100-Minute Jog

Sept. 9, 2019

15.1 K: 1:41:07

Six days until Kyoho no Oka 20 K Road Race. I was scheduled to jog for 90 minutes yesterday, but I was invited to dinner by a friend of mine after a long time, and we enjoyed having some beer, so I canceled the training, and did it today.

A typhoon hit my area early this morning, but it's gone by noon. I was hoping that the storm would carry away summer heat with it, but unfortunately it didn't. It's still hot and humid.

I ran in aqua shoes above. It has little cushioning, but gives the sole minimum protection. Any cause of injury should be strictly avoided at this stage of preparation.

I chose to run a hilly 5.1 K course between home and AEON Town Yukarigaoka, and added the 5 K loop below.

I took many water breaks along the way. There are quite a few parks where tap water is available. I was drenched when I came home. But it was a good simulation of the race. It will be held in lingering late summer heat. And there are countless hills. Some are unbelievably long, and others ridiculously steep. The only difference is that the distance is longer, and I will be running a lot faster. And I am ready for both challenges.

100-Minute Jog in MUTEKI

Sept. 1, 2019

16.8 K: 1:40:26

The nasty blister on my right sole seems steadily healing. All I need to do, I hope, is just wait. 

It's exactly two weeks until my first race in Race Season 2019-2022. It's the Kyoho no Oka 18.3 K Road Race held in Yamanashi. The race is known for its altitude difference between the start and finish point. It's more than 300 M. Once you start, an upward pitch continues for almost 10 K. Then once you reach the highest point, it's all downhill until the finish line, EXCEPT there are two menacingly steep hills in the last three kilometers which make many runners stop running to walk every year. I welcome those hill, and I bet some of the hardcore fans of this race do too.

I ran the course below at a comfortable pace, covering 16. 8 K in about 100 minutes. The main purpose is to get my body used to sustain cardio-vascular effort for as long as I run the race. The long slow run was also good to actively recover from the partially fast-paced run yesterday.  

Tomorrow I go to Kyoto on business. I am going to give myself a rest at night. On Tuesday I'm planning to jog for an hour. And on Wednesday night I'll be doing some short intensive interval training. 

P.S. While running, I listened to two audio lectures. One is entitled "How to Make People Fall in Love with You". The other is about leadership by John Maxwell. According to John Maxwell, it's impossible to become a successful leader if you are not healthy. And he sounded particularly adamant about the importance of mental health. To my mind and body are inseparably connected, so physical health and mental health are two sides of the same coin, and it's hard to make one strong without making the other strong also. My personal strategy is to focus on building physical strength. It seems mental strength follows along the way.