Tokyo Tour By Foot

Time: 81:56
Distance: ~10.5 miles

This day was jammed packed with activity and fun. A small portion of the team ate breakfast buffet style at one of the three eating locations in the hotel. I won't bore you with the details today, but after we all returned to our miniature hotel rooms to sort out our day. We've been staying in business hotels where there is not a whole lot to the individual rooms. However we were only able to relax for a few minutes until we were being beckoned downstairs to the lobby. We then walked over to the Shinjuku train station to start our day of sight seeing. Apparently over 10 million people pass through this station every day too. The Tokyo station map also makes the New York City subway system look like the Charlotte rail system.

Everyone thought that we were heading for the Imperial Palace but we later learned that we weren't. Remember with Yoshi leading the way you never really know or understand where the team is heading. We jumped on one train only to soon realize it was going in the wrong direction. We got off and ultimately navigated our way to the destination of Asakusa which is a Buddhist temple and pagoda. At the time we didn't really know where we were and had to figure it out on our own since it definitely wasn't the Imperial Palace. There was a long row of tourist trap shops that led right up to the grounds of the temple.

Entrance to the grounds.

Sight after the tourist shops and approaching the pagoda.

Don't mess with this guy!

Golden spire.

Buddha and Mr. Ben Stern.

Large koi fish willing to eat anything, not that we tried to feed them.

The new Tokyo tower in construction.

We had our fill of of Buddha after a couple of hours and everyone wanted to get back to the hotel in order to meet Brett Larner of Japan Running News. He runs an absolutely fantastic blog about the Japanese running scene which is relatively unknown in the US. He also manages a couple athletes, does translation for Adidas Japan, plays a traditional Japanese instrument, coaches a group of amateur athletes and I'm sure much more. I have followed his blog for a couple of years now and when the opportunity presented itself to meet up I wanted to make it happen.

Zac Hine navigated subway system beautifully and we were back at the hotel around 12:20 pm. The plan was to meet Brett and go on a running tour of the Imperial Palace. It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon by killing two birds with one stone. Everyone was suited up in their running costumes for the jog over to the Palace. Perhaps the best part of the run was picking Brett's brain about Japanese training methods, the university system, the professional corporate teams, the Japanese running market and the running boom that is currently taking place.

Japanese Training Methods: We were told top runners in Japan run 1000 kilometers a month. Do the math. That's 620 miles a month. Do the math. That's 155 miles a week. The Japanese also often train in Tokyo where most of the surface is concrete. We were also shown where I believe it was Toshihiko Seko ran 80 laps of a 1300 meter loop in the middle of the city on a relatively regular basis. That's 100k right there! Seko is also know for his quote, "The marathon is my only girlfriend, I give her everything I have."

The University System: The Japanese collegiate system is much different than the NCAA in terms of the fall racing season. Essentially there are three big ekiden races which are the Izumo Ekiden (the one we just ran), the National University Ekiden and the Hakone Ekiden. They each get progressively longer in distance and prestige. For example, the Hakone Ekiden is held over two days, averages about 20k per leg, and requires 10 runners from each school. There are some legendary stages that Japanese runners take enormous pride in. In fact, most Japanese runners who are good enough to go run for a professional corporate team after high school, opt to go to college just to run in this race. One element of the race that I really like is that there are time limits and penalties to teams that fall too far behind. For instance, when the 5th leg on day one gets the team sash a clock is started and the remaining schools have a set amount of time to hand off. If they don't do so within that time frame, the runner is released wearing a white sash (aka white sash of shame). Brett said that every year there is a runner within 50 meters of being able to hand off the team sash and isn't able to do so. As a result, the team sash isn't able to continue on and the runner is left in tears for his shortcomings. I should also mention that 50 million people watch the Hakone Ekiden and the streets are lined with alumni, bands and entire towns. There really is nothing in the US that compares to this race. Think maybe the World Series Game 7 and NBA Finals Game 7. Combined.

Professional Corporate Teams: I didn't learn too much about the corporate teams, but every big company in Japan operates a professional team. Athletes are paid well to race and win for their company. Recently Arata Fujiwara, an athlete that Brett manages, decided to part ways with his corporate team in order to pursue the international marathon scene. This year Fujiwara won the Ottawa Marathon in 2:09:33 and will toe the line at the NYC Marathon in November. There is a funny story about him buying a computer if he did well. He ended up with much more than that due to his race winnings (ask me about it). His quote post-race is great too when he told the Ottawa Citizen, "When I drove the course earlier, I saw cafes and pubs and thought it would be nice to go in. Now that I've won, I'll have a few drinks." I'm not positive if the athlete runs for a corporate teams, but the guy who placed fourth in the World Junior XC this year lived a few blocks from the hotel in Tokyo where we stayed.

Japanese Running Market and Boom: Everyone in the states knows Asics and Mizuno. But what people don't know is that marathoning is getting much bigger in Japan for amateur runners like you or me. Races within an hour of Tokyo fill up almost immediately. Brett shared that the new Tokyo Marathon has close to 40,000 participants and that gaining entry is very difficult. More and more citizens are catching the running buzz similar to what took place in the US during the 80s. Also, the Japanese are big time consumers of fashion, technology and new products. We visited a running store and got to see some cool shoes that aren't in the US market.

Brett directed the run and brought us to the loop surrounding the Imperial Palace. It's a 5k loop that surrounds a moat which is the most popular running locale in Tokyo. The team did one loop asking questions about the royal family that is basically kept prisoner inside the palace. We were told that one of the princes is a recreational jogger and once he was allowed to run a loop outside the residence at 4:00 am. Individuals in the media still recognized him and snapped a couple photos.

The run was an out and back loop and we returned past the 1964 Olympic Stadium and got to see the Marathon Gate where Abebe Bikila entered to victory. I'm sure that I'm forgetting some of the other highlights of the run, but I did my best. On the way back we dropped in B&D Sports which is a run specialty store like Charlotte Running Co., Run For Your Life, Fleet Feet. They had tons of shoes, all the new apparel, nutrition, running on the tv and more.

Even in Tokyo I wanted to go visit a running store.

The Izumo Ekiden was on loop in the running store to Frank's chagrin. Our lead off man was really the only one who got air time. That little guy in front is Cosmas Ondiba.

Once back at the hotel I cleaned up and met Brett back downstairs for some more exploring. He, Steve, Sam and I went out to purchase some items at the running store, walk around and grab a couple pints at a small locally owned chain restaurant. I didn't catch the name of the joint, but Brett explained that the owner is a big time amateur runner and he started his own corporate team for "B level" athletes. Think of it as your Brooks-Hansons team for Japanese runners. While seated the waiter came up really apologetic and nervous to tell us that there was a two hour time limit for sitting in the booth.

The next stop was needing to get back to the hotel for dinner in one of the hotel restaurants. I invited Brett to stay since two of our team members were absent and there would be plenty of food and drink for all. Yoshi splurged on us and ordered a bunch of sashimi, tempura, rice dishes and pitchers of beer. The tuna at the dinner had to have been the most tender I've ever enjoyed. It literally melted/dissolved in your mouth. Johnny Photogs, Brett and I had a good conversation down at one end of the table that sort of wrapped up the whole international marathoning scene.

After dinner is when things got really out of hand. I will only post the photo below to document the tamest part of the evening when we were asking Brett where the real trouble could be found. We shotgunned Asahi, I had a versus battle with Frank and other guys got iced. We took the subway to the Roppongi district and tried to avoid the Nigerians where only lead you to shady strip joints. The club that we were looking for had closed down, but we asked a couple Irish guys and they told us where to go. When we got to the bar DJ Ibuki was scratching away on the 1s and 2s. He was surprisingly good and a whole rotation of djs followed his performance. The night ended when the old guys of the team (me, Ben and Steve) cabbed it back to the hotel only to find another Japanese guy completely passed out on the tile outside on of the hotel entrances. Nobody was around, just a guy flat on his face similar to the scene last night.

The team and Yoshi listening to Brett on where to go in the Roppongi district of Japan.

22nd Annual Izumo Ekiden

Time: 84:07
Distance: ~11.5 miles

Shakeout: 9:27 for ~1 mile
W/u: 27:48 for ~3.6 miles
Race: 19:00 for 6.2k (13th fastest overall)
C/d: 9:25 for ~1 mile
C/d II: 18:36 for ~2 miles

**I am posting this but check back later (especially if you use an RSS feed) as I'm going to update the race recap in a bit more detail. We are traveling to Tokyo today and hopefully I will have internet access later this afternoon.

Race day started with a few easy shakeout miles along the bike path with Sam Luff. We saw other teams out doing the same thing. I felt good which is sometimes a bad sign as I tend to run better when I feel terrible on the shakeout and warm up. Back at the hotel I ate a decent breakfast consisting of coffee, toast, eggs, cereal and fruit. It's much more than I normally eat on race day, but I figured I wouldn't get the sash until around 2:00 pm.

Everybody loaded up on the bus around 11:00 am and headed to the Izumo Dome where the race would eventually end. All the guys racing had guides that help us get checked in and on the start line with no troubles. They were along for the ride as well. We dropped off our two alternates (Bobby and Paul), the manager (Ben Stern), Johnny Photogs and Frank Tinney who would be running the lead off leg. The rest of us remained on the bus and we were dropped off one by one at the start of our respective legs.

I hung out in the parking lot of a grocery store for an hour trying to get some rest. I've been getting really tired around noon here because it means that it's close to midnight back home. I was able to doze off just a little bit and stay loose under a tent. The race commenced at 1:05 pm and all of the 4th leg runners huddled around the tv to watch. The pack usually takes it out really hard for the first few kilometers and this year was no different. I missed the opening 1k, but saw the leaders had gone through 2k in under 5:30 which means they were running 2:45/k pace. I had to go warm up at this point, but I later learned that the leaders went through 4k in 11:06 and 5k in under 14:00. Frank didn't have the best leg, in fact it was terrible, but he owned up to it after the race. (Frank finished with a time of 25:52 which was well off the 23:07 run by the first athlete from Waseda University. Our buddy Comas Ondiba, who pushed the pace early, finished 2nd in 23:24).

My warm up consisted of me running really slow along the course. I ran out 15 minutes and came back in around 13. I purposely kept the pace really easy and was feeling good doing so. Last year I had a terrible race on this leg and effectively took us out of the top 10. I wanted to run close to 19:00 and finished in 20:00. This year the goal was to run 19:00 and keep us in the race.

When I got back I found out the Ivy League team was getting worked by nearly every school. Our goal is always a top 10 finish and looking at the race packet we felt that this was a great year to do so. I didn't see any of Michael Maag's leg and the tv coverage cut to the leaders just before Zac got the sash. Turns out that Mike passed 1 runner bringing us to 18th overall, and Zac ran down 3 teams bring us to 15th overall by the time I grabbed the white sash. Mike ran 17:36 for 5.8k (12th fastest) and Zac went 23:55 for 7.9k (11th fastest). The winners of those two legs were Yutaro Fukushi of Nittai who ran 16:45 and Yuki Yagi of Waseda with 23:15.

I was 15 seconds back of Chukyo University when I started my leg. I knew there was a team close behind too. I tried my best to run the guy in front down and I picked a couple of points and counted out the lead. I think the gap closed to around 12 seconds at one section but at the end of the leg we both ran 19:00. I felt the best I had in weeks chasing the runner as my stride was really smooth. It might have been the fact that the wind was at my back, regardless I was pleased with how I finished the stage. I ran 53 seconds before coming to a k mark on the road. My next thousand was covered in about 3 minutes. I knew the halfway mark would be about 10 minutes into the leg and I could calculate the remaining distance from there. I glanced at my watch several times telling myself that the pain was almost over with 5 minutes of running left.

I ended with the 13th fastest time on the leg, but had I run 18:57 I would have been the 10th fastest. It's hard to make up time and push yourself when you're essentially time trialing way back in the field. There were 6 guys who ran between 18:58 and 19:04 so I can take pride in my mediocrity. The winner of my leg was Hiroyuki Sasaki of Waseda in 17:54 which was also a course record. Are you seeing the theme here with Waseda? Of the 6 legs in the ekiden, they would win 4 of them and set an overall course record of 2:10:05 for 44.5 kilometers.

Sam Luff ran the next leg and he didn't lose or gain any places. Sam finished in 19:59 for 6.4k (17th fastest). His leg was won by Wataro Ueno of Komazawa in 18:30. Our anchor was Steve Sundell who has run the final leg two other times. Steve ran respectably but couldn't pass anyone either. This is similar to the first year I came to Japan and we went from 3rd to 12th on the third leg and stayed there the rest of the race. Steve's time was 31:54 for 10.2k (12th overall). His leg was won by Shota Hiraga of Waseda in 30:00. I'll note that last year Daniel Gitau ran a foolish 28:17 for this distance.

I will recap more about the 5k alternate race, post-race banquet and night of karaoke later. I will however offer some insights to Japanese distance runner and marvel at how efficient their strides are. While Kenyans appear really fluid and lanky, the Japanese have no wasted motion in their arms, torsos or legs. All their momentum is going forward which is really something to replicate. Also, they are incredibly light weight. My guess is the average weight on a Japanese team is 120 pounds and it's not because they are all that short. Third would be the choice in footwear and most runners opt to train in flats or a shoe that is really lightweight. The shoes aren't necessarily of the minimalism concept, but they are definitely lighter and less shoe than in the states. The Japanese also really like their Phyten, magnets and other blood flow boosting paraphernalia. It's definitely not doping/cheating, but almost every athlete sports some sort of necklace, bracelet, waist belt or magnetic band-aid looking devices. Finally, the Japanese can go to the well like no other athletes I've ever seen. If the Kenyans "train hard and win easy," the Japanese "race hard and look in agony." Countless athletes collapse at the line completely spent from their race. The face of some of the runners 4k from the finish line look like it's going to be a terrible day yet they manage to hang on a run ridiculously fast splits.

Here is great recap from Japan Running News that is a must read.

Watching Races Online

Last night I went to bed while nodding off to the live feed of the Chicago marathon. I eventually passed out, but awoke to learn that Japanese based Kenyan runner and Olympic champ, Sammy Wanjiru, had won the race over Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia. Also sometime after midnight I got up because, guess what, I couldn't sleep. It was great that Chicago had live coverage of the race and even better that the athlete tracking was top notch. I was able to quickly find out about the results of the race that I cared about:

• Scotty Downard ran a PR of 2:26:52
• Jerry Faulkner looks to have had a fast start, solid half, but rough finish. It would have been great to see things come together for this guy who put in a lot of work during the Oklahoma summer, 2:39:05
• Chad Crockford rolled to a 2:53 finish while his wife, Danielle unfortunately DNF'd
• Fasil Bizuneh had an aggressive start and didn't make it to the finish line
• Sage Canaday formerly of Cornell and now of Hansons just missed the trials qualifier with 2:19:18

Well done to those who ran PRs and good job Chicago for having your marathon together.

This brings us to how to view the Izumo Ekiden online. I will refer to Brett Larner's blog, Japan Running News, on how to do so. It requires a bit of a download, but in the past I've been able to watch some other ekiden races.

Also, while you're visiting Japan Running News, take a look at the two teams that he highlights. Look at their personal bests for 5,000m and 10,000m! Further try to ignore his dig at the Ivy League team which has never placed in the top 10 for several reasons. I can't help but disagree on his argument about having Oregon or Stanford come over to race as that's not the purpose of the trip, type of team that is fielded or time of year that is convenient.

Izumo Ekiden Opening Ceremonies

Time: 33:46
Distance: ~4.8 miles

It was the same routine this morning for breakfast. I was one of the first down to the hotel restaurant and we were all served the same dish of eggs, undercooked bacon, Texas toast, salad, soup, and yogurt. I continued with the heavy coffee drinking too. Also at breakfast we got to chat briefly with the Yamanashi Gakuin University manager. Last year their team placed second overall and they have a tiny Kenya dude named Cosmos Ondiba. It was also last year that Yamanashi gave the Ivy League guys a pair of sunglasses and two stuffed animals that sit atop my bed. Meagan affectionately calls them Franny and Freddy.

Our run was also at the same time where the team went out for an easy jog along the bike path. The pace on the way back picked up considerably, but I think we were all feeling fresh. The goal tomorrow, as with every Izumo Ekiden, is to get top 10. However, the highest the team has ever placed in 12th and we've done it twice.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon included a lot of lounging around. I watched more MTV music videos and checked up on sporting scores. Lunch was a buffet downstairs for several hours. The guys on the team stayed exceptionally long telling boring stories of glory days and it was great. There wasn't anything else planned other than the opening ceremony for the race.

At 4:00 pm we met down in the lobby and were introduced to our guide/interpreter for the race. They follow us around and make sure we don't mess things up on race day by not understanding the language. After we funneled into the building attached to the hotel where a theater holds the team and all the important officials. The old mayor, new mayor, delegates of the Japanese NCAA equivalent, and presidents of both Fuji TV and Fujitsu are there. This race is apparently watched by close to 20 million people in Japan. I'm not sure if something was lost in communication, but that's what Yoshi told us.

The opening ceremony includes a performance which has been drums in the past, but this year it was female dance group. It was a cool but sort of weird routine that incorporated some traditional music, but mostly pop stuff. The rest of the ceremony is speeches, the Japanese national anthem and all the teams parade across the main stage. It gives the Ivy League time to pick out which school has the best uniform in hopes of trading for their kits during the post-race banquet. Our Asics warm ups are not of the highest quality and the whole team was sweating bullets which made for a very uncomfortable final 15 minutes. Upon leaving the ceremony we had free time until dinner which was back down in the hotel lobby.

We kept things relatively simple tonight as most guys ate some sort of beef dish. I had a stew like dish with the most tender meat I've ever tasted along with miso soup and rice. Later a group of us walked in the direction of Jusco which is similar to our Target. We got distracted and went in a Family Mart store for some Pocari Sweat, ice cream and other treats. On the way back to the hotel we dropped in a shoe store called Shoes Love Land which had all sorts of interesting styles. Nobody bought anything, but they would definitely be some interesting conversation starters if you were to get a pair.

Mall Rats in Izumo

Time: 45:49
Distance: ~7 miles

W/u: 21:19 for ~3 miles
W/o: Cruise mile, 800, 2 x 400
C/d: 15:06 for ~2 miles

Last time I left you the team had an interesting meal down in the New WelCity Hotel restaurant. All of us returned to our respective rooms to try and find some sleep. I failed miserably as I woke up at midnight, 2:00 am, 4:00 am and finally decided to get up at 5:30 am. I'm not sure why, but I think this is the worst adjustment to Japan time that I've had to make. I along with Yoshi and John "Johnny Photogs" Deputy were the first three down to breakfast on Saturday morning. The two Americans ate the western style breakfast while Yoshi had a more traditional Japanese spread which included fish, rice, radishes, egg and soup.

The rest of the team joined us downstairs eventually and we got to have a good running conversation. And by running, I mean it was all about running. Johnny Photogs is the official photographer for John Hancock during the Boston Marathon. He also knows the owner of the Boston Red Sox (who just purchased Liverpool) and many other big time sponsors of sporting events. He was here last year taking photos to document the trip and this year he's playing more of a chaperone role since Jack Fultz (former Boston Marathon winner) wasn't able to come due to health complications. Mr. Fultz has been coaching this team for over a decade so I'm sure the race officials will find is peculiar that Ben Stern is filling the void.

After breakfast we returned to our rooms and prepared for our runs. We drove over to the track stadium and ran a few laps around the athletic fields before getting to work with a light workout. It was cool running in a team atmosphere as Frank, Mike, Sam, Zac, Bobby and I all ran a mile together, followed by some 800s or 400s. The goal was to stretch out the legs and feel fast for Monday's race.

Splits:
4:51.20 (90), 2:18.37 (89), 66.56 (92), 65.06 for 13:54 total and 2 miles total.

I felt decent, but not fantastic. That will certainly have to change come Monday if I want to run respectably. It's been decided that I'm running the 4th leg again this year which is 6.2k in distance. Last year I ran 20:00 minutes which is about a minute slower than I wanted and felt absolutely terrible doing it. However, I got deathly ill two days later which is my poor excuse. I presented my case for the second leg which is the shortes (5.8k) but was shot down as Ben really wants the two Princeton Towers to lead off. Right now the line up is going to be Frank (8.0k), Mike (5.8k), Zac (7.9k), me (6.2k), Sam (6.4k), Steve (10.2k).

When we were done training it was time to head back to the hotel for a quick shower and then lunch. We all piled into our bus and drove over to You Me which is a huge mall. It's the first time that I've been in You Me, but I've seen it a couple of times before. We wandered around until we decided to eat at the Food Court. It was very similar to an American food court but all the places served Asian cuisine, minus the McDonald's that some guys chose to eat at. I'll admit that I had a McFlurry. While we were eating a girl from the states came up to us and asked if we were American. Her name was Sarah and she was doing a year abroad, living with a host family and teaching at a high school. She almost never sees English speaking people in Izumo so she took the opportunity to hang out with us. Sarah has only been in Japan two months and doesn't really know the language which means she sometimes goes days without speaking. It sounded a little lonely, but she was fun to chat with for the couple of hours we were at the mall.

The next stop on the day was the Taisha Shrine which is a must see when you come to Izumo. It's one of the oldest, if not the oldest shrines in all of Japan. I've been twice before, but it's always relaxing to visit the sacred grounds. It's also amusing to throw coins into the big ropes hanging in front of some of the buildings. I can't really describe what I mean by this without photos, so you will have to wait until I'm back and on my other computer.

The final important activity of the day was to go on a course preview. The race starts at the gates of the shrine and runs downhill through the city. Each guy took a turn at the front of the bus scoping out the leg he will run come Monday. By this time I was getting sleepy and took a brief nap on the bus. I also fell asleep when we got back to the hotel and missed the first 30 minutes of dinner. Whoops. When I did get down to the restaurant most of the team was eating steak strips that we each got to cook ourselves on a small filled with sauce. I ate quickly so I didn't hold up the team. Yoshi handed out our bib numbers, fumbled through some of the requirements for race day and released us for the rest of the night.

Before sleep most of the team went down to the "onsen" which is more or less a spa. You first have to ceremonially wash off before entering either the mineral water or bubble water. Basically it was a bunch of skinny athletic Americans chilling naked with older Japanese dudes. We were pretty proud of ourselves if you know what I mean. By the time we left I was exhausted and ready for sleep. I made it another few hours watching MTV and more recent Snoop Dogg videos before finally passing out.

Tomorrow is going to be relatively low key with the race's opening ceremony being the highlight.

Sea of Japan

Time: 64:36
Distance: ~8.5 miles

"I slept like a baby, woke up every two hours and cried," that's basically how you could describe my first night of sleep. I may have slept the worst of the entire group, but I bet I accomplished the most work. During the night I watched terrible Japanese television shows, maybe it wasn't terrible, but I couldn't understand and the graphics were at least bad. I will say that while the people of Japan look incredibly fit and healthy, there are no obese people that I've seen at least. I suppose there are sumo wrestlers, but I'm yet to see any of those guys. Besides, aren't they athletes in the same way Albert Hainesworth is an athlete? My point is that a lot of the late night television is similar to ours in the US which is of course... infomercials. Meagan would love it. I saw two adds for fitness machines and both were for core strength, and another for "removing that unwanted hair." Clearly the Japanese want to be us, but do it better.

When I felt like it was a reasonable hour (4:30 am) I got up and made some Starbucks Via and unpacked my clothes. I decided to go down stairs around 6:30 and wait for the first person to arrive at breakfast. It was Yoshi who I have met three times before. I believe he works or volunteers with the Japanese equivalent to the NCAA. I ate the "American breakfast" which consisted of toast, eggs, fruit, salad, and soup. I also drank an obscene amount of coffee.

An hour after breakfast the team convened in the lobby for our run. We ran from the New WelCity Hotel to the Sea of Japan. There is a bike path that runs through the city and makes it very convenient to travel by foot or bike. Everyone touched the sea before heading back. Some guys took an "onsen" (sp?" which is a natural hot bath while I watched the Giants defeat the Braves 1-0. Take that Billy Shue!

Lunch was buffet style so everyone was able to find a little of something that they liked. The big hit of the meal was the ice cream which Ben was convinced had a little butter in it. He might have been right. It was so rich and delicious. Afterward some guys went upstairs to watch a movie, others walked into Izumo and I took a nap. It's raining here so getting out to see the sights has been put on hold.

Posting from Izumo, Japan

I am in the future. It's currently Friday, October 8, 2010 and I am 13 hours ahead of all you folks on the east coast. I'm a time traveler. Want to know my secrets?

My flight left Charlotte at 9:00 am on Wednesday, October 6th destined for Chicago. I made a few last minute phone calls, business emails and met up with Team Ivy League prior to boarding United Flight 881 to Narita Airport in Tokyo. It's a great group of guys which includes: Steve Sundell (Columbia), Zach Hine (Cornell), Ben Stern (Princeton), Robert Hartnett (Columbia), Sam Luff (Cornell), Michael Maag (Princeton), Paul Morris (Columbia), Frank Tinney (Princeton) and myself. The first three listed have all been on the trip before while the others are all new comers.

During the eternal flight from Chicago to Tokyo I read parts of What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell, took naps, listened to podcasts and watched movies. I viewed three of the four movies that played during the flight which were Cyrus, Dinner for Schmucks and The Back Up Plan. The first two had their moments, but the third was utterly awful. J. Lo isn't even hot these days which you combine with her terrible acting and an even worse plot... Ben and I agreed that we were even more bored watching the movie than just sitting watching the map of our airplane slowly cross over the US, Canada, Alaska (basically not the US), water, Russia, more water and then Japan. During the flight I was sure to get up and walk around as much as possible. I spent most of the time at Michael, Frank and Robert's (Bobby) seats because they scored an exit row, granted both Mike and Frank top 6'4" which means they will be two of the tallest guys in all of Japan.

We finally arrived at Narita around 3:00 pm, walked through customs, grabbed our luggage and were greeted by a guide. She told us that we had to wait for two mystery guests who arrived around 5:00 pm. Our team plus the photographer (John Deputy) walked around the airport eating Bagel & Bagel sandwiches. We found an observation deck where we killed 30 minutes watching planes take off and land. Very cool if you were three years old. When it was time we walked back down to meet our guide and the guests. It got to 5:15 pm before the guide came over and asked for Mr. Stern in a cute Japanese accent. Turns out we were waiting for a guy that was on our flight the entire time and arrived with us. It made for a funny, awkward Lost in Translation moment (I'm not a fan of that movie either, but thought I'd sound cool by referencing it). I felt it was a better comparison to the Dos Equis commercials featuring the "most interesting guy in the world." Ben is so important that he waits for himself to arrive late.

All of us had a bus ride across Tokyo to the old Haneda airport where we would be flying to some town that was not Izumo. The flight was about 90 minutes long and we were all exhausted. I did, however prior to the flight, score a cafe misto at a Starbucks that was overpriced but not half bad. Upon landing we hopped a bus that would drive us an hour to our hotel in Izumo.

So it's now a little after midnight, but I'm wide awake. I've showered and can't smell myself anymore. Tomorrow I will update more on the trip and fill in the last few workouts prior to coming to Japan. Keep reading...

CVS 5k Race Recap

Time: 61:13
Distance: 8.46 miles
Race: 15:01, 21st place

W/u: 20:16 for 2.42 miles
C/d: 25:56 for 2.93 miles

The morning activities at Kim's house consisted of drinking coffee, eating toast and watching the horrible feed of the Philadelphia Half Marathon. It was a good attempt to view, but the coverage sucked for the most part. A former runner at Providence College, Richie Yeates, and his girlfriend, Corrinne, also stayed at Kim's last night. The four of us departed for the race about 90 minutes from gun time.

Meagan and I prior to racing in Providence. She didn't even mind that I had just warmed up and was sweaty.

I settled in at the elite athlete's tent and felt a little out of place. Other athletes there included Kyle Alcorn, Molly Huddle, Sara Hall and more. It was fun to catch up with some of the guys from the Ivy League who are looking to qualify for the Izumo Ekiden in the middle of October. About an hour out from the race, Richie and I started our warm up around downtown. We ran into Leo Kormanik who is married to one of Meagan's good friends from Atlanta. My legs were feeling pretty good, but still a little tired from all the travels.

Jeff talking to me about a race plan. Go out hard, eyes up, don't die.

About a half hour from the start, I ran into my coach Jeff Gaudette who was hanging out with Meagan. Before the race I also got to catch up with my old college coach John Gregorek. I did some light stretching, a few long strides and prepared myself for the hurt and burn of the race. The two other times racing here I was through the mile around 4:42-4:45 pace and just off the tail end of the lead packs. My goal today was to be positioned a little closer to the mix and hang on for dear life.

I started the race in the second row behind a couple munyans (a pair of Kenyans who had a particular ill odor). We sprinted down the opening hill and I tried to run as comfortably as possible, never settling for the first 1k. I kept inching my way closer to the main field and was in good contact through the mile in about 4:35. It was quite brisk but I was where I needed to be with people around to chase. I moved up a few slots the next couple of minutes and came up on Richie Yeates just as we turned onto South Main St. I gave him a little slap on the ass and some words of encouragement. The field was stringing out a bit and I tried to keep Andrew Fuller from Rome, GA in my sights.

Through two miles I was running on the right side of the road using the tangents to my advantage. I believe I hit the second mile mark in 9:30-9:35 which means I slowed significantly, but was still feeling decent. I rallied as best I could for the uphill finish and continued to catch runners with about 1k to go. At the bottom of the hill I was a few strides back from a group of three guys. My legs weren't responsive enough and they ran away from me a bit. Also, another Ivy Leaguer, Sam Luff, rolled by me at the three mile mark that we hit in about 14:25. I ran strong to the finish, but felt like I was walking up the hill and I just missed cracking 15:00 minutes by a second (last year I finished in about the same time).

Me trying to minimize the damage just after the 2 mile mark.

JSK, Johnny G and Jeff G catching up post race.

I am pleased with the race and how I handled the quick early pace. Given my travels and lack of any real workout in the last few weeks, this is exactly what I needed. It was fun having people around to chase and a group of runners to work with. I cooled down with a group of guys including Frank Tinney (14:22, 8th), Andy Biladeau (14:06, 5th), Mike Maag (14:42, 12th), Zac Hine (14:43, 13th), MacKlin Chaffee (14:48, 16th), Sam Luff (15:00, 20th) and Richie Yeates (15:34, 31st). We were all in pretty good spirits and had a chance to run through Brown's campus.

MRN and Jeff G posing on the Main Green at Brown.

JSK with Bruno or as the Finns would say Karhu.

Track groupie.

The rest of the morning was spent up on College Hill with Jeff and Meagan. We enjoyed a family breakfast at Louie's Diner, walked around Brown's campus, took in Thayer Street and checked out the bookstore. We eventually made our way back over to Kim's house where football was watched and some work was completed. It was great catching up with Jeff and seeing some of our old stomping grounds.

Later in the evening Molly Huddle, fresh off her 5k American record on the track and title on the roads, came over with two bottles of wine. We waited for Kim to arrive with Roisin McGettigan and Ryan Graddy. It was a great low key evening with three incredibly talented world class runners who make Meagan and I look like chumps. I hope some of their talent rubbed off on the two of us.

Hiroshima & Kyoto

I'm currently in Kyoto this morning and we are about to jump on a bus to see the city. Yesterday, we spent about 3 hours in Hiroshima visiting the Peace Memorial. Powerful stuff. I will provide a more detailed description in a few days or perhaps tonight when we get back to the hotel.

On a side note, I have managed to catch a bit of a cold which I find surprising since the Japanese all wear masks when they have ill symptoms. This is the second cold I've had in less than a month. My immune system is definitely not what it used to be.

Izumo Ekiden First Review

The team finished 13th overall.

I ran terrible. Embarrassingly bad. I covered 6.5k faster two years ago. Not sure why I suck so much. I think I was the 15th fastest for my leg and let 3 guys pass me. I had no response for their silent shuffles when they scurried by.

The dude from Nihon University has really good eyesight. Like really good eyesight. He covered the 10.2k distance in 28:17 and made up a huge deficit in the process. He was seeing with 20/15 vision today.

Nihon won, Yamanashi second, Toyo third.

The opening split was covered in 22:30 for 8.0k which is a new record.

It was hot (22-24 degrees celsius) and a little windy (3.5m/s).

Time to shower and head over to the winery to drown my sorrows.

This Is a Hot & Cool Spot

Time: 29:10
Distance: 4.02 miles
Pace: 7:16
Map

The day started off at 5:30 when my eyes opened and they weren't going to be persuaded to go back to sleep. I was up 90 minutes before breakfast and spent the time browsing the intertubes. Down at breakfast we were treated to more runny eggs and bacon/ham.

The team gathered in the lobby an hour after eating for a course tour. Each of us took turns at the front of the bus trying to visualize, to the best of our ability, what the race was going to be like. We struggled to find some of the kilometer markers but made the most of our time. The lineup for the race will start with Ben True on the downhill 8.0k opener. He will hand off to Dave who will run over two overpasses on a 5.8k segment. Next will be Zac on a shortened 7.9k flat leg. I will run fourth over 6.2k and hand off to Murat who runs 6.4k. Luke will bring it home on a 10.2k final segment.

Once we were through with the course tour it was time to get in some training. We were bussed to the track again where most of the teams were present. It was similar to going to a cross-country meet where true distance running is the focus. However, there was more of a track feeling to it because we were on the oval watching guys do strides and cut shapes. It's hard to explain the scene but imagine a track practice with 15 teams, no sprinters or field events and no females.

A group of us laced up the shoes for a short run followed by some light drills and strides. I'm feeling good and look forward to running hard tomorrow. I plan to run conservatively which will be hard to do as the tendency will be to go out fast. If all goes well I'll be around 3:00 for the first kilometer, 9:00-9:10 at 3k and will be able to negative split on the second half. A final time of 19 minutes would be a decent result.

After our run we drove to a noodle house and had a great lunch of ramen. But, not the kind of ramen you ate as a poor college student. This was delicious served in a big bowl with onions, pork and a light broth. Lunch was brief and then we returned to the hotel for a nap or tv watching. Our next scheduled meeting was at 4:00 pm when we met with our student guides. They are responsible for getting us to the start of our respective legs tomorrow and have the privilege of watching/carrying our gear. The introduction process was terribly awkward which consisted of the standard smiles, nods and bows.

When I was here two years ago the record was set on the opening leg. An athlete ran 22:50 for 8k which is flying. All the buzz last year when Jailhouse, Owen and Ari (former Brown teammates) were on the trip, was about a runner from Nihon University who ran 28:28 on the final leg. That's not 28:28 for 10k. That's 28:28 for 10.2k which is like 27:40s for 10k on the roads. Rolling. Nihon is back this year and they hope to repeat. When our manager returned from the press conference, he reported to us that members of the media wanted to know about his fitness this year. The best quote of the day came from the response of the Nihon coach who said something along the lines of, "[the athlete] runs very fast when there is someone in front of him. He pushes himself when he can see other runners ahead. And, he has very good eyesight."

I'll rush through the opening ceremony where each team is introduced on stage. I was named team captain and got to carry the placard across the stage for all to see. During the introductions Dave and I were sizing up which teams had the best warmups. There is a squad, I think Daiichi Institute of Technology, that has these green and orange unis that resemble the University of Miami. It makes me wonder if they get arrested a lot. Yamanashi Gakuin University has some really classy white tops that are very clean and Toyo University looks good with the blue.

After the ceremony, Yamanashi presented our team with a gift bag contain some stuffed animals and a pair of sunglasses. Jack Fultz knows their team manager because a couple of years back the Ivy team trained near Mount Fuji at their school. It was a very nice gesture and a complete surprise.

Dinner is in a few moments. I'm having the eel with tempura. I'll close this post out with the second best quote of the day taken from the front of Sega World:

Pleasant time is necessary for your lifetime.
This is a hot & cool spot, as you know.
Come on now!!

True words to live by.

Busy Day in Izumo

Time: 22:51
Distance: 3.01 miles
Pace: 7:36
Map

I'm going to be posting my workouts backwards in order to keep the most recent stuff fresh.

This afternoon the Ivy League team had lunch with the new Mayor of Izumo and members of the Japanese collegiate organization (I believe IEAUJ). The lunch was at a French restaurant like it was 2 years ago, but this time the mayor had changed. The previous mayor was a charismatic guy who was able to express his love for the Ivy League and running with broken English. The new mayor chose to speak through a translator which was fine but seems very formal. The lunch was amazing with several courses and lots to drink. Gifts were exchanged along with awkward nods and smiles.

After lunch we all went to the Taisha Shrine that I wrote about the last time I was here. However, this year the largest and oldest part of the shrine is under construction and obstructed from view. That being said, we did get to the Izumo museum that explains why the city is where the "Gods and legends" originated. A few months ago during an excavation some artifacts were found which are now in the museum. It is important for our team to learn a bit about the city that is so graciously hosting us. During the the self-guided tour we received PS2 devices to listen to the explanations of most display cases. I learned some but it was hard to take everything in when the labels are all in Japanese.

Next, we drove to the community athletic area where there are two outdoor tracks, an indoor swimming facility, soccer fields, baseball fields and more. The main outdoor track is one of the top 5 facilities Lucas Meyer has ever seen. I'm not sure what those other 4 would be, but the stadium is pretty cool. Our team went on a short double run and did a few strides on the grass and track.

I was getting pretty tired by the end of our outing and was ready to return to the hotel. At dinner three of us got the "Izumo Gozan" meal which had a little bit of everything. From what I can recall it had sashimi, beef, pickled vegetable, miso soup, crab, rice, salmon on salad, cold pork?, and a few small plates that resembled endangered species. I at least tried everything. More than half was good, a quarter was edible but not my favorite and the remainder only got the first bite.

Sega World

Time: 48:50
Distance: 6.58 miles
Pace: 7:18
Map

Today is our first full day in Japan. It started with a really long breakfast down in the hotel lobby. I didn't sleep great but it was definitely better than two years ago when I found myself wide awake at 2 am. I was one of the first patrons at the hotel restaurant along with John Deputy, Yoshi and Ben True. We ate the "Western" breakfast that consisted of runny eggs, undercooked bacon, toast, salad, corn flakes and yogurt. I'm not complaining about the food, but rather accurately portraying what was on the plate. Definitely not the best breakfast I've ever had, but perhaps better than the alternative of fish and rice that is part of the traditional Japanese breakfast.

I sat down in the restaurant for over two hours drinking coffee and letting my stomach settle while others ate. We decided to go out for our morning run around 10 o'clock. I served as run director because I knew where the bike path was since I was here in '07. We ran along the "river" as Jack, our coach, described it. I think Dave and some of the other were a bit let down because in reality it's no more than a 10 foot wide, 2 inch deep canal. It does open up a bit more and run out to the sea, but not for several miles.

It felt good to shake the legs out in a group of talented guys. I think all of us felt better than we had expected. Sitting on the plane, traveling on buses and walking through airports was not fantastic. We were all glad to be out in the fresh air getting the heart rate elevated. The run ended in enough time for us to clean up and put on our costumes prior to meeting the new mayor of Izumo.

Planes and Buses, Planes and Buses

Time: none
Distance: none

Today was an entire day of travel. An. Entire. Day.

Meagan dropped Dave and I off at the Charlotte airport for our 9:51 am flight to Chicago. Once in Chicago we hopped on the plane bound for Tokyo and met up with Zac, Jack, Luke and John. It sounds like we were it at Bible camp or something with all of those names. Our flight departed at 12:05 on Thursday and wouldn't land until 3:00 pm on Friday on Japan. The flight alone was just over 12 hours. The time difference is 13 hours. Jet lag central.

During the flight I sat in the same row as Jack Fultz and we were able to talk strategy among other things. I watch several movies including most of Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (I'll give it a 6), The Proposal (6), State of Play (7/8), and one more that I can't remember. I also finished the book Sway (very similar format to most marketing/advertising/negotiation books. Come up with a few cases to illustrate a theme. Find several mini-cases to illustrate the theme. Summarize research papers. Conclude with summary of first case study and how it illustrates the theme), and started another book Then We Came to the End.

I didn't sleep much on the flight, but there would be time for that later.

Upon getting to Tokyo we did the whole customs thing and then wasted time in the airport while waiting for the west coast guys (Murat and Ben). Once we were all together we took a bus from Narita (international airport) across town to Haneda (domestic airport). It was already getting dark around 5:45 pm when the bus left and completely black when we arrived at our destination around 7:00 pm.

We jumped on a 45, 60, 75, 90 minute flight to near Izumo? I don't remember the flight because at this point my body was shutting down. Our team was seated at the very back of the plane and almost immediately my eyes shut for the duration. Normally the team flies to Izumo but for whatever reason we stopped in ??? which was a 90 minute bus to the Wel City Hotel in Izumo.

We finally got to the hotel around 11 pm on Friday October 9th. I essentially lost Friday to roughly 26 hours of travel. The mood will improve in the morning when we get to spend our first day in Japan without the worries of making flights and catching buses. I look forward to meeting our hosts and exploring more of the city.

So far the guys on the team are great. We have enjoyed sharing stories about coaches, races, travels and the Ivy League in general. Basically we walk around with our noses sticking up in the air. Not because we are elitist Ivy League grads, but because we feel huge compared to some of our new Japanese friends.

Feeling Sluggish

Time: 34:54
Distance: 5.00 miles
Pace: 6:58
Map

The legs did not have it this evening. Aerobically I felt great on the run this evening, but the legs are not there. I didn't have much pop out there. I kept the run relatively short on purpose. I know that in the next 4 days training will be all about recovery.

Tomorrow, I leave for Japan on a trip with the Ivy League Select team. The squad is comprised of David Nightingale (Princeton), Murat Kayali (Yale), Lucas Meyer (Yale), Ben True (Dartmouth), Zac Hine (Cornell) and myself. We lost out on taking Steve Sundell, Matt Clark, Thomas Morgan or Michael Maag due to injury or age. That all works out in my favor because now I'll definitely be running a leg on the Ekiden.

CVS Downtown 5k

Time: 94:09
Distance: 12.51 miles

Shakeout: 13:51 for 1.65 miles
W/u: 22:00 for 2.75 miles
Race: 15:00 (<-- results)
C/d: 27:59 for 3.27 and 15:19 for 1.74

Race day morning started up on College Hill with a short run to shake out the legs. I proceeded to shower up and walk down the hill several hours before the race. A quick stop was made to Starbucks for some coffee and then I walked over to the Capitol. I'm glad that I got to the race early because it gave me a chance to see former Brown coach Bob Rothenberg and his wife Anne. They were volunteering at the race because they are quite possibly the most well connected couple in the RI running community.

There was still much time to spare but luckily I saw Stephanie Pezzullo (Pezz) beforehand and we hung out in the grass field. Tanya showed up a bit later with Sara Hall (Bei), Jenn Rhines (three time Olympian), and a few other elite women (those with actual shoe company contracts). It was cool seeing the elite men hang around the start of the race gearing up for what is more or less a low key race.

I had two goals on the day which were to run in the 14:30s and qualify for the Ivy League Ekiden trip to Japan. Prior to the race the team coach, Jack Fultz, pre-selected five athletes (Steve Sundell [Columbia], Michael Maag [Princeton], Ben True [Dartmouth], David Nightingale [Princeton], Thomas Morgan [University of Kentucky]). You might be thinking Kentucky, that's not an Ivy League school. Well, it's known as the Ivy League of the south, or so I'm told.

Anyway, those five runners were already on the team and four of us were racing (Lucas Meyer [Yale], Zac Hine [Cornell], Murat Kayali [Yale], myself) in Providence. The hitch in this whole thing is that only eight guys make the team. Six athletes run in the ekiden (Japanese relay race) and two are alternates who run a 5k on the track. Thus, I had to beat one runner on the day.

The race started and I was hoping to go through the mile in 4:35-4:40, but I came through a little slow in 4:42. It was cool hearing the three clap cheer of my former Brown teammates. Watch the video below and you can see what I'm talking about.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

I was just off the pace of a big group I should have been up with. The leaders only ran 4:30 for the first mile which meant my positioning was fine, just a little slow as a result. I hoped to remain focused over the next mile and catch some of the guys who went out to fast. I was running behind Christian Hesch and an older dude in a green jersey (there is some debate as to whether the runner was Sean Wade. He doesn't show up in the results, but I'm almost positive that it was Wade). Going through the second mile mark I think it read 8:24 which was clearly wrong. Hopefully it was 9:24 and just a minute off but who knows at this point.

I passed Hesch in the next section and reeled in a couple of more guys. With about half a mile to go old guy green took off and I thought I was going to lose to him. Meagan's good friend, Gabe Rodriguez, said I better not lose to Sean Wade because he's 41 years young, and at this point I was certain this was Wade. Gabe would have given me endless shit if I lost to a masters athlete. Luckily, I saved enough for the final hill which is about 300 meters from the finish. Half way up the hill Wade was gassed and I rolled past him, but was getting rolled on by two other guys making moves. Part way up the hill is the 3 mile mark (I think 14:25) and then it flattens out to the finish. I didn't think I was slowing that much, roughly to a 5 min pace, because I was still catching people. I crossed the line right at 15 minutes.

At no point during the race did I feel overly strained or lock up. I'm not sure why I ran 30 seconds slower than what I had hoped. My legs felt good and the lungs handled the effort fine. Maybe it's because I haven't gone to the well during a race effort in quite some time and I've forgotten to accept a high level of pain. Two years ago when I ran 14:44, I had run a 5k in 14:54 a couple of weeks prior. I would like to think that I'm in the same if not better shape than two years ago. Regardless, I achieved my second goal of qualifying for the trip to Japan. So I've got that going for me...which is nice.

Lucas and Zac ran great times today which you can find in the results up top. Tanya didn't have the best race, but Pezz almost broke 17 minutes.

CVS Downtown 5k

Time: 53:33
Distance: ~9 miles

Walked down from College Hill a couple hours before race time. I was able to get my race packet and t-shirt with plenty of time to spare. Chatted with Berg just briefly after picking everything up. Spoke to Tom and the D'mouth crew. Met up with Tarpy out by the Capitol and hung out near the elite athlete tent. He and I warmed up on the course for 19:08. Saw a bunch of guys getting prepared (Jonathon Riley, Bolota Asmeron, Nick Willis, Boaz, Aaron Aguayo, Josh Moen, Max King, etc.). Got back to the tent and slipped my Team OK Runner jersey on. I couldn't find my chip for a few minutes but luckily I spotted it in the grass.

Lined up with some of the other Ivy League guys. I didn't want to go out too hard the first 400m down the hill. I got off the line well and wasn't flying down the hill out of control. I think I may have been behind some of the women through 300m. I quickly passed them and made my way up alongside and past Ian Marcus, John Traugott, Alisdair Foreman and finally Andy Pitts. Through the mile I was 4:40 and feeling good. I kept working my way up to the next group as smoothly as possible. I worked on catching a group of 4-5 guys from 1.25 miles to 2 miles and once I did, I was past them in a few strides. I wished there was someone I could have latched on to but I think I went out too slow. I was through 2 miles in 9:22 and still feeling relaxed. I was a little out in the open and trying to focus on the back of the guy(s) in front of me. I finished decently strong up the hill and was close to 14:08 at 3 miles and finished in 14:44. Results here. As you can see, Tarpy ran out of his mind. Much respect to my former teammate from Brown University.

Cooled down up to the field hockey game with Neil Hamel and Tarpy. Had to get back down to the meeting for the Ivy Leaguers and then walk back up the hill with Mike Piche for the end of the game. Total 19:41