.

The biggest reason is I don't like the typical runner's physique. It does come across as a fit body, but does not do so as a strong one. I want to project myself not only as a fit person but also as a strong man. The typical runner's physique doesn't do the job well. This is my aesthetic reason.

There is also a physiological reason as well. When your body has a decent amount of muscle mass, it burns a very large number of calories daily through basic metabolism and exercise metabolism. Suppose there are two people of the same weight. One has 10 % less muscle mass than the other. The one with less muscle mass burns fewer calories after doing the exactly same workout. So the more muscle you have, the more calories you can burn from any exercise.

However, there is a demerit as well. In long-distance running, light body weight offers an immediate advantage. Imagine you weigh 63 kg at one time. Then imagine you weigh 61 kg at another time. Suppose your cardio-vascular capacity is the same, you are mostly likely to run a lot faster when you weigh 61 kg. If you weigh 1 kg more as a result of increasing the muscle mass of your chest through muscle training, it means you carry one extra kilogram of dumbbell that makes no positive contribution whatsoever to improving your running ability. So that's bad news if you are trying to renew your PR in a race.

But then again, running my best time is not the most important goal of my fitness endeavor. I want to continue to become a stronger version of myself in terms of many criteria. Endurance is one of them, but not the only thing I'm after. Strength is important. Explosiveness is necessary. Agility is also a must. Flexibility, in my opinion, is also part of the total picture. So I do not want to sacrifice muscle mass too much over the athletic advantage associated with the lightness of the typical runner's physique.

Thursday Night Intervals

It's that time of week again! Thursday night intervals. I was a bit hesitant to do it at first, because I have a corporate seminar starting at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow night, and I should take a good rest for the event. But at the same time I want to keep the promise I have made with myself. So I decided to do it.

The training began with a 20-minute job in split-toe minimalist running shoes MUTEKIs. I had some water after this warm-up run, and walked to the nearby park to do intervals. Tonight's target is 3 K, 2 K, and 1 K all at 4:30/K pace. If I finish in 13:30, my goal is achieved. Last week when I did it, I came back in 13:45, 15 seconds later than the target. So I ran the first lap around the 880 M loop a bit faster than usual. I felt strong because I gave myself a full rest for two days after a 30 K run on Sunday. I maintained the pace and finished the first two laps at a brisk pace. Then I got into the 650 M inner loop to lap it almost twice to cover 3 K. Slowly it became harder to maintain the pace, so I slowed down a little to save some energy for the final kick in the last lap. When I stopped my watch, it said 12:37. That's 53 seconds faster than planned. I ran at 4:18 pace. I was glad. But then the effect of the faster pace immediately showed in the next 2 K session. As soon as I started running after one-minute break, I couldn't pick up the pace at all. I knew a minute was too short a rest to enable a fast run. I decided to give up at 650 M from the start. Instead of carrying on, I chose to do a wrap-up jog twice longer than usual. I ran 6 K in 35:53 without shoes.

The intervals were a miserable failure, but I ran 12 K with a good fast 3 K run in it. I'm not overly exhausted after the training. I'm sure I will wake up tomorrow morning, feeling great.

What I Do When I Do Not Run

I do a number of things to stay fit when I don't run. I do stretching sometimes. I sometimes simply go for a short walk just to relax. Other times I do high intensity cardio to improve my cardio-vascular capability. Yet other times I do body weight endurance training. This is an example of the last type training. It's one hundred percent body weight. You can do it from home. You need nothing but a towel for the very first back exercise. You can be drenched in a little more than ten minutes, burning many calories. Highly recommended when you had just a little too much to eat late at night but want a flat stomach when you wake up the following morning.

30 K Run in Socks and Alcohol-Free Sunday

Today is Sunday. Tomorrow is Marine Day, one of Japan's national holidays. For many people in the country it's the middle of a three-day holiday. For me it's the beginning of a two-day holiday because I worked on Saturday.

The day is about to end as it's almost midnight. It was such a fulfilling day, and feels twice as long as most other Sundays as I look back on it. I wonder why. It's probably because I did what I wanted to do. A psychologist once said in a TV program that your psychological sense of time is determined by the number of tasks you assign yourself. If you spend a day with no plans, it ends quickly. On the other hand, if you make plans for the day, and spend the day accordingly, the day feels longer. I feel it makes sense.

I had three goals in mind:
1) Some cardio workout in the daytime
2) Some fun bike ride
3) Blogging
4) 30 K run

They were all executed, and executed well. I'll pick up 4) and write about it below.

<30 K Run in Socks>
Today I ran 30 K in the Oleno running socks manufactured by socks company Showa Meriyasu. According to Katsuaki Inoue, the owner of the company, the Oleno running socks were made to help runners make use of their full potential to run bio-mechanically most naturally. In my understanding, many minimalist running shoes have also been made according to the same philosophy. I have worn both. I would like to make a few comparisons:
1) Running socks are less protective than minimalist running shoes such as MUTEKIs, and Baretreks, but they still ease the pain caused by edgy pebbles and rough road surface.
2) Running socks are a lot cheaper than most minimalist shoes.

When running in the Olenos, I almost feel like I'm running barefoot. Showa Meriyasu produces several different kinds of running socks, but with mine the toe is exposed. So there is some direct contact with the ground. However, much of the contact area is covered with garment, so the sole receives some protection against edgy pebbles and rough surface of the road. Eventually I am hoping to run the entire race distance without shoes, but the Olenos serve as a good transitional tool to bridge between shoe-clad and barefoot running.

Today I aimed to reach the target distance by flexibly combining a 2.5 K loop and 6 K shuttle course.

First I ran the 2.5 K loop twice in 28:15.30.

Next I repeated it once in 28:01.45 to reach 10 K. But I took a water and food break because I was both thirsty and hungry. I had a quarter a pineapple.

After the hydration & food break I ran the same loop twice in 28:11.64, and took a brief water break for 16.93.

I was going to run another 5 K without a stop. But then after running one lap in 14:11.22 I got hungry again, so I made a stop at home for 6:34.20 to eat and drink. This time I ate one whole peach, and a third of a banana.

I ran the loop again in 14:41.30. By this time I was getting increasingly dehydrated and had to drink more water, and more often. Also, my legs were getting tenser and tenser, so I had to loosen them up a little by stretching. I made a brief stop of 34.38. Up to that moment I had covered 20 K.

I chose to change the course, and started going the 6 K shuttle course, remembering that in Aqua Line Marathon there are more hills in the second half of the race. The 6 K shuttle course has hills. Very steep ones. So that sort of simulates the actual race. But by this time I was already pretty exhausted, so I had to slow down quite a bit. Ordinarily I would come back in 30 minutes, but today it took me 38:39.31 including a brief water break I took at a park along the course. When I reached home, I had covered 26 K.

The I had to eat something again to keep on going. And drink more water also. I took a break for 6:26.87 to eat another quarter of a pineapple and drink water.

Four more kilometers to reach 30 K. I ran the 2.5 loop once, and went the same route halfway, and took a U-turn after running about 750 M to run the remaining 1.5 K. It took me 28:06.34 to run just 4 K, because I took two water breaks at a park, but I completed it anyway.

I ran 30 K in 3:20:02. Time-wise it sucks, but feeling-wise it's AWESOME!

When I got home and took a shower, I was so tired that I couldn't bring myself to eat anything. The only thing I could have was water, nothing else. Even beer seemed unappealing. Just water. But as I watched World Cup final on TV, appetite slowly came back, so I finally had dinner that was made up of grilled beef & celery and asparagus, horse mackerel sashimi, and cubes of tuna boiled in sweet and salty sauce. I thought I would celebrate my achievement with beer, but somehow I never felt like drinking any, so it ended up being an alcohol-free Sunday. It's actually not such a bad idea. 

Mindbody Experiment

My mind is my body. My body is my mind. I am a mindbody. What is it capable of doing at age 51? Well, it is at least capable of this.

Friday Night Barefoot Run: 8.5 K

I am at hamburger steak restaurant "Bikkuri Donkey" (Surprised Donkey) in Inage, Chiba, waiting for my order to arrive. It's a little past 2:00 a.m. I have a very, very early start tomorrow, and I am usually already in bed, sound asleep, recouping for a busy day to come at this time of day. Why am I still up? That's because I am more refreshed than tired, and more hungry than sleepy. I will sleep in no time once I finish my late-night reward meal for an 8.5 K barefoot run that I did two hours ago.

My training on Friday night is irregular. I sometimes run on Friday nights. I sometimes do not. Most of the time I don't, mainly because I am afraid of tiring myself too much to wake up early the following morning. If I wake up any later than 7, I will miss the train that I must catch, and if I miss the train, I'm certain to be late for the first lecture of the day. I cannot let that happen.

Tonight, somehow, I should have been very tired, because it was such a hectic week with so many important jobs that I had to get done. It was a crazy multi-tasking week! But I finished most of them, and the only thing that is yet to be done is not that hard, and is sure to be completed easily by tomorrow. So I was mentally fairly relaxed, and that probably allowed me to go for a practice run.

I ran very slowly, mainly paying attention to my running form and cadence instead of keeping some target pace. I didn't even decide how far I would go. I just went with the flow. I was originally planning to go around a 2.5 K loop a few times, but after the first lap I was in a mood for a bit of a variety, so I changed the course and went into a 6 K shuttle course rich in undulation. I enjoyed kicking when climbing hills because keeping the same slow pace became boring at some point.

Overall it was a pleasant run that didn't leave me overly exhausted.

Now with my stomach reasonably filled with a 150 g hamburger steak, Chinese radish salad, and steamed rice, I think I can crash for the night after a short bike ride home and sleep like a log for three hours.

Thursday Intervals: 3 K + 2 K + 1 K

Thursday night is interval night. Today I did something I had never done before: 3 K + 2 K + 1 K. The biggest challenge, of course, is that you need to keep the target pace of 4:30/K three times without taking a rest after each K. Also, after running the first 3 K, you move onto the next 2 K run with only an interval of one minute, not any longer than when you run 1 K six times with a rest of one minute between laps. Finally, you try to run the last K as fast as you can, instead of just trying to finish under 4:30.

I began with a 20-minute jog in MUTEKI, minimalist split-toe shoes by Kineya. Then after a short rest I began the intervals around the 880 M loop, and the 650 M loop inside the larger one. The laps are shown below:
3 K: 13:46.55
Active Rest: 1:00.13
2 K: 8:56.88
Active Rest: 1:00.24
1 K: 4:16.57
Total 6 K: 32:10.76

In the first 3 K run I fell short of the 4:30 target by almost 5 seconds for each K. But that's expected. It was my first time. My body wasn't used to the challenge. But the second run, which was 2 K, was good. I came under the target of 9:00.00. The last run, which is 1 K, was even better. I came almost 14 seconds within the target. Someday I hope to come under 4:00.00 after doing the first two runs in longer distances.

After the intervals, I took off the shoes and jogged barefoot for twenty minutes. It was the most refreshing and pleasant part of tonight's training session. Nothing can beat the overwhelmingly liberating feeling of running without shoes.

How I Make a Living: Teaching

For those who are kind enough to read my blog posts on and off, I will probably look like someone who only runs, bikes, and eats sushi. While there is some truth in it, the great majority of my life has been, and will continue to be dedicated to my profession: teaching. Today I would like to share with you something I do every Saturday in order to help Japanese learners of English improve their English--a brief footage from a one-hour open seminar for beginner-level & intermediate learners of English in Japan.

High Intensity Cardio （高負荷有酸素運動）

I was originally planning to jog for an hour. But I came home late, and didn't have time to do long, slow cardio, so I did high intensity cardio instead. It's one of my favorite training routines consisting of three exercises: shuffles, burpees, and narrow width push-ups.

<Shuffles>
You lunge one leg forward while leaving the other leg behind in a slightly diagonal direction. And then you keep on switching the legs until you lunge five times. And then you jump upward. Together this makes up one rep.

<Burpees>
Once you are done with the shuffles, you move on to burpees. A burpee is the king of cardio that allows you to burn many calories very efficiently as it is a total body exercise that involves multiple muscle groups. You begin with a regular push up, tuck your legs so that you are now in a squat position, and then you jump upward from there! Just writing how you do it makes me out of breath!

<Narrow Width Push-Ups>
When you do ten reps of that shuffles&burpees combo, you then move on to narrow width push-ups. As the name shows, you put your hands on the ground in exactly shoulder width or slightly narrower. This allows you to hit your tri-ceps more than the chest. Since tri-ceps are much smaller than the chest muscle, you can find it much more challenging than the regular push-up. Especially when you are already out of breath, and cannot effectively send oxygen to the targeted muscles; your blood is too busy taking care of the other muscles employed in the preceding exercises. You do it 10 reps, and that's one set.

<Rest & Repetition>
After doing all the exercises in those designated numbers, you rest for 30 seconds to fuel your muscles for more workout. Today I did it altogether 5 sets, and burned out.

魔法の乗り物：大型二輪 / Magical Vehicle: Large Motorcycle

大型二輪バイクは魔法の乗り物だ。ただ「跨る」という行為をするだけで、これほどテンションが瞬時に上がる乗り物は他にない。その感覚の大部分はこの乗り物の重量に起因していると推察する。操作を間違えると容易に転倒し、非力であってはもとの位置に起こすことすらままならないこの大きな鉄の塊は、それを御するものにレスペクトと統率力を要求する。そこにある種の緊張感が生まれる。その緊張感に肌が粟立つのかも知れない。

大型二輪バイクをめぐる興奮は、エンジンをかけるとさらに高まる。走行していない大型二輪バイクのアイドリング音は静かで野太い。車種にもよるだろうが、少なくとも私のKawasaki Vulcan S 650はそうだ。それは本気を出せば２１６㌔バーベルをスナッチで一気に持ち上げることのできる重量挙げの世界記録保持者の寝息を髣髴とさせる。絶大な安心感と畏敬の入り混じった不思議な感覚を跨るものに抱かせる。

大型二輪バイクをめぐる興奮は、実際の走行時に頂点に達する。地点Aから地点Bにただ移動するという単純極まりない行為が、乗る者に瞬時の快感をもたらす仕組みは「不思議」という言葉をおいて他に表現することはできない。自動車ではいまひとつ叶え難いこの興奮を、大型二輪バイクはいかにして実現するのだろうか？

私はそれが、「人車一体」と「自然と一体」という二つの理由によって実現していると考えている。自動車も一見人車一体には見えるが、バイクのような一体感はない。例えば、左にハンドルを切れば、右に体がふられる。人車バラバラだ。自動車の場合、運転操作を誤っても乗り物自体が転倒する可能性はかなり低い。バイクは運転操作を誤れば、ほぼ確実に転倒する。リスクが高い。そのリスクの高い乗り物を御しているということが乗るものに深い自尊心と達成感を与えるのだろう。

またバイクは「自然と一体」でもある。通常自動車の場合、窓を閉めて運転すると車内の空気は動かない。車内は外界から隔離されている。この状態で走行しながら自然を肌で感じることは難しい。一方バイクの場合、外界と自身をさえぎるものが、衣類とヘルメットを置いて他にない。走行によって生じる風の抵抗をほぼすべて自分の体で受け止めることになる。ここに快感がある。

幼い頃を思い出して欲しい。小学校の下校時刻が台風上陸の時刻と重なったために、暴風雨の中を雨靴をずぶぬれにしながら帰った記憶は誰にしもあろう。あの時、正面から顔に向かって吹き付ける風雨を、傘を閉じてわざとまともに受けるような奇行に走ったことはなかったか？私たちは、平時には自然の力を制御することに躍起になる一方、もう一方では、自然の猛威に直面し翻弄されることに、興奮を覚える性質をも兼ね備えている。私たちが持つこの本質的な二面性の片側を、バイクは解放してくれる。

自動車の場合、窓を開けて運転するとわずかにこの感覚を味わうことができる。またコンバーチブルの場合には、この感覚はかなりバイクに近いのではないかと推察する。しかしここでもまた、「人車一体」の原則により、身体感覚の観点からバイクに優位性があると私自身は感じる。

だから何だ？私はこの筆舌に尽くしがたい快楽を、あなたも味わってみませんか？と読者のあなたに問いかけたかった。まる。

(English version is coming soon!)

Double Training Part 2: 19.5 K Run in Baretrek

The Baretrek sucks! The pattern on the sole of both shoes has been half gone after running in them only three times. But they still do the minimum job of protecting the blister already formed. As long as they enable me to run even with a minor blister, anything will do. So I went for another practice run for the day tonight in my Baretrek. The Baretrek offers zero cushioning, and that's good.  Cushioning really sucks. It deprives me of the joy of feeling the landing shock, which happens to be why I prefer running to cycling. It increases the risk of spraining ankles. Never have I sprained my ankle even once since I stopped running in shoes with cushioning. That says it all.

Anyhow, in addition to the 11 K I ran barefoot this afternoon, I ran 19.5 K more to bring today's total running distance to 30.5 K. Hooray! It's been a while since I ran beyond 30 K last. It feels really good. It tremendously raises your self-esteem. 30 is a good benchmark for many long-distance runners. 25 is easily doable if you are a frequent half-marathon finisher. But 30 is not. You need to be in a very good condition. Lack of sleep is out of question. Going for 30 after drinking on a previous night is unthinkable. You need determination, which you can only muster up when you have your body's batteries fully charged. Of course, running a total of 30 K in a day by splitting it into two parts like I did today is a lot easier than running the same distance at a time. But I can do it some other time, when the race in October comes near.

Tonight I began with a 6 K shuttle course with hills, ran a 2.5 K loop twice, ran the 6 K shuttle course again, and finally ran the 2.5 K loo once to reach a total of 19.5 K. The times are show below: 

6 K shuttle course + 2.5 K loop + 2.5 K loop=11 K: 1:00.13
6 K shuttle course + 2.5 K loop=8.5 K: 48.34
Total 19.5 K: 1:48.47

Mid-Summer Barefoot Challenge

It's sizzling hot today. I usually avoid running while the sun is still high, because you cannot gain mileage in extreme heat. But today I chose to run in the heat for a reason: acclimation.

I am expecting a full marathon this coming October. It'a Aqua Line Marathon 2018. It takes place in Kisarazu City, Chiba Prefecture. The course mainly runs through the city area, with a large part of the first half being the eastern half of the Aqua Line Toll Road. There is little shade throughout the course to avoid the sun. Plus, October in the area is still quite warm, with daytime highs expected to reach 25 degrees Celsius. This presents a big challenge to me, because as I look back on my past races, I never ran well full marathons on warm days. In fact, that's the reason I had avoided running a full marathon except in winter. But seeing my runner friends bravely run full marathons in early fall, I was finally inspired to set foot on the terrain yet to be explored, that is running a full marathon in a warm month.

In addition to the challenge of running a full marathon in a warm month, there is another challenge that awaits me--running the entire 42.195 in bare feet. I have done two pseudo-barefoot marathons where I ran the races almost entirely in ultimate minimalist aqua shoes with zero cushioning, took them off within 2 kilometers of the finish, and cross the line in bare feet. Many runner friends admire me for running in such ill-equipped footwear, and for taking off protective gear that is a must for them. But I'm not satisfied. In my mind late Abebe Bikila of Ethiopea, who won the gold medal in men's marathon at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, shines on as an ultimate athletic hero. Not only did he beat all the other shoe-clad competitors without wearing shoes, but he also beat those from Communist countries who were most unquestionably on all kinds of performance-enhancing drugs that were available at that time. I want to do what my hear did, no matter how much slower I may be.

Anyhow, how did my practice run go? Well, not very good. In fact, the heat didn't bother me cardio-wise. I was full of energy thanks to a good 80-hour sleep. But the heat of the asphalt killed my sole. Both of my soles got burned after running 11 K. I retreated once, taking a short break at home, and then put on a pair of running socks by Oleno, and hit the road again, but the soles were still too sore to run even a foot. I gave up.

I am hoping that by tonight the soles will have recovered enough to do a shoe-clad run. Then I will run another 20 K or so, bringing today's total mileage beyond 30 K.

Thursday Night Intervals: 6 Sets by 1 K

Thursday night is an interval night. I jogged for 20 minutes in split-toe minimalist shoes MUTEKI to warm up, and after that went to a nearby park to do intervals around a 880 M loop around the park and an adjacent block. The target lap is 4:30/K. The interval is 1 minute. The results are shown below:

Jog: 20:00.00

1st: 4:15.56

Jog: 1:00.26

2nd: 4:15.42

Jog: 1:00.10

3rd: 4:18.79

Jog: 1:00.18

4th: 4:22.99

Jog: 1:00.01

5th: 4:18.22

Jog: 59.99

6th: 4:11.95

Walk: 3:47.84

Jog: 20:00.00

Total 13.4 K: 1:14:30

Tomorrow I hope to jog for an hour or so if I'm in a mood. If I don't feel recovered, I will take a rest and recoup for a long run on the weekend.  

Home Workout

I worked out at home after coming home from work though I was originally planning to jog for an hour because a typhoon was coming and it was brutally windy, and even raining a bit. Today I mainly hit back and chest. I did five different back exercises and five different chest ones. I did a back workout and a chest workout alternately for a minute with a 15-second rest between exercises. I hadn't hit my chest for a quite a while, so it got rather wobbly toward the end. I'm afraid it will be sore in a couple of days.

5 K Jog in Running Socks by Oleno

I jogged 5 K last night wearing the pair of socks above. They are running socks manufactured by a socks company in Western Japan. They say the material used for a life jacket is used to make these socks. Therefore their durability is quite high. I test-ran in them for the first time last night. They looked unaffected by the friction. But I only ran 5 K last night. I'm hoping they will withstand incessant contact with the road and long-term use. 

Mid-Summer 1-Hour Morning Workout Including Hill Sprints (5 Sets by 200 M)

I worked out for about an hour this morning to make up for yesterday's absence of physical training. I was too exhausted yesterday due to overdoing tire throw on Sunday. I felt reasonably recovered thanks to a good 8-hour sleep (I didn't watch Japan's soccer game with Belgium). I jogged very slowly for about 4 K. Then I came to the bottom of this hellish uphill. I did 5 fast repeats up that hill with a two-minute active rest between sets. I finished the first set between 46 and 47 second. I made it a benchmark, and aimed at it in the following sets. All the laps are shown below:
1st: 46.25
Active rest: 2:00.23
2nd: 48.42
Active rest: 2:00.40
3rd: 47.27
Active rest: 2:00.37
4th: 48.93
Active rest: 2:00.19
5th: 46.98

After doing the hill repeats, I jogged to a park about 700 M down the road. There are steel rings hanging from a thick wooden structure. I did arm hang there: 10 reps by 3 sets. I was drenched with sweat when I was done.

I jogged back home from there to finish the whole exercise in 56:50.96. It was a good combination of slow cardio, high intensity cardio, and high resistance muscle training. Also both lower body and upper body, and their connecting component, core were involved in a well-balanced manner. I was satisfied.

I took a quick shower, and after that enjoyed having for breakfast grilled beef with assorted boiled veggies in Korean style and brown rice.

Recommending to be a Rider

 If you are someone who loves freedom, I highly recommend you to be a owner/rider of a large bike. There are three reasons.

<Reason One: Immediate Gratification>
Once you have become a owner/rider of a large bike, it becomes easy to immediately gratify your need of freedom. All you need is start the bike and hit the road. It's as easy as 1-2-3. There is something about moving from point A to point B on a moving vehicle that is inherently pleasurable. And being a rider gives you immediate access to that sensation.

<Reason Two: Ability to be One with Nature>
If all you need is move from point A to point B, you can achieve the same goal by driving a car as well as simply by walking. But there is something about riding a motorcycle that is fundamentally superior to these other means. That is its ability to allow you to be one with one of the greatest elements of nature--wind. What I mean is this. When driving a car, you and the outer world are separated by a windshield. Therefore you cannot directly feel winds on your face. If driving a convertible, you can feel winds on your arm if you put it over the top of the door, of course, but not directly on your face. Of course, when you ride a motorcycle on public roads in Japan, you are required to wear a helmet, so the actual area of your face on which you can feel the wind varies depending on the structure of your helmet. With a full face helmet, the air hits your face only through a small window. With an open face type, the feeling is more direct. Either way, the sensation of directly feeling the wind while riding is something only motorcycle riders can enjoy. Of course, if you are a jogger, like myself, you can feel winds on your face as you run. But human speed is quite limited compared with the speed the motor vehicle can achieve, so the sensation is no match.

<Reason Three: Comfortable Sounds>
The first two reasons are enough to recommend you to be an owner/rider of a motorcycle. But there is yet another reason that is specific to a motorcycle that is large in size. That is the comfort that the engine sounds provide you with. When riding a bike with a small displacement (250cc-400cc), the engine constantly works at very high speeds. The sounds created by an engine working at high speeds are high-pitched and not very pleasant (unless you are a hooligan!) On the other hand, when a motorcycle with a large displacement (401cc~) travels at the legal top speed of 60 km/h on public road, the engine does not work as fast as that of a smaller bike, and therefore the sounds created are low-pitched and comfortable, like the heart-beat a baby hears in his/her mother's womb. Nothing can beat the level of comfort created by that! And the engine sound of a large motorcycle traveling at a normal speed is very similar to it.

<Conclusion>
You should become an owner/rider of a large motorcycle, because it is fun, bringing to you tremendous joy and comfort. But questions remain regarding how and how much. I would like to write another post sometime on this topic.

 

Tire Throw & 17 K Barefoot Run

I did tire throw before dinner, and ran 17 K in bare feet after it.

In the tire throw today, I did forward throw 20 times, and backward throw 30 times. I had a knack for the latter as I had done it before, but the former turned out to be a lot harder. When you throw the tire over your head into your back, you bring it from the ground, and your bring it up as you use your thighs and back as well as your shoulders. Because thighs and back are such strong muscles, you can throw it fairly far.  On the other hand, when you throw it forward, first you raise it over your head, hold it there, bend your upper body backward just a little bit, tilt your arms backward also but only a little. You store your energy right there in that position, and as you snap back your upper body and arms, you release all that energy stored to create a forward movement of the tire. But since both shoulders and abs are far less strong than the major muscle groups involved in the backward throw, you cannot throw it that far in forward throw.  Anyhow, each throw, whether it's forward or backward, involves a tremendous amount of concentration of power, it's a good change for me because much of my fitness effort centers around developing endurance these day. Variety is the spice of life, you see.

I was originally hoping to run minimum 25 K, and ideally 30. But after running 17 K, I felt out of gas, and my right sole got a bit sore, so I called it a day.

1st 8.5 K: 45:37.96
2nd 8.5 K: 49:11.17
Total 17 K: 1:34:39