Rainy Midnight Intervals: 7 Sets by 1 K @ 4 :10

July 15, 2020

Warm Up: 3.4 K: 20:05.80

Rest: 1:00.01

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<Intervals: 7 Sets by 1 K @ 4:10>

1st: 4:02.07

Active Rest: 1:00.33

2nd: 4:01.79

Active Rest: 1:00.25

3rd: 4:05.98

Active Rest: 1:00.20

4th: 4:08.28

Active Rest: 1:00.16

5th: 4:08.64

Active Rest: 1:00.35

6th: 4:07.07

Active Rest: 1:00.28

7th: 4:00.53

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Warm Down: 3:6 K: 23:17.89

Total 14.5 K: 1:18:59

Rainy Midnight Barefoot 12.7 K Run

July 13, 2020

High Intensity Cardio: 10 Sets by 1 Minute

July 14, 2020

Rainy Midnight Barefoot 12.7 K Run

11. 7 K: 1:04:24 

1 K: 3:54.86

Total 12.7 K: 1:08:18

Rainy Day Tire Throw

July 9, 2020

Warm Up 3.5 K Barefoot Jog: 21:22.04

Tire Throw 60 times: 13:18.03

Total 34:40.07

It was raining when I got to the park. Not a single soul could be seen as far as the eye could reach. I was the only person there, not to mention the only person throw a tire.

I warmed up a little by running the 500 M track 7 times in a little longer 20 minutes. And after that I got straight to the tire throw.

I couldn't muster up the strength to give a big throw at first, and thought it's probably due to an insufficient carb intake. Excessive carb intake can quickly give you a few extra inches around your belly. But not enough is as bad. But I made up my mind to reach at least 60 reps. 

The lawn was freshly mowed, and it felt good on the naked sole. I reached the target in about 13 minutes, washed my feet with tap water, and got home. 

Had lightly grilled bonito, steamed edamame, brown rice, tomato, mushroom soup with chicken breast, okura, 'hijiki' seaweed, and poached egg. They all hit the spot, permeating throughout my body like the rain water gets quickly absorbed in the dry soil. 

Double Training: 6 K in the Afternoon & 13.8 K at Midnight

July 7, 2020

<Afternoon Barefoot Jog>

6 K: 36:50.25

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<Midnight Barefoot 13 K Build-Up>

6.9 K: 38:35.31

6 K: 28:14.17

0.9 K: 11:00.00

Sub-total 13.8 K: 1:17:49  

Between 4 and 5 K is the hardest of the 6 K loop that I ran tonight. There are two steep hills that are extremely demotivating. Also demotivating is the first 10 % of the last K; the road is poorly maintained and the surface is rather rough. I need to slow down significantly. The best part is the last straight leading to the finish. The road surface is smooth, and it's slightly going down. I tried to make up for the loss in the previous K, but the gain was not enough to allow me to achieve the target of tempo run: 27:30. But I guess it's close enough, considering that I did some massive high intensity cardio & muscle training yesterday, and was not completely recovered. 

The daily total reached 19 K, thanks to a brief jog in the afternoon. 

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Daily total: 19.8 K: 1:54:39

Rainy Midnight 10 K Barefoot Jog

July 3, 2020

10.5 K: 1:00:12

I ran in the rain with no shoes on. It felt awesome. I had no energy in the afternoon. The tempo run on the previous night took a toll on my whole body. I took a nap for a few hours in the late afternoon. I wasn't entirely refreshed even after the nap. But soon after dinner I finally felt like getting out to hit the road. 

It was raining only slightly when I left home. But as time went by, the rain got heavier and heavier. Soon puddles turned up across the road. But it didn't bother me at all as I was barefooted.

I felt light at first. But about 3 kilometers into running, I felt my internal organs, especially the cardio-vascular system, were still a bit fatigued. I slowed down and kept a comfortable pace. 

Looking back on it, I have been pushing myself a little too hard over the course of few months. The main reason is my new goal of running a sub-3.25 marathon (running a marathon under 3 hours 15 minutes). I raised the hurdle of intervals and tempo run, both of which are a must, of course. But then I made my jogging pace faster too. Now I realize that jogging is an important component of my overall training in that it is kind of an active rest between two hard speed sessions. So it's got to be easy. If it's not easy enough, my body continues to be strained, with little time for full recovery. 

I am going to use "jogging" in a more positive way. Hopefully, this will help improve my performance in the tempo run.  

Midnight 10 K Tempo Run in MUTEKI

July 2, 2020

Warm Up 880 M Walk

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<10 K Tempo Run: Target pace=4:35/K; Target lap for 2.5 K=11:27>

1st 2.5 K: 11:52.53 (+25)

2nd 2.5 K: 11:48.83 (+21)

3rd 2.5 K: 11:55.96 (+28)

4th 2.5 K: 11:43.31 (+16)

Sub-total 10 K: 47:20

Warm Down 3.38 K: 26:03.79

Total 13.38 K: 1:13.24

I did tempo run. I was originally planning to jog, but I felt sufficiently recovered from a long run three nights ago. But when I saw my lap in the first 2.5 K, I was shocked that I was running much slower than I thought I was.

I tried to pick up the pace, but I couldn't. I thought of giving up, but then if I did, quitting could become a habit. I went on. The lap continued to suck until the end. But facing a miserable self is an important part of becoming a stronger version of myself, so I kept on running until I finally reaching the target distance of 10 K!

Tonight I learned the hard way that I need at least two days of easy run between two challenging sessions, such as intervals, tempo run, and LSD.      

Rainy Night 10 K Jog in Aqua Shoes

July 1, 2020

11.7 K: 1:03:46

1 K: 4:04.16

Total 12.7 K: 1:07:50 

It was wow! Simply wow! No sooner had I hit the road than it started raining cats and dogs! For a moment I thought of heading back. But I kept on going until I covered the distance I had originally planned to cover.

In fact, running in the rain isn't as bad as you may think. It can be kind of fun. The worst part of a rainy day run is that you shoes get soaked. But I ran in aqua shoes tonight, which never absorb rain. It drains it because the sole is meshed.

Visibility was poor, which sucked. But that didn't cause much of a safety problem, because there was hardly any traffic late at night. 

I felt a bit cold when I started running, but when the body temperature reasonably rose ten, twenty minutes into running, I felt perfectly comfortable running in the ran, temperature-wise, except that visibility remained rather poor throughout the journey with rain drops covering my glasses, and sometimes falling straight into my eyes behind the glasses.

I kicked in the last K as I always try when I can, to run it in 4:04.