Aizu triathlon, the HAT TRICK

You know how everything comes in threes? A, B, C....Crosby, Stills, and Nash, hat tricks, etc. Well, I did the Aizu triathlon in Fukushima this past August for the 3rd time, and got my 3rd PB of the season. I now have PB'd at all 3 distances this year, which took me 5 years to do for the half and full-ironman distances.



Swim: 26:39, 50th place  Swim was fine, about the same speed as last time.
Bike: 1:07:40,  47th place  Bike was fine too.
Run: 46:35, 109th place!  Run was improved since my knee injury, but I still have some work to do. 




Total: 2:20:54, 58th place, 6th in age group


From the numbers, you can see that my swim and bike are more competitive than my run. Paradoxically, my run used to be my strongest discipline as a veteran long distance runner.


 



beautiful Aizu

 


It was great to ride up with my old friends Keren and Stan, who both had sparkling races and PBs as well.
Highly recommended race, just a few hours from Tokyo. 

Let's challenge Roth, Germany! 大きなチャレンジ

It's over 6 weeks since the big challenge in Roth, Germany. Normally I would update this blog soon after such an auspicious occasion as an ironman-distance triathlon, but a journey around the world after the race prevented such promptness.

The race itself was a great experience yet a painful run. I had a good swim, a fair bike, and a super-lousy run. That's the way an ironman tri goes sometimes. A little background on Roth. It is a tiny German town in Bavaria near Nuremberg, which comes alive every July during the Roth Challenge Triathlon weekend. Some, including Chrissie Wellington, declare Roth as "simply the best race in the world".

     simply the best

Roth actually used to be ironman Germany, but a falling out with IM led to the formation of the Challenge brand. With 5,500 athletes, it is the mother of the Challenge family and the world's largest long distance triathlon. It is supposed to be a fast course and holds the men's and women's records at 7:41 (Andreas Raelert) and 8:18 (Chrissie Wellington). So when Keren, Mika x 2, Dave, and other friends sounded their Roth horns, I took the plunge and signed up, nearly 1 year ago.

When April came around, I wasn't feeling very fit, having done only some modest running training for Tokyo marathon circa 40-50k per week. So I did the Japan half-ironman in June as a warmup race for Roth, and completely surprised myself with a big 30-minute PB (see below Nagoya the Magic Dragon blog). Hmmmm, could it be a double PB year? Motozo pondered...

                    let's challenge!
 
 I arrived in Roth 4 days before the race and soon was exploring the town and course with Dave and Mika. Many others from the barbarian horde could not make it for various reasons, so it was basically the 3 of us. It was nice to bump into Stefan, former nanbanner, and Alex from TiT Japan, who were both traveling with family to Roth.

                       willkommen to Deutschland



We got to hear some of the legends of the game talk about the challenge including Macca, Belinda Grange, and Juergen Zack. It was surprising to see so many Kona Ironman Champions at the arch rival company. Caroline Steffen, 2nd place IM Kona finisher, won Roth this year.

                                                     he's a fan

Dave and I stayed with a German family, the which was a good experience overall. Our host mother Claudia rolled out the red carpet and we really got a feel for the local culture. It was way more personable than a hotel, and very close to the race venue. We had an über BBQ Thursday night in Claudia's backyard featuring her daughter's boyfriend's cooking and son's expert commentary on German and US economics. On Friday, we did the pasta loading party which was delayed incredibly by a trucking accident (presumably it was carrying the coveted pasta). Saturday I feasted on carbs and some protein, dropped off the bike, and attended a really boring race explanation. 

On race day, I woke at 4 am, stuffed a full breakfast down, caught the 5 am bus, and had 90 minutes to clear out my system before my 7:15 am swim start. Weather was nice and cool in the morning. I was hoping it would stay like that for the bike and run....  


Swim, 3.8k, 2.2 miles:

The swim in Donau Canal is a single counterclockwise loop with a floating wave start. I got to the front of the group and swam hard when the gun went off, trying to get a little space from the main pack. After the first 50 meters, I relaxed, the fast guys started passing me, but there was adequate space, and everyone went pretty smoothly. 

              not so tyred.....
 

I got into a nice rhythm and decided to draft off a guy that passed me at 1k. I stayed with him for most of the swim, hit the final turn at around 1 hour, and landed 1:11:18, beating my last IM swim by 7 minutes.


Bike, 180k, 112 miles:

After a quick transition, I was in the saddle ready to explore the German countryside. The bike course itself is famous with lots of gently rolling hills, forests, and farmland, quite a peaceful contrast to the busy half-ironman course in Nagoya.

                                    a long way from home
 


I was looking forward to the Solarer Berg, the signature hill with a narrow corridor of screaming fans. It did not disappoint. Around 70k into the bike, I could hear the noise of the crowd as I approached the hill. After a right turn, I could see several thousand spectators, and got a mad rush of adrenaline. 

       the hills are alive....

After Solarer and the first loop I came in around 34 kph pace, 2:40, or 5:20 full bike pace, which was slightly ahead of my goal. The bike was still fun and quick until 120k when a number of factors caused me to fade badly, not least being general fatigue. I had done plenty of long 5 hour rides, nearly every week in May-June, but I suppose it wasn't enough.




        ....with the sound of music...                                                                                                                                                           
     



The sun and wind also dragged down my speed. Last but not least, I had a mechanical gear problem for the last 40k where my rear sprocket failed to shift into lower gears which forced me to do Solarer and other hills in 5th gear and up for final 40k. Dave and Mika had started before me, so I had hoped to catch sight of at least Mika during the bike.


                                                                                                                              are we having fun yet?


















I finally caught Mika around 170k. It was nice to chat as I had not seen any familiar faces for several hours.
My second loop slowed to 31 kph. I rolled in to T2 in 5:36:02, which was still nearly a 1 hour improvement from my last ironman.

                             hop hop hop





Run, 42k, 26 miles:

And than there was the run, which was my strongest suit many moons ago. I pulled out of T2 feeling relieved to be off the bike, but my body really ached from head to toe. Still, I was able to run a good clip for 5k at 5:30 per k pace.

              das not good




Than it went pear-shaped. My whole body cramped at the 15k point including my arms! I tried the patented Jay Johanssen run/walk approach for 15-35k. I needed to run a 4 hour marathon to break the 11 hour barrier, but this faint hope went out the window at 20k. Despite the constant harassment from drunken spectators, I wasn't able to pick up the pace at 25-35k.  I had to pull over every 200-300 meters for water, food, and rest.

      danke Christiane!


It was all very painful and a fight to stay moving forward. Mika returned the favor to me about halfway thru, looking fresh. She is a great runner. At arond 40k, Joachim spotted me and shouted encouragement. I somehow was able to run the final 2k without breaks. Hoo Haa! I brought it home in 4:30:37 for the run.


                                                 はいラストスパート！　finish this!

My total time was 11:26:11, over half an hour PB, but don't feel like I crushed the race, rather the contrary. It challenged Motozo. Maybe I need a coach? Congrats to Stephan, Alex, Dave Sims, Mika. Simzee had a gutsy race on limited long training. Mika was the heroine du jour, running many men down and breaking 12 hours.
 
       the 2nd ironman: Henley on Thames


Aftermath: What made it extra tough was a 2.5 week business trip tagged on the day after the Roth race. 4 am the next day, I was rushing to Frankfurt airport, flying to Geneva, and toiling the Swiss heat in a monkey suit. 2.5 weeks, 31,000 air miles, and several countries later, I returned to Tokyo. Kudos to Dave for taking my bike back to Japan!


         incredible weight/height loss in San Francisco...
 

A big DOMO to all of you that followed the race live, and to many friends and family who supported me through thick and thin. Next stop, うつくしまトリアスロンin 会津, beautiful Aizu. The olympic distance tri should be a piece of cake!

Nagoya, the magic dragon, at Japan 70.3 half-ironman、名古屋のマジックドラゴンズ、アイアンマン70.3セントレア知多・常滑ジャパン

There must have been some magic Nagoya dragon that huffed and puffed on Hillary Swank and your humble narrator that memorable Sunday, June 9, 2013. It was a complete 180-degree turnaround in events. I went in with pretty low expectations with a laundry list of concerns. Not least was the fact that I had suffered from tonsillitis 3 weeks before the race and wasn't able to train for the 2nd half of May. May 6-12: 8.3 hours, May 13-19: 5.3 hours, May 20-26: 0 hours, that's right, a big donut! An average of 6.6 hours per week in past 2 months had me scratching my head and thinking...

....can I do this without crashing and burning?

                      Lixil: the link to good living!

Pre-race: On Saturday, I hopped on the shinkansen and was down in a flash to the Chubu Centrair Airport. By the way, this is a great race for someone looking to do a half-ironman close to Tokyo, in on Saturday morning, out Sunday afternoon, back watching Nadal kick butt in the French open final Sunday night in the comfort on your own home. The official name could actually be the longest ironman event name in history....ready for this...Lixil ironman 70.3 Centrair Tokoname Japan...got that?

                               he's a stud

On top of my lack of training hours, it was a stressful pre-race Saturday, as the omnipresent Whit Raymond, official ironman announcer, broke the news that wetsuits might be prohibited due to high water temperatures. Than back at the hotel I discovered a broken tire valve on my rear wheel tubular with only 3 hours to get my bike assembled and checked in. (Note to myself; use black cats instead of Sagawa Transport). After a painfully long train ride with rear wheel in hand to the bike mechanic area, an extremely efficient bike handyman fix of valve without tubular replacement (these puppies are expensive!), another long train ride back to hotel, than a 10k ride/warmup to the bike area, just in time for the bike check-in cut-off at 6 pm, I was ready for a well-deserved carbo-load and lights out.                                                                                                                                                          

Race day was a complete turnaround. I woke up at 5:45 am hungry and alert, wolfed down a full breakfast including essential natto/egg/rice, yakisoba, washed it down with coffee, arrived at the start area with 1 hour to go, welcomed by Whit's booming voice, and my 2 new mates, UK Richard and Swede Martin. I was also pleasantly affirmed by Ricky May that wetsuits were allowed and he also procured from May Storm that all-important 2 inches of tape for taping gels to the bike.

                                                               Ricky Martin and Motozo

Swim: Standing on the beach with Martin and Richard, we speculated how the supposed current was going to play out. Of course your humble narrator had been too busy taping said gels to his bike, and missed the swim warm-up. Alas, the horn sounded and we were off. It was a wave start so only about 240 other guys to avoid, which opened up pretty quickly. I swam super-easy for the first 300 meters, than pushed it a little harder, got to the 900 meter turnaround buoy in around 17 minutes. I thought that was a little faster than I usually swim, but I'll take it! I swam pretty conservatively on the way back as well, mixing breast stroke every 20 strokes or so, mainly as a vision mechanism, drafting off the occasional fast swimmer. I was happy to hit the shores in 35:21, which was a huge swim PB for this distance. 

                                                                 look at those buggers go...

Bike: I hopped on Hillary after five and a half minutes of T1 madness. This would have been 2-3 minutes had it not been for my wetsuit misplacement folly and long distance to T1 from beach. Never mind, I was saddled up and ready to grind it out. I started peddling at around 37-40 kph and thought it must be the fresh legs. After 10k, I was averaging 37 kph and marveled at the massive PB in the making. I didn't feel any discomfort or fatigue....yet. The bike course had changed from what I had heard, but was still technical and treacherous. The course had 4 x 22.5k loops with five 180-degree turns each lap, 4 of the turns bunched together within 5k of each other. There were also six 90-degree turns and narrow areas where race marshals blew whistles incessantly and screamed "slow down!!!" It was crowded and required full attention, eyes on the road all times. I was afraid to glance at my garmin speedo for fear of hitting something.


                                                                     got drugs?

                                                   

At the halfway 45k point, I was still at 37 kph, around 1:14:00, without feeling much pain. Than, at 55k, my lower back began to ache. I tried to enjoy the pain alla Tyler Hamilton, but it doesn't really work for me like those guys in the tour de France. I guess Tyler had more dope in his system than your humble narrator. Anyway, my dope-free back kept getting more and more painful and eventually screamed "get off this bike!". Anything, even a half-marathon in the heat, is better than 2 more minutes with Hillary. After the 3rd lap, I heard someone yell out my name, and quick glance led me to believe that my cousin Satoru had made it to cheer me on. Nice! a boost of energy was just what the doctor ordered. Somehow, I made it through the last lap, thinking of Satoru and the half-marathon "fun" ahead. 悟ちゃん、応援してくれて、本当に助かりました。I rolled in at 90k with a bike time was 2:29:11, average of 36.2 kph, another huge PB. Needless to say, I was quite pleased with that.

                                             wondering when I would hit the wall...

Run: My T2 time of 3:00 is deceptively slow given the long run in bike shoes to the change area. Anyway, I hit the ground running at 5-minute per kilo pace. I was sans GPS, but the course was well marked every 2k. I ran with a skinny guy briefly, and his GPS said 4 1/2 per k, so let him go fry bigger fish. I was a little surprised I could run at this pace after a few k, being in new territory with PB swim and bike splits. I thought I would hit a wall soon....as you can probably guess, this never really happened. I felt good throughout most of the run, consuming drinks and salt tablets liberally every 2k. At the halfway point (10.5k), I calculated that I needed 5 minute k's to get me in under 5 hours, and stepped on the gas pedal slightly. I knew the 11-20k would be the hard part, but I fought off the heat and fatigue fairly well. At 16k, I got another huge boost from my younger cousin Mari. まりちゃん、応援はどうもありがとう！
 
                                               nothing like the scent of a finish line...

  
I was at 4:41:00 at the 18k point, and could taste the finish line. I heard Whit's booming voice at 20k, remembered how he had dissed me in China for coming in at 6 hours in that pressure cooker, and felt satisfaction in beating that by over an hour 5 years later. I exalted at the finish line, guts pose and all, thrilled to crack 5 hours with plenty to spare.

                                                                    let there be light...

My official times were:

swim: 35:24, 45th place age group out of 243 in AG, 290th overall out of 1,380 total, 1:51 per 100 m pace
bike: 2:29:11, 29th place, 184th overall, 36.2 kph pace
run:  1:42:47, 38th place, 252nd overall, 4:52 per k pace
total: 4:55:51, 38th place, 232nd overall



                                             lots of 5's, but love the 4 the most..

Post-race thoughts: I am still trying to figure out how and why I was able to perform much better than previous races despite my limited training. Of course I did have high quality training sessions with namban every Wednesday at the track, and a long glorious golden weekend with the Don of Shimoda helped the bike and run endurance. I am sure the challenging half-marathon up and down Mt. Fuji at the Fuji Susono half-marathon did not hurt my running confidence. 

                                                                   Mother, I'm flying

                                                    yes, it was Fuji Su So so so so so so so so NO


I did take Bevan's keen advice and forced myself to stay in the aero position for at least 2 long rides in May, although they were under 80k. Perhaps it was the new cloud racer running shoes alla Keren's Oakwood party? Or was it the positive energy from Megumi's perfect cube champagne birthday party last week? Could it possibly have been those long Sunday Yoyogi morning runs with Terada, Brad, Brandon, Jay, Petr back in the winter? Or was it the awe-inspiring performance by Ishida san, taking 4th place in his age group, just missing another Kona slot by 1 place?

Who can say?



Coming soon, the real challenge of 2013!

Challenge Roth, Germany, July 14, (full ironman distance without the M-dot brand)

元三はハーフだ。Motozo ha hafu da. Fuji Susono half-marathon

2009 Fuji Susono barbarian horde

Fuji Susono half-marathon is one of my favorite half-marathons in Japan. Last time I ran it was 2009, I described it as a "hot and hilly scenic detox pressure cooker". This time around it was hot and hazy sans Mt. Fuji view. Given the heat and hills, I was happy with the result, which was actually 1 minute faster than my 2009 race. My splits were:

5K: 25:31 uphill

5K: 24:20

5K: 23:45

5K: 21:14 downhill

1.1k: 4:40

Total: 1:39:49, 80th in age group 

2013 barbarian horde

Did I mention the heat was a big factor? The official temperature was 23 degrees C on race Sunday, but it felt like 30 C in the blazing sun, and was quite a contrast to the cool rainy Saturday. I lined up on the track start with 5-6 nanbanners all aiming for 1:35-1:40ish times. It was awesome to run with so many friends. I dueled in the sun with Rie, Chika, Jon, Teruyuki, Anthony over the first 10k. I was generally passing runners on the flats, but getting passed by some on the uphills, which were prevalent over the first 10k. At 10K Chika was 近い, and she accelerated past all of us except for Terry. I couldn't really answer her attack, and marveled at her strength and cadence on the hot hills despite the fact that she was wearing long running tights and 2 shirts. I was overheating in my singlet and shorts and tried to run in the few patches of shade I could find. 

At around 13k I started to feel stronger, and knew that it was mostly downhill to the finish. Still I was surprised at how slow my 5k splits were considering I ran under 20 minutes last month at the 5k time trial. I sighted Chika at 17k and started to reel her in, but it wasn't easy. 

Ty and Anzu busied themselves while the runners toiled...

 

At 20k, I got a big boost from Megumi, Gary, Anzu, and Ty on the grassy sidelines. Ty was super excited to see daddy, much different from Tokyo marathon where he fell asleep!

A big thanks to Chika san for organizing the weekend, including 2 onsens and 2 tabehodai meals. The German brewery and Filipino band did not disappoint the night before the race as well. Of course, thanks to Megumi, who was a superstar attending to the special needs of our little running prince the whole weekend, and managed to take some great pics. It was a great thrill to see Meg and Ty during the race. A big domo to Chiba san for all that you do.

Next stop, Nagoya half-ironman in early June.

http://ironman703.jp/e/

Tokyo marathon, 2013, super something

In my wildest dreams, I run a sub-3 hour marathon in my 6th running of the Tokyo marathon. "I am Superman, and I can do anything!" (REM)　東京マラソンを６回目完走しました。

And back to reality, planet earth...昨年より好成績。ちょっと成長した。下記は...

地点名 Point	スプリット （ネットタイム） Split （Net Time）	ラップ Lap	通過時間 Time
5km	00:27:24　(0:25:45)スーパ Super!	0:25:45	09:37:24
10km	00:52:57　(0:51:18)超スーパ V. Super!	0:25:33	10:02:57
15km	01:19:28(1:17:49)ままスーパ NV. super	0:26:31	10:29:28
20km	01:47:01　(1:45:22)ちょっと hmmm	0:27:33	10:57:01
25km	02:15:03　(2:13:24)えーと  oh god	0:28:02	11:25:03
30km	02:46:37　(2:44:58)あら。。uh oh	0:31:34	11:56:37
35km	03:16:38　(3:14:59)おーけ  yeah	0:30:01	12:26:38
40km	03:46:37　(3:44:58)やって！go super!	0:29:59	12:56:37
Finish	03:59:41　(3:58:02)はいラスト！done!	0:13:04	13:09:41

Perhaps the Eminem SUPERMAN song is more appropriate than REM...(the following lyrics have been modified for family audiences)

"They call me superman, I'm here to rescue you. I want to save you girl, come be in Shady's world" ...that was the 1H of my race. The 2H of the marathon the tone of the song changed to something like this, "They call me superman, leap tall runners in a single bound, but I'm tired now, got no gas in the tank anymore, that 3:30 goal never felt so far away, in a race like this, Save it Clark, babysit, you make me sick, Superman ain't savin' shit!...."

次の日全身の筋肉が張っていましたよ！スーパーマンコスプレでスーパーマンになりきってましたがスーパーマンパワーは手に入らず。。。

　

And here's a marathon cookie for your efforts!

Starbucks party before a race?  Super!


Despite the mortal man splits, it was a super fun day. Following the semi-reunion/caffeine dosage with long lost nanban runners at the glorious Starbucks, we re-adjourned to the our usual starting positions circa 40 minutes before the Shinjuku start. BRRRRRR! I managed to squeeze into the B gate, spotted Brandon and several nanbanners reveling in the pre-race excitement. スーパ日でした。スタート前には、他の”南蛮人”（南蛮連合のメンバー）にも会え、９時に一緒に走り始めた。

The mayor spoke, the horns blew, the confetti flew, and we were off....
都知事のスピーチが終わり、僕は音楽を聞きながら、スタートしました。

I felt fine at 5 minute pace for the first 12k or so, than slowed a bit, but was inspired by many fellow nanban runners and our strong support team in Shinagawa, Hibiya, etc. Kimo came out early at about 5k in Akabanebashi which was a nice lift. I heard Bob's voice, and Keren's wife Yukie in Shirokane, than Chiba san and the gang in Shinagawa. I felt just super when I saw Satoe and Michael at 18k (pictured below). We did our impression of the Beatles running a marathon...5k/分ペースでスタートから１２キロまで進んだ。たくさんの応援の中、他の南蛮ランナーにも会え、スーパー楽しかった。友達Ｋｉｍｏは５キロの所に待っていて、よかったです。友達のKimoは５キロ地点、Bobとゆきえは残念ながら声だけ、千葉さん達は品川で応援してくれた。とってもうれしかった。１８キロのところでさとえとマイクを発見し、ラン中写真が撮れた。
       

                                                    super-Abbey road

I missed Meg and Ty at 23k, which is where the legs stiffened and pacing went out the window, not helped by a 3 minute bathroom break (note to superheroes: 1 piece costumes make it super-hard to take care of business) ２３キロ地点でメグとタイに会う予定だったが、残念ながら会えず。しょげてしまったのか、その後脚が固くなって、お手洗いの為に休憩してしまったせいもあり、ペースが遅くなった。

I finally caught up with Meg and Ty, who was fast asleep, at 32k, and staggered home to the Odaiba finish from that point. Meg really looked cold, but managed to take a few snaps of superman. I felt so sorry for Meg, Ty and other supporters who had to deal with the wind and cold while us runners stayed warm and toasty. ３２キロ地点でメグとタイを発見。とっても嬉しかった。すごく寒い中でメグが僕のスーパーマン写真を撮ってくれた。寒空の中応援してくれた、メグ、タイ、それからたくさんの応援者の方々が、少しかわいそうだなと思った。

I "flew" across the finish line in 3:58, much slower than my 3:30 hard goal and 3:40 softer goal. I had written off the 3:25 goal, which is Boston qualifying time, weeks ago. No excuses except for the strong wind, superman outfit, 3-minute bathroom break, 2-minute photo opp, lack of long runs, knee injury from 2 years ago, etc.! 僕の総飛行距離（一応スーパーマンなので、笑）は３：５８：０２。目標の３：３０よりかなり遅い。ボストンマラソンの登録の時は、予想タイム３：２５と書いてしまったけど、もう数週間しか時間もなく、この調子だと多分無理だと思う。今回の遅いタイムの言い訳は、1. 強風、2. スーパーマンのコスチュームは走りにくい、3. お手洗い休憩でのタイムロス, 4. 写真休憩、5. 長距離トレーニングをしてしなかった、6. それから最後に去年の膝の怪我がまだ完治してしなかった、という事。





Despite this, did I mention that it was a super day? Supermarathon, super-supporters, and super nanban post-race party. Thanks to Keren for setting it up. 全体的にスーパー日だった！

Next stop: triathlon season!　またアイアンマンの季節が来る

June: Japan 70.3 half-ironman　ハーフだ。
July: Roth, Germany challenge, full-ironman distance!　レッツチャレンジ！
September: Las Vegas 70.3 half-ironman world championships.レッツ決勝！

All is quiet on a new year's day

Happy new year, everyone! We just returned to Tokyo from a 2-week holiday in tropical Singapore, which is 1 degree above the equator. As I usually travel to Sing. for business, this was my longest stay, and I took advantage of our luxurious surroundings to get in several swim and run sessions. Here's the summary of my training in Singapore:

Dec. 17:  20:05 swim, Sentosa, 1.1k
Dec. 18: 23:13 run, track with Arnaud, 5k
Dec. 20: 41:01 run down coast of Sentosa, 7k
Dec. 23: 46:16 swim, 2k
Dec. 24: 1:12:43 run Sentosa with Richard, 13k
Dec. 26: 55:03 run Sentosa with Stuart, 11k
Dec. 28: 48:46 swim, 2.2k
Dec. 29: 1:07:55 run Sentosa with Leng, Meg, Richard, 14k
Dec. 30: 44:26 swim, 2.1k

Total in Singapore: 5 runs, 4 swims, 9 workouts in 13 days.

Thanks to my new friend Richard, I was able to do the Sentosa island perimeter run 3 times. We ran twice in the morning and once at night, but it was still fairly hot for all 3 runs. I felt stronger towards the end of the 2 weeks, which I attribute mainly to the swimming. My sister-in-law Lilia and her husband Max have a huge 50 meter lap pool in their condo, which I fully utilized. By the last 2 swims, my times were getting faster and I felt more comfortable in the pool.

 
We managed to see quite a bit in Sentosa and the city, thanks to Lilia and Ma^{x, pictured below}. We visited a planetarium, aquarium, bird sanctuary, beaches, etc.

It was great to see fellow nanbanners Leng Leng, Arnaud, and Stuart. I only ran once off of Sentosa, on the track next to the botanical gardens in the city with Arnaud. I missed the Macritchie reservoir course which I do love.

This is me with Leng, Arnaud, David Stevensen at the Wine company after the track workout. Those guys are really keen on the paleolithic diet, or caveman's meal. The diet is based on the presumed ancient diet of wild plants and animals that various hominid species habitually consumed during the paleolithic era (from 2 million years ago that ended about 10,000 years ago when humans began mass production of food crops). The "contemporary" Paleolithic diet consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.

It is similar to Bob's high-fat diet I suppose. Well, David had a good running year and Arnaud was in good form so maybe there is something to it...


This is Leng, Meg, and Ty pictured below after a 14k run around Sentosa. Leng and Meg are not doing the paleo diet, needless to say...
 

Feeling re-energized from Singapore, I did a quick 14k in Yoyogi Park this morning to start off the new year. 4 x 2.5k splits were 12:50, 12:46, 12:32, 12:10, which is a good pace versus the 14 minute laps I've been doing on Sunday mornings, albeit shorter distance.

My racing radar screen for 2013 goes like this:

February 24: Tokyo marathon
May: Nijima olympic distance tri?
June: Oshima olympic distance tri?
July 14: Ironman triathlon in Roth Germany
August: Ironman Japan in Hokkaido?
August: Aizu olympic distance tri?
September 8: half ironman world championships, Las Vegas

My goals are to PB in the full and half-ironman distances, and qualify for Boston marathon (I need a 3:25 marathon, which is a lofty goal at Tokyo marathon).

All the best in 2013. 今年もよろしく。