You may have noticed that I’ve been a bit quiet of late. I’ve found it hard to find the time to write, what with all the actual running.
A few months ago I entered the ballot for the Tokyo Marathon. I didn’t have any serious intentions for the race, but after several failed attempts at London I figured I needed the ballot practice. With a chance of success somewhere south of 10%, I forgot about my entry and literally fell off my perch a couple of weeks later when an email arrived telling me I was in. Three thoughts sprang to my mind in quick succession.
- I can’t not do this; the karma gods will not go easy on me in future ballots if I reject this one.
- I actually have a work reason to be in Japan around about that time.
- How am I going to break this to my Japanese/half Japanese family, who are going to have to stay in Edinburgh?
I confirmed my participation before the deadline expired without any real plan and waited for the planets to align. They did. I am booked to travel to Tokyo the week before the race.
Running, in general, had been going quite well following a couple of injuries last year. Even so, after clocking a PB at the Men’s 10k Edinburgh in November I knew I would have to crank things up a bit to get back to marathon-ready state. I took a look back at the training plan I put in place for Paris and Edinburgh in 2014, and decided I did not want to be a slave to the calendar this time. Instead I planned a loose series of increasing-distance long runs for the weekend and left in-week running to whatever I felt like. One thing I did want to incorporate was more than one decently long run. I want 3 x 20 milers this time. Two are now in the bank and the last one is up this weekend.
Overall, the mileage has built up nicely, and I am running about 40-45 miles per week with taper in sight. It’s not all been plain sailing though. It may be obvious, but February marathons mean winter training and I live in Scotland. My building blocks for Tokyo are a testament to the elements …
- My long runs have generally been east to west. Storms Abigail through Henry have generally been at the same time, but blowing west to east.
- I’ve had business travel, arriving somewhere late and leaving early. In January I clocked 50k on random hotel treadmills. I invented treadmill reps, for goodness sake.
- When it has been light enough on foreign soil, I’ve kitted-up and got out there. I’ve been running in 4 inches of snow (and still snowing) at 6am around Horn Pond, Woburn, USA
One downside of all this bravado running is that I have no real idea of what pace I should run at on long runs. Strong headwinds, snow and ice all distort the flow. And while long runs in December, with just a few jelly babies for comfort, were going nicely, I’ve been bonking way too early on long runs in 2016. I hate gels and have been experimenting with other fuelling options. Clif Bloks* are my current favourite and plan of record for Tokyo. I think of them as professional jelly babies.
So what are my targets for Tokyo? Three years ago I set myself a goal to run a marathon in under 4 hours. It’s about time I delivered on that.
* mock jogger has no connection with Clif Bar and no one from Clif Bar has contacted him to offer to fuel his training. It’s a dammed shame, really.
Hey, make the best of it – unexpected good luck and all that 🙂
That being said, start cautiously. You have some race experience, so use it! Maybe start with a pace that will end up in a time of 3:55, i.e. 8:58 min/mile (or 5:34 min/km as I would say) and adjust as the race progresses.
What’s the weather likely to be like? Is it a nice temperature range? Not too humid?
Starting off just shy of 9:00 feels about right. I have a 20 miler planned tomorrow and that’s what I’ll be looking for. It should give some buffer to allow for the inclines.
The weather is hard to predict. Maybe around 10-15 degrees, possibly with rain. A bit warmer than Edinburgh 🙂 I would be happy with that.