2000 km of Training Week 10: 1397.6 to go

Sun: Rest
Mon: 14/1:03:45/4:30/Mach 11 My long run on Saturday left me feeling confident, and I decided to do some fartleks on this run. Felt good, with just a little tightness in the knee towards the end.
Tue: Swim 40 min, Bike 35K. Learned the hard lesson of how crowded the pool is around 10:00 a.m. with senior citizens. Won't do that again!
Wed: 16.5/1:19:13/4:48/Trek Was happy to do the long route and not have any issues with my knee. Had given up on the Treks, but decided to give them a try again because the long run went well last week in the VFFs. They were ok until I the last few kms, when I started to get blister probs in the same place as always, on the outside of my right foot. I guess I will plan on only using them for shorter runs.
Thu: 11.4/55:35/4:51/VFF Legs pretty stiff since I barely had 12hrs of rest, but ok once I got warmed up, but still it easy.
Fri: Bike 33k
Sat: 32/2:38/4:56/Evo Garmin died on me (again), so not exactly sure on the time or pace, but should be about right. I was never able to really pick it up like I did last week on my long run, but otherwise it was a good run. No knee pain or tightness, although my calves were feeling a bit tight about halfway through, but that went away. Was a little bit of a mental struggle to run past the starting point for the last 10k.

Total mileage: 73.9 Good mileage for only running four days.

2000 km of Training Week 9: 1471.5 to go

Sun: 2.9k/10:02 Shibuya Ekiden
Mon: Bike 33K. Legs a little tired and stiff from the race.
Tue: 12.6/57:42/4:34/Mach 11 Decent run and pace, but was hoping to do a bit more. Had to back off because the knee was feeling a little funny and didn't want to make it worse.
Wed: Bike 33K
Thu: 16.8/Evo Watch battery died, so not sure about the time on this run, but it was a bit of a tough one running into a bitterly cold NW headwind. I'm pretty sure the pace was still under 5:00.
Fri: Bike 33K
Sat: 26.2/2:02:47/4:41/VFF Great run! Wanted to get in a good distance, but wasn't sure how the knee would react. Went out in the VFFs with no socks for the first time in a while. Started out with a mellow pace and slowly built up speed as I got warmed up. 5K split times were: 24:09/24:08/23:49/23:04/22:31. Pretty sweet way to wind up a training run! My feet fared well also, with just a couple of small blisters on my toes. Now I want to get in a 30k+ run, but take it a little more slowly.

Total mileage: 58.5 Not bad for only running 3 days, hopefully can increase this week without any knee problems.

Shibuya Ekiden

My first ekiden! Was extremely cold, high of about 6C with wind, and an early start. Had no idea what to expect, but thought it would be fun - 4 members X 2.9km each. I was the anchor with two other guys, Taro and Lars that were pretty good, and Luke, who was a sub for someone else, that was a bit slow. I was hoping to get in under 11:00, and was really happy with my 10:02 time! One of the fastest namban runners today, definitely top 5, maybe top 3. Felt good the whole run except for my freezing hands - good lesson learned to definitely wear gloves in cold weather!
I checked the results later in the week, and I was in the top 25 of over 400 runners, #2 in the group of Namban runners. Not too shabby!

2000 km of Training Week 8: 1530 to go

Sun: 12.5/1:00/4:48/Mach 11 A tough call whether to run or not today, but it was gorgeous weather, so I opted for a morning quicky. My legs complained at first, even had to stop after 5 min because of the 'popping' sensation in my lower left hamstring, but massaged it a little and was on my way. Then the only other issue was the blister on my right foot from the BF run yesterday. Stopped before reaching home and walked for a while, and then finished off the last 1k running.
Mon: Bike 33K
Tue: 9.1/44:21/4:51/Evo A frustrating run. Took the long route home, but my legs felt really tired pretty early on, and then my knee started bothering me, so I took the train partway. Haven't had a day off from running or biking in over a week, so probably just need a day off.
Wed: Rest.
Thu: 12.1/57:03/4:40/Mach 11 A decent paced run, but I had intended to add more on to the short route, but had knee pain so could not. Feels like it is getting worse recently instead of better...
Fri: Swim about 40 min. Pool was really empty, so got in a good workout - need to to that again on weekdays in the afternoons!
Sat: Rest. Didn't work out to run, thought it would be good to rest, and the Shibuya Ekiden coming up tomorrow.

Total Mileage: 33.7 Wow, haven't had one of these weeks in a while, but I guess I needed it.

2000 km of Training Week 7: 1563.7 to go

Sun: Rest

Mon: Dual workout w/Kimm Bike 28K/Run 13K Fun workout with a new friend from Namban. Was a bit of a chilly and early start at 6:30, but got warmed up quickly and enjoyed the company. Was sucking wind a little towards the end of the bike ride as we were riding into the wind. Use a HRM for the first time, and I hung right about 140 for most of the ride, speed was around 30 km/h average. The run was comfortable, kept it between 4:40-4:45 for pace. I ran the last 5k home pushing my bike, which was a first, and very easy and comfortable. Hope to get in some more workouts with Kimm, as we are in pretty similar shape.

Tue: 15.5/1:15/4:50/Evo Tough run. My left leg felt stiff for almost the whole run, could not get it to relax for some reason. Didn't really feel like pain, so I kept slogging through. Stopped for a pee towards the end, and when I tried to run again, it was so sore I could barely run, never mind walk. I guess it was a cramp, as it went away and I was able to walk ok, but going down steps was pretty uncomfortable. Wish I could figure out what it setting it off. Feels fine now, so I guess I'll decide tomorrow what to do about running tomorrow.

Wed: Bike 33K

Thu: 14/1:04:28/4:33/Mach 11 After the day off, went out at a pretty good pace, and just decided to keep it going. The knee felt pretty good, although I was getting some tightness behind my left knee near the hamstring. Both legs were pretty shot by the end of the run, but felt okay after stretching.

Fri: 8/40:09/5:01/Zoom XC Legs felt rough, especially my lower left hamstring. Couldn't get it to relax and it felt almost like it was popping. Decided to can the run early so that I could get in a decent run on Saturday.

Sat: 16.6/1:18/30/4:43/BF Beautiful, not too cold weather, so decided to give BF a go again. Was a good run overall, good pace for BF, although perhaps a bit fast, since I did end up getting a couple of blisters on my right foot, one pretty big blood blister on the outside, but that may have been more from a rock I stepped on than anything else. My furthest BF run so far!

Total Mileage: 67.1 Pretty good, want to think of this as an off week, but getting up into the 80's has been tough lately, so we'll see.