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Week 15 - The Boston Marathon Race Report

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:06:26 +0900

[Quick Summary]
2:56:01 (PB)
Garmin Stats
Official Splits

There’s a lot that can be said about the 117th Boston Marathon but I shall try to focus on a race report. Thank you though for all the kind messages after the incident. I was about 2-3 blocks away when the bombings happened and was thankfully safe that day.

[Week 15 training summary]
Monday: ~6miles easy
Tuesday: ~6.5miles easy
Wednesday: ~6.5miles (inc. [1600m, 1200m, 800m, 400m] @ 10km pace )
Thursday: ~6miles easy
Friday: ~4miles easy jog with my youngest sister in Toronto
Saturday: 25mins (inc. 2minutes @ 5:00/mi pace)
Sunday: 20mins easy jog around Harvard university

[Pre-Race]
Ever since I started running, it was always a dream of mine to qualify and run the Boston Marathon. After running a qualifying time of 3:02:31 in Tokyo 2012, I immediately jumped at the chance to register. Happy to get accepted into the race, I also had my sights on breaking the elusive 3hr barrier. So, starting on Jan 1st of this year, training began with a conventional marathon training approach utilizing elements from legendary coaches such as Philip Maffetone, Pete Pfitzinger and Jack Daniels combined with unconventional changes to my diet (kudos to Harrisson for his input) which resulted in my best marathon buildup ever. I averaged about 75miles (121km) a week, peaked at 105miles (169km) and having achieved a few PBs along the way (5km: 18:17, 10km: 37:50, HM: 1:23:58), legs free of any major injuries, I felt I was in the best running shape I’ve ever been.
After spending a few days in Toronto, I flew up to Boston a day before the race. From the moment I walked into the expo and picked up my number, the atmosphere was amazing! Here’s a brief photo recap:

I’m happy to have made it to Boston.
Desiree Davila and Josh Cox providing some tips on how to run the course.
Ultramarathon runner Dean Karnases giving a humorous talk.
Getting a glimpse of 4x Boston Marathon Winner Bill Rodgers.
Writing down my target time.
Eating my last big meal at 2pm.
Preparing my race gear.
It all starts here after taking the school bus at 6am to Hopkinton.
Hanging out with Bob and Brent. T-3 hours before the race starts.

[Race]
Start - Mile 6
With a bib number of 4029, I was in wave 1, corral 5 along with hundreds of other runners with roughly the same qualifying time. It took about two minutes after the gun went off at 10am before I crossed the start line. The first 6 miles/10km are mostly downhill and if there’s one tip I got from everyone that gave me advice, it was to take it easy in the first 10km. I went by feel and what felt like a very easy run ended up being 6:48/mi, 6:31, 6:34, 6:29, 6:39, 6:30 pace which was faster than marathon pace. I wisely resisted the urge to break into a sub-40 10km run and ended up with a 10km split time of 41:11.

Mile 6 - Mile 17
The next 11 miles were mostly flat with a few rollers and one significant downhill before the infamous Newton hills. The weather was excellent (hardly any wind, 10-15 degrees celsius) so I was able to run a little bit faster than my marathon pace. I was comfortable with this pace and was trying to maintain a steady effort. I hit the half-way mark at 1:26:50 which was only 10 seconds ahead of my 1:27-1:28 target. There were plenty of fast runners around me gunning for sub 3 so I was able to follow various people during this time. It was around this time that I caught up with Brett. After a few motivational words from him, I set off on my own pace. It turned out he was a few seconds behind me until mile 21. The Wellesley Girls at mile 14 were fun to see but after speeding up too much, I made sure to settle back into a steady pace.

Mile 17 - Mile 21
The infamous Newton hills are a series of four hills from the 28km to the 34km point. While not too difficult, it comes at a time when many people start hitting the “wall” or fading. I saw a few people that had gone out too fast and were walking up the hills. My goal going into the hills were to minimize the amount of time lost. According to my Garmin, miles 17-20 were 6:46, 6:44, 6:44, 6:43 which I was supper happy about. However, although I increased the intensity on the famous Heartbreak hill, I ended up running my slowest mile of the race with a 6:57/mi. But once I reached the top, I was ecstatic the hardest part of the race was finished.

Mile 21 - Finish
My 30km split was 2:03:59 and I got to 35km at 2:25:12. At the top of Heartbreak, I was doing the math in my head. Unless I got injured/cramped, sub-3 is in the bag. If I progressed into a 6:30-6:35 pace and finished with a strong sprint, I might be able to go sub 2:55. After all, the last 5.2miles into Boston is mostly downhill. I hit 6:37 on mile 22 but shortly after, my legs just didnt have it anymore. Though it was mostly down, there were still a few tiny uphills. So much for the sub 2:55. After seeing a glimpse of the Citgo sign which looked like it was really far away, the last 4 miles seemed to take forever in my mind: 6:46, 6:54, 6:51, 6:51. There were also a few brief moments where it felt like my feet were on the edge of cramping. Luckily, relaxing it for a few seconds mitigated the situation. Anyways, hung on and finished with a 2:56:01 (On my Garmin I had a 2:55:56..)

[Post-Race]
Soaked up the exciting atmosphere at the finish line with other sub3 marathoners before slowly walking back to grab my clothes from the bag drop. Went on a bit of an eating spree grabbing whatever foods/drinks they were handing out along the way. Hung around the area a bit longer before wandering into a shopping mall about 2-3 blocks away. I was eating lunch and my mind was quite out of it when the bombs went off so I didn’t hear anything. I didnt even noticed anything was unusual until I walked out of the mall and saw a squadron of police cars driving downtown. A short time later, I finally found out what was going on. With nothing else to do, I spend the rest of that afternoon gathering information and slowly walking back to Cambridge where I was staying. That evening, even though the city seemed to be on lockdown, I had a pleasant dinner with Bob, Anna, Brett and a few Japanese runners.

Post-race dinner

Now that I’ve done Boston, I don’t think I’ll ever find another marathon experience that has the same mystique and awe. It’s tragic what transpired at 2:50pm that day but I have no doubt that it will come back bigger and better than ever. Boston Marathon 2014?? (I guess I already qualified..=P)

Week 14

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 23:22:42 +0900

64 miles (~103km)/~7:23 (32miles @MP)
Cumulative totals:

The end is neigh!
It’s day 97 of this marathon training cycle and with about a week to go until Boston Marathon, I’m ready.
Over the next 6-7days, I’ll still be running about 30-45mins a day but I’ll run without a watch and pace myself by feel. The emphasis though will be on rest, slightly increasing my carb intake and getting my legs finely tuned up.
As for my Boston Marathon plan, I will stick with 6:45/mile (4:12/km) which I know I can sustain for at least 20 miles. If all goes well, this will give me a 2:57 time. There’s a good chance I could go even faster if I stick with my strategy:
1) Start - 8miles
> Gel#1 at the start
> Take it really easy during the downhill
> Gel#2 at 8mi
2) 8miles - 16miles
> Get to the half way point between 1:27-1:28
> Gel#3 at 12mi
> Run comfortably hard at MP
> Gel #4 at 16mi
3) 16miles - 21miles
> Run the hills at a pace I would run over the Ome course
> Do whatever it takes to get my pace under 6:55/mi
4) 21miles - Finish
> At the top of Heartbreak Hill, progressively pick up the pace on the downhill
> Use up all remaining energy in the last 3 miles

[Weekly Summary]
Monday:
Rest
20hr Intermittent Fasting (IF) until 17:30

Tuesday:
Aerobic (9mi/1:06:28)
16hr IF until 12:30

Wednesday:
Speed (8mi/0:46:52) 1km x2 (w/Namban), random intervals (400m-1200m)
16hr IF until 12:30
The Namban workout was 1km x 6. I tend to overdo these workouts and but having done no VO2max workouts in a long time, I decided to do my own workout after running two sets of sub 3:15/km. No way my legs would not hurt the next day had I continue with that kind of unnecessary pace.

Thursday:
Aerobic (11mi/1:16:38)
20hr IF until 17:30
One last run along Inokashira/Kandagawa. Like last week’s midweek run, had a lot of excess energy so kept a nice comfortable pace throughout.

Friday:
16hr IF until 13:00
Medium (7mi/0:50:06) (1.6k@MP, 1.2k@HMP, 800mx2@10km, 400m@5km)
Tempo Intervals (7mi/0:45:13) (3mi@~6:36, 2mi@~6:24, 1mi@~5:54)
Last sustained strong tempo effort. Legs were a bit tired in the evening even though I ate quite a lot after my fast. Hopefully, I didnt overdo it on the miles.

Saturday:
Aerobic (9mi/1:07:46)
Nice easy run. Went by heart rate monitor which averaged 140bpm.

Sunday:
Medium Long Run (13mi/1:29:37) Alternating MP
Last medium long run. Joined a group run (10 runners + guest runner) organized by Bob (who is also running Boston) at Hanakoganei along the bicycle path to/from Tama-ko lake. Alternated MP(6:45/mi)/easy(7:15/mi) with Juergen going out with a strong tailwind. There was a lovely (steep-ish) hill half-way in the run that went on for almost a mile. Was able to run up the hill at marathon pace and it felt comfortably hard so was quite pleased with that. Anyways, a nice run followed by a good soak in the nearby famous onsen.

Week 13

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 22:05:45 +0900

~78 miles (~125.5km)/~9:23 (~31miles @MP)
What taper? Felt like a normal week even though I cut the mileage by about 25%. Highlight of the week would be running a 10km on Wednesday and going sub 38 for the first time with a 37:50.

Monday:
Rest

Tuesday:
Aerobic (9mi/1:05:29)
Easy (5mi/0:35:27)
2 miles @MP in the morning and two more mies @MP in the evening.

Wednesday:
Speed (10km time trial/0:37:50)
Felt comfortable in the first 5km. I was manually taking splits every 400m and in the first 5km, it wasn’t too difficult to get my splits at 1:30/lap. Was really glad to have a few fellow Nambanners that were running sub 19. 5km splits was around 18:52 and in the latter 5km, I was starting to struggle a bit (1:31-1:33/lap). Hung on and was able to get one last kick in the last 800m in about 2:53 to bring me under sub 38.

Thursday:
Aerobic (13mi/1:30:28)
I had a lot of excess energy from last night’s PB run. Felt great from the start so I picked up the pace. Ran the last 5 miles @ MP.

Friday:
Easy (10mi/1:16:32)
Tempo Intervals (7mi/1:21:39) WU, 20mins @ ~6:10mi pace, 10mins @ ~6:00mi pace, 5mins @ ~ 5:50mi pace, CD
Strapped on the HR monitor (avg. 134bpm) in the morning and had one last scenic sakura run. Good solid workout in the evening. Probably my last hard tempo workout.

Saturday:
Recovery (10mi/1:21:39)
Three laps of palace running/conversing with a triathlete friend. Nice run and legs felt great afterwards.

Sunday:
Recovery (17.38mi/2:00:00)
Woke up at 4:30 and ate breakfast. Could hear that it was raining so went back to bed, woke up at 9:00, drank coffee, took a gel and then ran just before 10:00. The plan today was to alternate between MP and easy/moderate pace. Ran 10 miles in Yoyogi (1mi@MP + 1mi@~7:12) x 5. Yoyogi started to get a bit crowded and I was a bit bored so ran the next 4 miles @ MP back at the track followed by another 3.38miles at an easier pace to finish my 2hr run. Average pace throughout just around 3hr marathon pace.

Monthly Progress Report:
Jan: ~311 miles (~501km)/42 runs
Feb: ~277 miles (~446km)/32 runs
Feb: ~380 miles (~612km)/41 runs

15 days until Boston and my legs feel alright. Looking ahead to next week, I’ll be cutting the mileage further by another 15% or so. But, I anticipate it’ll be a challenging week (mentally and physically). I’ll be a bit busy at work towards the end of the week, I’ll be going very low carb for the next 10 days and I’ll most likely suffer from taper madness (phantom pains, mood swings, etc..).

Week 12

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 21:49:37 +0900

105 miles(169 km)/~12:35 (MP miles=~ 41 miles)

The hay is in the barn!
Started off my peak mileage week on tired legs and it stayed that way for most of the weekday. My highest mileage training week ever but after today’s easy 10 miler, my legs feel surprisingly quite well. However, including the 22 miler long run from last week, I’ve ran just over 200km over the last 8 days. So, I’m taking a day off from running on Monday before starting my last three weeks of training aka the dreaded taper.
My goal during this last phase is to decrease the mileage, maintain the same intensity and stay healthy. At the moment, here’s my taper plan along with key workout sessions:
Week 3: 75 miles (10km time trial on Wednesday, 15mile long run on Sunday with 8miles @ MP)
Week 2: 60 miles (Namban workout @ VO2max, 6mile tempo run on Friday @ MP, HMP, 10km pace)
Week 1: 40 miles (Mile repeats @MP on Wednesday)

Monday:
Aerobic (11mi/1:23:40)
Recovery (4mi/0:29:22)
Delayed onset muscle soreness from the long run up Mt. Mitake the previous day. Ran a bit too fast in the evening so my legs were thrashed afterwards.

Tuesday:
Aerobic (8mi/1:01:37)
Mile Repeats (7mi/0:46:15) 1mi x 5@MP
Legs still tight at the start of the morning run. It’s the middle of the cherry blossom season and I’ve been getting a bit tired of running the same route on a daily basis so decided to try a different route. Felt quite nice.

Wednesday:
Aerobic (14mi/1:41:44)
Ran in Yoyogi park for about a hour before running back to Komaba track to finish my medium long run of the week. Ok-ish run but couldn’t really pick up the pace until the 6th mile. Other than that, it was another beautiful morning to view cherry blossom.

Thursday:
Aerobic (10mi/1:13:26)
Speed (5mi/0:29:01) Speed (.25mi hard/@1:30-1:20 + .1mi med) x 14
Slight modification to Tuesday’s running route in the morning. I quite like it so I think I’ll add it to my running repertoire.
Evening intervals was quite fun. 14 x ~160m ramp-up run followed by a hard 400m run and then a short rest to catch my breath. Felt nice running some shorter intervals.

Friday:
Recovery (9mi/1:10:30)
Mile Repeats (7mi/0:44:55) 1mi x 5@MP + random strides/sprints
Another cherry blossom run all along Meguro river. I was hesitant all week to put on the heart rate monitor since I’m pretty sure I’m slightly overtrained. Stuck with a heart rate of 135bpm and my legs felt great afterwards. My evening run was supposed to be 2mi x 3 but in the afternoon, I decided I would do a long run the next day, I changed it to easy mile repeats.

Saturday:
Long Run (20mi/2:19:47)
Ran along the Tamagawa river. Started in an easy jog with two other Nambanners and ramped up to MP after 3 miles. The goal was to run about 10 miles at MP and ended up running 11 miles at a comfortable 6:40-6:44 pace. Felt really good throughout but had to make one bathroom stop along the way. I probably could have ran the last 3-4 miles harder but decided to soak in the nice cherry blossom around Marukobashi.

Sunday:
Easy (10mi/1:14:38)
After the legs loosen up in the first two miles, legs felt pretty good. Ended up with a few miles at MP so happy with that. Also, another scenic run along Meguro river.

Week 11

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:00:25 +0900

75 miles(120.7 km) (MP miles=~ 17miles)

Recovery Week. OK-ish week but left shoulders and left toe bone were sore for most of the week. Wasn’t able to run too fast during my speed workout and was a bit short on MP miles (was targeting about 25miles). Oh well.. I did get plenty of rest which is much needed for next week’s last hard week of training before tapering.

Monday:
Rest

Tuesday:
Aerobic (11mi/1:19:48)
Hill training (5mi/0:38:27) 0.5mi: uphill x3 =~6:10, downhill x3 =~6:05
Dunno if it was the socks I wore but on the last downhill set, my left toe bone was hurting. It was a painful slow jog back home.
Switching from my Adizero RK feather shoes (fairly tight toebox) to my Newtons until things get better.

Wednesday:
Aerobic (11mi/1:22:58)
Left toe was only sore when I tried to speed up or on the small hills near Yoyogi.

Thursday:
Aerobic (15mi/1:48:15)
Feeling better and kept a steady pace throughout.

Friday:
Speed (3mi/0:16:38) 800m x4 = ~2:57/set, 400m x4 = ~1:20/set
First speed work session this month. As expected, top speed was just not there. Left toe is ok again.

Saturday:
Tempo Intervals (8mi/0:33:26) 3mi, 2mi, 1mi @ ~6:25
Ran around Yoyogi. Wanted to run at 10km pace but couldn’t maintain it so did them at HMP instead.

Sunday:
Long run (22mi/3:12:21) 9mi (~7:20/mi), Mt. Mitake (5mi = ~1:10), 8mi (~7:03/mi)
Long run in the Ome area with a guest runner from Finland also doing Boston. Started a bit too fast so by the time we got to the bottom of Mitake so didnt have much energy on the uphill. The quads got a very good workout on the up/downhill. Got about 3 miles of MP miles on the way back to Kabe (mostly downhill) so satisfied with that.

Week 10

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 22:00:00 +0900

100 miles(160.9 km)/~12:07 (MP miles=~ 28miles)

High mileage. I didn’t intend to do this much mileage but taking advantage of some excellent weather during the weekday and good health, I decided go for this small milestone (first time ever hitting 100 miles within a 7-day period) towards the end of the week. Tacked on a few more runs on Friday and Saturday and made it a 22 mile long run to close exactly at 100 miles. Over a 8-day period, I’ve ran about 118 miles(190km) so I’m looking towards next week where I’m forcing myself to take a day off running and reducing my weekly mileage by 25% or so. If the legs feel good, I’ll try to increase the number of marathon paced (MP) miles (6:45/mi;4:12/km or faster).

Monday:
Recovery (5mi/0:36:02)
Legs felt recovered from the previous day HM.

Tuesday:
Aerobic (11mi/1:21:54)
Hill training (6mi/0:45:06) 0.5mi: uphill x3 =~6:11, downhill x3 =~6:08
These 11 aerobic milers are truly my “meat and potatoes” workouts. These are starting to feel quite effortless so I ran the last two miles at MP.
Legs were a bit tight in the evening which led to some slower downhill times.

Wednesday:
Aerobic (15mi/1:53:09)
Recovery (5mi/0:35:56)
Starting to become more accustomed to those extra 4 miles. Average heart rate was 145bpm and average cadence was 89spm. Both improvements from previous 15 milers. I’ll try to up the speed a bit.

Thursday:
Aerobic (11mi/1:21:35)
Hill training (6mi/0:44:11) 0.5mi: uphill x3 =~6:11, downhill x3 =~5:56
Virtually the same workouts as Tuesday and almost identical paces. Legs surprisingly ok.

Friday:
Recovery (4mi/0:31:24)
Tempo Intervals (6mi/0:37:59) 2mi x 3: ~6:20
No food due to my fast so a very slow workout in the morning. Tough workout in the evening. Finished the 20hr fast at around 6pm. Ate a banana, some soba and other miscellaneous quick carbs for energy and then started the workout after 8:30pm. Survived..

Saturday:
MP mile repeats (5mi/0:33:26) 1mi x 5: ~6:41
Recovery (4mi/0:29:09)
I usually run mile repeats at sub 6:30 pace but decided to slow it around MP and to focus on a low heart rate. All sets were done with an average HR under 145bpm (average 143bpm). After each repeat I rested until the HR was under 100bpm which took about a minute. Good workout and felt quite relaxed.

Sunday:
Long run (22mi/2:37:05)
Blah! Conditions were horrible. It was quite warm (over 15 degrees?) but the wind and yellowish hazy fog (dust? pollen? pollution from China?) was not very pleasant. 14 miles into the run, there was a nice onsen at the top of a hill 0.5 miles from Okutama station so I decided to make that my turn around point. Also, I rested there for a few minutes to take my emergency gel and to hydrate myself properly. The last 8 miles were at MP but it was mostly downhill and there were a few times I needed to stop on a number occasions to get dust out of my eyes. Decent run but too many stops and I didnt really challenge myself enought on the uphills. I may do one more 22 miler in two weeks and if I do, I’ll try to get some MP miles going uphill.

Week 9

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 06:52:25 +0900

~65 miles (~105km)/~8:04
PBs.
1) 18:17/5km on Wednesday at Namban 5km time trial.
2) 1:23:59/half marathon on Sunday at the Tachikawa City Half Marathon.
Here’s an one line summary of how both events went:
I went out too fast.

Monday:
Aerobic (15mi/1:55:39)

Tuesday:
Aerobic (12mi/1:31:35)

Wednesday:
Speed (5km time trial/0:18:17)
WU/CD (~3mi)
The usual pack of fast sub18 runners didn’t show up tonight. So, I ended up gunning it from the start and got carried away. With a 1st lap of ~1:14 and a 2nd lap of ~1:24, it was just a matter of time before I blew up. Satisfied with the PB but with proper pacing, I think I could have done better (17:59?)

Thursday:
Recovery (4mi/0:32:04)
Easy/Medium (6mi/0:44:56)
I really should be tapering for my half marathon on Sunday…

Friday:
Medium (4mi/0:28:16) WU, 1mi, 0.75mi, 800m x2, 400m
Tuning up the legs for Sunday…

Saturday:
Rest. Spent a fun day in the Nikko region on a Hato Bus tour. Early lunch at 10:30, ate way too much at the 30 minutes sweets buffet at 13:30 and on a bloated stomach, ate way too many strawberries during the 30 minutes strawberry picking in the afternoon.

Sunday:
Tachikawa City Half Marathon (1:23:59)
Recovery (5mi/0:36:23)
Great conditions for running at Showa Kinen park. I think because I have a rikuren number, I was able to line up right at the start line. I was actually a few meters behind Neko Hiroshi and a lot of fast-looking runners. It was hard not to get caught up with the fast pace and when I saw 19:20@5km and 39:00@10km, it would be difficult holding on to sub 4minute/km for the rest of the race. Luckily I only slowed down to 6:25-6:35/mi pace and hung on as best I could. Had to grab water at the aid stations which helped a bit and one last kick after the 13th mile was sufficient enough for me to sneak under 1:24. Again, satisfied but I think I could have done better if I started in the 6:20-6:25 range.

Monthly Progress Report:
Jan: ~311 miles (~501km)/42 runs
Feb: ~277 miles (~446km)/32 runs

It’s crunch time. For the remainder of March, it’s all about specificity:
1) More hills: two hill workouts and a tough long run on Sunday that is mostly uphill the whole way
2) No more speedwork: cutting out interval training (no more Wednesday night Namban workouts for a while..)
3) More marathon pace miles: I’ll go with 6:45/mi(4:12/km) as my MP (marathon pace)
Also tweaking a few things with my nutrition and focusing all my efforts on running.

Monday (low/moderate carbs): recovery (0-5mi)
Tuesday (low/moderate carbs): [AM] aerobic (11mi@<150bpm), [PM] hill training (0.5mi up + 0.5mi down)x3
Wednesday (low/moderate carbs): [AM] medium long run (15mi@<155bpm)
Thursday (low/moderate carbs): [AM] aerobic (11mi@<150bpm), [PM] hill training (0.5mi up + 0.5mi down)x3
Friday (20hr fasting ends @ 20:00/moderate carbs): recovery (0-5mi)
Saturday (high carbs): [AM] tempo intervals (5mi total @HM~MP pace)
Sunday (moderate carbs): [AM] progressive long run (20-22@Ome area from Kabe to Okutama area. This is going to hurt)

Week 8

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:09:29 +0900

75miles(121km)/9:48

Rebound! After recovering from the stomach flu, I wanted to get a solid week of fast aerobic runs. Going on perceived effort without tracking my heart rate, not sticking with my original training plan and eating more carbs than previous week, I managed to knock out some satisfying times including a 20miler(32km)/2:15 long run. I’m back on track but since I have a 5km time trial and half-marathon next Sunday, this next week will be another week where I wont follow my usual routine.

Monday:
Rest (decided to give myself one more extra day to recover)

Tuesday:
Aerobic (11mi/1:19:53)
First proper run since in 4 days. Legs felt pretty good.

Wednesday:
Aerobic (11mi/1:17:47)
Even faster than the previous day. Definitely recovered.

Thursday:
Speedwork (4mi/0:28:16) 400m x 12 ~1:25-1:28/set
Tempo Intervals (6mi/0:41:39) 1mi x 4 (6:58/6:50/6:31/6:12)
I’ve been eating more this week and can definitely feel it. A bit slower on the intervals this week..

Friday:
Easy/Medium (8mi/0:56:51)
Recovery (4mi/0:29:17)
Some track work after a 4mi easy run in the morning. Carbo-loaded all day so wanted to get an evening jog to loosen up the legs/ease the stomach.

Saturday:
Long run (20mi/2:14:54) 6:45/mile (Marathon pace???)
Most likely a PB. After almost two months of running on the hilly Ome course, decided to revisit good old Tokyo palace aka 2012 training ground. Six laps plus a cool down mile around Hibiya park. There were a lot of runners tuning up for their Tokyo marathon race and even saw some fast runners who were hopefully not trying to do anything stupid before their race. Anyways, other than a tiny break after each lap to sip some Vitargo, I felt quite strong from start to finish. The up/down hill was nothing compared to what I usually faced at Ome so was able to gun them at a decent pace. Pace-wise, it was 6:51/mi for the first 5 miles, 6:43/mi from 6-10miles, 6:42/mi from 11-20miles. Doing the hypothetical math, this is definitely under sub-3hr marathon and even if I were to slow down, I would only need to do a 10km run in about 45 minutes or less. Good news I suppose but there’s a lot more work to be done if I want sub 3 in Boston…

Sunday:
Recovery (5mi/0:42:07)
Recovery (6mi/0:52:02)
Tokyo Marathon. Well done to everyone that braved the treacherous windy day and finished! It was fun running to Shinagawa, cheering on some running club members. After that, it fabulous running a bit along the marathon course on the sidewalk, running across scenic Tokyo Rainbow bridge and then seeing the finishers near the end of the course at Tokyo Big site. Fun day though a bit windy. Legs surprisingly not that sore.

Week 7

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 20:02:30 +0900

~50miles? (80km)

DNF. The week started off smoothly. The plan was to get a decent amount of aerobic mileage from Monday to Wednesday, a low amount of easy/recovery mileage from Thursday to Saturday and then run the Ome Marathon 30km race at full strength (hopefully at marathon pace —> target 2:05~2:10).
I still cant pinpoint what I ate (most likely some inexpensive pork I purchased from the 100yen store on Wednesday night?) caused me to have a fever/stomach flu on Thursday evening (at a lovely onsen on VD out of all the places!) but it hit me instantly. Was ill Thursday evening and struggled to function on Friday morning. Slowly recovered on Friday evening and most of Saturday, but I wasn’t able to recover in time to finish the race on Sunday. Was hoping to feel about 90% at the start line. But the stomach was feeling bloated and feeling lightheaded, a few toilet stops and throwing up once, there was no sense in carrying on after 5-6km. On the positive side, my legs were full of glycogen and very fresh. Anyways, ended up jogging back hiding my bib in shame but at the same time enjoying the decent weather and spectate the elite race.
It’s been 47 days since I started training and I got about 56 days until Boston. As long as I make a full recovery, I should hopefully be able to bounce right back…

Monday:
Aerobic (11mi/1:22:51)
Gym (trainer, strength, swim)
Public holiday. Legs felt good so decided to run in the morning.

Tuesday:
Aerobic (15mi/1:53:03)
Recovery (5mi/0:35:30)
Aerobic run in the morning went well. Same pace but 4 miles longer.

Wednesday:
Speed (7mi/0:41:21) (1mi WU, 1km x3, 800m x2, random speedwork/CD)
Surprised my legs werent that tired. Ran pretty good in group A but decided not to finish the workout and do a bit more random speedwork on my own.

Thursday:
Recovery (4mi/0:31:00)
Rest was definitely needed. It felt so good running only about 30minutes.

Friday-Sunday:
~8miles?

Week 6

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 21:33:47 +0900

~78 miles (125.6km)/~10:31

Increased the mileage but decreased the intensity.
Legs are feeling ok but I’m losing a bit more weight (58kg on Friday morning) than anticipated so I need to eat a bit more
Upcoming next Sunday is the Ome Marathon (30km) so going to make sure I get plenty of rest from Thursday.

Monday:
Rest

Tuesday:
Aerobic (11mi/1:20:06)
Hill training (7mi/0:52:02) 0.5mi: uphill x4 =~6:09, downhill x4 =~5:56
Ok in the morning but tough session on the hills.

Wednesday:
Speed (5mi/0:28:23) (1mi WU, 1km x6 =~5:34, CD)
Skipped the morning run due to snow/wind which stopped late afternoon. Pretty good Namban session on an relatively empty track (about ~3:28/km per set).

Thursday:
Aerobic (14mi/1:50:37)
Recovery (4mi/0:30:51)
Legs very tight at the start of the morning run but was able to loosen them up by the end of the session.

Friday:
Easy/Medium (7mi/0:52:06)
Easy 4 miles then some faster pacework on the track.

Saturday:
Tempo intervals (8mi/1:13:15) 1mi x8 =~6:34
Bikram Yoga (90mins)
Decided to some mile repeats instead of longer intervals. Felt pretty comfortable throughout. Also took it easier with the 2nd trial yoga class.

Sunday:
Long run (20mi/2:24:10) 1mi WU, 9mile: ~7:24, 9mile: ~6:54, 1mi CD
Lovely day for a run. Took it slower as I wanted to conserve the legs for early next week. Hopefully, it’s not that sore on Monday morning..

Week 5

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 19:07:00 +0900

~75 miles (120km)/~9:45 Awesome week of running and probably one of my best weeks of running ever because:

hit my 2nd highest weekly volume for running (125km is my peak)
back to 40-45bpm resting heart rate
back to ~59kg weight
avg. running cadence up a bit to 87
Wednesday: 5km/18:41 (13 seconds off PB)
Sunday: 18mi(29km)/2:06:04 on a hilly course (inc. 8mi@~6:35min/mi or 13km@~4:05min/km)

In short, I’m a runner again and back in decent running form =P
Going into week 6, I need to dial it back a bit so that I dont overtrain. Paying attention to recovery is my key goal for the week.

Monday:
Bike trainer (0:40:00) inc.[10min medium]x3
Swim (0:20:00)
Workout at the gym. A bit of strength training.

Tuesday:
Aerobic (11mi/1:24:29)
Rested heart rate this morning was about 40bpm. Run felt great.

Hill training (5mi/0:37:51) 0.5mi: uphill x3 =~6:12, downhill x3 =~5:50
Tough on the uphill. Did a lot better going downhill. Cadence uphill/downhill around 180 this session.

Wednesday:
Recovery (5mi/0:32:11)
Speed (1mile warmup + 5km time trial/0:18:41)
First complete Namban 5km time trial in over a year. Started with 5-6 fast runners at a steady pace and didnt push the pace until about 1.5 miles in. Ran each mile faster than the last and was running mostly alone for the last few laps. Garmin messed up the splits and unfortunately, I didnt look at my watch until the last mile but I think if I push it a bit at the beginning, I could probably shave 15 seconds to obtain a new PB.

Thursday:
Aerobic (13mi/1:39:34)
Recovery (6mi/0:44:41)
Legs surprisingly all right during my morning 13 mile(21km) run. Evening run was a bit harder due to low energy levels.

Friday:
Recovery (5mi/0:40:05)
Tough morning workout in a fasted state. Didnt have any other energy that evening to do another workout event though I broke my 20hour fast at 7pm.

Saturday:
Tempo intervals (8mi/0:52:03) 2mi x 2: 6:15, 5:56 , 2mi random sprints (100-300m): ~4:42
Bikram Yoga (90mins)
Went a bit overboard with the random sprints so legs were fairly tired all day. Tried out a Bikram Yoga in the afternoon with the GF. Interesting class and a good workout but lost way too much weight from sweating..

Sunday:
Long run (18mi/2:06:05) 1mi WU, 8mile: ~7:10, 8mile: ~6:35, 1mi CD
Same workout as last week but a LOT faster. Felt great the whole time and was able to push myself the entire time without blowing up. The last 8miles(13km) were done faster than marathon pace..

Monthly Progress Report:
Jan: ~311 miles (500.5km)/42 runs

I started training with a LOT of changes to my approach (diet, volume, routes, mindset, etc..) so it’s difficult to isolate what is working for me and what’s not. So far, things seem to be working but I probably need to focus running a bit more faster on longer intervals.
That said, I am still continually tweaking my training so nothing is ever set in stone but here’s my current structure:

Monday (low carbs): [PM] bike trainer, strength, swim
Tuesday (low carbs): [AM] aerobic (11mi@<155bpm), [PM] hill training (0.5mi up + 0.5mi down)x3-5
Wednesday (low carbs): [AM] recovery (<150bpm), [PM] speed work (6km with NambanRengo)
Thursday (low carbs): [AM] aerobic (13mi@<155bpm), [PM] recovery (<150bpm)
Friday (20hr fasting ends @ 20:00/moderate carbs): [AM] recovery (<150bpm)
Saturday (high carbs): [AM] tempo intervals (at least 6mi @+HM pace)
Sunday (moderate carbs): [AM] progressive long run (18-22@Ome course inc. some MP pace)

Week 3 & Week 4

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 22:49:39 +0900

Week 3 Summary:
My dad passed away so I was back in Toronto. Since the funeral arrangements were mostly taken care of, besides being with the family, I had quite a lot of time to myself so I turned to running to clear the mind.
~64miles (103km)/~10:00 consisting of:

3 treadmill sessions
4 outdoor runs
2 runs on a 400m indoor track

Week 4 Summary:
69 miles (110km)/9:24

Fairly productive week despite being seriously jet-lagged for 3-4 days after coming back to Japan on Monday afternoon. Other than my three key workouts (speed, tempo and long), I’ve been slowing down my other runs. Specifically, for my non-key runs, I’m making sure my heart rate is no higher than 155bpm. This Maffetone approach fits what I’m trying to do to optimize my fat burning engine so I’ll integrate this into my routine.

Diet-wise, I was definitely on low carbs on Thursday and Friday. I finally purchased some Ketostix and a Friday test show showed a moderate amount of ketones (~40mg/dl). After my usual high carbs period on Saturday-Sunday afternoon, I’ll be monitoring my ketone levels over the next few days to see how long it takes to get back into ketosis.

January is almost over, so going into the 2nd phase of my program, I plan to focus on these two things for February:

Tempo runs: I’d like to start running 5km in under 19minutes again..
Cadence: It’s been hovering at around 85(~170spm) since the start of IM training. In one particular recovery run this week and with a lot of concentration, I was able to get it up to 88(~176spm). Nevertheless, I’d like to get it up to that magical 180 mark.

Monday:
Bike trainer (0:40:00) inc.[10min medium]x3
After a long 13hour flight back to Japan. Felt good to get blood flowing in my legs again.

Tuesday:
Hill training (6mi/0:43:10)
Focused on running downhill as well. 0.5mi: uphill x3 =~6:22, downhill x3 =~6:17

Aerobic (10mi/1:18:23)
Had to really slow down at the beginning to since my heart rate was spiking upwards.

Wednesday:
Recovery (4mi/0:32:11)
Speed (4mi/0:35:12)
Couldnt make it out to Namban so did my own track workout at Komaba.
Didn’t have too much energy on the mile repeats: 1mi x3 =~6:15/mi (3:53/km) pace, 400m x4= ~5:32/mi (3:25/km) pace

Thursday:
Recovery (4mi/0:34:38)
Aerobic (11mi/1:22:23)
Started off horribly (dunno if it was just an erratic HRM or not) but eventually got into a decent rhythm.

Friday:
Recovery (4mi/0:30:57)
Bike trainer (0:45:00) inc.[1min hard+2min easy]x10

Saturday:
Tempo intervals (7mi/0:47:02)
Mixed up the routine and went by time instead of a specific distance this week. The 12min interval was chosen to get some indication of my current fitness (CF: Cooper Test).
WU, 12mins: ~6:10/mi (3:50/km) pace, jog, 10mins: ~6:05/mi (3:47/km) pace, jog, 8mins: ~6:07/mi (3:48/km) pace, CD

Sunday:
Long run (18mi/2:11:00)
Lovely day for a nice run on the Ome marathon course. Ran the first (9:28/mi) and last (7:50/mi) mile as a warmup/cooldown with two other Nambanners but the rest of the miles were done at a progressive tempo pace.
2-9 mile: 7:39-7:08/mi
10-17mile: 7:16-6:43/mi
I’ll aim to get more marathon paced (MP) miles for next week and hopefully with a few more long runs, get back into last year’s shape:
(Point of reference: On Jan 14, 2012, I ran a 30km (28.64mi) MP run in 2:08:45 at Imperial palace).

Week 2

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 19:06:00 +0900

Easier than last week as I start getting used to my new routine. Solid week of training with a half marathon on Sunday. However, I had one distressing moment on Saturday where my knee was in pain after a trainer/brick run session. Luckily, popping some ibuprofen and ice bath that evening and wearing a jumper’s knee strap gave me no pain at all during the race. Also, finally replaced my defunct Garmin strap so going into week 3, I’m going to start paying more attention to my joints and make sure I really try to slow it down in my easy runs.

Summary:
67 miles (108km)/ 9:08

Monday:
Bike trainer (0:40:00)
Swim (0:40:00)
Felt great to give my legs a chance to recover

Tuesday:
Hill training (6mi/0:43:10)
Decided to do hill training in the morning. 3 sets of ~6:14pace was about 30 seconds faster than last week

Aerobic (10mi/1:14:42)
Nice run. Kept it steady throughout despite my (malfunctioning) hrm showing 200+bpm

Wednesday:
Recovery (4mi/0:31:43)
Speed (4mi/0:22:06)
It’s been a while since I ran decently at Namban. I did 5x1km all around 3:30/set then did my own random all-out sprints. Speed is coming back..

Thursday:
Recovery (4mi/0:31:07)
Aerobic (11mi/1:23:12)
A lot better than last week since I made sure to eat and hydrate myself properly before the workout. Still, running on low carbs is tough and had to break a few times but I suppose I’m making some progress.

Friday:
Tempo intervals (7mi/0:49:56)
Switched the workouts so I could “rest” a bit on Saturday and shorten the intervals to mile efforts. 1mi x 5 at about ~6:48pace

Saturday:
Bike trainer (0:45:00) inc.[1min hard+2min easy]x10
Brick run (4mi/0:30:46)
The left knee started to progressively get sore. By the end, it was sore when I was walking.

Sunday:
Tanigawa half marathon (13.1mi/1:31:20)
Ok I suppose. No knee pain but my legs were extremely stiff (ice bath and no warm up?) but after the little hill near the turn around, my legs finally loosen up and I could run again. About 47minutes in the first half and 44minutes in the latter half for a big negative split. Nutrition-wise, I took one vespa 45minutes before the race and didnt take in any nutrition (including water) during the race. Oh, it was a very nice day and saw quite a few familiar faces during and after the race. Hung out with other Namban members after the race at a local sento followed by a yummy lunch.
Recovery (4mi/0:30:35)

Week one

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 22:18:00 +0900

(Sorry, I’m turning this into a weekly training log)
Jan 1, 2013 marked the first day of my Boston marathon training (15 week/104 days).
Here’s my (tentative) plan/strategy:

More miles:
I could probably get away with less (70-125km was my Tokyo marathon training mileage) but in the spirit of experimentation, I’m going to try increasing the volume starting from 65miles(105km) and if all goes well, peaking around 85miles(137km)
More hills:
Boston is a tough course. I dont even know if I can touch my 3:02:31 PB time but if I’ll be damn if I don’t try. This means more uphills as well as downhill running. The Oume 30km marathon course is perfect for my long runs.
Train low/race high:
It wont take me took long to get back into racing weight (~-1kg/month) but I’m interested a utilizing a low carb diet to help me rely more on my fat storage. I’ll have an adequate amount of carbs before my speed workout and a big carb day every Saturday to fuel my Saturday tempo run and Sunday long run. For the rest of my runs though, I’ll try to run on more of an empty tank to force my body to tap into my fat reserves.
Think in miles:
More of a mental strategy so that I don’t have to look at my watch that often. Also, Boston is an American race so there will definitely be mile markers which will crucial for pacing.

Week 1 Summary:
66 miles (106km) / 9:36

Tuesday:
Aerobic (10mi/1:16:51)
New Years day run in Yoyogi. Felt ok. It’s gonna suck to do this run next week on a Tuesday morning before work.

Hill training (5mi/0:38:43)
Found the perfect Heartbreak Hill (80ft in 0.4mi) simulation hill. 80ft elevation in 0.5mi. Did 3 sets and ran them in about 6:40 pace.

Wednesday:
Recovery (4mi/0:30:44)
Speed (4mi/0:29:50)
Wanted to go faster but I can’t seem to go any faster at the moment. Need a bit of work to get back into speed. Interval: 400mx10 (~1:28/set), 200mx6 (~0:38/set)

Thursday:
Recovery (4mi/0:32:35)
Aerobic (10mi/1:18:13)
Crashed and burned. Didn’t get much sleep and didn’t really eat lunch. Felt dizzy and took lots of break. Was supposed to do 12miles but ended up cutting it short and walking a mile home.

Friday:
Recovery (5mi/0:37:10)
Better effort. Skipped the morning bike session to get more sleep.

Saturday:
Tempo intervals (6mi/0:39:31)
Bike trainer (0:40:00) inc.[2mins hard + 3mins recovery]x6
Not in good shape to run hard for more than 15 minutes.
Intervals: 3,200mx2 (6:23-6:40pace), 1,600mx2 (6:41-6:28pace)

Sunday:
Long run (18mi/2:15:07)
Ok first long run on the Oume course. Took it really easy in the beginning and after the turn-around, picked up the pace and ran a 5 minute negative splits.
One toilet stop at Mitake suggests I need to eat dinner a little earlier. Took one Vespa (first time) before the workout and drank about 150ml of sports drinks during the run.

Ironman Western Australia Race Report

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 22:18:46 +0900

Overall Time: 11:49:36 (PB)

Swim: 01:15:58
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/252088423
T1: 00:06:32
Bike: 05:26:19
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/252088429
T2: 00:05:14
Run: 04:55:31
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/252088436

[Pre-race]
It’s my 2nd ironman distance and going into the race, I was feeling very fit and confident I would smash my time from my previous Ironman finish. Thanks to some much needed coaching from Bev, I was able to make some major breakthroughs this season in my biking and after knocking out a huge PB 5:09 half Ironman time in Taiwan a month earlier followed by a successful 3 week block of training, I was all ready to go.

[Swim]
The swim course is a one loop course around the scenic 1.8km jetty. Conditions on the course usually make it a fast swim unless the wind is very strong. The water happened to be a little bit choppy that morning so it looked like it would be difficult to break my previous 1:09 swim time. I started on the far right and surprisingly, it was not very crowded from the start. Facing some choppy waves, it took about 35mins for me to get to the turn-around point but on the way back, the current was in my favor. Better yet, I was able to draft off a small pack of swimmers. But then the cramps in my left calf started. I could still swim but my concentration was broken. It slowed me down and after a longer than expected swim, I finally got to shore. But the left leg starts cramping again as soon as I got out of the water so I ended up sitting on the ground to massage the leg for a bit. Despite all the swim training I had put in, it was a bit unfortunate my swim was not faster. However, I did feel I had a lot of energy left and was now ready to tackle on the bike.

[Bike]
After taking my usual (slow) time in transition, I finally make my way on the pancake flat 3 lap bike course. My type of course since I really suck with hills. Also, prior to bike check, I had a bike maintenance check and one of the mechanics was saying something related to my shifter was bent and there was a good chance it could snap if I shifted too much. Didn’t matter since all I needed was 52x13 which I stayed the entire ride. Back to the race, there was a bit of a head wind in the first section of the course and the road was quite congested with riders. Letting a few riders pass, I take the time to get some much needed nutrition and to relax my left leg. A short time later I start speeding up and passing others. Aided by a slight tailwind on the latter half of the course and feeling pretty strong, the rest of the bike ride thankfully went off without any problems. Apart from a brief toilet stop at the beginning of the 3rd lap, I was supper happy with a moving time of about 5:24 and an official time of 5:26 which was well below my target time of 5:30.

[Run]
After the bike and another slow transition, my cumulative time of around 6:52 was now within my sub 11 hour target time. The run is traditionally my strength and while I was not at my Tokyo marathon fitness level, I felt my run capacity was pretty good. In training, even during the weekly brick sessions (long bike ride followed by a short run), I was able to hit all my training targets. However, a marathon in 30 degrees heat after a 180km bike ride is always a different story. It was on the run that things fell apart. The goal was to start off at around 4:45/km and hold on. I did just that until the first aid station 2km in. Thinking back, I realize I only ate one Clif bar and a bit of honey during the last lap of the bike and at the transition area, a snickers and can of Red Bull. So I took the time to sample all the foods/drinks at the aid station and I ingest a gel. My stomach could not handle the gel and a short time later, I had to walk. Over the next 3 hours, I would walk/slow shuffle and spend quite a bit of time waiting for/in the loo. It wasnt until the middle of the 3rd lap (each lap was about 10.5km) that I could finally run uninterrupted. But by then, I was lacking energy. Not being able to stomach any solid foods whatsoever, I remembered a tip from Bev to drink Coke. It kinda work but it was still a constant slow 6:00-6:30 shuffle that finally got me to the end of the race. It was disappointing 4:55 marathon (moving time of 4:37), it was still a slight improvement from my first Ironman marathon run.

[Post-race]
Unfortunately, race day didnt quite go my way but I still had a great time in Australia. One of these days, I’ll figure out how to run decent marathon in an Ironman but for now, I’ll get back into road running and plan on smaller triathlon races next year.

90 days to get into shape.

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 22:40:30 +0900

Up until now, everything has been a warm up.
Time to get cracking..

Murakami (Olympic distance): 9/16
Choshi (Olympic distance): 10/7
Taiwan (Half IM): 11/3
Western Australia (Full IM): 12/9

2012 Q1 Review/Q2 Preview

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 16:54:03 +0900

Q1 Review:
Tokyo Marathon = 3:02:32 (PB, previous 3:29:29 in Sept 2011)

Yay! Training went very well and I was able to exceed all my goals including qualifying for the Boston marathon. Assuming I register, I’m most likely going to run it in April 2013. Now that I know how to train for a proper marathon, I’ll most likely aim for a sub 3hrs..

Q2 Preview:
Trail running
Training starts on Monday March 19th and finishes with the 90km Ultra Trail Mount Fuji race on Saturday May 19 & 20th.

Here is what is in store for me:

Rough Elevation profile (70km -> 160km) 950m (Start) > 500m (Lowest point) > 945m(1st peak) > 1422-1738m (2nd-7th peaks, highest point) > 850m (Finish)

The elevation doesn’t seem as horrible as I thought it would be. The only thing left is to figure out how runnable the trails are. The 90km race starts at 10am and has a cutoff time of 26 hours.

Minimum goal: Complete the race without any injuries.
Realistic goal: Within 20 hours.
Ultimate goal: Finish before midnight (14hours)

Core training will consists of trail running on both days of the weekend (rain or shine)
Saturday: 17-32km (Takao)
Sunday: 18-45km (Mitake/Okutama)

Triathlon
Im not officially training just yet but I’ve been doing a lot of pre-planning. The big experiment this time around is that I’ll have a coach for the first time in my life. I look forward to finally learn how to train for a triathlon from Bev.

Swim
The pool in Sendagaya will close at the end of March. Before it closes, Im planning to go there a few more times. I doubt I’ll swim in April but I’ll make it up by joining a nearby pool at the end of May, Ocean Navi. Hopefully with 6 months of almost daily swimming training, I’ll be able to correct years of horrible technique and to make a breakthrough with my swim.

Bike
Im not splurging out on a fancy new triathlon bike this year. Upgraded a few parts and planning to make a few more modifications. I’ve done exactly one outdoor bike ride (Tokyo Enduro) this year (March 16) in miserable cold rain. My stats from that race are here (Lap 7-13, pit stop, Lap 14-16). I struggled to maintained 35kph but hopefully with aerobars and a lot more bike rides after May, I’ll be in better shape.

Run
Boston is over a year away but I still need to maintain some running form. Ill concentrate on shorter distances but for the rest of this year I’d like to hit these targets.
Mile -> sub 5:15 (currently 5:32)
5km -> sub 18:00 (currently 18:29)
10km -> sub 38:00 (currently 38:16)
Half Marathon -> sub 1:24 (currently 1:25:00)

I’ve always struggled with a triathlon run but with a bit of help, I should be able to learn how to run.

2011 review / 2012 preview

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:43:00 +0900

My training volume chart for 2011: Chart

2011 Review
Swim: 53km
Yikes! Not enough distance. In my peak weak in 2010, I swam close to 10km… Not surprisingly, my swimming has stagnated resulting in my 1500m and 2000m times being 2-3minutes slower than my peak condition from last year.

Bike: 1,808km
Most of this was done on an exercise bike/spinner. Considering the lack of outdoor rides, I was surprised to have managed a PB at the 40km and 90km distance (though one was with a huge tailwind and the other was my first time doing exactly 90km).

Run: 2,571km
It’s been a breakthrough year of running with huge PBs in all distances:

Mile -> 5:32 (2010 -> 5:50)
5km -> 18:29 (2010 -> 19:52)
10km -> 39:29 (2010 -> 41:00)
Half Marathon -> 1:30:29 (2010 -> 1:36)
Marathon -> 3:29:29 (2009 -> 3:58)

2012 Preview
(subject to change if I decide to get a triathlon coach)
Swim
The 50m pool in Sendagaya will close in April and I doubt I’ll get much swimming until mid April. For the first time, I’m thinking of joining a proper swimming school in Tokyo. Hopefully, Ill be able to fix years of bad swimming techniques before IM Western Australia in December. If I can start swimming every weekday early morning for a solid 4-5months, I think I’ll be in pretty good shape by December.

Bike
I’ll upgrade a few things with my current road bike but I’m NOT going to bike a proper triathlon bike in 2012. After Ultra Trail Mt. Fuji (UTMF) in May, I’ll start concentrating on cycling. The plan is to do a lot of hill climbing mixed in with some good tempo rides at Oi Futo.

Run I’m 100% lazer focused on running until Tokyo Marathon on Feb. 26th. The target will hopefully be around 3:10. The plan will be to run the first half in around 1:32:30 (4:23min/km pace) and then at the 30km mark, I’ll make a decision based on my aerobic capacity and how I feel that day:

(A) 100% all out which will hopefully put me under 3:04:59 which is good enough to qualify under the new Boston Marathon qualifying times in 2013
(B) continue on pace and try to run comfortably hard to finish under 3:09:59
(C) blow up and employ a walk/run strategy while trying to finish under 3:14:59

In any case, I’ll be satisfied with any of these outcomes..=P

After Tokyo, Ill continue running high mileage while preparing for UTMF in May. The idea here is to develop my endurance and build that aerobic capacity. I dont have any specific goals in mine but I’d like to enjoy the event and finish in the middle of the rankings.

Finally, after UTMF, I reduce running to maybe 2-3 runs a week with a focus on speed work/running in the heat/brick runs.

Ironman Taiwan 70.3 Race Report

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 20:54:00 +0900

Pre-race:
It’s been a year dominated by running. Aside from a 3 week period in June and August to train for an oly. distance tri, I’ve done very little swimming and almost zero outdoor rides. After my marathon in Montreal, my legs were destroyed so leaving running aside, I had about a month to concentrate on nothing but swimming and biking. Training went well and by the end of it, I felt I was almost back to last year’s fitness. Although I wish I was able to get more than one 10km+ run and a few more brick runs. Anyways, It was a public holiday in Japan on the Thursday before the race but it took nearly the whole day to get to Kenting, the southern tip of Taiwan. 90min train to Narita, 30+mins to check in my bike along with at least 20+ Japanese triathletes, 3hr flight to Taoyuan, 90min high speed train to Zuoying, 2hr bus to Yoho beach resort. The resort was the official accommodations of the event and a lovely resort to stay at. After a nice buffet dinner, I quickly went back to my room and fell asleep. The included breakfast buffet the next day was pretty good and I happened to see a certain 2xIM world champ there. Ran into Macca on the way back to my room and said hi. The rest of that day was fairly uneventful: met up with other triathletes I knew, checked in the bike, carbo-loaded lunch, race briefing, early dinner, early bedtime at 9pm followed by cursing at the loud music coming from the kids disco room..

Race:
The race started at 6:45 at a beach about 15km from the resort. This meant waking up at 3:30, breakfast at 4:00, shuttle bus to the start area at 5:00. Breakfast consisted of one cliff bar, hi-5 energy bar, 3 bananas, 2 cups of coffee.

Swim (target: 35-37mins, actual: 0:39:20)
The swim was two laps from the beach which meant a beach start as well as getting out of the water after the first lap. Water was quite warm and though I didnt need to wear a wet suit, I wore one anyways to converse energy. The water was very nice and I felt I was going at a fairly easy pace. I think I could have pushed the pace a bit more on the first lap but overall, was satisfied with being only a minute or so off my target time. Actually, after talking to other people and hearing about their times, the swim might have been a bit long.

T1 (4:52 + 0:50 + 1:13)
Took off my wetsuit before going up the long stairs. When I finally made it to the transition area, I ate a cliff bar and took my time getting ready for the bike. But shortly after I got on my bike, I realized I didnt have my race number. CRAP!! Can I be disqualified for that?? Not wanting to take any chances, I ran back to the transition area (this messed up my chip time!) to look for my race belt. Doh, it wasn’t there. I gave up after half a minute and went back to my bike to find it was on my aero bars all along! Whoops. Oh well, lost about 2minutes there.

Bike (target: 2:45-3:00, actual: ~2:52:30)
The bike course was a 2 lap course consisted of two short moderate hills. The road conditions were decent in most places but some parts of the roads had potholes, unpredictable stray dogs on the side of the road and even one short unpaved section of the road. Luckily I had no flats and no misfortunes. My strategy was to keep it at a fairly high cadence and to hopefully average around 31-33kph throughout. The uphill wasnt as bad as I imagined and on the 500m caution zone going downhill, the organizers had told everyone to keep the speeds below 30kph and to not pass anyone. I dont think anyone followed that rule and I ended up following a few people that were going at 55kph+. I had brought 3 gels and one cliff bar and consumed one of them every 40mins or so. There was an aid station every 15km and I stopped at 3 of them to quickly refill my bottles. I have got to learn how to catch water bottles on the fly! The other mistake I made was wearing my aero helmet. It was simply not worth it. It was a very hot day and my head was just boiling inside the tight fit. Other than that, I was fairly satisfied with the bike portion.

T2 (~3:00)
Coming off the bike, my legs felt relatively strong. I think the mercury hit 31-32 degrees and at the transition area, ate a cliff bar, consumed a few salt tablets, poured the rest of my water bottle on myself, took a quick leak behind a tree before finally setting off. No mistakes this time..=P

Run (target: 1:45-1:50, actual: ~2:12:35)
The run course was a 17km hilly course back to Yoho resort and then a 4km in/out section to the finish. My legs felt fine and I felt fairly hydrated but I simply could not run fast. Up to then it was partially cloudy but it start to clear up. The heat was bothering me. There were aid stations at every 2km and even after stuffing myself with sponges, my body was not able to cool down. I walked at every aid station and up every hill. The last 4km was probably the worse as it seemed to drag on forever. It was the worse run Ive had in a long time but it was a fairly steady pace throughout.

Post-race:
Overall, I finished with a time of 5:54:20. Was targeting 5:30 or less but given the tough run, I suppose Im partially satisfied. For next time, if there’s one thing I really need to work on is mental toughness during the run. If I can learn to switch off my mind and go into auto-pilot, I’ll be flying. Anyways, after the race, I relaxed and chilled out with other triathlete friends. It sucked that we had to go back to the transition area to collect all our stuff (bike, wetsuit, etc..) but luckily, there were taxis and shuttle buses available. Later that day, there was a nice after-party. It was fun race and I can definitely see myself doing this race again. I havent quite made up my mind what my target races are next year but this will definitely be taken into considerations.

Off the OK pleateau??

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 07:05:16 +0900

Reference

I definitely feel I’ve been improving as I finally managed to complete a goal that has eluded me for a while.

Splits
Umegaishi checkpoint (1:08:15/11.4km)
5th station checkpoint (2:08:25/16km)
8th station (3:45:20/19.8km)
Summit (4:18:43/21km)

I’m hoping I don’t stop improving as I look ahead to two more target races this year:
Montreal Marathon (9/23/2011)
Taiwan Half Ironman (11/5/2011)

The focus will be on smashing my previous marathon time (3:5x) set back in 2009. In my previous ill-fated attempt, I was aiming for something around 3:20-3:30. I’ll still be happy if I can manage that time but hopefully with a LOT of training in the heat & humidity over the next 40 days, I’ll be in great shape.

Triathlon training is on a bit of a hold but I’ll aim to do one bike ride and swim per week.