Minimalism - Online Income - ESL - Japan
With just four days to go until the Kakegawa Marathon, I’ve been thinking about race strategy. First of all, I’m following the advice of a friend who told me to set three time goals so if you miss the first you can still aim for the second and third. My goals are: sub-3:30, 3:45 and 3:57:26, the last being my current PR which I set in the Nara Marathon last […]
I was feeling pretty sore after last week’s 32K run, during which I hurt my knee and made the pain in my foot much worse. I didn’t realize how sore my foot was until I went for a 4km walk the next day. I took the rest of the week off from running, but went swimming twice and did two 20km bike rides at night, the second of which I […]
For a long while I’ve been intrigued by a 70 kilometer trail run in the Utsukushigahara highlands in Nagano prefecture. The whole race is run at over 1,500m above sea level. That not only makes for some spectacular views (I may be running above the clouds!), but it also means it will be much cooler up there on August 31st than down here in Kakamigahara. Only 400 people get to […]
Here’s a quick round up of my recent training: On Monday, the day after the Kakamigahara Half-Marathon, I cycled 33km. On Tuesday, I hiked and ran my way across a mountain range in Inuyama. Over 9km, I scaled Mt. Hatobuki and Mt. Nishi, both for the first time. On Wednesday I went swimming. On Thursday I ran twice; 5K in the morning and 10K in the afternoon. On Friday I […]
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 […]
Lots to talk about this week, so let’s jump in with the big stuff first. JTU Membership and Imizu Triathlon Last year I did the Ebie Triathlon in Toyama prefecture and had such a great time that I wanted to do it again. This time around, I wanted to step up from the beginner’s “Challenge” race to the Olympic-distance “Standard”, but that required registering with the JTU (Japan Triathlon Union). […]
On Sunday, I ran my second 10K race of the year, one month after setting a surprising 40:40 PB in Kani. I originally hoped to challenge that PB because the course wasn’t nearly as hilly, and I was coming off the back of a strong half-marathon three weeks earlier. My expectations fell somewhat when I got bad hay fever and the forecast predicted a warm day, over 10 degrees higher […]
Saturday was the day I got my first ever road bike, a Giant Defy 1, and she’s a beauty. I’ve taken her out for a couple of rides when the weather has been good and I look forward to some long journeys later in the year. On Sunday, I got myself a headlamp and took to the mountains for my first ever nighttime trail run. Despite the darkness, it took […]