Melbourne in winter. Short days and cold. Not the freezing below zero cold of the northern hemisphere but the grinding chill that seems to go and on. These are the days when Queensland and the Northern Territory send out the siren call of warmth and sunshine. It’s no wonder that so many Melbournites look for a respite of a week or maybe two. We had our time away in May in Darwin. Nine days of sunshine and heat. The downside, if there is one, is that a short break is not really time to acclimatise so runs result in ending up a little puddle of sweat.
Still we managed a couple of 15 km runs and to see a fair bit of Darwin , also a 21 minute parkrun. Returning home we decided to continue on to Brisbane for the marathon. The blog of that is somewhere in the archive. I’m sure anyone who is computer savvy can find it if they would like to read about it. I only mention it to say that I won the 60+ age group there and the medal arrived in the mail the other day.
Back in Melbourne with the London marathon less than three months away as the motivational email tells me. So how do we find the motivation to get out and complete the kilometres needed. I’ve always worked on small steps and achievements and longer term aims and goals. Mid winter is cross-country time, so I ran 12 km cross country at Cruden farm in Langwarrin with my club and then a leg of a cross country relay. Cross country is less about times and personal bests and more of strength and conditioning. There is a camaraderie sharing the fun of hills and mud with team mates and competitors. We have run cross country for many years and so have gotten to know many runners from a lot of other clubs. Good fun but a real slog.
Although winter is associated with cross country I still have a need to keep conditioning for the three marathons coming up in September-October. That means plenty of time on the road. After Brisbane I ran a virtual half marathon put on by the Tokyo marathon organisers. The hope there is one of 50 entries to next years Tokyo marathon which will be randomly drawn from the 1500 or so who completed the virtual half. It is extremely difficult to get an entry for that marathon (see below)so any chance is worth a 21 km run. It also completed a sequence of half marathon, marathon (Brisbane), half marathon over three weeks as a test to see how I could cope with repeat runs.
June was 253 km at just over 60 km /week and now we build for a couple of weeks. First week of July had 25 km on Saturday followed by 16 on Sunday. Next weekend is parkrun Saturday or relays if we have a team followed by the 30 km Sri Chinmoy event on Sunday. We’ll look at 2-3 high mileage weeks (anything over 80km / week is high mileage for me) and have signed up for the marathon in Mudgee in August and then maybe Dubbo the week after and that almost leads us into Berlin,London,Chicago.
A big emotional hurdle was reached with the shortest day passing. There was no sacrificing or bonfire but just the feeling that winter may end is positive. It’s only a minute or two longer of daylight each day at the moment but because we do so much of our running either early, just after sunrise or late, near sundown each extra minute is precious. We use the local bike path a lot and there are no lights on there so every bit helps.
Tokyo Marathon
Of the major marathons Tokyo stands out as the most “foreign”? The closest in terms of distance to Australia, Tokyo because of the difference in language and customs was the most interesting of the major marathons to run. The Japanese people are a delight. We spent an evening discussing the upcoming event with some businessmen having Friday night drinks, answering questions that were then translated into Japanese and then back again. A nice lady offered us help to the subway when it looked like we had missed the entrance with much pointing and smiling. The marathon is through the heart of Tokyo. It is at the end of winter and was a very cool 7 or 8 degrees and light rain when we started. There are a couple of out and back sections which are great because you get to see the leaders and marvel at how they don’t seem to be going much faster (but they are). At about 32 km the race approaches the Imperial palace before another out and back section. Looking up at the imposing gates it’s very clear that you are not in Kansas.
Of the other major marathons three are in the USA and one in London so all english speaking. The other is Berlin which although German speaking very much has a European vibe such that it feels very comfortable. Tokyo sits out there on its own in that sense. Entry into the Tokyo marathon is quite difficult. There are not the age related time qualifications available that there for Berlin and the US marathons. Run under 2hrs 45 and you’re in. So the ballot is the most available means of entry. Unfortunately the odds of getting in are about 12-1. Thus the virtual as another chance as mentioned above.
How’s it going
I’m pretty happy with where I’m at. I still have a bit of soreness in my left heel but that’s an ongoing issue. I have an investigation going on into low iron stores but it doesn’t seem to affect my running. (or maybe it does and I should be well under three hours . hmmm). All up very positive at the moment. Thanks for reading.