2000 km of Training Week 6: 1630.8 to go

Sun: 18/1:22:19/4:35/Evo Went out not sure how long I would run, but planning on doing some speed work. Did a few fartleks, then found a place near the in-laws with a 200m incline, so did five intervals of those, although probably could have pushed another five. But felt good overall, and no knee pain at all.

Mon: 14/1:03:54/4:34/Evo A good run home from work, plenty of energy, and felt good to keep up a decent pace.

Tue: 17.5/?? 4:40ish/Mach 11 Forgot to restart my watch partway, the distance should be right, and I think the pace is close. Good run, especially for another three days in a row. Could feel my knee, and think it might be the shoes, but didn't ever really bother me enough to slow me down or make me think about stopping.

Wed: Rest - end of the year drinks with friends.

Thu: Rest - end of the year hangover.

Fri: 13.9/1:03:36/4:35/Evo Great run home from work, comfortable at this pace, no issues.

Sat: Happy New Year! 15.6/1:15:32/4:51/BF My longest barefoot run yet! Decided to start the year off right with a BF run, wasn't sure how it would go, and it got a bit cloudy and windy just before leaving, but I decided to go for it anyway. The run felt great, no issues with my feet or body at all, and I was very happy with the pace. My feet were a little cold, but not numb, and I came back to not only not having any blisters or abrasions, but my feet actually felt like they had gotten a long massage!

Total Mileage: 79km. Hoping to hit the 80k mark, but this will have to do.

2000 km of Training Week 5: 1709.8 to go

Sun: Rest. Took a day for family and some Christmas prep.
Mon: 17.6/1:25:40/4:52/Evo What gorgeous night for a run! Beautiful almost full moon, no wind, about 8degC, and running just felt great. I had a great rhythm and it felt easy, like I could do it for hours and hours. Unfortunately, my knee felt a little tight from early on, but didn't really bother me until around 14K when I was zig zagging across the soccer and baseball fields to gain some distance. Lost some speed then as well, so the average is a bit slow. Was in shorts and a t-shirt, which felt chilly but good. Put on just gloves and a hat towards the end, and it made a big difference, good lesson for further winter running. May try to make it through the winter in shorts...

Tue: Rest

Wed: Namban workout 12.8 total: 4.8 warm up/6K int/2K cool down

1200X2/1000X2/800X2: 4:33/4:25/3:37/3:34/2:47/2:49 Pretty happy with the times considering I did the whole workout BAREFOOT! I ran the warmup in the MWUs, and felt a little tight on my big toes, so I figured I would give it a try BF, and just hang back a bit. Well, it was chilly and windy, and I was underdressed in a tank top and shorts, so I got going and decided to see how much I could push. The whole workout went great. I was a little worried at times about getting stepped on, and my feet were a little numb, but no blistering and almost not damage except the skin cracking under my right pinky toe, which has happened before, and may be related to a little athlete's foot I have there now. It was really exhilarating to run hard BF, I felt light and my form felt good. I could feel my self leaning back a few times at take off, so I had to adjust my weight and relax. Definitely want to run more BF, too bad it's winter, but I may try to keep it up at least on weekends, and will reconsider what shoes I keep in my rotation.

Thu: 13.8/1:07:02/4:51/Mach 11 Pretty good run, legs not stiff. Pace a bit slow in the last half, shoes felt a little strange, big toes a little tight. Knee slightly noticeable but not bad. Beautiful moon again!

Fri: 21.2/1:38:15/4:38/Evo Legs a bit stiff at the beginning from 3 straight days of running, and wasn't sure if I'd get in the 20K I was aiming for, but started to loosen up towards the halfway point and felt really good, started picking it up towards the end, very happy with the pace, and no knee pain at all!

Sat: Rest for Xmas!!

Total mileage: 65.4

2000 km of Training Week 4: 1775.2 to go

Sun: Bike 33K
Mon: 12.3/55:59/4:33/Zoom XC A good run, and while my knee bothered me a bit with walking up and down stairs, it seems to be ok when I run.
Tue: Rest - KZ Xmas party!
Wed: Rest - Nasty tequila hangover...
Thu: 13.9/1:05:30/4:43/Evo My knee felt a little off about 5K into this, and was going to bag it and take the train partway, but then it felt ok and I was able to even add a little extra on.
Fri: Bike 33K
Sat: 16.5/1:14:30/4:31/Trek & BF Went out with the intention of doing a 3KX6 interval workout, and doing a little extra for a total of 20k total. Got into the first fast interval, and felt wasted after 2K, and that's because I was going much faster than the 4:00 pace I planned on. I sort of gave up, but then got back into it and still finished the 3K in under 12:00. But then got another 2K into the next slow interval, and felt the same blister area I had gotten on my right foot the last time I wore the Treks, despite wearing nice thin socks this time. I got frustrated and decided just to take off my shoes for the last 5-6K since it was a beautiful sunny day anyway. It worked out great, and I was still able to keep a sub 5:00 pace for the rest of the run. So those shoes are out of my rotation and may only be used for casual use, which is disappointing. My Evos also have big holes in the right shoe, and the super glue repair I did seemed to fail. Will try sewing them, but perhaps have to pick up a pair of the Neos? Really want to hold off on spending cash for running gear for a while but...

Total Mileage: 42.7 Was planning on backing off this month, but not quite this much. Want to get up to the 60-70K range, but may be tough with Xmas this week, maybe all for the best for my knee...

2000 km of Training Week 3: 1817.9 to go

Sun: 20.15/1:33:45/4:39/Evo Perfect conditions for a run! My first morning run in a while, and my first attempt at a relatively long run since the problems with my knee. Incredible blue skies, about 10-12 deg C, light wind, perfect for shorts and t-shirt. Had to stop a couple times for CBs, but otherwise all smooth. Decided to do two loops south across bridges along Arakawa, it was a pretty good route. Thought I felt some tightness in my leg at the beginning of the second loop, but it ended up being fine. The pace is better than I thought, I didn't really make an effort until the last 1-2K. Blister from running on Friday got pretty nasty!
Mon: 12.2/57:40/4:42/Mach 11. Decided on the Brooks because I though they would be the easiest on my blister. Took out the glued-in insole to see how it would feel. Over all good, no pain in the knee, and could feel the blister, but it didn't get worse.
Tue: Rest. Support Xmas party.
Wed: 8.9 total/Evo. Meant to do speed work, but didn't get very far partly because of stomach problems from the party the night before, but mainly because speed work alone is hard and I mentally flailed. 1000@3:31/500@1:46, the rest was warm up/cool down at around 4:30 pace.
Thu: Bike 33K
Fri: Rest: Disneyland!
Sat: 25/1:57:58/4:43/Evo Another gorgeous day for a long run, sunny, not too windy, and a comfortable 17C or so. Set out to do 25K, and was able to do it without any real issue, although my left knee did start to bother me for the last 5K or so, and was sore afterwards, which has not happened in a while. Pace felt good for most of it, feet did get a little beat up, and have been getting some soreness in the joints of my big toes lately, hopefully something that won't get worse. I was also thinking I need to do some more running up the banks of the Arakawa on these runs to at least somewhat simulate some hill work.

Total mileage: 66.3 I'm happy with this, will take a slightly easier this week and maybe next week for xmas, but would like to figure out how to get my mileage up into the 70s or higher.

3000k total!

Added up the mileage from all of my blog posts and also from my training plans for the HM in Tsukuba and Tokyo Marathon and got about 2800k. That was from August, and I started to get somewhat serious from April before that, so I think a 3000K estimate total is fair and possibly conservative.
Anyway, a decent number for a year and a half of running. Had a lot of weeks with very little and even no running because of injuries and recovery, but hopefully that will subside.
What have I learned after my miles so far? Well, I do feel like my body recovers faster now from long runs, and when I have gotten hurt, my body tends to heal faster than I think, but that is probably at least because I tend to be pretty fatalistic every time I get hurt.
Rest is important, having weeks with less mileage is important. Speed workouts are tough, but important. My core muscle/back exercises are important, and I really wish I could do more resistance work in a gym, but the time just doesn't allow. Mixing in biking is good, although I've really only been doing that with commuting.
I'm faster than I imagined I might be, but know it would take a lot of time and hard work to be much faster, not that that has been my goal, but it is fun to be able to run fast. Running 100k when I am 40 is not impossible, but would take a ton of training time, which probably would not fit well into the family balance.
I wish I could run more in the hills and in nature, but now is not the time, hopefully sooner than later.