Me & Eric

I have taken things very easily since Arakawa. I recovered very quickly actually and could have run Wednesday, but didn't do anything until an easy 5k on Thursday night. The next run I had was yesterday morning (Saturday). And what a run it was!

My friend Gareth gets massages at Route Vigor, which also boasts as one of its regular customers the Kenyan three-time Olympian (bronze at Atlanta, silver at Sydney & 7th at Athens), Eric Wainaina*. Yesterday they organised a low-key run for a few customers with Eric around the Imperial Palace. Gareth was helping me to pick up a replacement beer fridge yesterday morning, so although I was a non-customer, aka a ring-in or hanger-on, I also went along to join the run with Eric. (* The linked article is a bit old and out of date -- he now works at a training gym and trains mostly at the Imperial Palace).

The crowd was maybe 15-strong with runners of levels ranging from kids to semi-serious social joggers, and then three of us from Namban Rengo. We chatted with Eric a little before the run and found him to be very friendly and personable. When we got underway we found ourselves running along with Eric and chatted continuously as we moved at a very easy pace. A lot of it was small talk and about life and work and living in Japan and so on (he has been here since he was 18 and is now 34). But I also asked him a couple of questions that I am sure will interest some of my readers:
Me: Do you train with a heart rate monitor?
EW: Yes.
Me: Do you ever race with a heart rate monitor?
EW: Yes.
Me: (Surprised) Oh, really, what percent of maximum do you run the first half of a marathon?
EW: 61%
Me: (jaw dragging along the road) 61%?!
EW: Yes.
Gareth: And then you race?
EW: Yes.

Well, I found that staggering, and I am still not 100% certain that he didn't misunderstand my question, but I think it would be hard to mistake it for, "What heart rate do you do your recovery runs at?" Anyway, if true, it made me realise just how supremely conditioned these elite marathoners are, and how much slower I would need to run to be able to run the marathon at a comparative level of effort. (By the way, Eric runs twice a day for a total of about 30 km/day).

After the first lap and waiting for all the Route Vigor runners to come in and be congratulated, Gareth and I had to run back to the top of the course to where the car was parked. Eric was keen for another lap, so joined by another Nambanner, Philippe, who had stumbled upon us, we ran the long way around to accompany Eric to our hop off point. Eric was effortlessly gradually dragging us along at a progressively faster pace. Gareth dropped off the back and I was working pretty hard with my heart rate was up well over 80% of maximum and soon at 161 (87%). Philippe was hanging in there as well, but also doing it hard. I guess we were getting up towards 4:00/km and I was able to gasp out, "So Eric, does this pace still feel like jogging for you?"
"Oh yes." He nonchalently replied. When I train it is more like this, and he shot off like a startled rabbit, yet his form didn't change at all. Just beautiful to watch.

When we stopped to bid farewell, I took consolation from the fact that he had a small bead of perspiration on his temple. I guess the heavy tracksuit he was wearing and mild weather might have contributed to that.

Eric is currently aiming for selection in Kenya's marathon team for the World Championships in Osaka later this year. He had a great performance at Honolulu in December, but has had to miss the upcoming Nagano Marathon due to a niggling knee injury. That would have been his target qualifying race, so now his fate rests with the Kenyan Athletic Federation. And with the depth of running talent coming through, and his age perhaps being against him, selection is far from a certainty. Of course, all of us who met Eric yesterday were so impressed by his generosity and friendliness that we wish him all the very best of luck with selection. I cant wait to see him competing at Osaka and shouting, "Go Eric!!" while turning to whoever is beside me and saying, "That's Eric Wainaina. We train together at the Imperial Palace."