I live in Kakamigahara so this was my local race. The first race I ever did was the Kakamigahara 10K, back in 2011. This year they added a half-marathon to the already popular 10K and 3K.
One month earlier I set a 1:30:07 PB on a freezing, snowy day in Inuyama. To beat that, and go sub-30, I prepared an ambitious plan of progressively faster intervals starting at 4:25/km pace and finishing at 4:00/km. The running app on my phone gave me feedback so I knew exactly how I was doing.
This was the first race I’ve ever done that started in the afternoon. In fact, it started at 1:00pm with the sun beating down upon us. Temperatures soared to 19C and the cloud that was forecast never came. The only reprieve was a cool breeze.
I lined up nearish the front, but the start was crowded and slow. I did the first kilometer in 4:58, which already put me 33 seconds off pace. The next 9 kilometers fluctuated between 4:16 and 4:23, giving me a 43:53 first 10K. Not bad, only 20 seconds behind schedule, but I wasn’t comfortable at all. My mouth was dry and I really didn’t feel like I could go much faster. So much for running a negative split!
The first of four water stations wasn’t until about 9km. I took two gulps and poured the rest on my head. I was way behind my teammate Sako-san, who even when taking it slowly after a 6-hour trail race the previous week could easily cruise through a half in under 1:30. At the turn around, I was about two minutes ahead of Nathaniel, and Keith was a few minutes behind him.
The second 10K took me about 46:30. I felt heavy legged, and while the massage insoles I had put in my shoes were doing a remarkable job of preventing my usual ball-of-foot pain, I was getting nasty blisters on my toes. My calves, too were starting to fail me, and I really felt like I was plodding along. I even found myself in a mid-race chat with Tsubouchi-san, who runs in a Pikachu hat. He knew me from YouTube and actually appeared in one of my other race videos.
I wasn’t at all surprised that I had fallen so far behind pace, but I became increasing concerned about how I will fair in next month’s full marathon in Kakegawa. I will need to average 4:59 to go sub-3:30 there, and here I was running 4:45s at the end of a mostly flat half-marathon!
The one big hill in kilometer 20 agonizingly put me over 5:00/km pace, but I had just enough in reserve to run a 4:28 final kilometer. That burst of speed, although not quite the 4-minute kilometer I had planned, was enough to get me in under 1:35:00. I ran 1:34:53 to be exact, my fourth fastest half-marathon time.
Nathaniel and Keith also struggled, but kudos to another teammate, Mariko, for knocking 5 minutes off her 10K PB.
I will be hoping for a cool, cloudy day in Kakegawa next month. I will conjure up a more realistic race plan for that one and share it with you here in advance.
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Warm weather is never good for racing – especially when you’ve been training in cool/cold weather.
Somehow, you have to sort out your foot problems – I can’t quite imagine running in massage insoles….
Very true, it’s hard coming out of winter training and watching your times get worse because of the heat. And you’re right about my feet. The full-marathon next month will wreck them. I think a good rest is in order.