11/4-11/10: From Salida to Tokyo

Nov 4
4.1 on CR 210 in 34:40, max HR 135

Nov 5
Am: 5.5 in 41:50 on CR 220, max HR 145
Pm: 3.2 miles in 24:20 on CR 250, max HR 145

Nov 6
3.7 in 28:10 on CR 140

Nov 7
20-minute tempo run around Jim Baker reservoir in Arvada near my brother's house; 3.16 miles. Expected this to feel light and quick after my race on Saturday, but it did not. Had to work harder than I had expected.

5.1 miles total

Pm: 13-hour flight to Japan

Nov 8
Japan is 15 hours ahead, so this day mostly didn’t exist for me. Left Denver at noon on Thursday and arrived in Japan at 7 pm on Friday. First day off in months (depending on how you define a day - my Saturday run was technically on Friday in Colorado).

Nov 9
Am: 8.7 miles trotting a couple of laps from hotel and then around the Imperial Palace Gardens in Tokyo.

They were having ceremonies related to the crowning of a new emperor in Japan, so there were roadblocks, crazy crowds, and lots of other festivities.

Lots of scenes like this

Pretty serious park

Lots of folks in ceremonial garb

Pm: 4.8 miles walking around Tokyo.

Nov 10

Am: 5.7 mile run around Imperial Palace. There was a procession for the new emperor, so more roadblocks and detours. Probably saw 2500 police officers on my run, often yelling at me to stop running or to run somewhere else.

Not a lot of imperial processions on County Road 220 in Salida, so the run made up for in visual and ambient stimulation what it lacked in consistent aerobic stimulus.

Pm: 9.8 miles walking around Tokyo w/ the wife.

Not a lot of runners here

View from the hotel window

King Kong, doing his thing

Not in Salida anymore, Toto

Hanging with an old friend from college in front of a robot restaurant

10/28-11/3: 17:38, Day of the Dead 5k

Oct 28
Am: 4.4 easy on CR 250 in about a foot of snow and in newly christened screw shoes. 37 minutes.
Pm: 2.7 easy on mill. Wasn’t feeling the mill today and so cut it short.

Oct 29
Am: 4.1 easy on CR 220, 31:30 in screw shoes. Icy and muddy but not too bad. Max HR 145.
Pm: 2.2 mile “tennis ball fartlek” w/ XC team, jogging around the football field in a blizzard chasing after high school kids throwing a tennis ball. 30 minutes of jogging and chasing.

Oct 30
Another six inches of snow last night and bitterly cold this morning.

10 x 1 on, 1 float on mill, “on” sections ranged from 6 – 5:30, floats were at 8:30 pace. HR never got above 170 for more than a few seconds and stayed in the tempo range for most of the workout.

4.4 miles in 34:30 with warmup and cooldown.

Came down with some flu-like symptoms in the evening. Slept for just shy of 11 hours

Oct 31
Still struggling with some flu-like symptoms

2.1 super baby easy in 20:20 on the mill; HR never got above 120

Happy November!

Nov 1
Felt better today; no major lingering symptoms

Am: 3.67 on CR 140 in 26:34; Max HR 150, average pace 7:14. To be able to run that pace for an aerobic run at 8k feet w/ a couple of hundred feet of elevation gain is a very encouraging sign. Gives me confidence I’m more fit than I was before I hurt myself.
Pm: 3 miles in 22:10 on CR 220

Nov 2
3 miles super easy in 23:45 w/ strides

Nov 3
Made an impromptu decision to visit Denver for a friend’s birthday last night. My training the last few weeks made me think I was in decent shape, so I figured I’d hop into a 5k last minute this morning.

Ran the Day of the Dead 5k in 17:38 in Wash Park. Masters PR. First mile in 5:22 so definitely started out a touch hot. Didn’t feel like I was fading that much, but the watch said otherwise. Followed up w/ 5:38 and 5:46. Definitely out of practice racing.

My watch said 3.16 miles in 17:37. Clearly ran some crappy tangents. 6th overall, 1st masters. First race back since The Incident, so good to get back on that horse!

Googled the people who finished around me, and it appears that I beat a chick who got bronze in the European XC championships twice and then, according to the internet, got busted for doping. She ran a 75-minute half earlier this year, so that makes me feel good. Maybe if I can get down to low altitude for a race I can sneak under 80.

Working pretty hard

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My wife and I are headed to Japan this week for vacation. Never been to Asia, so it should be a whole new experience for me. Not sure what the running's going to be like, but if I can find a flat stretch of ground where there aren't a million people, I may make a go of some harder runs out there.