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.

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.

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...

Leaving for Japan

Time: 42:12
Distance: ~5.3 miles

Before heading to the airport this morning Meagan and I put in some dark miles through Freedom Park. We shuffled our way to a Short Loop. Today's travel calls for a flight from Charlotte to Chicago (easy), a second from Chicago to Tokyo (tortuous) and a third from Tokyo to Yonago (not so fun either). There will be many naps, some reading and movie watching. I'll basically lose Weds. and Thurs. to travel. Catch you in Izumo...

October 15, 16, 17

Time: none
Distance: none

There was no running on these days. The night before leaving Japan I got sick sick sick. I had terrible aches, a clogged nose and horrible cough. Nothing about flying back double digit hours in a plane made it better. I took a few days off and tried to recover as best as possible. I landed back in the states in Washington D.C. for a good friend's wedding.

Kyoto Miles

Time: 58:29
Distance: 7.68 miles
Pace: 7:36
Map

This morning I went on a run with the Ekiden from our hotel to a river. It was nice to finally get along a path that we could find a rhythm. We spent most of the first 10 minutes starting and stopping at traffic lights. On the return trip we ran through a park/shrine area where other people were taking a morning walk. It was a nice light run to start the day.

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.

Sea of Japan

Time: 89:20
Distance: 12.45 miles
Map

The team was up early this morning and out the door in a light rain for our run. The party last night didn't get too out of control which meant we were in good spirits for some easy miles. We decided to run west and see the Sea of Japan (Pacific Ocean kinda). Ben and Dave were spearheading this run as they are both in a base training phase with their respective post-collegiate training groups. The rest of us were along for the ride and enjoyed seeing the sights, hearing the sounds and smelling the smells (?).

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.

Race Day Morning

It's the morning of the race and I'm wide awake. In fact, I was wide awake several times throughout the night and at one point I got up for about an hour. I'm not sure why I slept so poorly. When I decided to get up I turned on the television and found a channel airing the Chicago Marathon. I watched Sammy Wanjiru looked controlled from about 15k to 25k which is when I was able to fall back asleep. I had already checked the result and saw that he won in a new CR breaking Special Ks' (Khalid Khannouchi) 2:05:42 by one second.

Check out the blog Japan Running News for a great preview of the race. It also says that you can watch the race online but for those who are in the states the start time is around midnight.

The states GAORA is showing a live NFL game. The guys from the northeast on this trip should be delighted to see the Patriots are leading the Broncos 17-7 at halftime.

Race report later.

Also, Tarpy won a bit of coin at the Hartford Half taking first place (money) and being the first New Englander (more money). Good pay day for 64:42 minutes of work.

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.

Izumo Ekiden Review

Last night I had the opportunity to chat with Jeff Gaudette and Owen Washburn about their time in Izumo, Japan. Both are on hand to compete in the Izumo Ekiden race that I raced in last year. The guys were excited to get out there and see what it was all about. I went to bed before the race concluded, but managed to find results.

It looks like the Ivy League team placed 17th overall and was won by Nihon University. There is a lot going on in the results but I will try to explain using the Ivy League team as an example. Sage Canaday started things off and ran 24:47 which placed the team in 19th, Emory Mort took the sash and ran 17:26 for his leg which was the 16th fastest split on that leg and moved the team up to 18th place, Owen Washburn ran 27:09 for the third leg which was the 17th fast split and moved the team to 17th place... Ari ran the 4th leg which is the one I ran last year. He covered the 6.5k distance in 19:47 which is solid considering I ran 19:44.

Owen and Jeff should have a good recap about the race in the coming days.

Dayoff

Last was a great time. I was passed out in bed by 9:15 pm. After the 5k on the track for the alternates the team headed over to a winery for the race reception. We all showed up about 6:15, got our name tags, placed our stuff at our table, grabbed a glass of wine and headed outside for the toast. The mayor said some words, awards were handed out and we raised our glasses. It was about 6:40 pm.

Everyone returned to their table and began grilling the meat and vegetables. The beer was soon to follow as was the "coin game." We were passing around the 1 yen piece from glass to glass. We couldn't fill our own glasses so you had to rely on a partner. Thankfully Tarpy was to my right as was a Japanese man who was pretty funny. We were eating and drinking for only about 10 minutes when we decided it would be a good idea to make some friends. Stern and I went over to a neighboring table and dropped the yen in a Waseda athlete's cup. He was a bit confused but once we raised our glasses with a "kompei" (spelling?) he knew what it meant. He caught on quick and passed it to a buddy. Soon the team was all about the game and we had some good laughs.

I ventured down the room and found some boys from Toyo University. I had an "eki" (spelling?) with who ended up being the "Japanese champion" of drinking. If you don't believe me just watch this... Countdown!!!

Izumo Ekiden 2007

Time: 39:18
Distance: 7 miles

Today's race is broadcast live all over Japan. It is a big deal. We boarded the bus and headed to our respective starting positions with the student assigned to us. My leg started in front of a library and when I got there all the runners were hanging out in an empty room upstairs. Most had their shoes (Mizuno or Asics) off and were sitting on mats or blankets they brought. Some listened to music, others played on their cell phones and some chatted with a teammate. For the most part, it was quiet and very serious.

Once the race began everybody starting moving around and headed outside. The camera crew was huddled around a small television watching the lead off leg. Max was running well in the chase group. A runner from Chuo University took it out in 57 (400m), 90 (600m) and about 2:03 (800m). The alternates on the team thought he was fucked but he managed to hand off with a lead of about 21 seconds. Max ran a great leg and handed off tied for second in 23:11. Tarpy took the sash and ran a decent leg. I believe it was the 5th fastest of all the runners on the second leg. He didn't look great from 4k on, but he held it together and gave the sash to Jon Marcus in 3rd place. The Ivy League was well on our way to a top ten finish.

I started my warm up of 19:34 shortly after Jon Marcus took the sash. I headed out on the beginning portion of my leg. It was not too windy but an ever so slight breeze was in my face. The roads were still a bit slick. I popped a caffeine pill that tasted terrible before starting the warm up. My legs were feeling fresh. I returned to the start of my leg and mingled with some of the other runners. I was able to watch a portion of the race on a younger runner's cell phone. And I thought my iphone was sweet. By this point Jon Marcus was nowhere to be seen. He didn't have the best of days. He fell from 3rd to 12th and ran the slowest leg of the 21 runners. Maybe it was the shapes he was cutting the day before the race.

I took the sash about 250m behind the team in 11th place. I wasn't completely sure what place we were in but I focused on the Waseda University's (I think) runner's back. It was cool running past the drumming fans and those waving flags of the respective universities. I enjoyed hearing the women and children saying "gombate, gombate" (spelling?) to me as I passed. Since my leg started at the 22.3k mark it wasn't until after 700m that I got my first split of: 2:19.48. My following k splits were: 2:55.77, 2:57.56, 3:03.31, 3:07.12, 3:10.39, 2:10.99 for 19:44. I was hoping to run 19:30 at the slowest and closer to 19:15 if I felt good. I ended up being 9:51 at the 3.25k mark which was half-way. So I ran the second 3.25k in 9:53 or so. I ended up with a stitch around the 2k mark and hand trouble breathing the rest of the way. I never really made up any ground on the runner ahead of me until the 4k when he pulled away. I was able to salvage my split on the final 800m mostly downhill section which I covered in 2:10.

Once Courtney took the sash, he like me never was passed or passed anybody. He ran an average leg giving the sash to Sundell. Steve turned in the 7th best time on his leg but couldn't catch anybody. He nearly got a guy at the line but was back by a second. It was disappointing to get 12th when we had such a good chance of breaking the top ten considering the legs of Max, Tarpy and Steve.

I didn't feel motivated to run a cool down. So I didn't. We headed over to the closing ceremony and were depressed not to get called up in the top ten. Later, the team went to the Izumo athletic complex to watch the alternates (Ben Stern, Alasdair and John Traugott) run the 5k on the track. Ben ran a smart race to finish in 14:31 just missing his pr.

The Day Before

Time: 30:02
Distance: 4 miles

Woke up early and felt like getting a light run in. I ran what I think was west from the hotel in search of new territory. Got to cross the red bridge that was visible from our hotel. I didn't get to see to much but it was nice to get a short run in before breakfast. Later today we are going to hit up the Izumo Taisha which is the oldest Shinto shrine in the world and tour the race course.

Izumo, Japan II

Time: 41:09
Distance: 6 miles

Again I woke up at some awful hour and went out for a run. I wanted to go the other direction on the bikepath but it ran in towards the city and I didn't really want that. I looped up towards a busier street that had a Mr. Donut store and the Sega arcade. I found my way back to the bike path and headed out the way we did the previous day. It wasn't a great run but I got to see some of the early morning life of Izumo. I also got to see a few Japanese runners out for a jog in their full warmups and flats.

I had planned on going on another run but after lunch I nixed that idea. We ate with the mayor of Izumo who was a very charismatic dude. He had lived in New York and worked for the consulate at one point in his career. I think he has been the mayor for 12-13 years and he basically will have the position until he retires. At the lunch we ate some food that was from the Shimane Prefect which is where Izumo is. The beef was amazingly tender and the wine was tasty. At one point during lunch I gave Courtney a one yen piece and he dropped it in Max King's beer. This meant that Max had to finish his drink and pass on the yen. It ended up as a little drinking game that was at first hidden from the mayor and the administrators of Japanese athletics. However, before leaving Tarpy (I think) got up and filled up the mayor's beer glass, Stern soon followed and dropped the yen in it. The mayor who likes to drink was a good sport and started to laugh. Then he chugged his beer.

Tokyo Excursion

Time: 35:11
Distance: 5 miles

Woke up at some ungodly hour multiple times during the night. Ben Stern described how he slept ast, "it was like a baby... i woke up every 2 hours and cried." That was pretty much how it went. Finally at 5:30 am I got up and headed out the hotel door shortly thereafter. I knew there had to be a decent place to run b/c there was so much water around. Where there is water, there is a bike path. I ended up heading through some little mall along a busy street, but soon I found a canal with a small pedestrian walkway. I ran on that in toward a busier part of Tokyo. I know we were pretty far out on the outskirts of town but the run brought me closer to the urban environment. The streets were pretty quiet while I was out. I got to see some store owners cleaning their store fronts and some other citizens were out walking there dogs. A few people were out for a jog. It was a very easy run effort wise and a great way to see some of what Tokyo had to offer.