Fun in the sun before Tokyo Marathon

Just a brief update the day before the big race...my training has been non-existent, but I blame nothing but my lame lower back and hamstring...after a couple of decent weeks of training in early January, I headed to the desert in Arizona for some quality family time, which coincided with sharper back aches. This prompted a 2 week layoff in Arizona and the following week in Tokyo. The 2 golf outings with the very genki Dad unit, who just turned 74, probably didn't do much justice for my lower back, but worth the fun in the sun. Little niece Celia is turning into a intelluctual sponge. Each day is filled with new discoveries, activities, and words (including Japanese)....

Back to the marathon tomorrow, this could be my slowest time ever. I target anything under 4 hours. 3:49 is my all-time slowest back when I was a freshman runner nearly a decade ago. My mileage ramped to 50K in mid-January, but fell to 10K the past 2 weeks as the back pains became more acute. A trip last week to the doctor, Tokyo Physio, shiatsu, and several acupuncture visits seemed to help things as I can now walk and jog without discomfort. This race will essentially be a jog amongst friends. I am more curious about how the runs turn out for teammates Keren, Mary, Paddy, Steve, Jay, and many other nanbanners. In particular, fellow triathletes Mary and Keren, who have been training hard, could produce a couple of PBs if the weather holds up. Hopefully I come thru without injury. Looking forward to swimming and biking more as the weather heats up in March. Next stop is Hainan half-ironman in April..will update this after the marathon tomorrow..some mileage numbers:

Jan. 1-6: 51K run, 60K bike, 8 hours

Jan. 7-13: 46K run, 60K bike, 6.5 hours

Jan. 14-20: 11K run, 1 hour

Jan. 21-28: 0 run, 50K bike?, 3 hours

Jan. 29-Feb. 3: 32K run, 3 hours

Feb. 4-10: 10K run, 1 hour

Feb. 11-17: 12K run + 42K marathon??, 5 hours?????