Monday, March 30, 2009

Tokyo Marathon...the pacemaker brings it home

My 3rd consecutive Tokyo Marathon was a new experience in that I did not run for my own goal, but instead had the pleasure of pacing the lovely Megumi unit thru the race. Actually we ran together for the first 11k, than got separated at a crowded water area. Meg was slightly ahead of me, and I sped up slightly from 5:15 to 5:05 pace per kilometer, but Meg increased her pace also! It took me 20k to catch up to her. At 32k, she was slowing so we took it easy for the last 10k. You can tell from our splits how the race went....




Splits were:


28:06: 5K
26:59: 5K
26:37: ""
24:58: ""
26:06
26:14
26:50
31:17

13:50: 2.2K


3:50:58 total time average of 5:28 per kilo pace
It was pleasant to run at a slightly slower pace than my own, particularly the last 10k was not as excrutiating as it usually is.

Definetely the hangover from the copious amounts of tequila and beer was worse than the stiffness in my legs and back. Congrats and omedeto to all and thanks to the supporters out on the blistery course. Seeing Jay, Bob, Keren, and Leng Leng at the last 10k was really beneficial to Megumi and myself.








Here's Megumi's comments as well:




Many thanks to darling Motozo who made sure I got in my long training runs, endured my complaining through all of it and reminded me that the training is the toughest part with the marathon being the reward. And it sure was...I thoroughly enjoyed the first 10k with Motozo. I was gabbing away, pointing out the costumes I found entertaining and Motozo all the while thinking I should talk less to conserve my energy. At a water stand we got split up due to congestion. I should have slowed down, but I didn’t think I was going so fast and was concerned about the time, so I speed up at what felt quite comfortable until, of course, 35k. My left ankle started feeling sore and Motozo came up behind me just in time to hand me an advil. I wasn’t talkative after this point. I hit the wall and got reduced to a jog. It really was wonderful seeing Jay, Bob, Keren, and Leng Leng. I wanted to smile at them, but it took effort to just turn my head in their direction. I lost a lot of motivation when the clock clearly read I wouldn’t make my goal time. I was only running now to get the damn race over with. With the last 2k, Moto pointed out the ferris wheel in the distance and assured me we weren’t going that far. I felt energy at the last kilometer and sped up to what felt like a sprint. I finished quite sober, 6mins slower then what I was shooting for. Oh, well. Great experience! Will diffidently do it again and I’m happy that it was much easier then last year in Nagano. Many thanks to Mami-san at 33k! I was expecting to see a few of my siblings at 30k but disappointingly didn't, so seeing you cheered me up. Thank you Mary and Satohi for organizing the great after party. Its not every day that I can have vegetarian Mexican .



Finishing time 3:50.58.
Goal time was 3:45.