HAPPY NEW YEAR

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year. Let's make 2015 a great year by moving forward and closer to our goals and dreams. When I said I couldn't get up from a sitting position I didn't mean a chair! I meant from the floor with ass on the ground, knees around the chest and arms out front. Can you all get up without using your arms from that position? I can't to save my life. But that's the goal for next month.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Weak as a Kitten.

Shaking my head, getting up and moving on!

Role Models

MEB Keflezighi is going to be my role model for my Boston Marathon preparation. On top of everything else just look how straight and strong he runs. This is a direct result of his attention to strength, core, and flexibility routines.



I'm going to try to emulate his Long Run protocol as well! Keflezighi likes his long runs long. “If you can get in several runs between 24 and 28 miles, with enough time for recovery, that’s going to make you strong as a nail,” he says. “Combine that with the tempos, the intervals, and you’re ready.” Between January and Boston, Keflezighi says, he did three runs of 24 or 25 miles, and two runs of marathon distance or longer. One of them included 8 pick-ups, of 3 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy. The others were steadier runs, at about a minute per mile slower than marathon race pace, depending on terrain and elevation.

I'm on to it!

Kobe Marathon Report

Kobe Marathon. One week to go!

Full Report (Osaka Riverside 10K)

Fast Finish Long Run

All up the Sunday Long Run was 33K with warm down.

Taking the good with the bad.

Been checking about side-stitches and how they may be caused. Below is taken from an internet article:

 "This was demonstrated in a 2004 study which used 40 athletes with a history of side stitches during exercise. On separate occasions, each subject was given a controlled amount of weakly-flavored water, a sports drink, fruit juice, or no fluids at all. After ingesting the fluid, the subjects completed a treadmill run and reported any abdominal pain. The fruit juice, with its high concentration of sugar, was much more likely to cause a side stitch than any of the other conditions. And the sports drink, which had a medium concentration of sugar, appeared to cause more severe side stitches than no fluids at all (though less so than the fruit juice), though this finding just escaped statistical significance."

At this event they were giving away sports drink in cups and I had four of them before my race and as well I downed an "apple" syrup gel that came in my complementary pack 20 mins before the race. I've never done either of these things before racing before, but I forgot the old rule of never doing something you don't usually do before your races. Stupid I know but I keep forgetting that I'm also subject to the things other humans are subject to. ;)

So frustrating! But I hope, at least, someone can learn from it! I've learn't my lesson,  well until the next time I forget it! ;)

Building to a peak!

HALF WAY THERE

Why I Run (The philosophy of running).

Kobe Marathon training, ticking along.

QUESTIONS

Bob you asked where I was going to stay in Boston. I'll be staying in the suburbs just outside of the city in a house like this.

And Jon you asked about my Sunday run. Here are some details. 28:07k in 2:18:50min @ 4:57km pace. 1,440 calories What I liked about this LR was that I felt strong throughout and stronger at the end than at the beginning.

Kobe Marathon (Life, Death and Running).

Training on schedule, feeling good.

Week 12 Kobe marathon training report.

Back and raring to go!

Aussie Holiday

Kobe's a go!

Grand Funk

Below the link to Grand Funk Railroad's - We're An American Band. Check it out. It helped lift my recent "funk!" (Youtube is being a bitch about letting you embed things recently.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwsgznR_T-g

Osaka No Go!

Thanks for the comments boys. I like the idea of fresh coconut milk Marty. I'll try a few spoons of the 100% oil, I have, a day and see how that goes. And thanks Ewen, I'd like to run Melbourne one day but the timing is a bit off for this year and Kobe is a PB course, I reckon, only a large Bridge or two towards the end but flat otherwise. BTW I think I was the one to tell you your beard was "sexy" but I was drunk at the time. Bob the expectation of looking like a young Brad Pit without a beard faded long ago like the colours of my present one. I'm afraid the reality is closer to this below.

Here Comes The Sun

On Saturday too I went and did a "running form check" I'll let you know about the results when I see the guy next week for a follow up consultation. Also I'll know whether or not I can get into Osaka marathon this coming Thursday.

All Japan Marathon Rankings

13 days on the run.

Chatting briefly about my progress so far now into day 13 of my Lydiard base building phase. Like I wanted to say before I got cut off, I will build the Sunday long run up over the 10 week base building phase, last week I ran a hilly 22K in about an hour forty five and today I did a hilly 25K in 2:03:00. I'll keep adding to that total so that by the end of the 10 week period I'm doing 2:30~ 3hour long runs maxing out at around 36K. Might do a few on a flat loop course but mostly I'll do my long runs on the hilly roads around my home. Nothing like these to build conditioning.

BASE BUILDING & BOSTON

New Plan

Nagano: Pulling the plug!

Apart from what I stated in the video I just haven't been able to get comfortably near marathon pace in my longer runs and I know from experience that if I can't do it in training I won't be able to do it come race day. I think my basic plan for the next six months will be to do one regular long run, over two and a half hours, every week. One speed session and one marathon pace tempo type run. I want to get it so running 3:45 per K is relatively easy and if I can I know I will be able to pull off something special in my next marathon. In the 10K I did today I did about 4:15 per K and it seemed fast and uncomfortable to me. This is due to some general tiredness and lingering injuries. Perhaps some time off and a couple of weeks of real slow jogging, Phil Maffetone style, will do the trick.


 

New Half Marathon Report

Excuse the lip syncing, something wrong with my Mac book's video recorder or it with youtube, usually record with my iPhone which never gives me trouble.

Nagano Marathon (progress report)

Countdown to Nagano Marathon

WHO SAID THAT LIFE IS A "MARATHON"?!

Took this Japanese commercial off of Mark Watson's blog. I wanted to keep it here as they have pretty much stopped airing it here in Japan and I thought you'd like the sentiments expressed in it as much as I do.

Nagai Park Half (Race Report)

Nagano Marathon ( 7 Weeks to go )

Core Strength

My glute injury is fading fast. I'm back running again and hope to add some longer runs this weekend. I've been doing the below routine 3 times a week for the past 2 weeks and actually doing something everyday to help with my core strength, glute and hamstring flexibility.

Now if I can only keep this up, the hard part, and take this added power into my next race!

I'll update as I go. Hope you're all well.

Breath of life!

Like I talked about in my last video post I've been laid up in bed for 4 days. Today the doctor diagnosed me with a chest infection and asthma. This condition has me coughing like a demented hyena and it's been like trying to breathe with an elephant sitting on my chest (Got to love the African animal metaphors).

This had me thinking about this "TED" talk by David Blaine. In it he talks about his attempt at the world record for holding ones breath (16 minutes 30 something). Amazing feat and for runners something we should take note of.

We of course need to get in shape by doing what we do, that is running yet we should also get our mind and body in shape by learning how to relax, slowdown our heart-rate and train our bodies to take more oxygen out of our blood. We could, I think anyway, turn this added ability into better races from 5K to the marathon.

I have a touch of exercise induced asthma and a family history of bronchitis so learning to get control of my breathing is doubly important. When I do recover from this I'll get back into the training and start practicing with specific exercises to increase the lung capacity and see if it doesn't help my next marathon attempt.

Below is the talk by David Blaine please enjoy. I think he is a little touched but love the guy and what he is about!

 

Consistency the key to being consistent.

Personal Worst

Sorry I forgot to mention the time. It was about 1:32...something. Now let's not speak of this again. ;) Thanks too to Rick for the offer of form analysis. While I don't think that is my problem I just might take him up on it if I keep getting these recurring injuries.

Osaka Half Marathon

First race of 2014

Had a race today but it ended up more of a good workout than a race. I wasn't able to do what I wanted in terms of time. I got 37.53 and was looking for something in the 35s. Glute minimus/mediu pain and/or tight hamstrings prevented a better time but it's not the end of the world I have basically just got back after the Kobe marathon. December's been a month of fits and starts.

I should be able to run a better race in the Osaka Half Marathon at the end of this month. I've got to keep remembering that my goal race, The Nagano Marathon in April, is the one I'm aiming to do better in and to treat the other "races" more like training runs or at least not get too upset when I run them as such. As you all know, when racing we forget important things like that and always want to do better than we are capable of. Remember too that you have no idea about what your competitors have been doing in training, whether they are peaking or just calling it in for the day, so don't be so proud when beating someone and don't be upset when someone you think you could beat beats you.

Everyone's been past by an unfit looking old dude with really bad running form or past someone young and fit looking that seemed to not touch the ground. The best we can do is try to understand why our race was a good one or not. And as for mine...

I Just checked my splits for that 10K and they tell a sorry story 3:34, 3:36, 3:39, 3:43, 3:44, 3:47, 3:53, 3:51, 3:55, 3:55. To be honest I didn't think I was going that slow at the end, that is a sure sign that you're not racing fit. Those last five 1K splits are around my slow marathon pace! So it seems like I also lack racing fitness on top of everything else. 

I can't over eat and drink during the new year/ Xmas period and expect to get away with it anymore. I can go faster, much faster but I have to remember my age, remember I don't bounce back so well after bingeing. I've also got to simply put in the time on my feet or suffer slower times in racing.

All the best for your training and running this year!

Below are a couple of photos and videos from today.

Note the young lad next to Vince, 2103, is one of my students at University. He did 34.03, shy of his PB by a minute. Good runners everywhere here!

Shoes

Mark these are the shoes I do most of my training in. And all of my marathons.

HAPPY NEW YEAR