I couldn't stand the idea of running around and around Yoyogi Park by myself and thought about heading up the Tama River. Finally I headed off around the Yamanote Line to Tokyo (Hibiya actually) and up to the Imperial Palace. Bumped into Jaynie and ran a lap with her and then headed up to Yoyogi Park. Ran one lap in reverse in case Gareth and Katakura were still there. I rested for a bit and was about to head home when they came past...they were running funny Gareth loops. So I did a couple of km with them and then peeled off and headed home. Got home with the odometer showing 35 km, so I gritted the teeth and did another one km lap around the block. Total: 36 km in an average pace of 5:17/km and average heart rate of 131. Parts of the run, especially early and towards the end were at under 5:00/km.
In the afternoon I was helping my brew buddy tidying up his office (and our brewing area) and when the time came decided to run home; that was another 4.5 km at slowish pace (no watch or HRM or even proper running clothes, but I don't think my legs would have noticed any of that).
Weekly distance stands at 109 km with a day still in hand. Might be time for a bit of a rest.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
Thursday & Friday
I was determined to get runs in on both these days this week. With Wednesday's intensity being less than last week I pulled up pretty good yesterday (Thursday). Certainly the back pain of last week stayed away. But with the late run Wednesday and a couple of beers afterwards (read my last post again and you might be able to detect the influence), I was not doing a morning run. Plus, I got my ass chewed (with good reason) for always being late home. And I had to give a 3-hour lecture in the afternoon straight after lunch, so there was not much choice but to run home. I took it pretty easy and threw in two laps of Gaien Picture Gallery. (Sorry Satohi, I would have been about an hour before you). Stats: 11.5 km at HRavg = 131, av pace = 5:41. So basically a recovery run, but some sections were at a reasonable aerobic rate.
This morning I did the reverse run back to work. I was keeping the heart rate up a little, though with all the stop-start down Higashi-Gaien Dori it is hard to get into and keep a good rhythm.
At the picture gallery I stashed my bag behind a vending machine and went for a bit of a gallop. I got the heart rate up to 150 and then decided to keep it there for a few laps to see if there would be any drift. The laps are 1.325 km and the times for four laps were 5:38, 5:48 (4:14/km), 5:51, 5:57 (4:28/km) -- and heart rate was pretty constant. So definite drift this time. As Ewen said in the comment to my last post, the Maffetone formula is too generalised what with its age basis. It is probably a good guide for untrained runners, but for anyone who has been running for a few years, I think you really have to go back to your actual maximum heart rate and take it from there. In other words, Hadd wins!! So, at least now I have a benchmark that I can hope to improve on over the next few weeks.
Anyway, today was spot on 14 km, which gets me to 68 for the week and 391 for the month. No complaints.
This morning I did the reverse run back to work. I was keeping the heart rate up a little, though with all the stop-start down Higashi-Gaien Dori it is hard to get into and keep a good rhythm.
At the picture gallery I stashed my bag behind a vending machine and went for a bit of a gallop. I got the heart rate up to 150 and then decided to keep it there for a few laps to see if there would be any drift. The laps are 1.325 km and the times for four laps were 5:38, 5:48 (4:14/km), 5:51, 5:57 (4:28/km) -- and heart rate was pretty constant. So definite drift this time. As Ewen said in the comment to my last post, the Maffetone formula is too generalised what with its age basis. It is probably a good guide for untrained runners, but for anyone who has been running for a few years, I think you really have to go back to your actual maximum heart rate and take it from there. In other words, Hadd wins!! So, at least now I have a benchmark that I can hope to improve on over the next few weeks.
Anyway, today was spot on 14 km, which gets me to 68 for the week and 391 for the month. No complaints.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
What a useless bloody exercise that turned out to be...
Well, I dunno about my poor colleagues Keren and Satohi, who I sucked into running the Maffetone upper aerobic limit test with me, but for me it turnedout to be fairly useless. Oh, I think the run was a good aerobic training run, and I suppose I can take heart from the fact that I am too fit for Mr/Dr Maffetone, but basically all it proved was that I don't have any drift over 10 km at what is supposed to be my upper aerobic heart rate (143 beats per minute). Here is the data from tonights test of running 20 laps of the 400-m track at a heart rate of 143 (and not, this was after 9 km of warming up at about 5:15/km).
So the first lap was a bit fast at a lower heart rate because we'd had a few minutes rest before getting into it. After that there was a bit of fluctuation from lap to lap and within laps, but I stuck pretty close to the target heart rate. It was mentally tough though and took a lot of concentration as my body didn't seem to like that pace and wanted to either slow down or speed up. And look at it...what can I take from that? I suppose the only thing I could hope for is that if I repeat the test every few weeks my average pace could get faster. I certainly can't hope to get less drift! One second!? Maybe I should try it again at a higher heart rate...148 perhaps? That is what Hadd says is my maximum heart aerobic heart rate, i.e, 80% of HRmax (and is what I have been going off for a fair while now as my upper aerobic training guide). Hadd versus Maffetone, let the battle begin!
Keren and Satohi, my apologies: I hope you got more out of it then I did...but then again, as all scientists know, even a null result is still a result.
Tonight: 21.8 km
Week: 42.8 km
| Lap | Time | Heart rate |
| 1 | 0:07:18 | 140 |
| 2 | 0:07:41 | 143 |
| 3 | 0:07:42 | 143 |
| 4 | 0:07:42 | 143 |
| 5 | 0:07:43 | 142 |
So the first lap was a bit fast at a lower heart rate because we'd had a few minutes rest before getting into it. After that there was a bit of fluctuation from lap to lap and within laps, but I stuck pretty close to the target heart rate. It was mentally tough though and took a lot of concentration as my body didn't seem to like that pace and wanted to either slow down or speed up. And look at it...what can I take from that? I suppose the only thing I could hope for is that if I repeat the test every few weeks my average pace could get faster. I certainly can't hope to get less drift! One second!? Maybe I should try it again at a higher heart rate...148 perhaps? That is what Hadd says is my maximum heart aerobic heart rate, i.e, 80% of HRmax (and is what I have been going off for a fair while now as my upper aerobic training guide). Hadd versus Maffetone, let the battle begin!
Keren and Satohi, my apologies: I hope you got more out of it then I did...but then again, as all scientists know, even a null result is still a result.
Tonight: 21.8 km
Week: 42.8 km
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
3, 2, 1, Blast off...
That is the effect the weather has. Just 19 degrees and breezy this morning. I was going to switch to the Maffetone upper aerobic heart rate (143 for me) as a limit to my intensity, but try to run longer distances of it. Classic aerobic endurance training. But I have been doing these Tuesday mornings based on the three laps of Komazawa Park, with the second two laps at 80% HRmax and then measure the third as a reference. Up until last week (24 degrees and humid) my pace at that heart rate hadn't been showing much improvement. But after the encouraging run on Sunday, I thought, bugger it, let's do this again and see what we get. And what did we get? Well, remember, up until last week that third lap had never got below 4:30 pace (except for the first one in early July, which was 4:28). And today, drum roll, please.....4:17!
Hmm, and with my injuries all feeling under control (today), and six weeks of building to go, a 3-hour marathon suddenly feels back on the cards. Let's just say I'm prepared to entertain the thought.
I'm still going to make a slight switch in training emphasis going for longer distances at the Maffetone pace. I guess I'll keep up the mile repeats every three weeks because a few of the Namban people seem to like them and we have created the expectation for them now. I will then just do a few lactate threshold runs in the last few weeks before the marathon. I think I'll keep the Tuesday session as the 80% of HRmax metric, and also bring in the Maffetone metric every few weeks (run 5 consecutive miles at a constant heart rate of 143 and record the time per lap -- starting tomorrow).
Hmm, and with my injuries all feeling under control (today), and six weeks of building to go, a 3-hour marathon suddenly feels back on the cards. Let's just say I'm prepared to entertain the thought.
I'm still going to make a slight switch in training emphasis going for longer distances at the Maffetone pace. I guess I'll keep up the mile repeats every three weeks because a few of the Namban people seem to like them and we have created the expectation for them now. I will then just do a few lactate threshold runs in the last few weeks before the marathon. I think I'll keep the Tuesday session as the 80% of HRmax metric, and also bring in the Maffetone metric every few weeks (run 5 consecutive miles at a constant heart rate of 143 and record the time per lap -- starting tomorrow).
Monday, September 25, 2006
Finished the week with a bit of oomph
So yesterday was my youngest son's school sports day (undokai). His last for primary school, which makes it a bit of a landmark for us. No more family picnics at undokais for us. A bit sad really.
I got home about 4:00 in the afternoon and prepared to head out for my run. I noted that the new pain in my hip that had popped up after Saturday' long run had receded and that, in fact, I felt pretty good. If you are in marathon training and the body is feeling good, there must be something wrong, so I knew there was only one thing to do: punish it! ha ha, no not really, but I did set out to run a decent aerobic pace for 10 km or so. It is an unusual time of day to run for me, so I wasn't sure what course to do. Then I thought about the Maffetone heart rate formula and fitness test that I had read a couple of days before. So I headed to my old stomping ground of Komazawa Park with the resolve to not let my heart rate go above 143 (180-43+5) (I know, that is 142, but I just had to add another beat). Then, once in the park, I would run right at the 143 limit for three laps and record the time, a bit like the MAF test in the Maffetone article. So that's what I did. The three 2.15-km laps were 9:36 (4:28 min/km), 9:44 (4:32), and 9:46 (4:33).
With the conditions being so mild, once I'd got well into the run my heart rate was not drifting much, though the MAF test is for more like five repeated miles on a flat track. Maybe I should do that test one Wednesday per month, every month. The only problem I see with his article is that if you do these kind of cardiac drift tests, the weather has a profound influence on the results. A lot of us who have been building over summer for our autumn marathons have probably not felt much progress because the hot, humid weather makes it hard to see any improvements. But we get this rapid improvement in conditions and, poof, our watches suddenly tell us we are much fitter than we thought. So I'm not sure how you use a regular testing mechanism like Maffetone's in a climate like Japan where you cannot get consistent conditions for more than a couple of months.
Anyway, I ended up with 14 km for the run and 98 km for the week. Quite a relief after the wobble on Thursday and Friday. The time for the 14 km was 1:06:41. As good as a lot of runs lately where the heart rate was more like 149 or 150 for a large part of the run. A large part of this is weather, but it is also good to see that a modest heart rate now does return decent pace. So I think I'll continue with this sort of heart rate and added distance over the next month and hope to see further improvement in my pace at the maximum aerobic heart rate.
I also got out for a very easy 6 km this morning -- 34 minutes, average heart rate of 120 (65%)!
I got home about 4:00 in the afternoon and prepared to head out for my run. I noted that the new pain in my hip that had popped up after Saturday' long run had receded and that, in fact, I felt pretty good. If you are in marathon training and the body is feeling good, there must be something wrong, so I knew there was only one thing to do: punish it! ha ha, no not really, but I did set out to run a decent aerobic pace for 10 km or so. It is an unusual time of day to run for me, so I wasn't sure what course to do. Then I thought about the Maffetone heart rate formula and fitness test that I had read a couple of days before. So I headed to my old stomping ground of Komazawa Park with the resolve to not let my heart rate go above 143 (180-43+5) (I know, that is 142, but I just had to add another beat). Then, once in the park, I would run right at the 143 limit for three laps and record the time, a bit like the MAF test in the Maffetone article. So that's what I did. The three 2.15-km laps were 9:36 (4:28 min/km), 9:44 (4:32), and 9:46 (4:33).
With the conditions being so mild, once I'd got well into the run my heart rate was not drifting much, though the MAF test is for more like five repeated miles on a flat track. Maybe I should do that test one Wednesday per month, every month. The only problem I see with his article is that if you do these kind of cardiac drift tests, the weather has a profound influence on the results. A lot of us who have been building over summer for our autumn marathons have probably not felt much progress because the hot, humid weather makes it hard to see any improvements. But we get this rapid improvement in conditions and, poof, our watches suddenly tell us we are much fitter than we thought. So I'm not sure how you use a regular testing mechanism like Maffetone's in a climate like Japan where you cannot get consistent conditions for more than a couple of months.
Anyway, I ended up with 14 km for the run and 98 km for the week. Quite a relief after the wobble on Thursday and Friday. The time for the 14 km was 1:06:41. As good as a lot of runs lately where the heart rate was more like 149 or 150 for a large part of the run. A large part of this is weather, but it is also good to see that a modest heart rate now does return decent pace. So I think I'll continue with this sort of heart rate and added distance over the next month and hope to see further improvement in my pace at the maximum aerobic heart rate.
I also got out for a very easy 6 km this morning -- 34 minutes, average heart rate of 120 (65%)!
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Long run completed
Slow and easy, but in the end a fairly comfortable 32 km in three hours and five minutes. When I woke up the back problem had receded to a general stiffness and I was no longer quite like the crooked man who walked a crooked mile and found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile. Seriously when the back is sore, I lean like the tower of Pizza -- people point and snicker behind their hands as I walk down the street.
So off I trotted at about 6:00/km pace to Yoyogi Park. I was hoping Gareth would turn up for his Saturday morning 10k, and eventually he did (by that time I was muttering to myself, "where's Gareth, where's Gareth..." then he miraculously emerged out of the bushes down along the fence). So we spent four happy laps together. Slow laps, but honest and true. After he left I completed one and a half more laps before turning for home -- the last lap was a positively speedy 14 minute effort. I arrived home a little weary in the legs, but able to continue running if I had to. I think I might continue with this steady approach and try to get in longer runs that don't tax the body quite so much. Build the aerobic endurance. The aim is to get through the marathon in a respectable time and in one piece, not to go breaking any records.
So off I trotted at about 6:00/km pace to Yoyogi Park. I was hoping Gareth would turn up for his Saturday morning 10k, and eventually he did (by that time I was muttering to myself, "where's Gareth, where's Gareth..." then he miraculously emerged out of the bushes down along the fence). So we spent four happy laps together. Slow laps, but honest and true. After he left I completed one and a half more laps before turning for home -- the last lap was a positively speedy 14 minute effort. I arrived home a little weary in the legs, but able to continue running if I had to. I think I might continue with this steady approach and try to get in longer runs that don't tax the body quite so much. Build the aerobic endurance. The aim is to get through the marathon in a respectable time and in one piece, not to go breaking any records.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Like a Yo-yo
Well, after that great run on Wednesday I have come back to earth with a thud. Very sore spasmy lower back yesterday (Thursday) and today. Probably didn't help it by running 11 km at lunch time yesterday. I had another early start this morning, but set the alarm for 5:00 to see if the back was any better. But a poor night's sleep and the back no better when I awoke made me decide to skip the run. I feel a bit tired and crappy today too. So I think that the run on Wednesday was probably a bit too much. Ahh, it is a tight rope we walk at times. To make things worse, my son has a school sports day on Sunday, so I am really only able to fit in the long run tomorrow. The back is feeling a bit better tonight, so let's hope that a good night's sleep gets me over the line to fit in that all-important long run. Dang, I was on track for a 100-km week too!
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
A bit more like it
Well, after the disappointment of yesterday morning, I felt that there was nothing left for it but to roll up the sleeves and get stuck into the work tonight. Actually, with the 18 hours between sessions my legs felt pretty good. So maybe some of the craptitude of yesterday was residual fatigue from Sunday's long run.
So tonight it was into Yoyogi Park. First up was 7 km at progressively better pace with Jayne and Teruyuki, then Stuart and Keren, starting around 5:20 min/km and finishing at better than 4:40/km. Then it was into the main dish of tonight's menu, 10 km at, well, hard aerobic pace...at least under 4:30 min/km. I ran 1.94 km Fulton loops with Stuart. They went like this:
Time pace HRavg
0:8:42 4:21 80%
0:8:31 4:15 82%
0:8:29 4:14 84%
0:8:27 4:14 85%
0:8:19 4:10 87%
Clearly I did not try to maintain a constant heart rate, but just went with the feeling and tried to keep the effort hard, but aerobic, then finish off with a bit of a harder effort. I remember a series of sessions like this with Colin last year and I think they really give the aerobic fitness a good kick along. A bit hard on the old pegs though. I should note that Stuart, the young fit bugger, pulled away from me on those last couple of laps.
I ran a couple of slower laps and finished with 20.5 km in 1:41:14, average pace of 4:53/km and average heart rate of 76%...and 1413 kcal consumed apparently, according to my heart rate monitor...for what its worth. Actually, my interest in this is up slightly because I discovered a calorie budget program that I am trialling. I might talk about it in more length later.
End result of today: tired but happ(ier).
So tonight it was into Yoyogi Park. First up was 7 km at progressively better pace with Jayne and Teruyuki, then Stuart and Keren, starting around 5:20 min/km and finishing at better than 4:40/km. Then it was into the main dish of tonight's menu, 10 km at, well, hard aerobic pace...at least under 4:30 min/km. I ran 1.94 km Fulton loops with Stuart. They went like this:
Time pace HRavg
0:8:42 4:21 80%
0:8:31 4:15 82%
0:8:29 4:14 84%
0:8:27 4:14 85%
0:8:19 4:10 87%
Clearly I did not try to maintain a constant heart rate, but just went with the feeling and tried to keep the effort hard, but aerobic, then finish off with a bit of a harder effort. I remember a series of sessions like this with Colin last year and I think they really give the aerobic fitness a good kick along. A bit hard on the old pegs though. I should note that Stuart, the young fit bugger, pulled away from me on those last couple of laps.
I ran a couple of slower laps and finished with 20.5 km in 1:41:14, average pace of 4:53/km and average heart rate of 76%...and 1413 kcal consumed apparently, according to my heart rate monitor...for what its worth. Actually, my interest in this is up slightly because I discovered a calorie budget program that I am trialling. I might talk about it in more length later.
End result of today: tired but happ(ier).
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Not progressing
Gosh, it seems that despite several weeks in a row of 80+ km weeks, and a few quality runs thrown in for good measure, I am making no progress with my fitness at all.
This morning I went for my Tuesday metric. Run up to Komazawa park, get heart rate up to 80% on the second lap, hold it and measure the time for the third lap. Despite the heart rate actually being 81%, my time (4:33/km) was several seconds slower than it was about six weeks ago. Today's temperature and humidity were about on a par with the other measures. And today felt reasonably tough too. Some of it in the hips/legs, some of it cardio-vascular. I have to admit, Sunday's 10 km with Satohi at 4:40/km was much harder than expected too, though I was ready to put that down to the 15 km I already had in my legs. Now I'm not so sure. Basically, my aerobic fitness is just not changing (yet). I'll have to hope that some endurance or other adaptations are occurring. It is going to be an ugly marathon otherwise, and 4:15/km for 42.195 km certainly looks well and truly out of the question from where I am sitting.
Other news
Satohi did, more-or-less, manage to complete her 20-km 4:40/km pace run. She slowed a little in later laps and stopped and walked for a brief breather on the ninth lap, but got back into it and finished her 10th strongly. I'm not sure if she realizes it, but she did great. These long marathon pace runs are a very hard session and I think she'll be a little more psychologically prepared for the next one in a few weeks.
I'm not too sure if I should be talking about this publicly, but my good friend and frequent running companion Colin had a mishap on his bicycle on Saturday resulting in one fractured collar bone and, therefore, the end of his aspirations for an autumn marathon. That's bad news for him, and bad news for the rest of us who will now be forced to do a lot more work to keep the conversations flowing during those Sunday long runs. I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing him a speedy recovery. I'm sure he'd appreciate an email from those of you who know him.
This morning I went for my Tuesday metric. Run up to Komazawa park, get heart rate up to 80% on the second lap, hold it and measure the time for the third lap. Despite the heart rate actually being 81%, my time (4:33/km) was several seconds slower than it was about six weeks ago. Today's temperature and humidity were about on a par with the other measures. And today felt reasonably tough too. Some of it in the hips/legs, some of it cardio-vascular. I have to admit, Sunday's 10 km with Satohi at 4:40/km was much harder than expected too, though I was ready to put that down to the 15 km I already had in my legs. Now I'm not so sure. Basically, my aerobic fitness is just not changing (yet). I'll have to hope that some endurance or other adaptations are occurring. It is going to be an ugly marathon otherwise, and 4:15/km for 42.195 km certainly looks well and truly out of the question from where I am sitting.
Other news
Satohi did, more-or-less, manage to complete her 20-km 4:40/km pace run. She slowed a little in later laps and stopped and walked for a brief breather on the ninth lap, but got back into it and finished her 10th strongly. I'm not sure if she realizes it, but she did great. These long marathon pace runs are a very hard session and I think she'll be a little more psychologically prepared for the next one in a few weeks.
I'm not too sure if I should be talking about this publicly, but my good friend and frequent running companion Colin had a mishap on his bicycle on Saturday resulting in one fractured collar bone and, therefore, the end of his aspirations for an autumn marathon. That's bad news for him, and bad news for the rest of us who will now be forced to do a lot more work to keep the conversations flowing during those Sunday long runs. I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing him a speedy recovery. I'm sure he'd appreciate an email from those of you who know him.
Kanpai!
After my long run on Sunday I went to a craft beer festival in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. Every year there is a festival in May/June, and it has been becoming increasingly crowded and difficult to enjoy. This year it was beyond a joke with over 3000 people in a venue with a maximum capacity of 2000. A number of the Japanese movers and shakers of the craft brew scene (some of whom are pictured) were so disgusted that they resolved to put on an alternative event that would better respect both exhibitors and craft beer fans alike. They succeeded.
It was an excellent event with only the top Japanese micro-breweries and only a selection of brews from each to ensure a good range and balance of beer styles. None of the beers were dogs (unlike the May event) and some were really outstanding. I didn't get to try everything, though was already familiar with many that I missed. Of those I did try, I was very impressed with Echigo Beer's Imperial Porter, Baird Beer's Strong Scotch Ale, Hitachi-no-Nest Beer's White Ale and Celebration Ale, Shonan Beer's Weizenbock, and Yaho Brewing's 05 Barleywine and Tokyo Black Ale (real ale version).
Despite being asked to take photo's for a friend who will be writing up the event, my camera's battery was almost flat and I only got a few shots before it died. Sadly I missed a photo of the Japanese guy with a spikey green mohawk, copious tats, and multiple piercings who provided the bagpipe music (replete with kilt and sporran!). He was very good. I spoke to him briefly and learned that he studied the pipes in that bastion of Scottish culture, wait for it, Paris!
It was an excellent event with only the top Japanese micro-breweries and only a selection of brews from each to ensure a good range and balance of beer styles. None of the beers were dogs (unlike the May event) and some were really outstanding. I didn't get to try everything, though was already familiar with many that I missed. Of those I did try, I was very impressed with Echigo Beer's Imperial Porter, Baird Beer's Strong Scotch Ale, Hitachi-no-Nest Beer's White Ale and Celebration Ale, Shonan Beer's Weizenbock, and Yaho Brewing's 05 Barleywine and Tokyo Black Ale (real ale version).
Despite being asked to take photo's for a friend who will be writing up the event, my camera's battery was almost flat and I only got a few shots before it died. Sadly I missed a photo of the Japanese guy with a spikey green mohawk, copious tats, and multiple piercings who provided the bagpipe music (replete with kilt and sporran!). He was very good. I spoke to him briefly and learned that he studied the pipes in that bastion of Scottish culture, wait for it, Paris!
Monday, September 18, 2006
Finally Topped 30 km
It has been many long months since I ran 30 km. And while there were a couple of short stoppages, yesterday I clocked up 31.6 km, mostly in Yoyogi park.
I had set Satohi a 20-km marathon pace run (4:40/km). She turned up and we did two warm up laps (5km) together and then set about the pace run. I wasn't ready to do the whole thing, but I ran the first five of her ten laps with her. We did OK, but the real hard work lay ahead for her when I pulled up. I wonder how she got on...
I ran another 5 or 6 km and finished feeling in pretty reasonable shape. A big contrast with last week was that it was only 22 degrees yesterday and felt cool and comfortable (if still a little humid). What a difference a mere 5 degrees makes.
And the weekly total, drum roll please, 89.6 km!! What did I say about missing that run on Friday? A bit more consistency this week should see me nudge 100 km.
I had set Satohi a 20-km marathon pace run (4:40/km). She turned up and we did two warm up laps (5km) together and then set about the pace run. I wasn't ready to do the whole thing, but I ran the first five of her ten laps with her. We did OK, but the real hard work lay ahead for her when I pulled up. I wonder how she got on...
I ran another 5 or 6 km and finished feeling in pretty reasonable shape. A big contrast with last week was that it was only 22 degrees yesterday and felt cool and comfortable (if still a little humid). What a difference a mere 5 degrees makes.
And the weekly total, drum roll please, 89.6 km!! What did I say about missing that run on Friday? A bit more consistency this week should see me nudge 100 km.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Missed a run and not happy, Jan
Work took me out of town yesterday and I had to be on a shinkansen at 8:04 am. I was only going to Odawara and was sitting down with my client by 9:00. The Shinkansen took only 30 minutes from Shinagawa, but by local train it takes 1 hour 30!
I thought it was cutting it fine to try and fit in a run before leaving (plus I'd had a hard one Thursday night) and took some running gear with me in case I could find a sento anear rthe station and run in Odawara. Alas, the meeting went longer than scheduled and blah, blah, blah, I couldn't manage a Friday run. Pretty disappoined to be honest. I'm really playing the log-those-miles game at the moment. Achieved just under 90 last week, up only a few km on the week before. So the target was to get up over 90 this week. But missing a day made it pretty hard. I managed 14 today (plus a piddly little 1.8 km jog in regular clothes in the afternoon), so will need more than 30 to get over 90 for the week. Fuggedaboutit.
I did think about trying to make up the lost km this morning, but decided it is dumb to try and catch up. With the fresher legs I did do more than my last few Saturdays though: 14 km up to Komazawa park, 3 laps and back. My lower back was very stiff and restricted my running. Not too bad once I got warmed up, but awful early. After getting to the park I did six reps of 500 m hard with about 2 minutes recovery in between. It's funny how when I'm running that hard my legs just seem to melt away beneath me. Not a hint of pain; in fact, it really is like they are not even attached to my body. As soon as I slowed back to recovery pace, bloody legs start yipping and yapping. That's marathon training I suppose.
I thought it was cutting it fine to try and fit in a run before leaving (plus I'd had a hard one Thursday night) and took some running gear with me in case I could find a sento anear rthe station and run in Odawara. Alas, the meeting went longer than scheduled and blah, blah, blah, I couldn't manage a Friday run. Pretty disappoined to be honest. I'm really playing the log-those-miles game at the moment. Achieved just under 90 last week, up only a few km on the week before. So the target was to get up over 90 this week. But missing a day made it pretty hard. I managed 14 today (plus a piddly little 1.8 km jog in regular clothes in the afternoon), so will need more than 30 to get over 90 for the week. Fuggedaboutit.
I did think about trying to make up the lost km this morning, but decided it is dumb to try and catch up. With the fresher legs I did do more than my last few Saturdays though: 14 km up to Komazawa park, 3 laps and back. My lower back was very stiff and restricted my running. Not too bad once I got warmed up, but awful early. After getting to the park I did six reps of 500 m hard with about 2 minutes recovery in between. It's funny how when I'm running that hard my legs just seem to melt away beneath me. Not a hint of pain; in fact, it really is like they are not even attached to my body. As soon as I slowed back to recovery pace, bloody legs start yipping and yapping. That's marathon training I suppose.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Getting somewhere
My run tonight ended up being a pretty good double circumnavigation of the Imperial Palace. The legs were a bit stiff at first, but soon warmed up. The rapid drop in temperature (only 20 degrees tonight) has changed the whole pace-to-heart rate equation. At first I was getting along at what I thought was a fair clip, certainly sub 5:00 min/km pace, but the heart rate would not go above 71%. So when I came to the hill after Takebashi I worked it a little and got up to 78%. Finished that lap in 24:07 or 4:52/km. Then on the second lap I worked hard to keep the HR over 80%. It felt fast. Ended up being 4:23/km pace. Still a way to go, but very encouraging. The legs just have to cope with the extra effort needed to make the heart and lungs work the way they have been for cooling. I would expect to see my pace be at 4:15 for this heart rate in a couple of weeks if all goes well.
4 by 1600s
A few weeks ago Gareth and I organized a workout of 3 x 1600 m in parallel to the main Namban interval workout. Last night we did it again, only increasing it to four reps. And since the main leaders of the interval workout were not in attendance, everybody had to do it. We ran about 7.5 km in the park beforehand and then mosied on over to the track. It was a bit rainy and cool -- perfect weather for running.
So last month my reps were 6:11, 6:06 and 6:04. Maybe I was a bit conservative on the first, and it was a warm night. Nevertheless, I was very happy with the pace and evenness of last nights reps. I'll include the decimal for emphasis: 6: 04.0, 6:03.8, 6:05.1, 6:04.0. Average heart rate was 141 (76%), 164(88%), 161(87%), 162(87%). My legs were feeling pretty shattered on the third rep and I seriously considered pulling up stumps at that point, but in the end I was very glad I did the last one.
Surprisingly my legs feel pretty good today (all things are relative) and I'm looking forward to getting out for a reasonable length run later. More than just a recovery trundle I think.
So last month my reps were 6:11, 6:06 and 6:04. Maybe I was a bit conservative on the first, and it was a warm night. Nevertheless, I was very happy with the pace and evenness of last nights reps. I'll include the decimal for emphasis: 6: 04.0, 6:03.8, 6:05.1, 6:04.0. Average heart rate was 141 (76%), 164(88%), 161(87%), 162(87%). My legs were feeling pretty shattered on the third rep and I seriously considered pulling up stumps at that point, but in the end I was very glad I did the last one.
Surprisingly my legs feel pretty good today (all things are relative) and I'm looking forward to getting out for a reasonable length run later. More than just a recovery trundle I think.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Off & running into another week
I seem to be constantly falling behind in blog posts at the moment.
My last entry was for last Friday morning, a not very enjoyable run that one. Friday night I went to a networking party and had a few drinks. Saturday morning I was not really hungover, but felt a bit grotty in the tummy. This has been a common feeling of late, and I don't know if there is a condition or it is a lifestyle thing, what with eating (and drinking?) too late and getting up too early. Anyway, I only ran about 8 km, but included a few loops of my hill at Aobadai.
Sunday was long-run day. It was back to being hot and humid again. I thought it was supposed to be autumn! A number of us converged on Yoyogi Park and struggled our way through our set assignments. I managed 28.5 km in a time that doesn't bear talking about much. It was one of those runs that since it didn't kill us, it had bloody better have made us stronger because there was really no fun at all in actually doing it! It gave me 89.8 km for the week.
Monday was rest day, but once I got up and about noticed I had a fairly sharp little pain in my left rear thoigh (I found this typo, but decided to leave it -- it is Australian for "thigh"). Same general area as I've had problems through summer, but in a different area. I had to jog a few times to catch Walk signals during the day and it didn't hurt much. Seemed to hurt more when walking.
So I decided to just press on with the program this morning and got up and into it for the usual 14-km run to Komazawa Park + 3 laps and home. My heart rate monitor strap has been chafing the hell out of my back, so I left it at home. It was a tired and wonky old start to the run, including two pit stops by about half way. I was almost going to cut it short and just run easily home, but somehow I warmed into it and finished pretty strongly. The leg was noticeable but not worrying me much. In the end it was a little quicker overall than I have done this run for a while, so I was not too unhappy.
I was having a look back over my logbook from last year. I am currently weeks behind where I was at this stage last year. I already had several 30+ km runs under my belt and was pumping out quite a bit more mileage through the week. Still, that can't be helped and I am not going to try and play catchup (ketchup?)
My last entry was for last Friday morning, a not very enjoyable run that one. Friday night I went to a networking party and had a few drinks. Saturday morning I was not really hungover, but felt a bit grotty in the tummy. This has been a common feeling of late, and I don't know if there is a condition or it is a lifestyle thing, what with eating (and drinking?) too late and getting up too early. Anyway, I only ran about 8 km, but included a few loops of my hill at Aobadai.
Sunday was long-run day. It was back to being hot and humid again. I thought it was supposed to be autumn! A number of us converged on Yoyogi Park and struggled our way through our set assignments. I managed 28.5 km in a time that doesn't bear talking about much. It was one of those runs that since it didn't kill us, it had bloody better have made us stronger because there was really no fun at all in actually doing it! It gave me 89.8 km for the week.
Monday was rest day, but once I got up and about noticed I had a fairly sharp little pain in my left rear thoigh (I found this typo, but decided to leave it -- it is Australian for "thigh"). Same general area as I've had problems through summer, but in a different area. I had to jog a few times to catch Walk signals during the day and it didn't hurt much. Seemed to hurt more when walking.
So I decided to just press on with the program this morning and got up and into it for the usual 14-km run to Komazawa Park + 3 laps and home. My heart rate monitor strap has been chafing the hell out of my back, so I left it at home. It was a tired and wonky old start to the run, including two pit stops by about half way. I was almost going to cut it short and just run easily home, but somehow I warmed into it and finished pretty strongly. The leg was noticeable but not worrying me much. In the end it was a little quicker overall than I have done this run for a while, so I was not too unhappy.
I was having a look back over my logbook from last year. I am currently weeks behind where I was at this stage last year. I already had several 30+ km runs under my belt and was pumping out quite a bit more mileage through the week. Still, that can't be helped and I am not going to try and play catchup (ketchup?)
Friday, September 08, 2006
Quick Ketchup
I've missed a few days, so will need to do a quick catchup.
Tuesday PM: as reported two posts back, work got in the way of my Tuesday morning run. I ended up running home with a lap around Gaien Jingu Picture Gallery (as Satohi tells me it is called) for spot on 10 km at average pace of 5:26/km and average HR of 72%.
Wednesday AM: Run to work 8.7 km at an average pace of 5:17/km, also average HR of 72% (interesting contrast to last night -- I think I did fair stretch of very slow stuff up hill last night)
Wednesday PM: 16 km of mostly easy-steady pace but 4 km at 4:33/km and 2 km at 4:15/km.
Thursday PM: 5 km recovery around Gosho
Friday AM: Got up at 5:30 am feeling tired. Thought I might run my normal Tueday workout of home to Komazawa park plus three laps of Komazawa with the third lap at 80% HRmax. But when I got going, well, I just couldn't get going. I felt tired and a bit stiff and just couldn't increase the intensity tot the point needed. So I decided not to run the third lap and just keep the pace with my heart rate in the mid 70% of HRmax range. It was still a reasonably tough run to get through. It was just under 12 km and my watch was stopped on exactly 1:00:00 for a 5:05/km average pace and average 73% of HRmax.
Tuesday PM: as reported two posts back, work got in the way of my Tuesday morning run. I ended up running home with a lap around Gaien Jingu Picture Gallery (as Satohi tells me it is called) for spot on 10 km at average pace of 5:26/km and average HR of 72%.
Wednesday AM: Run to work 8.7 km at an average pace of 5:17/km, also average HR of 72% (interesting contrast to last night -- I think I did fair stretch of very slow stuff up hill last night)
Wednesday PM: 16 km of mostly easy-steady pace but 4 km at 4:33/km and 2 km at 4:15/km.
Thursday PM: 5 km recovery around Gosho
Friday AM: Got up at 5:30 am feeling tired. Thought I might run my normal Tueday workout of home to Komazawa park plus three laps of Komazawa with the third lap at 80% HRmax. But when I got going, well, I just couldn't get going. I felt tired and a bit stiff and just couldn't increase the intensity tot the point needed. So I decided not to run the third lap and just keep the pace with my heart rate in the mid 70% of HRmax range. It was still a reasonably tough run to get through. It was just under 12 km and my watch was stopped on exactly 1:00:00 for a 5:05/km average pace and average 73% of HRmax.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Vale Steve Irwin
As a kid I went through a stage where I wanted to be a herpetologist. I had a pet pink-tongue skink and a freshwater turtle. I loved carpet snakes and green frogs and could spend hours fossicking around rocky outcrops. I liked the bush and nature in general. Birds, wallabies...any kind of Australian wildlife and landscape. My heros were Harry Butler and Steve Parish. Heh, I remember a camping trip once when a young carpet snake I found in my sleeping bag left half a dozen tiny needle-sharp teeth in my thumb as I tried doing my best Harry Butler routine with him.
But in my late teens and early twenties through university, the hooks of my passion for all things wild somehow worked their way loose. Pragmatism set in. Or was it laziness? I didn't lose the attraction entirely, but I just thought that I needed to go off and get higher education rather than "play with animals". I reasoned that it was alright to keep my interest as an interest, but it was never going to pay the bills or would be a hard road to hoe through life. I lost or, and here is the real rub, perhaps never had enough of, the passion and drive needed to make a career out of "being Harry Butler".
By the time Steve Irwin came on the scene, I'd grown up and matured. Stumbled into becoming a forest soil scientist, a part of the system. Some of my colleagues were professional biologists, perhaps what I should have been if I'd remained true to the original cry of my heart. These people were passionate about their specialities, but they were also coolly professional. They handled frogs or owls or bats every day. And I'd handled plenty of critters myself. To people like us, Steve Irwin came across as a bit of a lair. He was over the top and a ham. His style on TV just seemed so cheesy and exaggerated. To your typical laconic Australian, it was total affectation. But, as time went by, it became apparent that, you know, it wasn't. He really was that mad!
So while a part of me, maybe some of it rooted in jealousy, never took him completely seriously, I had certainly come to respect him. Sure he was an entertainer, and his movie was almost a self-parody, and i enjoyed it for what it was. And one thing it showed out was that he didn't take himself seriously, but he was completely serious about the animals and conservation in general. You only have to read this interview circa just after his rise to international fame, to realize that. And thus, even though I knew he was way out there, I trusted it for being genuine and not just a big put-on for the cameras. And when this knowledge and understanding sinks in, that he really is like that, all the time, then it hits you; this guy is a maniac, a passionate, bundle of energy. I mean he is really, really alive!
...only, now he's not. And it just seems so hard to believe. It really shocked me when I heard and the feeling hasn't left me over the last 24 hours. You think, why? Why did he have to go out like that? I mean, of course the reason is obvious...freakishly bad luck! These things happen. Just like picking up and infection, or being hit by a bus. And incredibly, against the odds, it happened to him.
But then it's the reaction. Why does his death seem so much more of a loss than the countless thousands of other worthy lives whose passing is reported each day in the newspaper? Why should he, this boof-headed Aussie bogan made good, cause such a world-wide outpouring of shock and grief? I guess it will be different things for different people. I mean, I hardly watched any of his shows. When all is said and done, I think the thing about him that I respected and admired so much, and I guess loved, was his genuineness, his passion, and his sheer bloody aliveness. How he kept that, I'll never know, I can only dream about it and envy it.
All any of us can ever hope for is to leave a mark. And he surely did that. Good on ya Steve.
But in my late teens and early twenties through university, the hooks of my passion for all things wild somehow worked their way loose. Pragmatism set in. Or was it laziness? I didn't lose the attraction entirely, but I just thought that I needed to go off and get higher education rather than "play with animals". I reasoned that it was alright to keep my interest as an interest, but it was never going to pay the bills or would be a hard road to hoe through life. I lost or, and here is the real rub, perhaps never had enough of, the passion and drive needed to make a career out of "being Harry Butler".
By the time Steve Irwin came on the scene, I'd grown up and matured. Stumbled into becoming a forest soil scientist, a part of the system. Some of my colleagues were professional biologists, perhaps what I should have been if I'd remained true to the original cry of my heart. These people were passionate about their specialities, but they were also coolly professional. They handled frogs or owls or bats every day. And I'd handled plenty of critters myself. To people like us, Steve Irwin came across as a bit of a lair. He was over the top and a ham. His style on TV just seemed so cheesy and exaggerated. To your typical laconic Australian, it was total affectation. But, as time went by, it became apparent that, you know, it wasn't. He really was that mad!
So while a part of me, maybe some of it rooted in jealousy, never took him completely seriously, I had certainly come to respect him. Sure he was an entertainer, and his movie was almost a self-parody, and i enjoyed it for what it was. And one thing it showed out was that he didn't take himself seriously, but he was completely serious about the animals and conservation in general. You only have to read this interview circa just after his rise to international fame, to realize that. And thus, even though I knew he was way out there, I trusted it for being genuine and not just a big put-on for the cameras. And when this knowledge and understanding sinks in, that he really is like that, all the time, then it hits you; this guy is a maniac, a passionate, bundle of energy. I mean he is really, really alive!
...only, now he's not. And it just seems so hard to believe. It really shocked me when I heard and the feeling hasn't left me over the last 24 hours. You think, why? Why did he have to go out like that? I mean, of course the reason is obvious...freakishly bad luck! These things happen. Just like picking up and infection, or being hit by a bus. And incredibly, against the odds, it happened to him.
But then it's the reaction. Why does his death seem so much more of a loss than the countless thousands of other worthy lives whose passing is reported each day in the newspaper? Why should he, this boof-headed Aussie bogan made good, cause such a world-wide outpouring of shock and grief? I guess it will be different things for different people. I mean, I hardly watched any of his shows. When all is said and done, I think the thing about him that I respected and admired so much, and I guess loved, was his genuineness, his passion, and his sheer bloody aliveness. How he kept that, I'll never know, I can only dream about it and envy it.
All any of us can ever hope for is to leave a mark. And he surely did that. Good on ya Steve.
Sunday's long run
Well, it's already two days past now, but Sunday's long run went very well. Don't get me wrong, I felt fairly beat up at the end of it, but I got to 20 km feeling in reasonable shape. But by 22 km, before turning the horses for the run home, I did feel tired. Heading out of the park I tried to keep the pace up towards 5:10 to 5:00/km and by the time I got home was well spent. It felt just like the right long run for the stage I'm at. Fatigue-inducing but bearable.
Unfortunately, after the run I had to peddle very fast on some work in preparation for a meeting today (Tuesday). Preparing for that damn thing, plus other commitments, kept me very busy right through until late last night, and as a result I had to forego my beloved Tuesday morning run. I nearly got up and did it on 5-hours sleep, but decided against it. With the meeting out of the way I will run this evening instead.
Unfortunately, after the run I had to peddle very fast on some work in preparation for a meeting today (Tuesday). Preparing for that damn thing, plus other commitments, kept me very busy right through until late last night, and as a result I had to forego my beloved Tuesday morning run. I nearly got up and did it on 5-hours sleep, but decided against it. With the meeting out of the way I will run this evening instead.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
10 km in 46:45, HRavg 78%
Another sign of returning mojo was that I was lying in bed this morning thinking about how I had to come into work, and should I run first or run to work, or take my stuff to work and run later in the day, or ... and then I just got up and ran. I resolved to limit it to 10 km, having decided I have to be more consistent, but reduce the distance of some of the runs. It went well. I ran 2 km steady to warm up, then upped the pace and stayed at or just over 80% HR for the rest of the run. And I did run exactly 10 km!
Friday, September 01, 2006
Easy 8k for Fri 1st September
Ahh, the first day of autumn!! It is also the anniversary of the Great Tokyo Earthquake (1923!) Here's to another 83 years without the next one (unfortunately it is already 10 years overdue :-(
I ran an easy 8 km in the morning. That's it. Nothing else to say about it. Hmm, except maybe that I did still feel like my legs are recovering, so tomorrow won't be too strenuous either. Very much into consistent-running-while-avoiding-injury mode.
I have to work all weekend. Isn't that nice!
I ran an easy 8 km in the morning. That's it. Nothing else to say about it. Hmm, except maybe that I did still feel like my legs are recovering, so tomorrow won't be too strenuous either. Very much into consistent-running-while-avoiding-injury mode.
I have to work all weekend. Isn't that nice!
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