Born To Run

So with a little under a month left before the Tokyo Marathon 2011 the training has been going well. 135km's run in the month of January with a longest single run of 26km's. Next Saturday I hope to put in another long run, this time hoping for 30k's +. I'm now feeling much more confident about being able to finish the marathon. All indications from my training indicate I should be able to break the 5hr mark which is what I would be happy with. More importantly though, I'm enjoying the running and want to continue even after the marathon is done.


A lot of my inspiration has come lately from a book that I have been reading called Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. I really can't recommend it highly enough, even for non-runners. The characters in this book are all true but slightly crazy if not barking mad at times. The books a hoot to read and a real page turner. Here's a little overview courtesy of the Author himself:





You can buy the book from Amazon.com here. TIP: I bought the Kindle edition which is cheaper


Right so all that leaves me now is to get out there training in my final push to February 27th. Not long now and I actually find myself looking forward to it.

Somethings Changed

So after my previous post updating on my training status I was complaining that I wasn't able to train because of Asthma and it was too cold and I only managed a 4k run.


See here - Bad Start To The New Year.


Well. How things have changed now. I managed to start putting in consistent and good 8k runs. Then, last Saturday, I got up early in the hope of being able to go for a long run on my local streets and managed to knock out a half marathon in 2hrs 7mins. The thing is, I felt great for the whole run too and even when I stopped I felt I could run more, but I'd run out of time and had other things to do that day. I was really pleased with my run and not only that, but my time too. I set off intending to run slowly but for a long duration (1.5 to 2hrs) and once I was out running and warmed up, I just didn't want to stop and I didn't care about the pace and as it turns out the pace wasn't too bad at all, in fact, just the pace I need to maintain to do the marathon in around the 5hr mark.


Sunday was a rest day but I was also pleased here too as I didn't feel stiff nor did I ache. Monday I followed up with my usual 8k run but get this. Not only did I feel great running it, even in the 3 - 4c temp with a bitter wind, but my pace was naturally quick (for me) and it didn't feel like I was trying whilst I was literally flying round my 8k loop. I felt really light on my feet and just kept a consistent pace knocking off 8.25k in well under 48 minutes. Almost 4 minutes off my previous best time for that course!


Tuesday I couldn't stop myself and went out for a run after work and ended up doing 1.5 times my usual 8k loop, again I just didn't want to stop and felt like 8k wasn't long enough. I eventually knocked off 12k in 1 hour and 15 minutes. Once again, well inside the pace I'm looking for and it didn't feel like I was trying.


Yesterday I forced myself to take a rest day and all day at work I felt sad or depressed that I wouldn't be heading out for a run that night. Very odd, never felt sad about not heading out for a run before. This evening I was late home from the office and once again it was cold and windy outside and I really wasn't sure I was going to go out for a run. But within 5 minutes of being home I'd donned the running kit and was tightening the laces to my running shoes and went out for a 9.2k run in 55 minutes. I'm not even consciously thinking about my pace any more and I'm just running for the fun of it and really enjoying it. By the time I'm warmed up and 5k into the run, I don't want to stop. It always used to be that by 5k's I was counting off the meters before I could finish. I'm now actively thinking of ways to extend the run.


I also keep forgetting to use my inhaler and whilst I'm not totally sure it won't come back sometime, I haven't had a repeat of the Asthma episode at the start of the year. I've also stopped running with music. It doesn't bother me anymore when I forget to carry the iPod. I no longer need the music for the motivation.


So what is going on here? Something has most definitely changed. I'm not sure what it is but I hope it doesn't change back. Well, not until I've run the marathon that is ;-)

New Nike+ Sports-watch Coming

So Nike have just announced they are releasing a new Sports Watch. It looks like it will be a good candidate to replace my Nike+ Sport Band. Nike have teamed up with Tom Tom to develop this watch which combines all the features of the Sport Band plus Tom Tom GPS for more accurate run data. Of course all your runs can be uploaded to the Nike+ web community meaning you keep on target with your goals, challenges and run targets. This watch really appeals to me as recently I have been looking at Garmin GPS running watches but with these I wouldn't be able to upload my runs to the Nike+ web community. The Nike+ web community acts as a really good motivator to get you out running as all your friends can see exactly what you have, or in my case, what I haven't, been up to, something I was keen not to lose as I need all the motivation I can get. I only hope that it will be available in Japan as I know Tom Tom doesn't currently offer any products in Japan so it may be that they won't release it here. Fingers crossed they do. It is due out for release on April 1st and you can find more details and pre-order through the Nike store here.

A quick update on my running progress this week. I've been out for 8k+ runs Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week and decided to have a rest day today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday) due to the company party I mentioned in my previous blog post. Still hoping to get out on a 15 to 20k run on Saturday morning though. 


Cheers for now.

Bad Start To The Year

So after returning from 2 weeks of drinking my fill and eating more than my fair share over in the UK during the festive period I thought I would get out last Thursday (6th Jan) and stretch the ol' legs with a "short" 8k run. However, things didn't quite go to plan. With an ambient temperature of 2 or 3c and a bitterly cold wind it was within less than 1k that the onset of Asthma started and by 2k I was reduced to a whinging, whining wind bag sounding more like a deflating set of bag pipes than the true honed athlete I am. (OK so that bit about me being a true honed athlete maybe not quite true!) Not having my inhaler with me, I was forced to cut the run short and finish off with just a 4k run. Not the start to the New Year I wanted, nor the training regime I need to adhere to in order to prepare for the Tokyo Marathon. Note to self; run with inhaler in future.


Not all is lost however as this afternoon I managed to get out for another run. Again the temperature was around 2 or 3c and the same bitterly cold wind was blowing right through me. However, this time before setting off I had a quick "scrynse, blast, suck?" on the inhaler and this seemed to set my straight. 8k knocked off with relative ease and I felt really good the whole way round. Maybe all is not lost just yet.


So the plan this week is to run my standard 8k course Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to build up the muscle pre xmas and New Years festivities and then Saturday head out for a longer run of approx. 15 or 20k. Next weeks schedule will have to be something similar but perhaps stepping the weekend run up to something over 20k and maybe a mid week run of somewhere between 10 and 15k. There is one small spanner in the works. This Friday is my companies annual party (shinnenkai / 新年会 in Japanese). As hard as it is going to be I'm going to have to lay off the booze if I'm going to get up early on Saturday morning and get the long run in.


Oh, did someone say there is only 48 days left to the Marathon?