Well, I tried to keep the report as concise as possible, but it still left many things unsaid. The first and most important is a huge big thank you to all my Namban and Cool Running friends and comrades-in-blogging for all their support. It is difficult to convey just how important that has been, especially over the past few weeks. Of course you don't get to do as much training as I have done without a very supportive and patient family, so sloppy kisses all round there too.
The other thing I wanted to do is acknowledge all the other great efforts on the day. There were a number of PBs from our team: Triathlon ironmen Stuart (3:12:49) and Keren (3:42:04) had great runs. Mika in 3:34:26 smiled the whole way and ran six minutes better than she expected. My frequent training partner Colin had a roaringly successful run. Colin, in his early 50s, does daily battle with a panoply of nerve-related pain through his hips and legs, but still managed to run a very gutsy 3:03:06. He declared afterwards that he decided during the race that 3:05 should be the 3:00 equivalent for over 50s, and who am I to argue with that.
My friend Rie had a pretty good first marathon, finishing in 3:44:48. Getting married in early November certainly wasn't the ideal preparation, and she was a little light on the long runs and found the last few km very tough. So a brave effort from her.
But the performance that makes me just about cry every time I think about it was from the amazingly improved Satohi. I can still remember when Satohi would join us in the park on Sunday mornings. We would be trotting along at 5:30 or 6:00 minute pace talking and joking and she would soon be totally exhausted and unable to keep up. Less than a year later she has come out and run an unbelievable 3:3933 marathon! We knew she had improved, but not to that extent. I think all of us, even those who run with her often, were completely taken by surprise. She is truly inspiring and I was so proud of her.
Well, that'll do for now. Next post I want to talk about whether I should have worn my heart rate monitor.
There are also some photos up on the net posted by my good buddy Chiba-san, here.
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3 comments:
Hey Steve...
you are right I was in state to run while in Japan- although managed a few runs in Kyoto and Koyasan. I really loved our three weeks in Japan- a truely facinating country. Great photo of you in the marathon- not often you get a clear one in a race!
Have you pulled up ok?
Isn't running just the best sport! Not only do you get satisfaction from your own achievements but there's also all the joy you get from seeing your running mates do so well.
Great pics by the way - you certainly stand out in the CR cap!
Good to see the CR cap so prominent Steve.
You are spot on about the improvement of mates - great thing about running is that apart from the elite few who are running to beat each other, the rest of us are running to beat ourselves - and we often do :-)
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