February 2012
14 posts
Tokyo 2012 – how it went
3:10 (my watch)
Well, I had hoped to rejoin the exclusive Sub-3 Club but that will have to wait a little longer. I have managed to avoid toilet troubles since my first marathon (Belfast 2004), but I think a very large bowel of porridge 3 hours before the race may have been my undoing this time. Two pit-stops around 12k and 25k interrupted my pace a little but probably didn’t effect my final...
Lucky Thirteen?
Tomorrow morning at 9:10 I’ll set off on my 13th full marathon.
It will be my 5th Tokyo. I’ve had mixed experiences with this race. 2007 — retired after 10km, knee injury. 2008 — broke 3hrs for the first time, a 2:58. 2009 — ran a slightly disappointing 3:03. 2010 — a 3:04 in brutally cold conditions. Didn’t run it last year.
So what will this year hold? Not sure really...
My greatest social fear
Running Times – Sun 19th February, 2012
11am. 4C, 2m/sec N wind and dry
21.5km – 1:39:20 – 4:38/km
Ran with Namban club mate Harrisson. 5km warm-up, 10km a bit faster than race-pace (4:15/km) 6km cool-down. Decent session, will be the last hard run until race day next Sunday. Hope to get a bit of an energy boost from the taper as that 4:15 pace is still feeling a bit fast. Just two runs this week for a total of 35km.
1 tag
Running Times – Sun 12th February, 2012
13:49pm. 8C, 4m/sec N wind and dry
21.1km – 1:29:31 – 4:15/km
A good effort today. Half marathon distance in sub- 1:30. Including a 2km warm-up. Didn’t feel too hard which is good on an 80km week. Averaged 4:15/k which is Tokyo target pace. 4m/sec headwind on the way out helped me on the way back. Don’t want to jinx myself, but I am feeling pretty confident in the condition of...
1 tag
Running Times – Sat 11th February, 2012
12:28pm. 8C, light wind and dry
16.94km – 1:18:10 – 4:37/km
Better today. Pace felt comfortable all the way. Forgot to grease the undercarriage — inner thighs pretty sore now.
More fun if you weren't so skinny?
From a third-world Ireland of 1967.
1 tag
Running Times – Fri 10th February, 2012
6:44am. 3C, calm and dry
11.35km – 56:48 – 5:00/km
Legs still feeling heavy. No drop in weight despite being off the drink for 10 days. When I finished I saw a smart dressed businessman looking at the sun and praying.
1 tag
Running Times – Wed 8th February, 2012
6:26am. 7C, 5m/sec wind from north
12.05km – 1:03:20 – 5:16/km
Might try and make a habit of bringing my camera out on my training runs. Today felt much harder than I expected. Wind was really quite strong – wouldn’t fancy Tokyo in these conditions.
New, old shinkansen posters
I really like this recent series of posters promoting a new shinkansen to Tohuku. The Japanese headline simply says “We’re going to Tohoku!”. I’m not too sure how to best describe the style, but it could be as a kind of Showa (1926–1989) style constructivism (?). Anyway it makes a nice change from the slick photography normally used. Wouldn’t mind getting my hand on a...