Overview

I think others have said it but what a fantastic day, managing to beat all my expectations. My time was 3:46:27 so under my goal of 4hrs but I dont think time really matters.. just to be part of such an occasion was a privilege and definitely something I want t repeat. The weather was awesome, the crowds were fantastic.. my one and only complaint was that a 4am bus meant I was waiting at the fort for over 5 hours before the start and despite lots of layers of clothes and plenty of hot coffee I got really cold and yet I was better prepared than others so god knows how cold they must have been. It wasnt so much the length of time but perhaps they should have heaters and blankets next year.

There are so many race highlights its difficult to narrow down.. crossing Verrazano bridge, entering into Brooklyn and getting the first cheers of support, running up 1st Avenue and the masses of support, entering central park and obviously the finish.

I found it much harder going than anticipated and hit the wall at mile 19. Not having hit it in training and having done many long runs this was a bit disappointing but I guess I hadnt done any long run at race pace which may have been my downfall. Those last 7 miles were sheer hell and I really relied on the crowd support to get me round but thankfully they were fantastic!

Definitely got the bug now and have my place for Tokyo in March. Now that I know how tough a full marathon is I want to do more training and think I need to include some faster runs rather than just mileage. Hopefully I can get down to the 3:30 area.

Anyway good luck to anyone reading who has a marathon coming up and to anyone reading who is contemplaing running NYC then I cant recommend it highly enough! 

 

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So here we are just 6 days away! Ive been pretty lazy in the last week or so mainly stuffing my face and drinking far more than I should be doing. I did a half marathon last Sunday and meant to take it easy but the competitive urge overtok me and ended up running 1:36 which meant the next 3 days my legs were pretty sore. Still although it was probably a bit silly it was good to get a decent long run under my belt before heading off for NY since the previous long run had been such a disaster. Certainly regained my confidence.

I managed a 10k walk/jog yesterday which was my first outing since but took it very easy indeed. Went to the running shop near where I live and stocked up on jelly beans, bought some new socks and a running belt.  Nothing like a last minute shopping spree to calm the nerves.

WIll probably do a short run Wednesday night then a swim on Thursday. Friday evening Im flying out.. Saturday will be friendship run, registration and past party then Sunday the big one!! Everytime I think  about it I get butterflies and feel a little sick. God knows what I'll be like on the bus on Sunday at 4am! Best of luck to all of you running. Hopefully will be able to post a few days after the race!

 

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In the tapering stage now and like others on here have found my bus leaves at 4am on the Sunday morning in New York. Ouch!  Hopefully the jet lag will convince me thats not an unreasonable hour to get up in the morning will have to wait and see!

Cant say Im that pleased with my last few weeks training. My last long run I did on Tuesday night and was really the first time Ive not felt comfortable at all. This maybe due to the fact that I'd stupidly chosen to wear a cotton T-shirt and got major nipple chaffe but at least I learnt my lesson there and will be back to the trusty lycra come the 2nd Nov! It was a little bit disconcerting to have a bad run so close to the actual race but Im being fairly philosophical about it.. My view is thats the bad one out the way hopefully! Also Ive put in the mileage so fingers crossed all should be well.

The next two weeks before flying out I am planning to do relatively little. Going to do a VERY very easy half marathon on Sunday with a couple of friends (should be 2h30 kind of pace and lots of walking!) but that'll be the only run of any note. Other than that a bit of swimming and cycling as I dont want to get any stress injuries at this stage in the game!

The butterflies have started now. The hardest part is hopefully over and very close to reaching my 5000 pound target which Im delighted about. That sponsorship should really spur me on! Really looking forward to it now... hope the next 2 weeks go quickly..

 

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Last week was fairly light on the mileage front since I was entering my first triathlon on Sunday in Murakami about 300km north of Tokyo. We got up to Murakami on saturday afternoon and registered and met for orientation. When we had a look at the sea I got rather nervous. The swell was absolutely huge and the thought of doing 1.5k swim in it had me rather worried. Anyway the rumour was that they were going to probably cancel the swim which whilst I was worried about it had me very disappointed to since this was going to be my first triathlon and only attempt at one until next year. After a big past dinner we got all our stuff ready and had an early night. I slept well despite the nervous eneergy and only hope I get such a good nights kip in New York.

On Sunday morning although the wind had died down we were soon told the swim had indeed been cancelled and instead we'd be doing a 1k beach run then the 40k bike and 10k run as planned. The race was started in 3 waves and somehow due to age I found myself in the first wave though had my 4 mates I was doing it with in the same wave which made me a little less nervous. Im glad Ive done this start and the 10k run I did for the Nike Event as I reckon it'll make me slightly less nervous come Nov 2nd. Well that was the plan anyway!

The race itself was brilliant. Particularly the bike. Ive never been all that great at cycling but just had one of those days where everything clicked. The scenery was stunning as we travelled out 20km along the coast. Along the way it seemed that everyone who lived there had come out to watch us though this being Japan the average age of the supporter was about 70! COming back I got a penalty for crossing the mid marker in the road whilst overtakeing and had to get off my bike, lift it up before I could start again. This was a bit annoying as the rule hadnt been explained to us foreigners and in fact the 4 friends all got penalised for this as well. Anyway I finished the whole thing in a total time of just over 2 hours 2 mins. The bike was 1hr 13 the run 44mins and the beach sprint 5 mins. Was pretty delighted with this and cant wait to try a few more triathlons next year.

Felt pretty good yesterday and managed to get out last night for a 16k very easy run in the drizzle. Its been a while since my last long run though so am planning to do that tonight.. eeek.

 

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Well its been a steady if not spectacular few weeks since I last wrote. 10k runs midweek with a long run at the weekend seems to have been the order of the day. Yesterday I was woken by a very large earthquake.. probably the strongest Ive felt in my time in Tokyo. I took it as an omen that my lie in was over and I needed to get out for a 20mile+. It was pretty wet outside and a little chilly so thought it would be a good chance to wear my skins and wind cheater since all my training to date has been in shorts and t-shirt. The drizzle was actually very welcome and soon got into a reasonable rhythm though this stopped when running through Iidabashi where I came upon some sort of Buddhist festival. There were hundreds of people proceeding along the main road carrying some kind of shrine and singing. It all looked great fun and I was rather enthralled by it all so stopped and watched for a good 15 mins before I decided I needed to get on. After about an hour I suddenly felt a bit of a low and needed some sugar. One of the great things about Tokyo is the number of conveniently placed vending machines so a quick can of Dr Pepper and I was on my way again. I saw the same kind of festival going on that I'd seen previously in Shinjuku and Shibuya  too. Around the 15 mile mark the heavens really opened and I was totally drenched. I tried to look on the bright side and tell myself it was all good practie should conditions be like that in NY! Finally I ended up at my local supermarket where I bought myself some muh needed sustenance. Total distance was 35k and time of exactly 3h30. A little bit of a slower time than 4h marathon but Im still confident of going sub 4 on race day given the lack of traffic lights!

 

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Well yet another week nearer to the big day. Not a bad weeks training but nothing spectacular though a few exciting instances to note (more later). A couple of 15k runs midweek, a bike ride on Wednesday morning, a swim or two and a 30k run last night made for a solid week.

The bike ride on Wed moning was disappointing as my mate Jamie got a puncture on his new wheels just 15k in so he took a taxi home leaving me to find my own way back. Had stupidly forgotten my Garmin and it took me an hour and lots of asking random Japanese folk in my broken lingo how to get back to Shinbashi and only just got  in to work on time. I was supposed to ride with Jamie on Saturday morning as well but decided bed was the better option after a late night on Friday and was glad I had chosen that as I spoke to Jamie later in the day and one of our usual fellow riders Stu, (who was also supposed to be competing in the Murakami triathlon with us next month) hit a small step when he was  looking down whilst on his tri-bars. Unfortunately he was doing about 35k/hr at the time and as he found out, the human face isnt the most efficient break pad in the world. He ended up with 37 stitches in his face and now looks like Harvey 2Face. Being an Ozzie he's putting an extremely brave face on it all but his accident is just another reminder that cyling can be bloody dangerous. In fact I seem to be the only one of our regular group who has stayed unscathed this year. Long may that remain true!

Yesterday I went to a speialist running shop in Shimbashi where I bought some new kit. A pair of Asics trainers, a wind-cheater, some proper socks with the individual toe thingys and a few other bits n bobs. Excited by my new purchases I went out for a run despite the rumbles of thunder, the ominous black cloud and the rather impressive lightning. Somehow it didnt start raining for an hour into my run but when it did the heavens opened and I got drenched. I really didnt mind though as the rain was rather refreshing given the humidity. Later in my run I had a run in with a taxi at a crossing. They have a system in Japan whereby at traffic lights you can turn even if its red as long as there are no pedestrians in the way. In a way its quite a logical traffic law and stops people needlessly sitting in their car when theres nobody about. Unfortunately this taxi driver hadnt spotted me (must have been my new all black running gear which confused him!). Thankfully he braked just in time but with the rain he skidded and I had to jump up onto the bonnet and slide Starsky & Hutch style across it and into the windscreen. Needless to say I got a hell of a fright but thankfully there was absolutely no injuries to speak off. I was just about to launch a barrage of 4 word expletives on the guy but as he emerged he looked about 70 years old and I suddenly felt very sorry for him as he seemed more shaken than I was. I managed to assure him I was OK and with thankfully no damage to his taxi all was good and we went our seperate ways.

 

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Completed my first official race on Sunday competing in the Nike Human Race up at Mt Fuji. I entered with my friend Wakako which was just as well all the instructions were in Japanese and I would have been completely lost without her! We drove up to Fuji on Saturday with 5 and the race started at 11am on Sunday. There were 1000s of people there all dressed up in the official red racing shirts so it all looked really good. I managed 43mins for the 10k which I was really pretty happy with. Its the fastest longish run Ive done and it was quite hot so all in all a good day. Went to an onsen afterwards where the muscle relaxing properties of the spa went down a treat! [img] http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1205970&id=706037480[/img]

 

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Completed my first official race on Sunday competing in the Nike Human Race up at Mt Fuji. I entered with my friend Wakako which was just as well all the instructions were in Japanese and I would have been completely lost without her! We drove up to Fuji on Saturday with 5 and the race started at 11am on Sunday. There were 1000s of people there all dressed up in the official red racing shirts so it all looked really good. I managed 43mins for the 10k which I was really pretty happy with. Its the fastest longish run Ive done and it was quite hot so all in all a good day. Went to an onsen afterwards where the muscle relaxing properties of the spa went down a treat!

 

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