Arakawa 30K 2:04:25, 39th

I went into this with pretty low confidence after my run in the ekiden in September, and after I couldn't do the full three intervals at race pace I had intended to the weekend before. I was also nervous, as I always am before races, and had trouble sleeping the two nights before the race.
My plan was just to go out a bit behind the 4:15 pacer, and then try to catch up with him by the middle and through the end of the race. I figured if I could average that pace, there would at least be a chance I could run 3hrs at Tsukuba.
Conditions were almost perfect, if only slightly hot. There was only a light wind, which felt great, and actually, the overpass gave us shade for over half the race. There were more people than I anticipated, and good facilities, etc, although I did not need them because it was so close to home.
I tried some new stuff for this race. First, I decided to try making my own energy gels. Found a recipe on the net which was very simple: honey, molasses and salt. We didn't have molasses, so I dissolved some of the kurosato that we got from kagoshima in some warm honey, and then added salt. All very random measurements. I put the mix into some 100 yen travel shampoo containers. I also decided I would wear my belt that holds a water bottle and put the gels in the pocket.
The night before I decided to make a shake for breakfast: bananas, a raw egg, yogurt, mueslix, almonds, soy milk. It sat a little heavy just before the race, but did not actually bother me when I was running.
Decided to run in the XC Zoom Streaks, because I knew my feet would take a beating from running hard, and didn't want any issues. They worked just fine.
I did about 15-20 min easy warm up run, some exercises to loosen up as well. Got to the line early to be up front, and many of the guys up front ogled at me, probably incorrectly assuming that I was going to try to win the race or something.

Me and Sky Tree!

When we took off, I started out in front of the 4:15 pacer, and actually stayed in front. I could hear them right behind me for a while, but I slowly moved further away from them. The pace felt comfortable, so I figured I would stick with it. I stuck with one guy for most of the race, which was helpful in some way, because we would work off each other. I felt good during pretty much the whole race, and when we got to the 20k mark, I decided to start to go and welcome the pain. I moved up slowly and had a good 5k. I started to feel tired and a bit frustrated as a 4-5 guys passed me with about 6k left. But then the number 1 woman caught up to us, and I decided I was going to stick with or ahead of her. That was the motivation I needed and I started to work harder. I got a stitch in my side for a little bit, but it soon went away. A new number 1 woman zoomed by, and I new I wasn't going to catch her.
At 29k I tried to push and when I saw the finish line, I gave it everything I had left. When I crossed the finish line, I actually choked up a bit, I guess because that last 1k was tough. Miho was there with the boys, and that made me choke up some more. Yeah for having family at the finish line!
My 5k splits: 20:38/20:58/20:53/20:43/20:44/20:27. Pretty much what I was going for in terms of negative splits. If I hadn't pushed the last 10k, I think I had enough in me to keep it up for another 12k, but I guess we'll find out soon.
As always, I wonder if I could have pushed myself more. I also wonder how I will fare if conditions are not so favorable. Anyway, it was an enjoyable and confidence-building race, and having it so close to home was a bonus.
Now, I just need to maintain until Suwako HM in two weeks!