Japan Third - After Kenya and Ethiopia

Here in Japan where almost everyone is lean, there must be something to the food which we can eat without limit and not gain an ounce. The Japanese cuisine and food culture is very rich and is based on centuries of experience. General meals are very diverse and contain a variety of minerals, vitamins and healthy calories. If we fry things it is just for a short wile and often vegetables and fish. The raw fish we eat as Sushi and Sashimi provide a perfect source of low fat protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Sometimes fish are served with soft bones which produce a source of calcium.

I came across a list of yearly rankings of marathons which shows the fastest time run in that year with the runner’s name, country, date and location. When you click on the year you can find a list of the 200 fastest marathon runs in that year. Obviously the list is topped by the Kenyans and Ethiopians but as a good third there are many Japanese runners with great elite level finish times.

I think that the slim bodies of Japanese runners combined with the samurai spirit make a fierce marathon competitor from which I hope to learn many things in the future.

My Profile

As nobody knows who and where I am, it might be time to shine some light on that subject. I’m Dutch, yeah that’s right, Dutch courage, Dutch wife, Dutch oven, etc., I’ve heard it all before and it’s very funny. However, I’ve been living in Japan since 2001 and enjoying the food the people and the culture very much. After former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi left office , I’ve seen a bunch of prime-ministers come and pass and have become increasingly discontent with the Japanese leadership and have lost all interest in the current political agenda. In daily life we can see that the current youth has no sense of direction and has little willingness to improve the situation. But that isn’t really relevant talk on this “RUNNING BLOG” of mine, sorry.

I started running in 2008 after my asthma which I had from birth was cured with ten small pills of homeopathic medicine. My joy was great and naturally became interested in doing sports which I had never been able to do before. I was talked into running by a fellow colleague who had been running for some time. For the first time in my life physical activity didn’t hurt and I actually enjoyed it.

I started running 2 or 3 times a week and saw my stamina build up every week. Then I was encouraged to sign up for a marathon race here in Japan in my own prefecture (Ibaraki, which is about 100K north of Tokyo). From the time I began running to the day of the Kasumigaura marathon was about 7 months. Since the first few moths I didn’t have any kind of base, my training schedule was a little tight. I was able to survive the marathon just under 6 hours.

Now I’m working on building a solid base after injuring myself a couple of times… First I was blessed with a runners knee for which my physician prescribed me with TWO MONTHS of rest and rehabilitative exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee to give the joints more stability. Everything worked out very fine and I haven’t had any worries since. Another four months into seriously building up my base mileage again I bumped my toes against the door because I was in a hurry to get out and back before the typhoon come into town. My toes were seriously bruised and altogether I was on the sofa with my legs up for another month.

I’m very (overly) motivated to run more marathons and if I can avoid any major injuries I hope to run a 4:00 hour race and eventually a sub 3:30 marathon race. Currently I’m training at a 5:30 Kilometer (8:30 Mile) pace, which would finish me sub 4:00 hours.

Wish me luck!!

Re-thinking my Long runs

In preparation of my mid-April marathon I've been obsessed by regaining my running base which was around 40K a week with 10K and 12K long runs. So after taking the whole month of December off for a silly toe injury, I hoped to just jump back to the point where I left off at week 2 of my intermediate training schedule. However, the 12K long run on Sunday put too much stress on my calves. Aerobically there was no problem and there seemed to be enough stamina to do proper cool-down and take the dog out for a 40min walk later in the day. Taking Mondays off wasn't enough and Tuesdays I ran in pain. I continued repeating week 6 during the month of January and in February I got nervous about my long runs. So I decided to lower mid-week averages and take that as recovery and prepare for increased long runs. I thought that if I could get my long runs to around 30K by the end of March I'd be ready for enduring 42.195 on race day.

Ignoring the 10% rule which is to prevent injury I ran 15K on valentines-day... it still hurts my right calf after one week. I posted my philosophy on the running times forum and got great advice from many kind people. As most, if not all, wrote that it would be better to build a base and forget about marathon racing in April, it gave me courage to give up my strive for running through pain in order to get race-ready. I knew it was difficult, and almost impossible to get physically ready by race-day in April, mentally I was (am) feeling very strong and ready to run the full marathon at any time.

Thanks to all you kind people out there, I have received your kind advise and will turn training back one nudge and contact the April marathon race committee to change my full marathon to a half marathon.

Last 10 days of running:

3-Feb	4.3K	25:30
5-Feb	5.0K	27:30
6-Feb	5.0K	25:00
7-Feb	12.8K	1:14:00
9-Feb	4.0K	21:40
10-Feb	6.0K	32:10
13-Feb	5.4K	28:40
14-Feb	15.0K	1:26:30
16-Feb	5.0K	29:00
17-Feb	8.0K	44:00

Getting back in shape

After a troublesome winter I'm finally trying to get a steady weekly increase which doesn't injure my calf again. I started taking protein supplement after every run and before going to bed on a long run day. The protein helps a lot to repair damaged muscle tissue and ligaments. After long runs and hard runs I either put an ice pack on my knees and calves or while taking a shower I cool my lower legs with running water which is very cold this winter.
Hopefully I can pull out a 10 miler this afternoon. It's been a good four months since I injured my foot and then my calves which forced me to pause my marathon preparation training.
I am getting nervous already for my marathon race in April. I really want to get under 4 hours. My current runs are mostly around 5.30 per kilometer so if i can keep that pace throughout the race I'll be save...

How Embarrasing

Just yesterday I wrote how good my legs felt and that I'm burning rubber. Last night coming home around 7pm. it was late and cold but I wanted to do an easy run. I thought a short warm-up and little stretching would be sufficient but after 2K my calf started to ache. I tried to run to the 3K turning point but at 2.5K I turned back home with an easy jog. I jumped into the shower to run cold winter water over my lower leg. It felt good (physically) but mentally very disappointing to have to refrain from running for a couple of days again.

Back on the Road

I feel it is finally save to say that I am again good to go for a full marathon training schedule including the long runs and speed training workouts. Last November I raced a 10K in preparation for my marathon this year April. But maybe I got too carried away with my training and over-trained. This resulted in Injury. The worst thing of all was that I lost the appetite to continue training, and couldn't find the courage to face the cold winter weather. At the end of December, after being away from running for more than a month, I started going out again and ran rounds of 4 to 6K only.

January feels much better, I'm feeling strong and run four times a week. Last Tuesday's tempo run felt great with almost zero muscle ache. I pushed myself to run 8K in 40 minutes flat, at a beautiful 5 minute per kilometer pace.

Running Form

"Correct running form to improve running mechanics, increase running economy. Correct running form reduces injuries and is not only for competitive athletes but also for recreational runners."

Practice has been going well. My weekly total is around 45K and this week I'll reduce that to half in preparation for Sunday's 10K race. Looking for some ways to improve my running I had previously mentioned that I started my routine with a Dynamic Warm-up. Last week I had some free time on my hand and used it to do some more research on improving my form. I found that many running/ marathon coaches and experienced runners had a very similar advice on running form. To improve running form one has to pay attention to one's stride length. According to many articles, top runners averaged between 90 and 100 full strides per minute. A full stride being that one foot pushes off and lands again. Combine this with a well-balanced upper body so that the center of gravity is directly under the body. When the center of gravity is under the body then feet also land under the body which will remove the breaking action of a foot landing in front of the body. Shorter ground time in long distance running increases the air-time and thus a continuous forward motion.
 I have tried shortening my stride length and increasing the amount of strides last week with good results. Running feels easier and with less effort. My time for long runs has improved a little and tiredness is less than before. One thing with short strides is that the ankles need to be flexed quicker to prepare for the next step. Keeping my toes up almost continuously has given some strain on my lower leg so my calves and shins feel a little sore. This new step will take about a month to get used to according to running experts. This form of running is often referred to as the Kenyan running form and has proven to improve speed and economic running.

Dynamic stretching

I used to do a 5-minute easy jog and a static warm-up before running. But somehow old injuries (and new ones) kept surfacing. As my weekly average is rising and long-runs are becoming longer I felt the need to look into the warm-up routine a little deeper. I researched the net and came across "dynamic stretching routines" with all kinds of positive effects and feedback by users. It appealed to me so went to construct my own dynamic warm-up routine by putting together elements from various sites and users. Have a look at this...
 

1. Easy Jog	5 to 10 min.
2. Toe Walks	Walk 2 x 10 metres on your tiptoes with toes pointing straight ahead.
3. Heel Walks	Same as Toe walk, but as high on your heels, as possible.
4. Lunge walks	2 x 20 metres then 2 x 20m sideways lunge walk
5. Skip	Relaxed, swing the arms as you skip, and don't hurry. 20 metres forward, 20 metres backward, then do both again.
6. Relaxed sideways shuffle	Legs don't cross - to left 30 metres then to right 30 metres.
7. Carioca Runs	2 X 30 meters sideways runs to the right 2 x 30m sideways run (carioca) to left
8. Fast skips and straight legs	2 X fast skip 10 meters.  10meters 2 X butt kicks
9. Ankle bounces	20 with push all coming from ankles. Do not go for height, keep relaxed, pull your toes up as you bounce (no pointing toes to ground).
10. Arm drives & accelerations	(concentrate on running form & a good ballance of core stiffness & relaxation). Few vigorous arm drives then:- (Sprint race) 3 x bounds into s/o into sprint (total of 50 metres composed of 3 or 4 bounds then 20 metres s/o then 20 meters 20 metres full speed. Walk back slowly and repeat. Practise Starts - a few, if you can fit them in. (Distance race) 4 x 40m metres s/o into 20 metres fast (60 metres total) all the time concentrating on running form and relaxation.

I have applied this routine for little over a month now and am very satisfied with it. Especially the "butt-kicks" really help to warm-up and lube my knees.

I vary the length and amount according to the distance of my run. Also I try do do a proper dynamic warm-up routine before a long run, a high-paced run, and after recovery days. When warming up for a race, consider that on cold days the full effects and benefits of a dynamic warm-up can be lost in a few minutes when waiting in bare clothing.

Silly me

Silly me, I've bumped my left foot against a doorpost at home. It was just before I was going out for an easy run. I ignored it and started with my warm-up routine as usual. A few minutes into running I had to stop because of the pain. Inspecting my toe after limping back home it had already turned blue and black. For a bit I was worried that it was broken, so i went to see a doctor two days later but it turned out to be a bad bruise and he gave me some tape to reduce the swelling. Five days after the incident I was out and running again. Still a little colored but the pain was almost gone. I realized that this intensive running program made me more tired than usual thus lowered my awareness. I have to take more time to do things so not to injure myself again... I thought.

Yesterday morning however, being in a hurry to leave for work in the morning I kicked the leg of the new home-trainer which I had bought the week before. I cursed myself for being so stupid to hurt myself again. I quickly checked my toes and determined that it was the same toe. Having no time for icing I put the leftover tape on my toe and left for work. Coming home in the afternoon I took off my socks to inspect my toes to find out that it was another toe which had turned black-purple. Stubborn me, I got ready for a sic kilometer run and was actually very fast. Although it was very painful I managed to run 5 minutes flat for 6KM. But upon arriving home I was unable to walk... Today I'll do a long workout on my home-trainer to speed-up recovery time and keep stamina.

Keeping up with the plan

Last week I started with Hal Higdon's 8-week training program. The first week was about 30KM with one tempo run, one long run, one cross-training day and one day off. So far no serious pain. Feeling tired but that will hopefully wear-off after I get used to this training program. I realize and feel that my body needs healthy food and rest to keep up and keep going. I have brown rice, vegetables and some fruit during the week. Maybe I need some more fruit, but this year it is so expensive.
Also, last week I have purchased a Home-Trainer Bike to use for cross-training. It really uses other muscles than when running but it delivers a good sweat on the forehead. And in winter when the weather gets too crazy to go out it will be useful to maintain stamina. I haven't used a bicycle here in Japan for some years now, so it was rather painful to peddle for just 20 minutes. My cross-training program says I should peddle for about an hour but then I'll turn into a triathlon athlete instead, so I'll try to go for 4o minutes next time.