20.6 K Barefoot Build-Up in the Rain

July 13, 2019

6.3 K: 33:25.28 (5:18/K)

5 K: 25:45.14 (5:09/K)

5 K: 24:35.17 (4:55/K)

4.3 K: 19:49.99 (4:37/K)

20.6 K: 1:43:35 (5:01/K)

It's Saturday night. I will usually feel bushed on Saturday night after a week long hard work. And I often put my legs up and watch a movie just to relax, forgetting about work and athletic effort. But tonight, though I should feel tired, and I did actually feel so, I felt this urge to run welling up from within. I attribute this interesting advent of motivation to diet rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber on the one hand, and low in animal fat and absence of alcohol on the other. It doesn't overly excite your mind. It keeps it nice and calm. It allows you to make sound judgments regarding what one should do best. Tonight I should go for a practice run, because I haven't been able to run between Wednesday and Friday, the reason being there was a big seminar for corporate clients on Friday and I skipped training on the previous night to save energy, and also that there was an early start and a tight schedule on Saturday, so I chose to save energy of work by skipping training. I have been away from training too long. Another day of absence of training could kill all the precious gain from previous effort. 

Bringing myself to the road was somewhat effortless, because the temperature was just right for a run, and it was drizzling a little. Perfect condition for a barefoot runner! 

I started off without setting a fixed goal in terms of neither time nor distance. I just went with the flow. But I wanted to run at least 20 K. Anything beyond that depends on how I will feel along the way. In terms of the pace, I wasn't so ambition. Because I didn't run for three days, so I knew it would take a while for my body to adjust to the running mode. But there was one goal I wanted to cling to. That is to gradually increase pace and run at the fastest pace in the last 4 K or so.  

The course tonight ended up being exactly the same as the one I ran on Tuesday night. I ran the first 6.3 K segment fairly slowly. That's OK. I went as I had a dialogue with my mind-body about how far and fast I could go tonight. 

But once I came to the 5 K loop in the Yuhkarigaoka residential district, I injected the pace, aiming to hammer out 4:58/K pace. It's my target pace for the Dec. 1 marathon in Shonan. 

To my disappointment, the first lap wasn't even close to it. I was 11 seconds slower than the target per kilometer. The reason wasn't so much for limited cardio-vascular capacity; but rather because I ran a bit too carefully not to damage my soles. They didn't feel as durable as usual, perhaps because they had softened a bit while I was away from training...

I didn't want to fail to meet the goal in the second lap, so I made conscious effort to run faster by running on the center line which is painted, and which therefore has smoother surface. It was past midnight, and traffic was scarce, so that helped me to do it without causing anyone trouble. 

I ran the second lap well under the target. I was glad.

Now came the last 4.3 K segment. I wanted to run it the fastest. My ideal pace is 4:30/K. How close would I be able to get to it?

I significantly increased cadence. I was listening to Jean Luc Ponty's "Mystical Adventures" while running. I kept up with its tempo, which was tough, but that seemed exactly the pace I should be keeping in the final phase of the target race if I want to run a sub-3.5 marathon. 

Eventually keeping that tempo became impossible, but I did my best to stay as close to it until I finally reached home. 

I was 7 seconds slower (4:37)per kilometer than my target (4:30), but nonetheless, I did run the segment the fastest, so I patted myself on the shoulder.  

20.6 K Barefoot Build-Up in the Rain

July 7, 2019

6.3 K: 32:00.93 (5:04/K)

5 K: 24:02.68 (4:49/K)

5 K: 24:06.87 (4:49/K)

4.3 K: 19:32.46 (4:32/K)

20.6 K: 1:39:42 (4:49/K)

It was raining and winds were strong when I woke up in the morning. I had a slightly irregular working schedule this past week with a seminar at a distant national university on Friday, and a long train trip had gotten me more physically exhausted than usual. So I gave myself a longer rest than usual before going for a weekend run this morning. 

I always try to achieve two goals with respect to my weekend training session:

1) Running a longer distance than on weekdays

2) Doing something challenging in terms of both pace and distance

The goal this morning was to run minimum 20 K at a pace equal to or faster if possible than the one required to run a sub 3.5 marathon. It's 4:58/K.

I ran without shoes, because nothing is more demotivating than running in wet shoes. 

The course today is made up of three segments. The first one is 6.3 K. It's from home to the entrance into the 5 K loop which is the second segment. It's hill and winding. I like it because it allows me to use different muscles and also to pay attention to running economy. 

Every time I run in bare feet, the soles feel sore the first 10 minutes or so, and a mere prospect of running at least ten times more feels quite depressing. 

But seventeen minutes or so into running, there always comes a moment where initial discomfort in the sole is forgotten, and legs suddenly feel lighter. I love this moment. I can believe in the arrival of the moment like I know spring comes after winter...

My target pace for this segment was @ 5:00/K, but I was slightly over the target, but not too much.

The second segment is the 5 K loop below. My goal was to increase the pace here and cruise around it twice at the race pace of 4:58/K or faster. I ran both laps at 4:49/K. So the goal was achieved.

The third segment is 4.3 K. The course is shown below. It's from the end of the 5 K loop to home. The first half is rich in undulation. And then the last half is pretty flat. But the road condition is bad at some points, which makes it hard to sustain the pace that I injected in the first part. But I grit my teeth and bore as I listened to the commentary while running of London Marathon 2016 which Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won by running a 2:03 marathon for the first time of his marathon career.

My pace in this segment was the fastest (4:32/K). But I don't think it reflects my real ability right now, because there were three brief stops at intersections due to the red light. They gave me time to recover. If there had not been those stops, it would have been a little harder from me to keep the higher pace than those in the preceding segments. 

But overall, I'm happy with the result. Last time I did build-up training on June 30, I only ran 15.6 K at an average pace of 4:48/K. Today I ran a longer distance of 20.6 K, and the average pace didn't deteriorate so much. In fact, it was only a second slower. 

Hopefully, next time I do it, I will extend the distance to 25.6 K, but still I will keep the similar pace, and ideally will run the last segment the fastest! 

I love this feeling of becoming stronger and stronger with each effort. 

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