Jogging Haiku 58: Holiday Season

Past runs' memories
Tiny snowflakes drifting by,
Alone, not lonely

(15-17km, from Takarazuka to Arima onsen, via Mt. Rokko in 3 hours)

With the day free, my son at the daycare and my wife at work, I decided to burn some holiday calories and go trail running. It was my first long outing since the Sanjurokumine race, and I certainly felt it! I was all gun-ho at first, but it is a long way up from Takarazuka to the top of Mt. Rokko, a climb just under 900 meters (the summit is 931m).

Being a cold weekday, the trail wasn't too crowded, and as far as I could tell, I was the only runner, since no one passed me, although I did pass a few people. Not too long after entering the actual trail, I found a recently opened pack of gum and I figured it belonged to the first group I would encounter, and I was right: you should have seen the surprised face of the owner when I asked if it was theirs!

As mentioned before, it was pretty cold, and dressed like the Sanjurokumine race ended up being the right strategy, even if a non-sleeve fleece under might have been appreciated at times. I had new thermo socks I got from the home center, and they proved warmer than the socks I wore for the race. Not perfect, but better. I was also carrying a backpack with hydration bladder, rice balls (thanks, Momo), extra clothes (I forgot my shirt!), wallet and cell phone.

As the haiku indicates, during the run I was reminded of many past runs I've done there: training for the Oxfam Trailwalker - including the time I threw a snowball at Yuriko, it split mid-air to hit both her and my other assailant Akemi -; me completing the whole Rokko trail from Suma to Takarazuka; a run I did with my wife along with a group from the Run-Walk store in Morinomiya; and so on. With these great memories, even if I was alone, I certainly didn't feel it!

There were some flurries at times, and as I got higher, there was ice and snow on the ground. I wish I would have taken a picture of the crystalised formations on the side of the trail at times, they looked like quartz pillars guarding the way to the top. They were amazing. I did take some quick snaps with my phone, here's the best one I feel.

But before that, I wish you all a great end to 2012, and an even better start for 2013. I hope you will have a fantastic time next year, whether you run, jog, walk, crawl or drive!

4:11:50 (Personal Best!)

Black hearses on trail
White snowflakes gently falling,
Million shades of grey.

(Sanjurokumine Mtn Race, 30km, 4:11:50)

Wow, my personal best! I certainly didn't expect that one. At the last station I asked a volunteer what time it was, and she said 13:27. She then asked me it was a good time, and I said "I don't know"! And it took some time for me to do the math and realize my time wasn't going to be bad. But when I got my certificate with official time, and I was a little shocked, and happy of course. Oh, and by the way, the shades of grey mentioned in the haiku have nothing to do with the novel that only alludes to 50 (although it is a sort of reference); here grey stands for feelings (of pain?) between elation and agony. I felt much more than 50 shades on the trail!

I ran my race, and things went better than I'd thought. The main factor, the weather, wasn't too much of an issue, although I'll come back to it in more detail later on. For now, let me just say that it was cold! No rain and the alluded snowflakes were quite few, but there were a few times when I was pretty cold, and I'm glad I wore my jacket and not my fleece; the hood proved to be useful a few times, especially after stopping at the aid stations. Here's a highlight and lowlight report, mostly for myself to possibly improve my time next year.

Let's start with the highlights. My good time was caused by three things. First, I didn't stop at the aid stations for too long, especially the first one. I improved my time by 8 minutes, and perhaps I won half of that time at the aid stations. Was it a good strategy (recovery vs time)? Well, with today's cold weather, I think it was definitely the right thing to do. After the stations I always felt cold, and my legs froze rather rapidly, making the restart difficult.

The second reason is Run Less, Run Faster. The interval training really helped in the uphills, giving me a bit more oompf, even in the last kilometers when I was quite tired. The cross training, which made me an all-around better athlete (cough, cough) came in useful as mountain running involves different muscles going up, flat and down.

Third is I ate and drank more at the aid stations. If I hadn't, those last hard kilometers would have been much harder I think. Maybe carry a bit more food next time (those gels perhaps?), I only had a bit of water and one SoyJoy bar in the pockets of my jacket (something which worked fine as an alternative to wearing a light backpack).

Finally, I think minimal running also helped with those uphills, since my calves have gotten stronger. I didn't get any sort of cramps like last year, and even the last uphill wasn't that difficult on my calves. They were ready to go, it was my overall stamina that failed me there. I didn't encounter too many troubles with the minimal protection, at least against socks. When I did hit rocks or twigs, the immediate feedback had my feet get out of seriously injury quickly enough. A few times I stepped hard on pebbles  and stuff, but I didn't slide where others did.

Now with the lowlights. I think the main factor for me not going even faster is that I hadn't done enough long runs in my preparation. My legs were relatively fresh, but I just didn't have the energy to go faster from the second half - last third. If I want to go under the 4-hour mark, that is certainly something I'll need to work on. In my training, I missed too many long and tempo runs, and I felt it during the course. Loin muscle cramps prevented me the most from running uphill more.

Second, while the Five Fingers behaved basically as expected, I ran into (excuse the pun) two problems. First, with the lack of long training, my feet were killing me in the end. Just a few hours later I feel fine, but in the end it was really difficult. I need more training there, something I actually had anticipated, but not in this manner (I thought my ankles would hurt, which they didn't). Second, at times, which didn't help with the pain and running, my feet were frozen! I think my socks were mostly cotton, which is about the worse fabric against the cold. I'll need to find better socks next year. Also, I talked with a Frenchman who ran with NB Minimal shoes, and the added padding on the soles is something to look into.

Finally, I lose a lot of time in the descents, especially the technical parts. Shoes don't really matter here, as I was slow going down with trail runners and street runners, and again I think that practice would help me.

Well, overall, this was in a way the perfect race: I ran my personal best time, while at the same time learning some valuable lessons. What more could I ask for. So, next year, can I go sub-4? I'll certainly try to!

Last Training

This morning I completed my training for next Sunday's Sanjurokumine race. Similarly to last year, I go in the race with no expectations for three reasons.

First and foremost, and completely my fault, I don't feel I have trained enough. I missed many training runs due to different factors (illness, work, etc.), but mostly due to my own laziness. But where I lacked in quantity, I think I made up with quality. The Run Less, Run Faster program is quite excellent, and even after missing many runs, sometimes whole weeks at a time, I still felt good when I ran my last real long run two weeks ago. Part of it is the separate types of runs (long, tempo, intervals, the last one becoming an unsuspected favorite), but also the cross-training. I routinely ride my bicycle, and the trips to the pool proved a welcome and enjoyable change. So, overall, I haven't trained enough, but quality training might save me... from complete embarrassment.

The second reason is the weather, something I have no control over. Last year's conditions were ideal: sunny and cool enough not to dehydrate. This year however, the current forecast calls for some rain and possible snow, with maximum temperatures of 5. So it will be a cold one, and I'm not sure how I'll dress for it. Especially if it rains, a shell will be essential to stay warm, but I'm afraid to sweat too much under it. If I put clothes that are too warm under, I'll sweat like a pig, but if I underdress, I might freeze. It's going to be a tough to balance. For now, I'm thinking about wearing warmish tights, warmish compression shirt and outside shell. I've run in that gear at night last Monday and I didn't feel too hot or cold, although it wasn't raining. An option would be to bring a sleeveless fleece, and I guess I'll have to make the choice 20-30min before the start.

The final factor are my Vibram FiveFingers. I really like them, and I've been running with them for a number of months now, both on and off trail. On soft trails, they're amazing, and they perform similarly on technical parts as with regular running shoes, but they're not so great on gravel roads, and there are a few of them on the course. Also, I haven't run 30km on trail with them yet, so I'm not sure what to expect. Also, although I've adopted a barefoot-style of running, it still isn't as comfortable as running with regular shoes. I expect my calves and ankles to suffer quite a bit by the end of the course, and certainly the following days. But I really enjoy the feeling and will use the race to improve my technique.

So with all these factors weighing in, the best I can hope for is to finish in relative good condition. Equalling my second best time of 4:30 would be great, but I can't expect that it will be a walk in the park to do so. In any case, I hope to enjoy the race again this year, with encouragement from Yona Yona waiting for me at the finish line!

The Champagne is for another occasion, and yes, I'll share the beer... perhaps!