『長野マラソン』：コース所感 / The Nagano Marathon: A Thought on the Course

2024年4月21日（日）、第26回長野マラソンが開催される。それに先立ち9800人の一般ランナーを募る受付が10月21日土曜日10時から始まる。参加予定の皆さんの健闘を祈る。

私自身は、このレースを走ったことが無いが注目している。理由は、完走者の一人から感動の体験を聴いたことがあるからだ。A. K.君という以前の勤め先の生え抜きのメンバーで、若い頃サッカーで足腰心肺を鍛えぬいた彼は、当時勤務していた長野のマラソンを格好の挑戦と捉え挑む。しかし体力に絶大な自信を誇る彼にもマラソンの壁は偉大だったようだ。沿道の応援に後押しされながらゴールを切った瞬間、万感の思いに涙したという。運動神経抜群の20代の青年を涙させた感動のマラソン大会・・・長野マラソンは、こうして私の心に刻まれた。

A.K.君はその後起業をし一国一城の主となり、素敵な奥さんと素敵な家庭を築かれた。そんな彼が先日FB上でトライアスロン完走の知らせを投稿してくれて、そのことを発端に以前彼が走った長野マラソンへ話が及び、「いつか画さんと長野マラソン一緒に走れたらいいですね」的な優しい言葉を貰った。そんな経緯もあり長野マラソンは注目の大会なのだ。

2021年7月25日の半月板損傷以来、フルマラソンを一度も走っていない自分には、来年の4月の長野マラソンはまだ時期尚早だ。が、いつかは・・・と思う。例えば、還暦の祝いにでもどうかとか。。。

今日はいつの日か夢を実現する日が訪れた時のために、事前収集した情報をもとに、自分なりのコース理解を皆さんと共有したい。マラソンを愛する市民ランナーの、そして長野マラソンに出走する市民ランナーの一助となればと思う。

＜長野マラソン＞

今回コース分析の参考にしたのはアジア陸上ソウル大会女子マラソン金メダリスト浅井えり子さんのYou Tube動画。彼女の説明を踏まえ、私個人として、長野マラソンの特筆すべき特徴を５つ挙げる：

１）標高差が少ない

２）ペースアップの罠

３）五輪大橋

４）後半の河川敷

５）近そうで遠いゴール

以下、各項目を詳述する。

１）標高差が少ない

長野マラソンは、比較的フラットなコースだ。特徴的な登りは5㌔過ぎと20㌔地点付近。5㌔過ぎの最初の登りは、善行寺へ向かう坂。スタート時刻が8時半と早い大会なのでこの坂のおかげで身体が温まって良いと思うランナーもいるかもしれない。

次の坂は20キロ地点と中間点にかかる五輪大橋へ向かう登り坂。浅井さんによるとこの坂はそれなりに登りがいのある勾配であると同時に、斜面が傾斜していて走行に注意がいるとのこと。傾斜は道路の端ほど急だそうなので、なるべく端には近づかない方が、足首をくじくなどの怪我を避けるのには有効だろう。

標高図によると35㌔手前から多少起伏が生じているが、規模は限定的。ただし後半脚が疲労していることを考えると、影響は多少あるかもしれない。いずれにせよ、長野マラソンは、「起伏が鬼門」というレースではなさそうだ。

２）ペースアップの罠

ｼｮﾎﾞいマラソンの最大の原因の多くは、前半のオーバーペースと、「待ってました！」とばかりの後半の確実な大失速だ。そして長野マラソンには、知らぬ間にランナーをオーバーペースに引きずり込む罠が数か所ある。善行寺と五輪大橋の２つだ。

善行寺の罠は容易に想像できる。善行寺に通じる直前の登りでロスした時間を取り戻したいという心理。もう一つは参道の大声援だ。善行寺の参道は大会屈指の応援スポット。黒山の人だかりが黄色い声援を参道の両側から降り注いでくれる。忘我の境地でウサギのように飛び跳ねてペースアップしてもおかしくない。さらに参道は長い下り坂となっている。登りのタイムロスを帳消しにしようとしてここでペースアップすると、体重の3倍近いといわれる着地の衝撃を大腿四頭筋がすべてダメージとして受けとることになる。そしてそのダメージは、後半ランナーを『ゾンビ』に変えることがある。

そしてもう一つの罠が五輪大橋だ。これについては3つ目のポイントとして別枠で解説する。

３）五輪大橋

長野マラソンでは、参加者は五輪大橋を2度通過する。一度目は河川敷を走行中にその下を通過する時。二度目は長野五輪記念アリーナのエムウェーブに別れを告げて五輪大橋の上を実際に走破する際だ。まず橋の下を通過する市民ランナーの一部は、この時に橋の上を走行するトップランナーの姿を見ることになるらしい。それは壮観だろう。テンションがあがる瞬間だ。「私も頑張ろう」、そう思える。ただここで注意したいのは、「頑張ろう」と思うだけにして、実際に頑張るのは35㌔過ぎにすべきだということだ。マラソンは長い。

そして2度目の通過時、五輪大橋横断の瞬間が訪れる。この時は、直前で20㌔地点を通過し、直後で中間点を通過する。目標タイムと比較して自分の相対的な位置を確かめる最重要地点の二つがこの橋の前後に訪れる。ここで目標タイムをオーバーしているランナーは、橋を横断した後の下りを利用して、一気にペースアップをしたい衝動に駆られるのではないかと思う。が、得策かどうか私にはわからない。私なら前半を無事走り切った自分へのご褒美として高みから雄大な山々の景色をゆっくり眺める。そして25㌔あたりまでは、１㌔あたり10秒近くペースを落として30㌔以降に備えると思う。マラソンは長い。20㌔～25㌔の「調子こきこき」が多くの市民ランナーを後半『ゾンビ』に変える。『ゾンビ』は美しくない。美しいマラソンは、故小出義男監督の言葉を借りれば『30㌔過ぎで一番速く走るマラソン』だ。

美しいマラソンのために、五輪大橋の前後、ならびに横断中は、ウサギのようにﾋﾟｮﾝﾋﾟｮﾝ飛び跳ねないのが良いと思う。

４）後半の河川敷

長野マラソンはフラットなコースだと述べたが、唯一の鬼門をあげるとしたらば、それは標高差ではなく「風」だ、というのが浅井えり子さんの意見だ。長野の風は読めない。レース中にも風向きは変わるという。さらに後半の河川敷には風を遮る遮蔽物がないらしい。ランナーは360度全方位から風の影響をもろに受ける。幸い追い風に恵まれれば自己ベスト更新のまさに「追い風」。逆に向かい風となれば、記録更新の志を打ち砕く最大の試練になろう。

ここで大切になるのは、この後半の河川敷の風に立ち向かうスタミナの温存だ。ここまで読まれた方が、１）～３）で私が繰り返し前半のペースアップに苦言を呈した理由がわかるだろう。私なら後半の河川敷をレース中最も力強く駆け抜けたい。河川敷エリアの35㌔界隈には桃の花がピンクに咲き乱れる桃源郷が出現すると聞く。その中を夢に包まれるような気持ちでゴールを目指したい。後半の河川敷でどんな風が待っていても意に介さない前半でのスタミナの温存、これが長野マラソン攻略のカギだと、通算18回のフルマラソン完走で辛苦をなめた老市民ランナーの私は思う。

５）近そうで遠いゴール

最後に、ゴール直前について一言。長野マラソンは40㌔地点のやや手前で河川敷に別れを告げて、40㌔地点を過ぎた後はゴールのあるオリンピックスタジアムまで一本の直線道路だ。この一本道に入るとオリンピックスタジアムはすぐに視界に入るらしい。「でも遠い」というのが浅井さんの解説。これは関東屈指の人気レース『湘南国際マラソン』完走者の方は、わかるかもしれない。「ゴールが見えているのにまだゴールじゃない」というのは40㌔以降では相当な精神的拷問だ。なので私なら、この一本道は沿道の応援者とのコミュニケーションの2㌔と捉える。「頑張れ」や「おめでとう」の雨あられに対して「ありがとう」「サンキュー」の謝辞を返す感動の2㌔。そうしたらこの2キロは瞬く間に蒸発して、気がついたらオリンピックスタジアムが両腕を広げて、ランナーの皆さんを抱擁してくれることだろう！

以上、市民ランナーの私による『長野マラソン』：コース所感、でした。ランナーさんのレベルによっては「アホ抜かすな」と思う方もいるかもしれないので、参考までに私の経験とレベルがわかる参考情報を下に提示します。半月板損傷で練習ができなくなる前の最後のフルマラソンのデータです。私の情報は、サブ4を目指す方や、サブ4からサブ3.5へ向けて大会ごとにPRの更新を目指して頑張っている50代前後の市民ランナーさんには参考になるのではないかと思います。

The 26th Nagano Marathon will be held on Sunday, April 21, 2024. The registration for 9,800 general runners will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 21. I wish the best of luck to everyone who plans to participate.

I have never run this race myself, but I am paying attention to it. A.K., a former co-worker of mine ran Nagano once. He is a former soccer player and prides himself on his physical strength. He said that the moment he crossed the finish line, cheered on by the cheering crowds along the way, he was moved to tears with a sense of accomplishment. The Nagano Marathon was that much of a challenge to him. The race was thus engraved in my mind.

As I have not run a full marathon since my meniscus injury on July 25, 2021, the Nagano Marathon next April is still too early for me. However, I hope to run a full marathon someday.... For example, perhaps to celebrate my 60th birthday?

Today, I would like to share with you my thoughts on the course, based on the information I have gathered in advance, in preparation for when the day comes when I will realize my dream and run the race. I hope it will be of some help to citizen runners who love marathons and who will run in the Nagano Marathon.

＜Nagano Marathon>

I referred to the You Tube video of Eriko Asai, gold medalist in the women's marathon at the Asian Athletics Championships in Seoul, as a reference for my course analysis. Based on her explanation, I personally would like to list five notable features of the Nagano Marathon:

1) Little undulation

2) Pace-up trap

3) Olympic Bridge

4) Running along the river in the second half

5) A goal that seems both near and far away.

Each item is described in detail below.

(1) Little undulation

The Nagano Marathon is a relatively flat course. The most notable climbs are after 5km and around the 20km mark. Since the race starts early at 8:30 a.m., some runners may feel that this hill is good for warming up the runner's body.

The next hill is the climb up to the Olympic Bridge, which begins near the 20 km mark and ends near the halfway point. According to Ms. Asai, this slope is not only challenging, but also requires careful running due to the fact that the road is sloped to the edge. The slope is steeper as you get closer to the edge, so it would be better to stay away from the edge to avoid injury such as a sprained ankle.

According to the elevation map, there are some undulations starting around 35K, but they are limited in scale. However, considering that the legs are fatigued in the latter half of the race, it may have some impact. In any case, the Nagano Marathon does not seem to be a race where undulations are a big factor.

2) The Pace-Up Trap

Many of the biggest causes of a shoddy marathon are running too quickly too early. And in the Nagano Marathon, there are several traps that unknowingly pull runners into wanting to run fast. Two of them are Zenkohji Temple and the Olympic Bridge.

The trap at Zenkohji Temple is easy to imagine. One is the runner's desire to make up the time lost on the climb leading up to the temple. The other is the loud cheering on the approach to the temple. The downhill from  Zenkohji Temple is one of the best spots for cheering. Crowds of people cheer on runners from both sides here. It is no wonder that the runners hop like rabbits in a state of excitement. The approach is a long downhill running away from the temple farther into the race. If the runner tries to make up for the time lost on the ascent and picks up the pace here, his quads will take the full impact of the landing, which is said to be nearly three times his body weight, and the damage will be done. The damage can turn the runner into a zombie in the second half of the race.

Another trap is the Olympic Bridge. This will be discussed separately as the third point.

(3) Olympic Bridge

In the Nagano Marathon, participants will pass the Olympic Bridge twice. The first time is when they pass under it while running along the riverbed. The second time is when they bid farewell to the M-Wave, the Nagano Olympics Memorial Arena, and actually run over the Olympic Bridge. It is said that some of the citizen runners passing under the bridge first will see the top runners running on the bridge at this time. It will be a spectacular sight. It will be a moment to get excited. It's a moment that makes you think, "I'm going to give it the best I've got too." However, it is important to note that the runners should only think "I'll give it the best I've got," and actually give their best only after 35 kilometers. The marathon is long.

The second time through, the moment of crossing the Olympic Bridge arrives. This time, you will pass the 20 km point just before and the halfway point just after. Two of the most important points to check your relative position compared to your target time come before and after this bridge. Runners who have exceeded their target time at this point may be tempted to use the downhill after crossing the bridge to quickly increase their pace. But I am not sure if this is a good idea. I would reward myself for having successfully completed the first half of the race.

I would slow down my pace by about 10 seconds per kilometer until about 25K mark to prepare for the last quarter of the race. The marathon is long, and the wrong "pace-setting" between 20 and 25K can easily turn many citizen runners into "zombies" in the second half of the marathon. "Zombies" aren't beautiful. A beautiful marathon is, in the words of the late marathon coach Yoshio Koide, one in which you run after 30K mark the quickest.

For a beautiful marathon, it is better not to kick like a rabbit before, during, and after crossing the Olympic Bridge.

(4) Running along the river in the second half

Ms. Eriko Asai said that the Nagano Marathon is a flat course, but she also said winds are an important factor.  The wind in Nagano is unpredictable. The wind direction changes even during the race. In addition, there are no obstacles to block the wind on the riverside roads in the latter half of the race. The runners will be affected by the wind from all directions. If they are fortunate enough to have a tailwind, they will be able to break their personal best. Conversely, a headwind would be the biggest test of all, shattering any hopes of setting a new record.

What is important here is to conserve stamina to face the wind on the riverside roads. If you have read this far, you will understand why I have repeatedly warned you of the risk of increasing the pace in the first half of the race in paragraphs 1) to 3). I would like to run through the second half of the race most strongly. I hear peach trees are in full bloom along the river around the time of the race around 35K mark. I would like to head for the goal with a feeling of being enveloped with those pink blossoms like I'm in a dream. As an old citizen runner who has experienced all sorts of sufferings through 18 full marathons, I believe that the key to the Nagano Marathon is to conserve stamina in the first half of the race so that you can run the potentially windy second half most strongly, no matter what challenges those winds may present to you.

(5) The goal that seems so close but is so far away

Finally, I would like to say a few words about the finish line. The Nagano Marathon leaves the river area a little before 40K mark, and after that there is only one straight road to the Olympic Stadium where the finish line awaits you. Once on this straight road, the Olympic Stadium is said to be within sight. "But it is far away," was Mr. Asai's comment. Those who have completed the Shonan International Marathon, one of the most popular races in the Kanto region, may understand this. The fact that "the goal is in sight, but it is not yet the finish line" is quite a mental torture after 40 kilometers. Therefore, I would consider this single straight road as a 2km celebration to enjoy communication with the cheering supporters along the road. It would be a 2km of appreciatively responding to "Go for it" and "Congratulations" give to you with "Thank you." Then, these two kilometers will evaporate in the blink of an eye, and before you know it, the Olympic Stadium will be opening its arms and embracing the runners!

This is my impression of the Nagano Marathon course. Some runners may find it completely irrelevant. Others may find it useful if you know my running experience, and also what level of runners I have in mind as I write this. I'll provide some reference information below to give you an idea of my experience and level. This is data from my last full marathon before a meniscus injury made it impossible for me to train. I think my information will be helpful to those who are aiming for a sub-4 and those who are in their 50s or so who are working hard to improve their PRs (personal records) from sub-4 to sub-3.5.

 

MGC: Japan Marathon Trials for the Paris Olympics

パリ五輪マラソン選考会MGCが終わった。男子は本田技研の伏兵小山直城選手が優勝を飾った。おめでとう！二位は九州電工の赤崎暁（ｱｶｻｷｱｷﾗ）選手。東京五輪6位入賞の大迫傑選手は3位に甘んじた。

レースは序盤、悪天に絶対の耐性を誇るＡＤ損保の川内優輝選手が、激しい雨脚を意にも介さず快走。一時は2位グループに1分近い差をつけた。

しかしハーフを過ぎたあたりから、追走グループの走者が入れ替わり立ち替わり先頭を交代しながら徐々にペースアップ。35㌔付近で遂に首位を行く川内選手に追いつきしばらく並走を続ける。

そしてレースは遂に大会屈指の難所、富久町西交差点へ通じる登坂と、さらにそこから国立競技場までの連続的アップダウンへ突入する。川内選手の追走で脚を使い過ぎた選手が、まず初めに最初の長い登りで一人また一人と先頭集団から脱落。そして先頭が小山直城選手、赤崎暁選手、大迫傑選手、川内優輝選手の４人に絞られ残り4キロに差し掛かった辺りで小山直城が最初にスパート。瞬く間に後続に10㍍近い差をつけた。

富久町西交差点を左に折れて下りに入るも大迫選手は小山選手を追わない。4年前、下りで脚を使った結果、国立競技場に入る登りで中村匠吾選手に引き離され、ラスト500㍍で服部勇馬選手に交わされた悪夢がよぎったのかもしれない。3人集団の中から赤崎暁選手が抜けだした時も、大迫選手は追わなかった。国立競技場へ入る最後の坂で失速しそこでかわせると踏んだのかもしれない。

しかし大迫選手と赤崎選手との差は縮まらなかった。そして二人と小山直城選手との差も。小山直城選手はその後もペースを落とすことなく首位を快走。赤崎暁選手もトラックに入ってからむしろ大迫選手との差を広げて五輪出場権を獲得した。

序盤レースを盛り上げた川内優輝選手は4位。しかしこの惜敗は将来に語り継がれる大健闘として彼の評判を高めるだろう。

一方女子ＭＧＣは第一生命の鈴木優花選手が東京五輪8位入賞の資生堂の一山真緒選手をレース終盤にかわしそのまま逃げ切り優勝。一山選手も、3位細田あい選手（エディオン）の猛追を振り切り代表権を獲得した。おめでとう！

というわけで、MGCは五輪マラソンよりも熱い。まる。

<MGC>
The MGC, the Paris Olympics marathon trials took place. Naoki Koyama of Honda Motors won the men's race. Congratulations to him! Second place went to Akira Akasaki of Kyushu Electrics. Suguru Osako of Nike, who finished 6th in the Tokyo Olympics, had to settle for 3rd place.

In the early stages of the race, AD Sompo's Yuhki Kawauchi, who boasts absolute immunity to bad weather, ran fast despite the heavy rain. At one point, he was nearly a minute ahead of the chase group.

After the halfway point, however, the pace gradually picked up as the runners in the chase group took turns taking over the lead. 35 kilometers out, Kawauchi was finally caught by the chase group and they continued to run side by side for a while.

The race finally reached the most difficult point of the race, the Tomiisacho Nishi Intersection, and from there, it was a series of ups and downs leading up to the National Athletic Stadium. The runners who used up too much of their legs chasing Kawauchi first dropped out of the lead pack one by one on the first long climb, and then Naoki Koyama took over the lead. With only 4km to go, Naoki Koyama, Akira Akasaki, Suguru Osako, and Yuki Kawauchi were in the lead. And then Naoki Koyama suddenly injected the pace to immediately take a 10-meter lead. It took place with 4 kilometers remaining.

Suguru Osako didn't chase Koyama. Perhaps Osako remembered his nightmare four years ago when he used his legs on the downhill and was pulled away by Shogo Nakamura on the climb into the National Stadium and passed by Yuma Hattori in the last 500 meters, When Akira Akasaki broke away from the three-man pack, Osako did not chase either. He may have thought he could dodge him on the final hill into the National Stadium.

However, the gap between Osako and Akasaki did not close. The gap between Osako and Naoki Koyama didn't narrow either. Naoki Koyama continued to lead the race without slowing down. Akira Akasaki also entered the track and widened the gap between himself and Osako to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

Yuhki Kawauchi, who had made the race exciting in the early stages, finished in 4th place. However, this close loss will be remembered as a great effort that will enhance his reputation in the future.

In the women's MGC, Yuka Suzuki of Dai-ichi Life Insurance overtook Tokyo Olympics 8th place finisher Mao Ichiyama of Shiseido in the final state of the race and ran away to win. Ichiyama also earned the right to represent Japan in the next Olympics by maintaining a winning distance from Ai Hosoda (Edion) who was strongly chasing her from behind. Congratulations to all selected athletes!

The MGC is perhaps more exciting that the Olympic marathon...

Race Report: The 38th Shiroi Nashi 10 K Road Race

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. 

My Next Fitness Challenge/白井梨マラソン10キロの部

With the 39th Kyoho no Oka 18.3 K Road Race rather painstakingly but nonetheless successfully completed, I am already looking forward to my next fitness goal, which is the 38th Shiroi Pear 10 K Road Race. I'm running it for the first time.

When I signed up for the race, I mainly did so because the race venue's proximity to my home and also because of free pear to be served at the event.

But I have a fresh outlook on it now. Today I went to the venue on my motorcycle and rode through the course twice for research. It is a pretty good course for a barefoot runner. I mean, it's reasonably barefoot-runnable.

The race starts off the Shiroi City Athletic Ground. It goes down for several hundred meters and then gets flat. After running around 1 K it takes a first left turn into a busy commercial road, and then take another left into a narrow farm road and keeps straight for a little less than one kilometer. It takes another left into another busy commercial road toward an industrial area where many factories stand. After about one and a half on the commercial road, the course takes its first right turn into the industrial area and zig-zags through it for about one kilometer. 

Once out of the industrial area, you are back on a commercial road again. But very briefly. You go into a smaller industrial area for a while and then come back on a commercial road again. But you stay on the commercial road only briefly, and turns left into a quiet farmers' district and eventually into a small forest where the sun is blocked by the trees. This last for a few hundred meters. 

Once out of the forest, the finish line is near. You are back on a sunny road which connects to the halfway point of the first straight road coming from the start. Once you reach the connecting point, you take a left and the finish line is within 500 meters.

Overall, the road surface is smooth and looks friendly to barefoot runners. My only concern is the area circled in red on the man above. The road is not maintained well. There are cracks all over the place. Plus, because it is in the forest, you see a whole bunch of mystery nuts and bits of twigs and so on. They are not comfortable on the sole.  But it only lasts for a few hundred meters. I can grit my teeth and bear it.

There are many farm stands along the course that sell Japanese pears. I stopped by one of them today and bought a bag of 'hohsui' pears for 1,000 yen. I exchanged a few words with a fine-looking young employee there, saying that I was going to run the forthcoming Pear Road Race, and that I was running in a Tarzan costume and in bare feet. She reacted wildly with wows and smiles. 

The race is on Oct. 1. There are only 12 left until the race. At this stage there is nothing spectacular that you can do to improve your outcome. I will continue my regular training. I will run 10 K three times a week. In the last one week leading to the race day, I will what I did for the Kyono no Oka Road Race. It conditioned my mind-body perfectly. I'm sure it will work for this one as well. I cannot wait to run again.  

 

 

 

"Children of a Lesser God" (1986)

I was browsing TV this afternoon when an old movie caught my eye. It turned out to be a movie called "Children of a Lesser God." I could not leave the TV set and watched it till the end.  It was a good movie. I had no idea how it hadn't been brought to my attention until now.

Long story short, it's a story of an idealistic teacher named James who teaches deaf students how to speak. One day, he sees a young woman storming out of the kitchen of his school cafeteria. When he asks the school principal who she is, he learns she's a former student named Sarah who now works as a school janitor. 

Sarah is beautiful. And she is also one of the brightest, according to the principal. James is curious why she settles for a seemingly unexciting job of janitor. James tries to communicate with Sarah, and also out of his professional idealism tries to get her interested in speaking when he learns that Sarah can talk in sign language, but that she would not try to speak.

As time goes by, James comes to a point where he must admit to himself and to Sarah also that he is in love with her. Sarah quits the job of janitor and starts to live with James in his place. But things do not go as well as they want them to. While knowing deep down that he must love her just the way she is, his professional idealism raises its head every now and then, he acts as if he wanted Sarah to learn to speak. Sarah senses it, and decides to leave his place without telling him where she is going.  James is left alone.

Months after they are parted, James goes to meet Sarah's mom to find out she works downtown as a manicurist. James goes to the salon where she works and sees her through the shop window receiving a tip from a satisfied customer. James leaves the salon without contacting Sarah.

Time passes. There is a school festival. James looks happy with his students dancing and smiling. But in the back of his mind, there is always Sarah. How is she doing? Doesn't she miss me? Could she ever come back to me... He turns his eyes off his happy students and sees a crowd of formally-dressed guests. Among a number of tall guests, near their shoulders, that familiar long curly hair is glimpsed, and as those guests walk off, a full figure of the owner of that hair becomes visible. It was Sarah dressed in a white one-piece dress and white heels. The upper chest of the dress is slightly lacy to make her look charmingly feminine. James cannot believe his eyes. He slowly looks away from his charmingly-dressed former girlfriend and leaves the party room and gets out into the starry night. A while later, Sarah joins him outside. They tell each other by sign language what went through their minds while they were apart. They realize they need each other. 

The actress who plays Sarah is Marlee Matlin. She is very charming in the movie, able to express so many complicated emotions. In real life, she lost almost all of her hearing ability as a child, but that didn't stop her from pursuing acting career. At age 58, she is still incredibly vivacious and charming. She is also very active in promoting support for people with hearing impairment. 

Her co-star, William Hur who played James passed away last year after leaving a colorful filmography behind...

                                  

Training for Kyoho no Oka Marathon

 Aug. 17, 2023

I've been training for the 39th Kyono no Oka 18.3 K Road Race. It's scheduled for Sept. 17. The training has been good overall. But it's been a bit irregular due to a number of factors. First, the extraordinary heat of this summer was too exhausting. I often chose rest over training. Secondly, I had an issue with my left hip joint in early August. I stopped running altogether and switched to cycling temporarily.  Also, I had my summer vacation from the 10 to the 17. I gave priority to other things. 

Thanks to the temporary break from running training, the hip joint is much better now. On the night of the 16, I went for a short run to see how my legs would respond. The response was good enough. I didn't feel any pain. So I am going to start my running training again. There is only one month left. Any injury after this point can be unrecoverable. I need to train carefully. I should not push too hard. The hip joint issue mentioned earlier occurred several days after I did significantly long runs. I didn't take baby steps. I suddenly increased my training distance from 10 K to 20 K. I wasn't patient. I guess I wanted to prove to myself that I could still do it. Well, I DID prove that I could do it. But with a price. And that is a price I wouldn't have had to pay if I had been more sensible.

Well, a lesson has been learned. I will be wiser in the remaining time till the race day comes.

My recent sessions are good examples. I was careful not to overdo it. The one on the night of the 16 was brief and easy. I chose the out-and-back 6 K course near my house. With 1 K remaining, I felt strong, so I added an extra route to run 8.7 K. I kept my pace in check. I adjusted my stride and cadence when running up hills. I went barefooted just to see how my soles would respond. They got slightly sore, but not too badly. They've been spoiled quite a bit after weeks of shoe-clad training.

The following night I went out for exercise again. This time I mainly walked. After a barefoot run, I wanted to rest my once-injured/now-basically-recovered left knee. But at the same time, I didn't want to give it a full rest. I'm sure my knee is better than that. A good long walk is my solution. However, a walk alone doesn't satisfy me completely. Its intensity is low. There is little challenge in terms of resistance either. So I took a route that allowed me to visit parks where I could do body weight muscle exercises like pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, and push-ups, using iron bars and swings. This enabled me to significantly increase the total number of calories burned in the session. They help me build the core strength needed to keep a good running posture. 

Twenty-four hours have passed since the walk and park workout training session on the night of the 17, I feel my chest a bit sore. (Which is good. It's a sign that there were micro tears.) But that is a condition that doesn't affect running.  So I am going to hit the road soon. It's cool outside now compared with a few nights ago. The mere prospect of being alone on the road thrills me. I love that awesome feeling of keeping the entire road all to myself in the still of the night in the pitch dark.  

＜All Japan Athletics Championships Men's 5000m/全日本陸上選手権男子5000㍍＞

Fujitsu's Kazuya Shiojiri, the former ace of Juntendo University in Hakone, won the Men's 5000m at All Japan Athletics Championships. It was his first victory in the event. Congratulations to Kazuya!

In the beginning of the race, two African runners, who were open participants, led the pack. Then, toward the middle of the race, Yuichiro Ueno, who is the coach of the Rikkyo University Ekiden Club, alternated with the aforementioned Africans to lead the pace.

Ueno ran out of steam after the midpoint, but the leading group was replaced by a group of strong Japanese runners who were aiming for the top prize. Leading the pack was defending champion Hyuga Endo of Sumitomo Electric Industries, who has won this event twice in a row.

Endo graduated from Gakuho Ishikawa High School in Fukushima Prefecture and immediately started working for a businessman's team. He has a reputation for his last-minute spurt, and he was eagerly awaiting his chance to make it in today's race.

Shiojiri was the one who prevented him from doing so. Knowing that he had no chance to win in the sprint race on the last lap, Shiojiri made a long spurt with two laps to go!

The question was, how long would Shiojiri's long spurt last? The race was now down to how long Shiojiri's spurt would last, and where Endo would catch him.

The bell rang for the final lap. Endo's pitch clearly increased, and the third placer was closing in on Endo. The pace of the two competitors visibly increased as they competed with each other. The gap between Endo and Shiojiri, running solo in front, has narrowed! Has Shiojiri played into Endo's hands?

The gap did not close any further, and Shiojiri cut the tape, almost keeping the gap he had opened up in the long spurt on the second lap.

The race reminded me of the U.S. Women's 10,000m Tokyo Olympics selection race. There were two 5000m specialists in this race who had already qualified for the Women's 5000m and were looking for their spot in their second event. If the race was slow-paced, a sprinter who is confident in sprinting could make a last sprint to escape. In the actual race, both of the aforementioned runners who planned to win in this way dominated the pace at the front of the field.

However, there was one who didn't like it to happen and that was Emily Sisson. After taking the lead from the 5,000-meter specialist after the midpoint of the race, she gradually increased her pace.

Too fast a pace too early is a double-edged sword. Running out of gas in the last part of the race, she could be overtaken by those with stamina. However, Emily Sisson was able to maintain the lead and qualified for the Olympics.

In short, I think that is what she had been practicing for. I think Shiojiri was also practicing like that today. What you practice comes out in the competition. Plain and simple. But hard to put into practice.

全日本陸上選手権男子5000㍍が行われ、順天堂大学のエースとして箱根を沸かせた富士通の塩尻和也選手が初優勝した。おめでとう！

レースは序盤オープン参加のアフリカ勢がひっぱる展開となった。その後中盤にかけ、立教大学駅伝部の監督を務める上野裕一郎選手が前述のアフリカ勢と交互に首位を交代する形でペースを引っ張った。

中盤以降上野選手は力尽きたが、入れ替わるように上位入賞を狙う力のある日本勢が先頭グループを形成した。有力選手の筆頭はこの種目二連覇中のディフェンディングチャンピオン、住友電工の遠藤日向選手だ。

遠藤日向選手は、箱根駅伝には目もくれず福島県の学法石川高校を卒業後すぐに実業団に就職した。ラストスパートに定評があり、今日のレースでもそのチャンスを虎視眈々と狙っている。

それを阻んだのが塩尻選手だった。最終ラップのスプリント勝負で勝ち目がないことを知る塩尻選手は、残り2周の手前からロングスパートをかけたのだ！

勝負は塩尻選手のロングスパートがどこまで持ち堪えるか？遠藤選手のスパートがどこで塩尻選手を捉えるかに絞られた。

最終ラップの鐘が鳴る。遠藤選手のピッチが明らかに上がる。3位の選手が遠藤選手にくらいつく。競り合う形で二人のペースが目で見ても分かるように上がる。前を走る短独走の塩尻選手との差が縮まった！万事休すか！？

差はそれ以上縮まらなかった。2周目のロングスパートで空けた差をほぼほぼ守ったまま塩尻選手がテープを切った。

レースを見て、アメリカ女子10000㍍の東京五輪選考レースを思い出した。このレースには5000㍍で出場を決めているスピード系の選手が二人出場していて、二種目目の出場権を狙っていた。レースがスローペースになった場合、スプリントに自信のある選手が最後のスパートで逃げ来ることができる。実際のレースもそうした勝ち方を目論む前述の両選手が先頭でペースを支配する展開となった。

しかしそこに物言いをつけた選手がいた。Emily Sisson選手である。中盤以降に5000㍍のスペシャリストから首位を奪うとそのまま徐々に徐々にペースアップを図った。

速過ぎるペースアップは諸刃の剣だ。ラストでガス欠をし、力を温存している後半型の選手にまくられて後塵を拝すことになりかねない。しかしEmily Sisson選手は逃げ切った。そして五輪の出場権を獲得した。

要するに、そういう練習をしていたのだと思う。今日の塩尻選手も、そういう練習をしていたと思う。練習したことが本番に出る。まる。