Kasumigaura Marathon Race (The 17th)

Date: Sunday, April 15, 2007 Weather: Cloudy then sunny

Location: Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Pref.

IMAGES

 
Bright Red T Shirt


Records & Impression

• The weekly weather forecast had said it would be also rainy at weekend.
• I was ready to run in the rain following to the previous race. (Three consecutive races!)
• However, fortunately, the forecast changed on Saturday from "Rainy" to "Sunny".
• It was sunny on Saturday and the maximum temperature reached 25 degrees Centigrade, which meant the climate in late May.
• I was worrying that the same temperature would continue on Sunday. To my relief, the weatherman said the highest temperature would be 18 degrees Centigrade on Sunday.
• In the meantime however, 18-degree temperature was not good for marathon race.
• Anyway, I left home before 6:00 AM. It was coludy and chilly.
• I went to Ueno Station to meet with my running mate and to have a seat. The train bound for Katsuta left at 7:03 AM.
• We arrived in Tsuchiura Station at 8:06 AM. It was cloudy and cool there.
• Before the start, I took two soft rice cakes stuffed with bean jam to refill the energy.
• There was a corner where the blood pressure to be checked. I went there to have my blood pressure measured by pretty lady with machine. However, to my surprise, the measured value was too high. I was advised to have re-measured manually with mercury blood pressure measuring machine. As a result, the value decreased a little bit, but I was still inclined to be high-blood pressure.
• The full marathon race started at 10:00 AM. The loss time to the start point was 2.5 minutes.
• At the beginning, the running condition was good, but shortly, I felt hot and started to sweat.
• I felt my running pace was good at the initial stage, however, the passing time at 5 km was 29 minutes and I was disappointed.
• After passing 10km point, I felt hotter and tried to have water as much as possible.
• Owing to hotness, I already felt tiredness around 15 km point and my running pace slowed down. Thus I was once worrying if I could complete the race.
• It was still hard to run between 20 km and 25 km owing to hotness.
• I took Amino-vital at 25 km aid-station to refresh and tried to speed up.
• Luckily I could get a rice ball at privately operated aid-station. I felt refreshed with rice ball.
• But I still felt hard to run until I passed 30 km point this time.
• I managed to pass 32 km point. I felt relived since I had to run only the remaining 10 km.
• There were several privately operated aid-stations during the latter half. Some of them served rice balls. I took rice ball at every aid-station to have energy. Thanks to rice balls, I could maintain my normal running pace during closing stage.
• Moderate wind was blowing during the race, but sometimes, the wind stopped. When the wind stopped, I felt hotter and was afraid that I might be heat exhaustion. Anyway, I continued to get water at every aid-station.
• I tried to run as fast as possible during the last 2 km, I felt the distance was so far. No one passed me to the goal this time.
• The goal time was 3 hours 53 minutes. I was happy that I could complete the race within 4 hours at the final race of this season. I sweated very much and my face was covered with salt.
• After the race, I drank beers and sake with my running mates at the marathon site. Very delicious!
• Then we went to the Chinese restaurant located a little bit far away from Tsuchiura Station. (Almost all restaurants were closed on Sunday. The Ramen shop we used to visit was gone.) The taste of Ramen we had was terrible!
• I fell asleep in the train, but managed to get up at Nippori Station to get off.
• I got home around 19:00.
• I could complete 7 full marathon races this season, which was my highest number.
• I have no race plan until autumn. Till then, I will go on pilgrimage.
  
  Records
  

  5 km	29 minutes
  10 km	54 minutes
  15 km	1 hour 20 minutes
  20 km	1 hour 47 minutes
  Middle Point	1 hour 53 minutes
  25 km	2 hours 13 minutes
  30 km	2 hours 43 minutes
  35 km	3 hours 13 minutes
  40 km	3 hours 43 minutes
  Goal	3 hours 53 minutes

  
  

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