Sunday's run

Hmm, a not terribly eventful or interesting run to record for yesterday. Arrived at Yoyogi in the nick of time for a 9:00 start (invoking the 5-minute leeway rule). Starters other than me were Gareth, Taeko, and Ma. Then we were joined by Adam, then Richard and, in time, Chiba-san materialized, as did Mami. The latter two running together and separate to the rest of us (all entirely innocent I am sure!) Ma and Taeko also dropped off to run by themselves in the latter stages.

The lap times (2.5-km) were a little up and down. Started very slowly with a 14:30 lap/5:48/km, then progressively faster through several laps: 14:09/5:40, 13:34/5:26, 13:18/5:19, 11:52/4:45 (I was catching up after an unscheduled stop), then back to 13:03/5:13, 12:46/5:06, and then finished with a quick Fulton loop (1.95 km) in 8:04/4:08. Total distance 19.5 km.

Finished feeling reasonably fresh apart from a bit of hip and leg soreness. I think I am ready to have at least a semi-decent half next week. I'm starting to feel like a time of 86 minutes might be possible, but anything better would be a surprise and anything below 88 should not be a disappointment. So there is my prediction: between 86 and 88 minutes.

Watched the Osaka Women' International marathon on TV yesterday when I got home. A couple of our ladies were running. Catherine Ndereba ran strongly to gradually move through the field from 6th place to 1st over the 25km to 32 km section, finally winning by 40 seconds. And wouldn't you know it, Mika and Satohi managed to get themselves snapped with the grand lady herself, see the photo here.

Rest day today, Monday 30th.