BACK

Came home tonight. Finished what I could do there and thanks to my sister taking over the rest I was able to come home early to be with my family here. It's when you lose someone that you realize how much others mean to you so I'll not be taking my family and friends (real and virtual) for granted anytime soon.

I've let the running go a bit as you'd expect but was able to get a one run in at Yeppoon, Where's "Yeppoon" you ask? It's in FNQ not far from Rockhampton, not "near your knife and fork" like some wags would have you believe.

I got another run in the day before yesterday along "The Strand" in Townsville. Talked to some young fit guys there that I thought were "Townsville Road Runners" but were in fact, rescue helicopter crews in training for their fitness tests.

And this morning I ran from Kirra Beach on the Gold Coast to Snapper Beach and back in the warm morning sun. Boy has that place changed! I was lost in nostalgia sitting on the headland staring out at the waves until I turned around to be assaulted by white buildings and shinny glass. "Whatever may come, whatever may go" those waves are coming. Thankfully somethings will always be the same. I take a lot of comfort in that.



I'm really keen to get back into it and catch up with what you're all up to so let's do that.

The song is one that's been in my head and I upload it here for no other reason than that, and I like it.

Leslie John Brown

My Father died this morning. Without him I'd have nothing I love today. I'll forever be grateful.

I'm going to go back to Australia tomorrow to help arrange things.

Talk soon.

HALF FAST

Yesterday ran the Kishukuchikumano half marathon, the first time for me, in the lovely resort town of Shirahama by the sea in Wakaiyama Prefecture. It was perhaps the best course I've ever run, mostly flat, over bridges through tunnels, scenic and to top it off we had perfect weather, 10 degrees, you couldn't buy a cloud. I ran well, felt strong and relaxed, clocking my 2nd fastest half marathon time at 1:19:16 I fully intend to go back next year, trained up, for another great weekend and a PB.

Had a great weekend staying overnight at a hotspring resort with the family and in-laws. Definitely eating too much at dinner and breakfast but what are you going to do ;)

I've uploaded a few photos from the trip. You can see that I'm being interviewed, with my kids, in the third shot. I came 2nd in my age group. The guy who came 1st didn't show up for the presentation so they were forced to talk to me ;)

Anyway, I wanted to ask my small band of loyal readers, yes that is you, even if you don't read so much and aren't so loyal, if you could spread the word about my running in Japan venture. Also if you have any ideas, that don't cost money, on promoting this I'd like to hear them.

Thanks.

And congratulations to Mr. Hosaka and Mr. Hunt for their runs at Beppu yesterday. Fantastic news for both countries and me too having a foot in both camps. That is I'm old and an Aussie ;)

COME TO JAPAN. RUN A RACE

I'm happy to announce the start of a project that's been in the works now for a couple of years. Together with the wife we are starting a small venture to bring interested people to Japan to run in a race and enjoy all that goes with it.

We are not doing this for profit but we simply want to be able to show people why we choose to live here and just how good a trip to Japan can be. If you still have the image of Japan as an expensive, incomprehensible travel destination we'd like to show you different. Our initial packages are affordable and interesting.

We'd love to be able to show you around so think about coming and tell your friends. We think these will be a success and hope to add more races in the future. Success in this venture as in life will mean meeting and running with as many happy people as we can before we can't anymore ;)

Check out the website

http://samurairunning.com

And whether or not you're interested I'd appreciate your feedback on the site and related issues.

Thanks

Scott Brown

CAPTION CONTEST

Caption contest

I thought I'd open these photos up to you wits to add a caption or two to the following post race photos. EG photo 1 "No, I'm not crying like a girls Ewen just getting the sweat out of my eyes." Anyway I'm sure you can do better than that. There will be a small prize for the the one judged, by me, as the best ;)

"It's not about.... pleasures."

I don't know what happened today, struggled throughout. What was that about? I suppose I was just not on it today.

Bloody miserable conditions cold and drizzling and even though the course was fast and flat I couldn't do better than I did. My hamstrings were hurting especially the left one maybe that was one of the problems.

With 2K to go I thought I might be able to get under my PB but couldn't convince the pins to go any faster. I came home in 35:42,(1st 5K 17'28 2nd 18'13) four seconds shy of my PB and 9th in my age group. After finding out I'd missed my PB and just missed out on a trophy, they gave one each to the first eight in my age group, I let out a few quiet expletives like ones in the following clip.

Anyway, after that I felt fine so don't worry about me I know I can and how to do much better in the future. Thanks for all your last comments. And Rick breathe easy old fella ;) And Ewen I think I was 2nd "woman" in my age group today!

TOMORROWS RACE

Got a 10K race tomorrow. I could discuss it at length but "I'll let my race do the talking!" No, actually I will talk about it I just always wanted to use that lame line ;)

My foot is getting better now only sore if I press on it directly, so I wont press it ;) It shouldn't hamper a PB attempt. There may be a problem with the weather, rain is predicted, but if it's not too heavy it shouldn't be a big problem either.

I'll be running in the 32 to 50 years age group, I don't know why they made such a group, so I don't expect to get on the podium but on the bright side the younger fellas just might help to pull me along to a PB :)

Anyway, I'll do my best and it will be good practice running at speed getting my legs use to it. The plan for the next six months is to do regular 5KTT at sub 2:30 marathon pace and hopefully get to the stage where they are coming with relative ease. By the time of the Townsville marathon I hope to be ready to even give David Crinti a run for the win, or anyone else, who shows.

Still,
"The best laid schemes of mice and men.." It could well turn out nasty and end up like the comic below but I'll give it a go ;)

HALF MARA PB

1:18:50

I'm happy with today's result as I went into this race a little lame, foot injury,(went to clinic yesterday and Doc said I had an overuse injury to one of the tendons running down the side/bottom of my left foot). I can run on it, have been for the last 3 weeks but it's sore, so I was happy to be able to pull out a PB and get a trophy just scraping into 6th in my age group.

Now it's time to get serious with my training otherwise I fear there won't be many more PBs. But for now I'll get back to killing myself with beer and fatty food ;)

Above, some photos from today.

I hope you're all well.

POCKY

Just wanted to share with you my favorite commercial at the momment as it's fun and I like the girl, Shiori Kutsuna, dancing in it. It also pretty much expresses the mood I'm in now. Pumped and looking forward to the year/races ahead.

Hope you're all well.

BUS LOAD OF FAITH

Happy New Year!

I trust everyone is fine, how are you Aussies handling the heat? I'm sure it's preferable than the cold those in Europe and America are facing at the moment. It started as a fairly warm winter here but getting colder day by day. I always battle with colds this time of year and looking at my running logs of the past few years I noticed that I had caught a cold in the previous two years in early January. My heart rates been up all week and I feel like I'm battling some type of lurgy, still I haven't succumb to anything yet, fingers crossed.

Talking about hopes, you may of noticed, or not, that I've put my new running goal up under my blogs photo and set it as wanting to run a sub 2:30:00 marathon. Yes, it is ambitious I know but as the saying goes:

“Big results require big ambitions.”

I don't know if I can do it this year or the next but it's going to remain the goal. It may very well be out of my reach and seem a bit unrealistic but, I believe, no more unrealistic than me after my first marathon at 4:10 thinking I could go sub3. I couldn't even run 5K at a sub 3 marathon pace when I decided on that goal so taking 15 minutes off my present marathon time can't be that hard ;)

While I'm basically a realist in the way I approach life I think that realism will only take you so far in this sport and it's going to take something more to get me this new goal. This "something more", is a real plan backed up with the view that it is not only possible but inevitable.

I got this tube video by following a link on "Effin J's" blog. Billy Mills run was truly inspired and inspiring and exactly the kind of thing that wouldn't of happened had he not thought it could.

An infrequently mentioned fact is both Clarke and Mills ran the marathon at the 1964 Olympics after the 10,000 m. Clarke finished in 9th place, Mills finished in 14th, in a respectable 2:22:55.4, approximately two-and-a-half minutes behind Clarke.

Chihiro Tanaka

At the end of the year I'm posting this as a reminder of what can be done, to inspire all of us to do the best we can, this coming year and always.

Chihiro's story holds special meaning for me as last week she was the ladies winner of the Kakogawa Marathon. The one I did my recent PB in.

I spotted her twice on the turn arounds, she was about five minutes ahead of me, and both times she yelled to me to, in English, "Come on let's go!" This meant the world to me and helped motivate me to keep running strong. She really is a champion and if we can, like her, all be so friendly/supportive kind and hardworking then, not to be too melodramatic, the world will be a better place.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

(The following taken from JAPAN RUNNING NEWS)


Chihiro Tanaka
Born: Nov. 13, 1969 in Hyogo, Japan
Marathon PB: 2:29:30 (Nagoya International Women’s Marathon 2002)
Other PBs: 5000m: 16:14.50 10000m: 33:32 Half-marathon: 1:12:00

Other key marathon performances:
2:33:30 (winner, Hokkaido Marathon 1997)
2:34:11 (winner, Hokkaido Marathon 2003)
2:37:03 (Tokyo International Women’s Marathon 2008)
2:38:08 (Nagoya International Women’s Marathon 2009)

Chihiro Tanaka is one of the great originals of Japanese distance running. Her PB of 2:29:30 stands as the best performance ever by an amateur Japanese runner, male or female, and is all the more remarkable in that it was the first and, until this past January, only sub-2:30 by a Japanese mother.

A talented 800 m runner and long-distance relay specialist in her school days, Tanaka bowed to pressure from her parents not to become a professional, instead taking a regular job. Later in life she discovered the marathon and was transformed. Working with her high school era coach, Tanaka went from a 3:19:49 debut at the 1994 Honolulu Marathon to a 2:33:30 victory at the 1997 Hokkaido Marathon. Her win made Tanaka a national name as it was almost unprecedented for an amateur to come out on top of one of Japan’s major marathons.

From 1998 to 2000 Tanaka took time off to have her first child and returned stronger than ever. She finished 2nd in the 2001 Nagano Marathon in 2:32:05, then in 2002 had the run of her life, clocking her best time of 2:29:30 and finishing 4th in Nagoya, one of the most competitive women’s marathons in the world. Far from through, she won Hokkaido again in 2003. Then it was time for her second child.

Three years later Tanaka was back for Phase III of her marathon career. These days she runs six marathons a year, but her quality is undiminished. In November 2008 she ran 2:37:03 to finish 10th in the world class Tokyo International Women’s Marathon. Three weeks later she won the Naha Marathon, and after only two weeks more she won her second-straight Kakogawa Marathon. She put in a strong 2:38:08 at March’s Nagoya International Women’s Marathon to begin her 2009 season and followed with a 2:41:21 8th place finish at the Nagano Marathon on Apr. 19.

The Copenhagen Marathon will be Tanaka’s second time racing in Europe and she is confident of her chances for both a win and for her best time in recent years. As she nears her 40th birthday Tanaka’s running continues to lead the way for women marathoners both in Japan and worldwide.

By the way she won the Copenhagen marathon too.

marathon run down

Notice anything strange about my 5th place medal? It is one of the reasons I still have a job in Japan.

I won’t go into too much detail just a general overview and summing up. We started in a light drizzle, the first 2Ks I worked my way into marathon pace. I didn’t feel so good, the pace felt a little too fast for me, I guess I was just adjusting to the cold. By the 10K mark I was on pace and getting faster with less effort. The next 10K the sun was trying to break out and I was warming to the task ahead.

One thing I was making sure of this time was to take a drink at every station and I think it helped at least to keep the carbs and concentration high. You may have noticed two of my later 5K splits saw me slowing down. The reason for one of these was comical (still not at the time). Passing one of the water stations I noticed a big plate of chocolate. I grabbed a handful and shoved them in. I didn’t realize that eating a mouthful of chocolate at speed with no saliva causes uncontrollable gagging and loss of speed. I spent a good K getting things back on track.

From the 35K I determined to go after my goal and frankly I felt great (Perhaps the chocolate?). I was enjoying this lasts stretch like I haven’t before in a marathon and pass about 20 people spread out from there to the finish. I made sure I gave some encouragement as I passed each person but nobody came with me and I was smiling through to the end. It was interesting there was one guy I spotted about 2k from home and he kept turning back. He seemed to notice I was coming and he was determined not to let me pass him. By the big smile and pat on the back he gave me at the end it seemed that I helped him finish the marathon strong,I just missed passing him on the line. Glad to be of assistance!

The day after, I felt fine. I had a strained right hamstring and a little DOMS but really pulled up well this time so much so that you wouldn’t have notice, by my gait, that I’d even run a marathon. I sort of wish I was limping then I could tell someone that I ran a good race and get a pat on the back ;) Anyway as you know it is mostly only other runners that appreciate what it takes or care so thanks for your previous comments ;)

The plan for the future is to focus on getting my times down in the 10K and half marathons over the next few months and start in May to do some distance again for a marathon in July or August.

The next marathon goal is sub 2:40:00. It might seem a bit ambitious but I reckon I can do it. I’ll have to again withstand to high mileage and I reckon if I’m to do better I’ll have to hit the weights and be stricter with my diet, no more binging on weekends , beer, wine and food, and spending the following week running it off.

For the next week or so I’ll enjoy indulging in the things that go with Christmas and the New Year and give a little back to my family that have been so patient with my absence. Or at least I’m going to try to let them know that it is better with me than without. All the best!

大会結果

第21回加古川マラソン

氏名：スコット ブラウン
ナンバー：2167
種目：第５部フル40～49歳男子

個人記録詳細
出場種目 第５部フル40～49歳男子
距離 42.195 km
タイム（グロス） 2:45:20
タイム（ネット） 2:45:11
種目別順位 5/605
総合順位 9/2172

タイムリスト
計測ポイント スプリット ラップ
Start 00:00:09
Finish 02:45:20 2:45:11

2:45:11 (net)

Had a good race today. Pretty much did what I set out to do and I'm good to go for a week or so rest and then back into it. I'll sum up this race next post and talk a little about plans for the future. Again thanks for keeping up your blogs your support in this way is invaluable.

I wish you and yours all the very best for the coming year.

I'll up load a short video I took, with my ipod, after the race today. This and the race splits tell almost the whole story.

Marathon splits by my watch.

1st 5k 19'27
2nd 5K 19'28
3rd 5K 19'08
4th 5k 19'09
5th 5K 19'02
6th 5K 20'26
7th 5K 20'33
8th 5K 19'34
last 2 and a bit 8'30

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

INSPIRATION

Toyokazu Yoshimura, a local runner I see while training here, pulled out a great run yesterday and has now inspired me to do the same, albeit a little slower.

Here comes another PB, I'm feeling spring loaded and like I could eat bullets!

The following taken from "Japan Running News."

"Yoshimura, the #1-ranked amateur in Japan, hoped to improve on his 5th place finish last year and 3rd place finish in 2007 but was only able to overtake the fading Watanabe for another 3rd. His time of 2:15:05 was, however, a nearly two-minute PB over his 2:16:58 best from March's Biwako Mainichi Marathon, meaning his three marathons this year have been a win and two large PBs. Yoshimura will be racing again in February and then hopes to run for the win overseas this summer in either Grandma's Marathon in the U.S. or the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia, where he was the 2007 winner."

Xmas marathon KAKOGAWA

I’ll run my next full marathon in a week from today, The Kakogawa marathon on Dec 23rd, it is being held next Wednesday a public holiday here.

I’m very excited about this one as I feel I’ve put in a good block of training and finally feel that I’m entering a race where I have given myself a good chance of success. I reckon that I’ve left little to chance this time and I think that if all goes well I will have a result that is pretty close to reflecting my true ability. This “true ability” is nearing my “career goal” a goal I’m loathed to share lest I’d be seen as a braggart ;)

I’m defining success in this race the following ways.
Challenging yet achievable: Sub 2:45
Not too shabby: Sub 2:50
Happy but wondering why I couldn’t go faster: PB Sub 2:56
Anything over 3hrs would be disappointing but unless I spend half of the race convulsing on the road covered in my own vomit and feces I’m not going to be too worried as there is always another marathon, as they say.

While I don’t want to risk the wrath of that God that likes to turn our best plans into a punch line, I think that it is better for me to have some confidence and hope that helps carry me through on top of the base I’ve built.

Here is a list of why I dare to dream this time.
And why I think I’ll, at least, do better than my last marathon.

I’m lighter. 2kgs
I’m fitter. More mileage.
I’m faster! Pbs at lesser distances going in.
I’m as strong or stronger. No injuries going in.
It’ll be cooler! About 12 degrees cooler and low humidity. Expecting 5 degrees.
I’ll be better tapered and peaking. Did preparation to peak for this race.
I’ll have less pressure/ I’ll be more relaxed now that the sub 3 monkey is off my back.
I’ll be better prepared mentally and as Central Governor has been talked to better prepared for the pain to come.
I know the course, it’s just as fast and flat as Townsville (wind may be an issue though).

I’m happy to hear any ideas on what time you think is possible for me based on my preparations, a worst case or best case would be interesting to hear, and don’t be soft on me if you think I’m dreaming and I’m not ready for these kinds of times please tell me. I can take it.

Here are my weekly Ks for the last 12 weeks: 103, 146, 167, 129, 190, 119, 160, 174, 182, 135, 114, 80K: The 80Ks will be my last weeks taper. The 129K and 119 weeks were a little less as I raced those weeks (I believed it was worth it as I could rest up a little and PB these races the same time).

Anyway, what do you reckon?

Just one thing worries me, that is, this nagging feeling that I might be too old for all of this and that I might not have the talent, I know that others, much older, have done such times but I’m still not 100% sure that I can count myself amongst them. It’s a worry but one that I’m happy to say replaces my former worries about life after death and genital warts.