Rainy Midnight 10 K Build-Up in Bare Feet

Jun. 28, 2021

What a productive day! I slept late to catch up on sleep this morning, did some house chores like drying my futon in the sun and doing the vacuuming, took care of the backyard, pruning some citrus trees and moving some shiso plants from a shady area to a more sunny space, and so on. 

Later in the afternoon, I went out for a short motorbike ride out in the rural area of the city to look for some edible wild plants. Collected some Japanese ginger buds, but wasn't able to find 'tade' or a water pepper. In fact, found something that kind of resembled the description of the plant in a book, but wasn't sure if that was what it was. But I remember where I saw it, so maybe I will go there again to pick some up and bring it back home to test-taste it. 

After dinner, I wrote a syllabus for three lessons and made three handouts, which I shared with my co-workers for a double-check. 

After having done everything, or perhaps more than I had wanted to do, I finally did what I hadn't been able to do due to an extremely hectic schedule this past week: running.

By the time I changed into my running gear, it had started raining, but it didn't stop me, because I always have a fairly positive feeling about rains, because some of my best races took place on rainy days, with one even on a little stormy day!

I ran an out & return 10 K course with one hell of a giant downhill and upward incline. Cruised along the first half, and picked up pace in the second half, making it a solid 10 K build-up. I'm happy with my final surge, which was fairly strong. 

Warm Up 0.9 K: 5:07.48

5 K: 27:36.00

5 K: 23:23.82

Warm Down 0.9 K: 5:46.05

Total 11.8 K: 1:01:53

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.