Night Run in MUTEKI

April 8, 2020

9.9 K: 53:57.22

1 K: 4:02.73

Total 10.9 K: 57:59.95

Ran 10.9 K in 57:59.95. Surged in the last 1 K. Breathing felt a lot easier than before Ohme. Overall feel much stronger than before. Feel excited about starting new training for a sub-3.15 marathon, and eventually sub-3 marathon in two years' time. 

20 K Tempo Run in MUTEKI

March 1, 2020
Warm Up: 5:14.01
<20 K Tempo Run: Target 12:17 for each lap>
2.5 K: 11:44.46
2.5 K: 11:48.41
2.5 K: 11:48.23
2.5 K: 12:14.20
2.5 K: 12:31.09
2.5 K: 12:30.27
2.5 K: 12:10.59
2.5 K: 12:16.10
Total 20 K: 1:37:03 (Target=1:38:20)
Warm Down: 5:11.31

I went to see the Tokyo Marathon today. Suguru Osako finished 4th with a new national record of 2:05:29. It was inspiring.

At night I did a 20 K tempo run. It's my first major training session after Ohme. I wasn't sure if I could successfully carry it out. It's highly stressful training. Plus, I hadn't done much training for almost two weeks. But I wanted to know how far I could go anyway.

As I jogged to the start venue, I felt a stinging pain in my knee. For a moment I suspected it might be caused by the stress of the Ohme 30 K Road Race. But the next moment I just shrugged it off, saying to myself, "Well, it's just my sub-conscious saying, 'Don't make it too tough.'" As I look back on it, I think I was right, because once I started running, the pain somehow mysteriously disappeared.

I lapped the 2.5 K loop below.  The target for each lap is 12:17. I ran the first 10 K a little faster than the target. Then in the second half it started becoming increasingly tougher to keep the same pace. I was outside the target two laps in a row. There was a tremendous amount of inner-talk, so to speak, regarding whether or not I should continue. I chose to continue, no matter what a miserable self I would have to be facing.

When the target distance was finally covered, and I found myself well inside the target time, I was glad that I didn't give up.

10 K Build Up Training

Aug. 2, 2019
2.5 k: 12:33.98
2.5 k: 11:54.47
2.5 k: 11:29.88
2.5 k: 10:44.30
Total 10 K: 46:42.63

How many different methods of re-igniting your motivation do you have? I've never counted mine, but as far as motivation management the more methods you have the better.

As a citizen runner, I've always thought that one easy way to stay motivated is to have many different course choices. Sometimes it's too boring to keep on running the same old course. Variety is the spice of life as the saying goes. When you feel sluggish, running a new course can be a motivation booster. Changing pace is another method.

Today, in addition to the methods I just mentioned, I discovered yet another way. That is to run a flat course at a slightly faster pace than usual a few days after high resistance training such as hill sprints or intervals. There comes a moment when you suddenly feel light, having recovered from the lingering fatigue resulting from high resistance training, you feel like capable of running a lot faster than before. And often you can.

Today I went for a 10 K build up. I ran a 2.5 k loop four times. I aimed at sub-4 marathon pace for the first lap, sub 3.5 pace for the 2nd and 3rd, and sub 3 pace for the last. The results are as shown above.

I ran in split-toe minimalist shoes above for minimum protection of my right sole. There is a callous (=thick dead skin) on the ball of my right foot, and it was bothering me a little. 

I started off at a comfortable pace, but when I checked my lap after the first round, I was a lot faster than my original target. I was a bit afraid that I was going too fast to increase pace later. But it turned out not too hard to steadily increase pace in the second lap, and keeping the same pace remained manageable through the third lap.

Then came the last lap that I was going to run the fastest. I increase the cadence and worked my arms more than before. Breathing became harder. I was afraid of running out of gas before a final surge. I didn't want that to happen. I always want to finish strongly. But if you relax too much, you cannot meet the goal. There is a fine line between relaxing too much and relaxing just enough to keep the perfect pace. I breathed through the nose to keep that perfect pace, because if you breath through your mouth, you can temporarily get more oxygen, but precisely by virtue of it you can get too fast to hold the right pace long enough. 

So I carefully controlled my pace by nose breathing. And when I turned the last bend and came into a 200 M stretch I finally switched to mouth breathing and put on a spurt. I took longer strides and swung my arms like a track athlete. The last 50 meters or so was run in complete oxygen debt. I was almost suffocated when I stopped my watch. But all the discomfort was soon forgotten when I saw 10:44.30 on my watch, which is well under my original target of 11:15.00.

Fartlek: 5 Sets by 650 M @ 2:36 (4:00/K) Intermixed With a 1-Minute Jog Between Sets

May 29, 2019
Warm Up 3.4 K: 20:00.00
1st 650 M: 2:33.33
Jog 200 M: 1:01.08
2nd 650 M: 2:21.93
Jog 200 M: 1:00.81
3rd 650 M: 2:34.77
Jog 200 M: 1:00.14
4th 650 M: 2:32.24
Jog 200 M: 1:00.94
5th 650 M: 2:32.09
Jog 5 K: 30:03.75
1 K: 3:55.39
Total 13.45 K: 1:10:36.47

A week ago when I first gave a go at 650 M repeats @ 2:36 with a minute's rest between sets, I already failed to achieve the target in the second set, and I had no choice but taking a longer rest to sustain the training. But a week later I was able to run all of five sets under the target. I renewed my confidence in human ability to adapt to a stimulus given.

After the fast run session, I cruised along the 6 K shuttle course above in bare feet as I held my shoes in my hands. It was tremendously refreshing to run without shoes at an easy pace especially after the hard and strenuous speed training.

But with 1 K remaining, I remembered the teaching by late Yoshio Koide, and put on a spurt and kicked to the finish.

I ran the last K well under 4:00. 

Running at a faster pace is becoming less difficult. My next question is, "How often can I repeat it?" And also, "How far can I continue to run at the same pace?" My tentative answer is, "At least one time more." In the next fartlek session I will aim for 6 sets. Same pace. Same rest. 

10 K Jog

April 12, 2019

10.2 K: 1:08:35

Two days to go before the race. The training tonight is the last session before the race. The main purpose of jogging for about an hour is just to keep the cardio-vascular system nice and alert. The pace is strictly kept slow so that I won't get irrecoverably tired. 

I ran the 10.2 K shuttle course below, taking much longer than usual.

I felt hungry and weak while running. Then I realized that my carb intake was low today, so it's only natural. 

I kept a steady pace, and never increased it until I got home. Once I was home, I felt refreshed, and I was glad that I didn't take a shortcut to finish earlier than scheduled.

After taking a shower, I had vegetable soup, half an apple, a kiwi fruit, and a small baked sweet potato. 

Tomorrow I am going to take a full rest. I'm just going to come home early, eat good dinner, and hit the bed early to get ready for an early start on Sunday morning.

10 K Pace Run

April 5, 2019

A 10 K pace run successfully accomplished. Feels so good. I can relax and enjoy dining with my boss after work tomorrow night. 

1st 880 M: 3:53.95 (Target: 4:19.00)

2nd 880 M: 4:09.81 (Target: 4:19.00)

3rd 880 M: 4:04.86  (Target: 4:19.00)

4th 880 M: 4:01.95  (Target: 4:19.00)

5th 880 M: 4:12.66 (Target: 4:19.00)

6th 880 M: 4:09.37 (Target: 4:19.00)

7th 880 M: 4:04.40 (Target: 4:19.00)

8th 880 M: 4:03.13 (Target: 4:19.00)

9th 880 M: 3:57.87 (Target: 4:19.00)

10th 880 M: 4:04.48 (Target: 4:19.00)

11th 880 M: 3:47.45 (Target: 4:19.00)

320 M: 1:18.35 (Target: 1:34.00)

Total 10 K: 45:48.28 (Target: 49:10.00)

HIIT & 10.5 K Jog

April 4, 2019
High intensity cardio
10.5 K Jog: 1:00:02

There are only ten days remaining before Kasumigaura Marathon 2019.  At this stage there isn't much you can do to dramatically improve your overall speed nor endurance. The only thing you can do is to best maintain your condition until the day of the race. One thing you want to avoid is training too much, and you end up feeling not totally recovered on the race day. So the longest distance I run is up to 10 K or so. And the longest time I run is max 90 minutes. Anything harder than that will be avoided to feel fresh and ready to go when the gun goes off.

Tonight I ran the course rich in undulation mainly to keep myself motivated. I increased pace when running slopes both going up and down to keep the training from being too monotonous. 

Tomorrow night I may jog the same route at the same pace, or may do a 10 K pace run. Or a 10 K build-up perhaps. I can benefit from all of them. I'll just do whichever I'll be in a mood for when the time comes.

10 K Build-Up in MUTEKI

 March 13, 2019
Warm Up 750 M: 6:38.52
2.5 K : 16:11.42 (Target=16:15.00 / 6:30/K)
2.5 K : 14:40.77 (Target=14:10.00 / 5:40/K)
2.5 K : 11:45.13 (Target=12:17.00 / 4:55/K)
2.5 K : 10:25.92 (Target=11:15.00 / 4:30/K)
Warm Down 750 M: 6:18:34 
Total 11.5 K: 1:06:00

Today is the first training day of the second last week before the race. I was originally scheduled to just jog for 60 minutes. But I wasn't too motivated to just run at a slow pace for an hour. I found it too mundane. So I decided to change the pace every 2.5 K, and also to run a different course.

I Google-mapped the course below. It's a simple loop with only two right-angled corners. Very easy to run. There are a number of traffic lights along the course, but it being the small hours, there was little traffic to watch out for. Nothing distracted me. I was totally zoned in.

I ran the first 2.5 K at a very slow pace, mainly checking my form and resultant feeling by changing the stride, cadence, and landing positing. Eventually I settled into the most comfortable form, which happens to be the most efficient one also. 

After the first lap I gradually increased the pace, first to my sub-4 full marathon pace, next to my average half marathon pace, and finally to my average 10 K pace. 

Though I fell short of the target in the second lap, in the third and fourth I was well under the target. I was glad. 

Tomorrow is interval day. I haven't decided exactly what to do. But I am going to listen to the voice of my mindbody, and decide to do what it calls for. 

10 K Build Up

Feb.13, 2019

2.5 K: 15:18.15

2.5 K: 14:32.50

2.5 K: 14:00.43

2.5 K: 10:42.53

Total 10 K: 54:33.60

I ran a 2.5 K loop in my neighborhood 4 times. I started off slowly, and then gradually increased the pace until I finally ran the last lap @ 4:17/K. The course tonight is almost completely flat. I visualized the last 3 K of the Ohme 30 K Road Race as I hammered down the road, because that part of the race is also flat. 

As always, during the first 20 minutes I didn't feel good at all. Then sometime around the end of the second lap, I suddenly felt light, and saw my watch. It's about 24 minutes since I started. It's always around this timing that I get a dopamine rash to start feeling better. 

The increase in pace in the last lap was sudden and significant, but I was able to handle is fairly easily. 

Tomorrow I will jog for an hour or so, just to keep my cardio-vascular system in good nick.

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

Feb. 3, 2019

Warm Up 4.1 K: 24:45.35

Rest: 1:00.37  

Intervals:

1st K: 4:20.45 

Rest: 1:00.22

2nd K: 4:17.49

Rest: 1:00.44

3rd K: 4:17.07

Rest: 1:02.39 

4th K: 4:19.33

Rest: 1:00.15 

5th K: 4:29.77

Rest: 1:00.20

6th K: 3:59.72

Rest: 0:40.62

Warm Down 4.1 K: 24:56.64  

Total 14.2 K: 1:22:10

I did intervals tonight. But first I did some body weight interval training prior to it. I gave myself two entire days to recover from a weighted 10 K jog on Friday night. I had to pump up myself a little. 

I waited until well into the late evening before doing the running training because I didn't want to be distracted by traffic, nor did I want to disturb drivers on the road. By the time I hit the road, the streets were reasonably deserted, perfect for the run.

I ran in split-toe minimalist running shoes MUTEKI. A race is near. Injury should be avoided. It's speed training that I was about to do. Fiction is way more than usual no matter how carefully I run. 

I jogged to the 1 K loop next to the Kashiwai Water Treatment Plant, taking a little less than 25 minutes. I took a-minute's break before doing the intervals. The results are as shown at the beginning of this post. 

I was kind of thinking of doing 15 sets. But as that "kind of" suggests, my determination wasn't that firm tonight. I settled for 6. My legs were still heavy from the weighted run two days before. The only thing I was capable of doing was kicking hard in the last set for the day. I finished under 4 minutes. So let's say it was a good session. As the saying goes, all is well that ends well.

60-Minute Jog

Jan. 23, 2019
5.1 K: 31:10.76
5.1 K: 30.42.73
Total 10.2 K: 1:01:53

Jan. 24, 2019
5.1 K: 33:07.05
5.1 K: 30.53.27
Total 10.2 K: 1:04:00

Strictly following the training regimens recommended by former ultra marathon world best record holder Mr. Takahiro Sunada, I had a one-hour jog two days in a row on Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Both times the main purpose is to slowly recover from the fatigue accumulated through the long and hard training over the course of almost three months since Aqua Line Marathon 2018. There were two extremely hard-fought races during this course of time. In one of them I renewed my PR for 10 K. In the other I completed an entire half marathon in complete bare feet. When I didn't have a race, I was almost always hitting the road, training, except for only a day or two in a week when I gave myself a complete rest.

I now have a sure feeling that I am much stronger than I was at the same time last year. My soles are more endurable. My cardio is stronger too as I can run a longer distance in one go. I am faster, partly because I am lighter. In other words I am a much stronger version of myself than I was in more ways than one. And my mission this coming Sunday is to translate this positive feeling into actual performance.

22 K Jog in My New Pair of MUTEKI

Jan. 20, 2019
11 K: 1:05:23
11 K: 1:00.29
Total 22 K: 2:05:52

Almost 24 hours after doing a weighted 10 K barefoot pace run, I was ready for another training session: 90-minute jog. I asked myself whether I should go barefooted or in shoes. I opted for a shoe-clad practice. There was slight soreness left in both of my soles.

I put on my new pair of MUTEKI split-toe minimalist shoes with no cushioning. NIKE's Vaporfly with thick cushioning is all the rage. But it's not for me.  I'm a citizen runner who wants to become a stronger version of himself. Not a professional runner running for a prize money. I want to be faster. But I equally want to be more endurable. More accommodating of discomfort and more resistant to pain.

I took off, aiming to reach the Kashiwai Water Treatment Plant 9.9 K from home, and was going to decide how much farther to go from there. If I ran a lap around the water plant and headed straight back home, that'd be roughly 15 K. If I ran a lap around the water plant, and went back where I came from, that'd be 22 K. I didn't need to decided right away. I could go with the flow, and decide depending on my mood.

When I reached the far end of the water plant, I was still full of legs, so I decided to go back the same route that I came from to make it a 22 K session.

But as I went on, I found myself gradually getting hungry, and motivation started waning. I considered taking a shorter route to settle for a 90-minute jog as originally scheduled. But then another side of me said, "When you feel hungry, it means you have run out of your belly fat. Now your body has tapped your subcutaneous fat reserve to sustain your effort." I discovered meaning in going farther. I dropped the idea of taking a shortcut, and completed a 22 K run.

While running, I listened to a couple of lectures by world-renowned Canadian professional speaker & sale consultant Brian Tracy who says there are a number of keys to becoming a positive person, and one of them is eating good food. So as soon as I got home, I had organic miso soup, fresh watercress, fresh spinach, and fresh fruits. 

Tomorrow I will give myself a full rest. After that three days of a 60-minute jog follow. Then comes interval training on Friday. Saturday is another 60-minute jog day. And then comes Sunday when I run for my first sub-4 barefoot marathon.

One Hour Weighted Jog in MUTEKI

Jan. 3, 2019

20 pull-ups

Body weight circuit training: 5 sets by 3 exercises:

1) Handstand

2) Tower pull in squat position

3) Various push ups.

Weighted 10.2 K jog

1st 5.1 K: 30:18.68

2nd 5.1 K: 30:37.61

Total 10.2 K: 1:00:56 

I had three exercise sessions today. The first is pull ups. I did 20 reps. Not in a row, but one by one. It's not very challenging. But that's OK, because I had lost a significant amount of upper body strength by focusing mainly on running training and neglecting training upper body. I will increase my pull up count little by little as I regain my upper body strength.

I also did some body weight circuit training before going for a jog. I did so mainly in order to use up much of my body's glycogen. This way my body will start tapping my body fat reserve to find energy source for my running. 

I went of an hour jog with a 2 kg dumbbell in each hand. Ever since I lost weight by almost 3 kg, I've been feeling a lot lighter, but running has become easier. Naturally, I've been taking advantage of my weight loss by running faster. But I am worried about losing power. I'm not sure if running weighted is the right thing to do, but I want to test the consequence of training this way. I am expecting to increase my ability to resist gravitational pull. In a race I expect this strength to work favorably when I run uphill. I also expect it to strength my shoulders too. The shoulders had been the most underdeveloped part of my body until recently, and I've been trying to develop them since I realized that. I intend to continue to jog with weights, and see how I will feel when I practice fast runs without them. I'm hoping the benefit is favorable. 

While jogging tonight, I was listening to a lecture on time management by world-renowned sale consultant and motivational speaker Brian Tracy. I had listened to a similar lecture before, but the one I listened to tonight was more condensed and spoken fairly rapidly mainly because he tried to put what would be otherwise stretched over two hours into a less-than-an-hour lecture. I copied the first 10 tips out of 21 onto my IC recorder and listened to it twice during an hour-long jog. 

I wasn't able to learn all ten points by heart just by listening while running, but one thing that remains on my mind is to make a list of things you want to do daily. It will structure your day, gives you a sense of accomplishment each time you finish a task from the list. To begin with, I penciled in two top priority task on my day planner, and four tasks to do tomorrow morning before I go to work. Let's see how it will affect my life.

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.

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.

One-Hour Jog in MUTEKI

Nov. 20, 2018

Jogged for an hour in minimalist split-toe shoes MUTEKI. Ran a fairly hilly course, because my next race is held on a course rich in undulation. Covered about 9 to 10 K.

10.3 K Run in MUTEKI

Nov. 5, 2018

5.15 K: 28:49.59 (5:36/K)

5.15 K: 23:57.85 (4:39/K)

Total 10.3 K: 52:47.44

Measured a new 4.6 K loop near my house by Google Map. It's 550 M from home to the starting point of that loop, so one lap is 5.15 K. I ran two laps to cover a total of 10.3 K. I ran the first lap slowly to warm up. Then I increased the pace significantly in the second. 

I ran in MUTEKI (see below) for minimum protection of the sole. 

Intervals: 3 Sets by 1 K @ 4:00/K Pace

Nov. 1, 2018
Warm Up 3 K: 20:23.32
Rest: 36.28
<Intervals>
1st K: 3:37.59
Rest: 1:00.15
2nd K: 3:47.02
Rest: 1:00.24
3rd K: 3:58.66
*************
Rest: 1:00.36
Warm Down 3 K: 22:04.12 
Total 9 K: 57:38.54

My personal goal today was originally doing six sets of 1 K @ 4:00/K pace, and finishing under 3:50.00 in at least two sets. The result is...I came under 3:50.00 in the first two, and came under 4:00 in the third, but got burned out there and couldn't go on. Is it a failure? I don't think so. I pushed beyond my limit, esp. in the first lap. I ran as if there was no tomorrow. This is something I didn't used to do before. In the past I would pace myself from the start so that I would be able to complete all six. Completing had a priority. But today I didn't care if I couldn't complete it. I just wanted to run fast! And I wanted to continue to do so till I got burned out. And burned out I did get. And that's OK. Next time I do it, I would like to run faster in the first set. And I hope to do it just one more set.

Morning Runs: One in MUTEKI and the Other in Bare Feet

Oct. 24, 2018: 6 K 33:50.56 (MUTEKI)

Oct. 25, 2018: 6 K 30:13.41 (bare feet)

I’ve been running in the morning for two days. It feels good. Why did I not do it more often in the past? One biggest reason is that I’m a night owl, and that I generally feel more active at night. Another reason is that there is far less traffic at night, so it’s safer and easier to run at that time of day. Furthermore, when you run in the dark, you feel less distracted. It’s just you and the road ahead. Nothing else. You feel focused on inner talk, so to speak. It’s one of the best aspects of long-distance training. Then why the sudden switch to a morning practice? One reason is quite accidental. On Tuesday night I was simply too exhausted to run at night, so I immediately hit the bed. The following morning, I felt like hitting the road right away in order to make up for the absence of training on the previous night. When I did it, not only did I feel good after the run, but I also continued to feel good throughout the day. I was surprised. Pleasantly, of course. I immediately decided to have a go at running in the morning more. Hence, another morning run today. I ran in bare feet. Now that I have successfully run a full marathon without wearing shoes once, my next goal is to do it again. And this time without kinetic tape on the sole. It will be more challenging. It’s just a thin sheet of cloth between the sole and the road, but you can tell immediately that it gives a huge advantage to the runner. I mean it’s less painful, of course. I don’t like it. I want to be strong enough to run the entire distance of 42.195 K without depending on a comfortable buffer, no matter how thin or small it may be.

Post-Race 6 K Run in MUTEKI

Oct. 22, 2018
6 K: 33:56.75 

Thirty-one hours after I crossed the finish line at Aqua Line Marathon 2108, I had my first practice run. I ran in minimalist split-toe shoes MUTEKI. Compared with running without shoes, it felt like each of my feet was on a Rolls Royce.