The 38th Shiroi Nashi 10 K Road Race took place in the quiet country town of Shiroi, Chiba Prefecture. I ran the race and finished strongly.
Below is a brief report of how I spent my race day.
On the morning of Oct. 1, I woke up at 6:15 a.m. to get ready for the race. I had a small breakfast of fruit and bread. I'd had a big dinner on the previous night. The race is short. I don't need a big breakfast.
I put my gear in a backpack and took off around 7:00 a.m. on my scooter. I considered riding my Kawasaki Vulcan S, but decided not to, and went on the scooter, thinking it would give me greater flexibility in terms of parking at the venue.
I arrived at the venue around 7:35. Scooters were allowed to go all the way to the most convenient parking lot right next to the stadium while those for cars were located quite remote from the venue. I was lucky.
The race was scheduled to start at 10:30. I was there way early. My sole reason for the early arrival was the parking issue. A leaflet that had been mailed to me said most parking lots are usually packed by 7:30 every year so if you planned to come, be sure to come early. But that instruction is mainly for car drivers, and not for motorcycle riders. Motorcycle riders have enough parking space all day. Next year, I will leave home much later to give myself a little longer sleep.
Once I parked the scooter, I found a little open space on the grass outside the stadium. I spread an air cushion and rested till my runner friends arrived.
About 30 minutes after my arrival, the runner friends joined me, and for a couple hours before the race we updated on each other and enjoyed having free fresh Japanese pear which the organizer offered to runners and cheerers.
A couple of other races took place before mine. One of them is the 5K. It had some serious runners. When the leader came back into the stadium, he was welcomed with a roar of cheering and hand-clapping. The energy level inside the stadium was immediately boosted.
As everyone saw the 5K runners completing the final lap, though, 10K runners started gathering on the track in twos and threes. The start was near.
At 10:30, the gun went off, and the race was officially underway. We half-lapped the track and streamed out into the road. Right after leaving the stadium behind, we were met with a brief uphill, which was followed by a downhill of about the same distance. It's about 1.5 K until the first left turn around the corner of Seven-Eleven's convenience store. The road is relatively narrow for a large pack of runners. Congestion is severe. Overtaking runners is fairly hard at this stage, which was good for me because my game plan was starting off at an easy pace of 5:40/K.
By the time we reached the third left turn which comes around 1 K after the second turn, the pack was stretched long, and overtaking became easier, though as I said, I kept my pace carefully in check so as not to deplete my energy tank too much in that second half of the race yet.
By the time I was into 3K, I had settled into a pretty good pace. The halfway point was near, which is located somewhere in an industrial area.
By the time I finally reached the 5K mark in the industrial area, the runners were dispersed, and the road was wider. Congestion was no longer an issue. Over-paced runners started slowing down near the halfway point.
I didn't realize it when I researched the course on my motorcycle, the undulation of the road in the industrial area was not negligible. I could clearly see a number of runners were struggling with going up an upward slope. I narrowed my strides and increased my cadence. It is my usual approach to climbing hills.
Once outside the industrial area, the course became flat again for about one kilometer. As I had originally planned, I injected my pace slightly, but not too much. I wanted to save enough for a final kick.
Then about 2.5 K to the finish line, there was a long downhill. I would have hammered it down before my knee injury, but today I went easy. I didn't want another injury. Also, I wanted to save enough for the last kick.
Around 2 K to the finish line, we went through small woods where the road was poorly maintained. It was a hard blow to the increasingly damaged bare sole of mine. But thanks to God knows what neuro-transmitting substances, I was well numb to a significant amount of pain. I forced through the ill-paved path like a German tank.
Once outside the woods, the finish line was near. The crowd was larger on either side of the road, with aid workers in staff jackets cheering us on by yelling and waving hands. The stadium was now in sight. I visualize myself lapping the track strongly.
Finally, the gate into the track was ahead of me. An aid worker was swinging a flag from left to right to navigate the runners to the right course. I took a sharp right turn into the track. Suddenly all the discomfort caused by the rough surface of the driveway was gone, and the spongy surface of the track felt like a blessing. Three hundred meters more to go. I tried to kick. But the diaphragm was screwed up and I felt choked. I couldn't breathe properly. But I moved on. I turned the 3rd corner. The runner ahead of me kicked. I wanted to hang on. But I couldn't. He went farther and farther away with each step. I turned the last corner. One hundred meters more to go. At this moment I finally mustered up everything I had left and surged. Surge I did. And in less than 10 seconds, I was on the other side of the finish line! The race was over. Suddenly, I felt like I just took off a winter coat that was made of lead.
After the race, I was hungry, I ate Chinese on my way home. Once back home, I crashed into a futon and slept like a baby for about three hours non-stop.
My next race is on Dec. 3. It's the 19th Hadano Tanzawa Minasegawa River Half Marathon. It is a very important stepping stone to my most important race at the beginning of next year--the Tateyama Wakashio Marathon.
I will probably go for a blood donation in Funabashi tomorrow. After that, I will take a week off from training. And then when I fully recover from the blood donation, I will start from jogging.
