The gun went off at 9:40 a.m. and I started off from the front line. The first 200 meters is flat, and then you take a quick left and go down a slope about 50 meters long. Once you hit the bottom of the slope, you start going up, and from this point on, you keep going up until around the 4 K mark. In the past races, I would always keep my pace in check, saving my energy for the latter half of the race. But this year I was different. I went with the flow, sticking to the pace that was reasonably challenging. I carefully monitored my heart rates, which I could feel without a digital gadget. There was a water station near the 2 K mark, but I ignored it and pressed on. The upward incline was so steep, and I already felt exhausted. I regretted that I didn't run more slowly. I even felt tight in my stomach. I feared that I might have to slow down already in such an early stage of the race.
But past the 4 K mark the course started going down, and all of a sudden I was freed from the incessant torment of upward inclines. I felt my stomach relaxed. I controlled my pace instead of rushing down the hill in order to ease my breathing. I could feel my heart rates went down, and I felt recharged, just like in interval training I feel ready to go for another lap after a brief rest.
At the next water station which was located shortly past the 5 K mark, I grabbed a cup of water, had a sip, and poured the rest over my arms. It felt cool. But the pleasant feeling quickly went away as I went up a steep hill ahead. I looked down at my feet, trying not to think about how much more I had to go up.
As the next water station, I had a cup of sports drink first to fuel myself, and a cup of water to keep myself from getting dehydrated. A sweet taste of the sports drink lifted my spirit for a second. Soon after that the top runner came running down. He looked focused and so powerful. I yelled, "Nice run!" A second later another yell was heard from behind. More runners came one after another, which signaled that the turning point was near.
A familiar landscape was in sight. The turning point was around the corner. I looked down again, hoping that when I looked up again, the long upward incline would be over and the left turn that led to the turning point would be right in front of me. But the point came a lot faster than I expected, which I realized when the runner before me suddenly took a right. I followed him and in no time a horizontal sensor was visible on the road ahead which marked the halfway point!
I felt so excited that I almost increased the pace. But I carefully stuck to my pace and several seconds later I was on the other side of the sensor. I heard a beep when I crossed it. I pressed a button on my wrist watch, and it said 51:35.98. I was 1:35.98 behind schedule, but I thought it was good enough. Fifty-two seconds later I crossed the 10 K mark. Although the race is 20 K, the precise distance is short of 20 K, so the halfway point is not exactly at the 10 K mark.
There was a water station shortly after the 10 K mark, but I ignored it again, and pressed on. After some twist and turns, I hit the main road again where a bunch of runners were still on their way to the halfway point. My friend, Eiro, found me yelled, "Go, Gakuji!" In less than a minute I found another friend of mine, Yuko. I waved at her, and she waved back at me. I wished them both the best of luck.
For the next two kilometers I picked up the pace and went down the hill like a mad man. Each landing shock was so large that for a moment I was afraid of hurting my knees, but I remembered all the hard training that was a lot harder, so I believed in my ability to withstand the brutal shock of going down the hill.
Near the 12 K mark, the downhill was over, and the course took a left to get off the main road, and went up for about 200 meters. It was the first challenge of the second half of this course. How you run this part significantly affects your performance in the remaining. In the past when I was far less experienced, I would push myself too much here. As a result, my thighs and calves got cramped like hell in the last three kilometers and I felt miserable like a zombie with food-poisoning.
But the few painful lessons had taught me how to run this part. I ran in narrower strides, and made sure my heart rates were steady. Any sudden increase in the heart rate is alarming. It exhausts you more than necessary. I was overtaken by a number of runners, but I didn't care. When the incline was over, and the course started going down, I easily overtook some of the runners who had gone past me in the upward incline only a short while ago. But that didn't even matter. It was not a battle with others. It was a battle with myself.
Soon the upward incline was over, and another descent began. This time it would last nearly 3 kilometers. I picked up the pace again. I felt a tremendous shock on my knee with each step. I thought I was going quite fast, but nevertheless I was overtaken by one runner after another. They all looked like heel-strikers in shoes with thick cushioning. They took advantage of the protection provided by the technology, and took a leap forward with strides much wider than mine. If I had run in the same way, I would have damaged my legs. Though my strides are generally wider than when I'm running a flat surface, my minimalist shoes still wouldn't allow me to take such a reckless form. I grit my teeth, believed in my running form, and stuck with it.
The 15 K mark was in sight. The second last hill, and the toughest one of the race, was soon to present itself. It's at the end of a downhill on the left-hand side. Up ahead one runner after another kept taking a left, disappearing into the invisible side of the corner. Soon I was the one to take that corner, and within seconds I was right in the narrow, and winding agricultural road with a bunch of grape trees on both sides. God knows how many times in the past did I run this part of the race in the wrong way. But I was not what I used to be years before. I was stronger, and wider. Just like in all of the previous hills I ran in far narrower strides, and slowed down the pace if even the small sign was felt of increased heart rates. Again, a few runners overtook me, but I didn't care. They may be simply better runners, or they may be simply ignorant of what may happen to their legs later on.
Once the hill was over, the course went down for a while, but soon saw another upward incline which was not as long as the first incline, but which was equally steep. I stuck with my basic strategy and went past the most hellish point of the race.
I kept on going down for another kilometer or so to finally reach the last hill of the race near the last 2 K point. Seen from the bottom it looked like a wall. The road is wider and easier to run, and the distance is much shorter. A prospect of the approaching goal and an increase in the number of cheerers lifted my spirits. Akiyo, one of the cheer-leaders, found me and yelled my name, "Gak sensei!" Half a minute later the familiar silhouette of my bilingual companion was in sight. I tried to smile at her, but I was just about to kick for a last spurt and wasn't able to. The final downhill and home stretch lay ahead with a big horizontal banner stretched across above. I kicked and kicked, like Eliud Kipchoge when he destroyed the field in the Rio Olympics. Suddenly I felt something a like a small ball pop out from the bottom of the right leg of my pants, dangling right and left as I surged down the home stretch. It was a sake lees ball (酒粕団子) that I kept as emergency food but that I didn't have chance to eat because I was so focused on the race. I was suddenly self-conscious, imagining how I might look from everyone cheering me, dangling a small ball-like object from under one leg of my pants. I quickly tried to tuck that thing into my pants, but it wouldn't, with the pants all sweaty and all. I tried it again, and it barely stayed inside the pants. I pushed on. Two seconds later, I crossed the finish line. I immediately stopped my watch and saw my time. I could hardly believe my eyes. I finished under 1:30:00, way faster than my original target of 1:33:59. I was so glad that all of my hard training paid off. I was also so happy to prove that if you put your mind to it, your mind-body can still respond to the demand that you impose on it.
My next race is Yotsukaido Gas Light 10 K Road Race that takes place on Nov. 19. I am planning to increase the volume of distance-based training, and also increase the distance of each lap from 1 K to 1.3 K in speed-based interval training. I'm excited to get results in the race.
0~9.15 K: 0:51:35.98
9.15~10 K: 0:00:52.04 (0:52:28.02)
10~18.3 K: 0:37:08.40 (1:29:36)
average pace for the first half: 5:38/K
average pace for the second half: 4:10/K
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