LungStrong 15k Recap

Time: 93:09
Distance: ~14.5 miles

W/u: 22:26 for ~2.5 miles
Race: 48:49 for 15k
C/d: 21:54 for ~2.5 miles

I wouldn't have believed running sub-49 minutes would have gotten me rolled by over a minute, but Ryan Bender took it to me for the second time at a distance over 10k. I do think I was working under a bit of a handicap having just returned from Japan, but to see Bender press the last 5k was impressive.

Last night I didn't sleep much having gone to bed around 11:30 pm not feeling tired and waking up at 2:15 am even more alert. I couldn't fall back into a slumber so I got up and satiated my hunger. I was starving and put down crackers, cheese, my leftover pasta, trail mix and some water. I still couldn't sleep so I pulled out my mini laptop and watched the 2010 Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai 20km Qualifying Road Race. During the video race coverage I followed Brett Larner's twitter feed that explained what was going on in English. To put things in perspective of how I was to race later in the day, the leaders went through 15k of their race in 43:30 and the chase pack was just over 45 minutes. The guys who split just under 49 minutes would go on to place 250th or above. Yikes! I realized what I was watching was a group of legit athletes running desperately to qualify their university for the biggest race in Japan. It was great fun, I just wish it wasn't at 3:30 am.

I tried to catch some sleep after the race, but still wasn't able to do so. I headed up to Cornelius around 6:00 am and got myself situated for the Lungstrong 15k. I felt a little sluggish on the warm up and was starting to get a little sleepy. I combated this with a bit of coffee and geared up to run hard. My goal was to run between 5:10s and 5:15s as comfortably as possible. If I felt good once finish, I considered doing a second loop as a long tempo.

When we were lining up for the race I noticed Bender was in the field and figured he was fit. I've only raced him twice in the past and he seems to only show up when he's ready to hit it hard. Hit it hard we did as our opening mile was sub-5. I was content to let him control the pace and in the second mile he managed to gap me by a few strides. I maintained my race target splits for the first three miles and let Bender do his own thing up ahead hoping he would come back around 10k.

I kept clicking off respectable splits through 6 miles, but Ryan was still hammering away 50-70 meters ahead. The gap never closed and he never tired. By 7 miles I was starting to slow and my 8th mile was terrible. Aerobically I felt very comfortable, but the legs just didn't have the strength in them. On the rolling hills I struggled to climb with any sort of efficiency.

Splits:
4:58, 5:08, 5:08, 5:13, 5:16, 5:16 (31:00 at 6 miles), 5:20, 5:31, 5:20, 1:44 for 48:56 according to my watch. ~5:15 average

Post race I was not in a place to run the course again as a tempo. My stomach was feeling the 3:00 am snack and I was lucky to shuffle a few miles with Compton who closed really well the final 5k. Rocky Falcone and Paul Mainwaring also had good days on the course that everyone seem to measure a little long.

The Grand Prix Series has come to a close which is a bit of a relief. It's difficult to race 10 times consistently and still fit in workouts, other races and work. The series is great, but I'll have to reevaluate it's benefits next year before signing on. I am both happy and surprised that I was able to race all 10. I would have put money down in March that I would have missed at least one to travel, injury or illness. Further, the longer race today gives me the motivation to really put in the miles this fall. My body feels healthy and I'm ready to start logging bigger mileage in preparation for racing 10k and above. Seeing and hearing how the Japanese train has me almost convinced that it's necessary to run above 170k per week.

After the race I drove to Birkdale Village where I was able to visit Fleet Feet Huntersville and have lunch at Red Rocks Cafe. I was starting to feel really tired by the time lunch came so my social mood was not the best. It was a good group of Charlotte Running Club members in attendance including Allen Strickland, Scott Helms, Compton, Jay Holder, Paul, and more.

Evening Miles

Time: 36:47
Distance: ~5.3 miles

This evening I went back out for some more miles. I wore some of the new voodoo devices that I bought while in Japan to help with bloodflow and body alignment. I also tried to take a brief nap this afternoon and wasn't very successful. My body is going to revolt at some point and I hope it's not at 7:45 tomorrow morning.

Back to the Routine

Time: 57:37
Distance: ~8.6 miles

I got up this morning and did some early morning emails before heading out for a Medium Loop. I felt decent despite the travel and not getting much sleep. The pace was gentle and gradually picked up over the course of the run. I had a vision of what my form wanted to look like and kept that image in my head throughout. The LungStrong 15k is tomorrow and I'll be toeing the line so the focus is on staying loose for that.

Double Thurdays

Time: 60:10
Distance: ~8.6 miles

Today started in Tokyo and ended with a run in Charlotte. There was no sight seeing today as our bus left for the airport around 11:00 am. I had to get breakfast, Skype and pack up all my dirty clothes. Traveling for a race is always fun but figuring out what to do with gross clothes, gifts and not combining the two isn't. We got to the airport with tons of time to blow our remaining yen in the gift malls. I purchased a few items for my boys in Let Me Run who will probably not enjoy any of them. I got sardines, a bean curd dessert and another traditional Japanese snack.

The flight back to the states was uneventful. I asked for an exit row and slept most of the way which made for a boring time. I wanted to do a bit of reading and perhaps watch some movies, but that didn't happen. When we arrived in Chicago the customs lines were longer than usual. I had a two hour layover, but it turned out that I only had about 30 minutes to get to my gate. I arrived just as the plane was boarding and I situated myself for the final flight back to the Queen City.

I picked up my bags, found the car and key that Meagan left in long term parking a day earlier and drove home. When I got home I unpacked some of my clothes for the wash and opted to get in a run. I only wanted 5 miles, but I was feeling good and turned it into an hour long jaunt. I got home and had trouble sleeping so I messed around reading blogs and explored the intertubes before ending my second Thursday of the week.

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.

Going Back to Tokyo

Time: 48:51
Distance: ~7 miles

This morning I had a traditional Japanese breakfast instead of the Western option. The meal included fish, rice, fruit, egg plant, egg, salad, sticky beans and some other unidentifiable items. It was my first time having sticky beans which are bland to bitter in taste, full of protein and incredibly sticky. I think they are coated in some sort of enzyme that makes them difficult to eat with chopsticks and funny to watch. After grabbing food I went upstairs to pack up stuff for the trip back to Tokyo. I had to figure out what to do with all my sweaty, smelly clothes from the race as I didn't have time to wash anything in the sink. I packed rather quickly and had just enough time to grab a run back along the bike path. It was nice and easy for 25 minutes out and just over 23 on the return taking a little longer route on the way back in.

I only needed a few minutes to get ready to be back down in the lobby for a trip from the New WelCity Hotel in Izumo to the local airport. Security at the Izumo Airport was very different than what we have here in the US. The team carried several water bottles through, didn't take off our shoes and probably could have boarded without a ticket. It all seemed very safe and after a short flight to Haneda we were back in the Tokyo prefecture. We hopped a bus to our hotel and arrived around 3:00 pm which gave us plenty of time to get in trouble.

View from my hotel room. The start of the new Tokyo marathon is between the two walking bridges.

The group headed out for an adventure early in the evening with Yoshi at the helm. We never really can tell where we are being taken when he starts off. The team typically gets lost at least once on the journey, but we eventually get there. This time we traveled to a district of Tokyo where we could shop and take in the night. The crosswalks were always jam packed with people getting off work and heading home. We wandered through Takashita Street which contained hundreds of little tourist shops that none of us really took advantage of. Two stores that we were interested in seeing were Nike Town and an Asics store. The Nike Town was selling shoes and racing flats that none of us had ever seen. Across the street at the Asics store the mood was much less fashion focused and dull in comparison.

Who would have thought that finding a bathroom on Takashita Street would be so hard.

We started to tire and get hungry which shifted the focus to food. We found one of those restaurants with a grill in the middle of the table where you can cook your own meat and vegetables. The booth of Ben, Steve, Sam and I definitely won out with our selection as Yoshi kept ordering bizarre meats like tongue and fatty beef. The good news was the tab was picked up by one of the sponsors which kept some spending money in our pockets. We felt the urge to find a pub and blow some yen in a hurry.

Ben spotted an Irish pub and immediately ordered 10 Guinness. The tab came out to over 10,700 yen which is well over $100 but we felt good about the decision. We wandered around some more and even witnessed a fight. Two guys were stumbling around and started kung fu fighting. In fact, one guy tried a sneak attack that involved a flying hay-maker. In the mayhem a pair of glasses was knocked off someone's face and I took home a souvenir. We also saw a guy completely passed out in the middle of the street surrounded by friends who had coned off the area. They just sat around as he rested with his face in the pavement.

270! Yea! I have no idea what this sign says. Girls? Food? Drink?

We decided to call it a night and realized nobody had any idea which direction the hotel was in. We must have walked for about an hour before finally figuring it out. As we brought the night to a close we were all amazed at how many people were still out dressed in business attire carrying their briefcases. The crosswalks were still busy and this was only a Tuesday night.

The Japanese ride fixies too.

Typical Tokyo crosswalk at 11:30 pm.

Track Race, Post-Race Banquet and Karaoke

The ekiden race ended about 3:30 in the afternoon and is followed by the closing ceremony. All the teams line up in the big dome and awards are presented to the top 3 teams, top runners from each leg and the other 5 teams that comprise the top 8. As usual, the Ivy League Select Team was not featured in the award ceremony. We finished 15th out of 22 teams and were just over 8 minutes behind the winners. Waseda set the course record running 2:10:05 for 44.5 kilometers. It helps when 4 of the 6 legs are won by a runner from the same school.

We left the Izumo dome and traveled back to the stadium where two heats of 5ks were being run. I was able to jog a few more minutes while Bobby and Paul warmed up. They ran in the second heat and crossed the line in just under 15 minutes and 15:10 respectively. The first heat was the top heat, and a battle up front took place as the leaders just dipped under 14:00 flat. We showered up and put on casual clothes before heading off to the winery where the banquet takes place.

The first time I came to Japan the banquet, from what I can remember, was an absolute blast. However, the evening ended early for Ben Stern and I because we were a little too aggressive with the "ikii" (sp?). Last year the party didn't get out of hand enough as some of the guys were in serious training blocks and didn't let loose. This year the plan was to find a happy medium.

We sat in the middle of the room instead at the front this year. There were also more Japanese people around that were divided amongst the team. I'm not fully sure who they were but they all played roles in getting us to Izumo. They also were sure to keep our Asahi cups full and food cooking on the grill. Ben, Johnny Photogs, Frank and Robert (our Irish translator) all sat the same table which was a great group.

There is a stage outside where each team gets up and does some sort of song, dance or combination of the two. The two "best" songs of the night included cheerleaders and some dude who yelled, waved his arms and flexed constantly. It was one of the weirder moments of the trip and none of the guys could figure out what was going on. The second best performance was a Japanese radish dance that involved a huge crew of athletes waving around giant radishes. It made no sense and I'm not sure if it was supposed to. While most schools perform their fight song or vegetable dance, the Ivy League team doesn't have anything special to give that is common for all of us. In the past we all just get on stage and dance around like a bunch of idiots to a song that everyone knows. This year we invited a couple guys from the Waseda squad up with us to sing the national anthem. It without a doubt sounded terrible, but it was less painful than a dance.

The rest of the banquet turned to drinking, trading clothes and not causing an international incident. We walked around with bottles of Asahi and offered its contents to anyone who had an empty cup. The other teams would return the favor and then we would all take pictures together. I hope to post some at a later date but have none at this time. I ended up trading a hat for a Chukyo University shirt while other guys did the same. I think Paul managed to snag a Toyo University jacket which was the biggest win for the evening. The beer ran out earlier than it should have which meant the party was winding down and it was back to the hotel to drop our stuff.

The guys weren't ready to call it a night so we grabbed Robert (Irish translator) and headed off to find the nightlife in town. We hit up No. 1 Bar and Salsa, but both places were deserted. We still had a fun time and Robert showed us his karaoke singing skills. The performance of the night had to be when Bobby sang something by Creed. He made a spot on impression of whatshisturd's voice which made a terrible song hilarious. We called it a night around 12:30 am with everyone saying sayonara to Mike who left early the next morning.

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.

Week in Review

Time: 403:03
Distance: 54.95

This week turned out rather light in terms of mileage but it was due to the travel to Japan. I only broke the hour mark on two of the nine runs this week, but I'm feeling good. The race tomorrow should go well as my legs have been feeling fresh. One concern is the lack of sleep that I've gotten since being in Japan. I keep waking up at all times during the night and get tired right when the race is scheduled to go off. If anything I'll be fresh and geared up to really train post ekiden with this being a bit of a recovery week.

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.

Second Run in the Rain

Time: 33:18
Distance: ~4 miles

When I fell asleep the NFL's Arizona vs. San Diego game was being aired on tv. When I got up the game was over, but I found an MTV station that was playing a collection of Snoop Dogg songs. They were also unedited which I found strange. Zac Hine and I went out for a short run in the rain this time running in the opposite direction from this morning. It was dark and the roads were wet so we were extra careful when crossing numerous intersection. The other direction is definitely the better way to go.

Dinner was served just after our arrival back to the hotel. I should have taken some pictures of the meal but I didn't. I couldn't have uploaded the photos to my mini-computer anyway. I can describe that most of the team got the same meal which included crab, "roast beef," all sorts of fish (cooked and raw), shrimp, rice, miso soup, funky root vegetables in a sauce, small clams, salad, caviar and mushrooms, and a salty dish that none of us could stomach. I'm probably forgetting some items on the tray, but you get the idea. All of the dishes were served in really small portions that left you satisfied, but not full. There was no ice cream this time, nor was there an adventure into town. It was still raining and everyone was content to head up to their rooms to sleep.

I passed out for a few hours, but it's currently just after midnight on what is now Saturday, October 9th.

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.