Cycle 5 Sept 10-20

Excited about doing a long run in the hills again this coming weekend. Will combine road and mountain!

Weight:

Runs: 5
9/11: One hour run home from work. Slightly sore right hamstring.
9/12: 40 minute run home from work. Hamstring still sore, so cut it short and took the train partway.
9/14 run home from work after a good ride in the morning.
9/17 A very tough run home from work with screaming hamstrings from the run up the mountain the day before.
9/20 Fartlek run home. After two days off, my legs were really wanting to run fast, so I went for it. Felt great while I was doing it, but I'm afraid it set off my shin splint again…
Long Runs: 2
9/16 40 km in the mountains! Ran from Hanno station, about 18k on the road, then onto the trails for a tough climb. Back onto the roads after 10k of trails, but didn't make it all the way to Hanno because of time (and fatigue!). 1200m total elevation.
Cross Training: 2
9/10 bike to work
9/14 Friday roppongi ride, a good, hard 60k
Power: 3
Rest: 2
9/13, 9/15, 9/18, 9/19

Thought I was over my shin splint, but still having issues.

Cycle 4 August 31- Sept 9

Going to Izu this week, so won't get to do as many runs, so will try to focus on doing a couple of longer runs, hopefully combined with hills. Also some swimming and bodysurfing!

Weight: 79.8

Runs: 4
9/1 1:30 along the river. Legs were beat after the big bike ride the day before, but overall was a good (hot!) run.
9/2 Meant to go for a solid two hours, but ended up only being about 1:20. Ran from Ueno to the palace with the intention of getting some hill work in, but my shin splint started to feel a bit off, so I called it quits early. Doesn't feel bad now, fortunately. Wore the Altra Instincts though, and they really made my right big toe sore, so won't be wearing those again for a while.
9/4 1:07 run home from work
Long Runs: 2
9/8 3:00 28k with Don in Shimoda! Ran during the hottest part of the day, and ran up a lot of hills. Was a little worried about my leg, but although I could feel it, it was ok!
Stairs: 2
Cross Training: 2
8/31 Another big bike ride! Rode from home to the hills for a total of 133 km/5 hrs. Got a little deeper into the mountains and got to climb up one ridge, which was enough! Next time will take the train to Hanno first, so I don't have to do so much mileage before getting to the mountains.
9/5 Commute by bike
9/7 About two hours of diving with Don. Speared two fish!
Power: 2
Rest: 3
9/3, 9/6, 9/9

It's really starting to feel like I am out of the woods with my shin splint. This was an odd week because of vacation in Shimoda, but the long run with Don was a confidence builder. I'm getting closer to signing up for the big race, just need to focus on keeping myself injury free - somehow not as easy as it sounds!

Cycle 3 August 21-30

Weight: 80.4 on 8/21
Runs: 5
8/21 1:08/12.6k/5:26 First time I ran with the Garmin in a while. A good run home from work. Hot as hell, but managed to keep a decent pace for the whole ride home, and no problems with the shin splint. Some tightness in my right hamstring, but a welcome change of pain!
8/23 Run home from work, hot, but overall good condition. Used HRM and averaged 142, a little over one hour total.
8/25 About one hour running in Chiba. Legs a bit tired from the big bike ride the day before, but overall felt good. Did a little upper body stuff in the park as well.
8/26 run home from work, a bit over an hour.
8/28 Run home from work, 1:10?
8/29 Run around Yoyogi with the boys 1:10ish
Long runs: 2
Power: 2
8/25 Only about 15 min of upper body stuff in park.
Cross Training: 3
8/24 138 km ride from Tokyo to mountains!
8/27 ride to and from work. Legs feeling pretty tired, and upper body still a bit sore from big ride last week.
Stairs: 2
Double Days: 2
Rest: 2
8/22 Unplanned day off, Sky was sick and Miho was out with Taiyo for his b-day.
8/30

Did more runs than expected, but nothing long. Guess I consider a long run at least 1:30. No stairs again, and still not getting in enough upper body and power stuff. But no complaints from the leg, despite doing some consecutive runs, which is great news!

Cycle 2: August 11-20

Weight: 79.6 on 8/12

Runs: 5
8/11
8/14 40 min home from work, leg felt pretty good, but started to feel a little tight around Asakusa, so grabbed the train home
8/16 about 45 min including the stairs
8/19
Long runs: 2
8/11 about 1:45 along sumida and Arakawa. Was meant to hook up with Don but we missed each other. Legs felt pretty good until about 1:00, when left leg started acting up, and could tell I was favoring it by the difference in sound tried to relax a bit, and it got a little better, but I was really wiped at 1:30 and even walked a little. Shin splint bothering me still two days later.
8/19 Aboout 1:30 with Don. Felt good overall, but did start to feel the shin splint after about an hour, that plus the toll of the heat and the 50k bike ride I had done in the morning, and I was really dead at the end. Iced the leg a bit after the run, and no pain at all the next day!
Power: 2
8/16 pull ups, dips, crawling, push ups, jumping, all 3 sets
Cross Training: 2
8/12, 8/15
8/17 bike 50k and basketball!
8/19 Bike 50k and 1:30 run
Stairs: 2
8/16 only about 15 min. Really felt the shin splint going down the stairs.
Double Days: 2

8/17 bike 50k and basketball!
8/19 Bike 50k and 1:30 run

Rest: 2
8/13
8/20

Overall pretty close to what I had been planning. Short on the runs, but more than planned on the cross training. Only one power workout, and that plus the basketball left me with a pretty sore spot on my collarbone, so need to be careful with stressing my shoulders, but also be more consistent with the power work.

Cycle 1: August 1-10

81kg on 8/2 Yikes!
Really not any progress with cutting back on sugar/carbs

Cross Training: 3
8/2, 7 bike to work, 8/10 morning ride with guys from Roppongi, about 50k total
Runs: 4
8/1, 3, 5, 8 home from work, 50-75 min
Power/core: 2
8/5 body weight stuff in shioiri
Rest: 3
8/4, 6, 9

Pretty much on target for this cycle. Left leg has gotten a lot better, should be ready for some longer and back to back runs next cycle.

Recovery and a New Plan

I've been away from this log for a long time, basically a loss of interest in tracking all the details of my running. But Don and I are cooking up some 100 mile madness for our birthdays in November, and that plus the fact that I have put on too much weight, and I figure it's worth seeing again if making plans and tracking data will be effective in getting me back in shape. The shin splint on the inside of my left leg has really slowed me down for the past couple of months; I can only assume it is the result of the transition into doing a lot of trail and mountain stuff after having done basically none before. It has been feeling better though, and I figure if I can get up to previous training levels by mid September, I should be able to really work hard for a month after that to get ready for the big event.
I've been thinking about getting into a 10 day training cycle for a while, and this seems like the right timing. As usual with running, I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'll just give it a whirl and see what happens.
I'll plan a cycle at a time depending on how that week's training is going, and these are the elements I plan to include:
Stairs (at my apartment building¥
Trail runs (twice a month if I'm lucky)
Power workouts (plyos, sprints, jump rope, and upper body work outside¥
Back to back long runs (I think a 30/50 combo will be the max, but Don thinks it should be more - he's probably right)
Two a days (combining early morning and evening workouts, not necessarily running only)
Rest (the ever elusive balance of knowing when I need it with trying to train as much as possible)
Nutrition (I haven't tracked how I eat with training before, but I've got to shed 4-5 kgs, so I need to do whatever I can)
More on the first cycle soon.

Sole Runner T1 Allrounder

Sole Runner T1 Allrounder

I first heard about this shoe in a Toe Salad review. This was in the fall of 2011, when I was experimenting in running in just the liners of my VivoBarefoot Ultras (one of my favorite shoes and am really glad they are sold without the liners as the Pure now!). I really enjoyed the feel of having the absolute minimum covering on my feet, just enough to keep the Tokyo grime off, but otherwise having about as close a ground feel to barefoot as possible. Of course those liners were meant to be run in inside the Ultras, and I quickly wore holes in them, but this left me wishing I had a shoe like that. When I saw the review of the Sole Runners, I had a feeling they were exactly what I had in mind.

Laci laces up for the first time.

I contacted the company in Germany to ask about sizing, and decided I would also ask if they would be interested in sending me a pair for free if I would blog about them a bit. While they didn't offer to send free shoes, they did offer to ship them for free to Japan if I agreed to write a review. It was a generous offer, but I held off on buying them for a while.

A couple of months later, I got an email from the company telling me they had found a Japanese distributor, and I requested that they forward him my contact info in case he wanted someone to test them in Japan. I was quite surprised to get an email from the Japanese distributor soon after. He invited me to a trade show where they were going to display the shoes, and I told him that while I couldn't make that, I would be happy to test them and tell some Namban Rengo running club friends about them if he wanted. He ended up sending me not one pair, but five of the T1 Allrounder, and all in the sizes I had requested for myself and friends. I have to say one of the coolest parts of getting them was the 'Made in Europe' tag on them, a welcome change...

Chris shows off a dance move. 

Jay preaching the good word.

I had originally requested the FX Trainer model, as that was what I had read in the review, so was a bit disappointed when the T1 Allrounder came, as it is a hightop, and I had never run in a hightop, and definitely prefer lowtop running shoes aesthetically. I was worried about them bothering my ankles as well, but the first day I got them I put them through a 6X1000m workout at a pretty hard pace, and they were fine. They run big, and were really roomy for my average width feet, but neither of those things were an issue either.


I have been using them as my primary running shoe for about a month now, have run mainly on roads on them, as that is where I do all of my running, and my longest run in them so far has been 26k.

What I like:

• Super light, flexible, simple. You don't get a more minimal shoe than this without it being a sandal/huarache. (T1 Allrounder=163g, VB Ultra (no liner)=112g
• Rugged and solid design that seems durable, but too early to tell yet. 
• Smart wraparound rubber sole that keeps your feet pretty dry in wet conditions (mesh uppers, so certainly not waterproof).
• Great lacing system that makes them quick to tie up or loosen up and take off. They also come with two different sets of laces (black and red)!

Sole Runner power, activate!

What I like less:

• Not crazy about the hightop design, although it is not uncomfortable, and does keep shit from getting in the shoe well.
• The fit is not snug, although it may be if you have wide feet; I do not. (The VB Ultra 43 is slightly small for me, I got the 43 in the Allrounder, but probably could have gotten away with the 42). 
• The sole is super thin, which is great if you want a very minimal shoe. I will do a lot of training in these, but my feet could not handle the pounding in an actual race. It also makes for cold feet when walking on cold ground, easily remedied with warm socks, of course.  
• The sole will not provide any traction in mud or snow.

Overall I see this shoe as great for those with a lot of experience running barefoot or in truly minimal shoes like myself. Versatile (haven't tried them for slacklining, but sure they would be perfect!), light, functional. Fine for casual wear, although others may not consider them very stylish. 

I hope that I will have the chance to try one of Sole Runner's low top models as well, but until then will be doing most of my training in the T1 Allrounders. 

'Hey, where'd you get those shoes?!'