Do you Kyoto?

100 days to go, 50 days to go, 30 days to go and so on... Kyoto marathon organizers kept reminding runners about their marathon day via Facebook. Take a look at some of the photos that were posted on FB (top-left person in the collage is Mayor of Kyoto city).


 These photos did have it's effect. At least on me. Not that I was not dedicated to my training but sometime you do have lazy day where a FB post like this does its trick and pulls you out from the cozy bed on a chilled winter morning.

I started my real marathon training when "100 days to go" had flashed on FB. Kept target of doing 1000km in over 100 days but was far off the mark until the race day. Could do only 650km. Perhaps my target was too aggressive or may be I am just not ready for 1000km plan yet.

80% of my training was done on a flat course of Arakawa river. Doing hills or hill repeats was not originally part of my plan, albeit out of compulsion, as there are no hills in the immediate neighborhood where I live. Going to imperial palace in Chiyoda-Ku was one option but that takes away more than half a day on weekend. For a family man like me it is not easy on weekend to stay away from family duties ;). But towards the end of the training plan I managed to do few hill repeats under the guidance of seasoned runner and fellow Nambanner Johannesen Jay (who used to run together with ultra marathon great Scott Jurek in Seattle). Only then I understood the value of hill repeats. Quality over quantity!




 My first marathon time was 5 Hrs 19 Mins. For Kyoto I  kept sub 5 as a  goal when I started the training. Cutting those 19 minutes, I thought, is tough but let me try it.


On 99th day I did my first long run of 25km on a new course I had found with the help of Google map. Run along the ShinNakagawa river for 17km and meet Arakawa river. Take a U turn and run back along Arakawa river for 8km to reach home. You can see course map on right. This is another pleasure of running. You can explore unknown parts of your town on foot.

Initially my time was pathetic on long runs and doing Kyoto in sub 5 felt like a distant dream. Another challenge in Kyoto was the marathon course itself. It had couple of  hills with around 95 meter elevation. Okinawa marathon had taught me a lesson of never to underestimate the hilly course.

As a part of training I decided to control my weight and one way to do it was taking right diet. When I started training on 100th day my weight was 63kg. I planned to bring it down to 60kg by controlling diet in terms of quantity not quality. So with couple of exceptional days, my majority food intake in this period was ...
-- Breakfast: Yogurt, avocado, banana, kaki, dates, dry fig, prune.
-- Lunch: Goya, Onigiri, Soba, Okinawan food, green salad, small quantity of rice, fish, sushi, pasta, quinoa.
-- Dinner: Light home made Maharashtrian meal ( two chapatis, veg curry)

Manjiri used to keep quinoa ready for lunch after long runs. It was her care and support made it possible to have balanced diet. Good, happy, lovely life :)

In Nov I did 4 runs of 30k to 33k four weekends in a row. This was a mistake and I learned it hard way. After 3rd and 4th run I started sensing weakness. By the time I finished run I started shivering uncontrollably in low temperature. Those two days, when I reached home I entered bathroom immediately and stayed under hot shower. I started doubting my capability of doing full marathon in Kyoto in Feb when winter is at it's peak. Next two long runs I cut down the distance as a precaution. This brought the most required break. Just ran two 15-22k runs for next two week ends and then on third week end I went for another 35k. There you go. I was feeling normal again. My confidence was back.

Way to Kyoto (a day before marathon)

Tokyo had heavy snow Friday whole day and till Saturday morning. All flights from Haneda Airport were cancelled. Trains were running late. My walk up to the station from house was a tough task due to thick snow on the ground and heavy wind. My umbrella broke by the time I reached station but after that it was smooth sailing. Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto was couple of hours ride. Reached Kyoto around lunch time, collected bib and buff at Miyako messe. The place was full of excitement and marathon air. After taking a Kyoto style green tea, I went to hotel for check-in. Here onwards it was all about staying calm and resting your mind and body.


I did Kyoto

Marathon started at 09:00 from Nishi KyoGoku stadium. I was in block J and that was second last block. I was prepared with my waist belt 6 energy gels and two power bars. I met Junto, my fellow Tokyo university class mate who was also in the same J block. We both lined up waiting for the race to start. But 20 mins before the starting gun sound, I went to my last toilet before the race and when I came back J block had already started moving. Here I lost contact with Junto.

It took 10 mins for me to cross start line after gun sound. I started pushing my way ahead mainly from right side of the course. It took me 1 hr 58 mins to complete first 20km. This was better than my pre race estimation. I avoided taking another toilet break till this point but in hindsight now I feel I should have taken it even if that means a loss of few minutes. My own experience of avoiding toilet break was, acute pain in groin :(  Luckily course had many toilets and I only had to bear the pain for 1 more km.

The most toughest section of Kyoto course was after 20km. It is stiff 70 meters elevation over 2.5kms (I think this hill is "Kitsune zaka"). Course takes U turn after reaching peak. If you are good on down hills then you can literally fly back for 3-4 km. Even though I am not good hill runner (neither up hill nor down hill) I clocked my best time in this 5k. I also took my first pain killer in this section, just as a precaution for remaining distance.

25km to 31km course I faced tiredness and fatigue both together. But enter Kamogawa river side and everything changed. Soft clay course for next 4km was just perfect at this point in time. Only trouble was width of the course. With so many runners running along side, trying to push way ahead was just not working. So I just decided to stay the course and enjoy Kamogawa running. All good things come to an end and this one was no exception. At around 34km we were back on tar road.

Up to 38km from here was slight up hill. I sighted "5km to finish line" in this segment and decided to speed up a bit. Ummm... But any attempt to do so was causing pain above my left knee. So again I decided to stay the course with steady pace.

At 40km I consumed my last energy gel. "2 km to go" board was lurking on left side of the road enticing me to speed up and I obliged. There was no pain and rather I had started feeling better. I was imagining about finish line in my mind. I was passing runners one after another. But at around 500m before the finish line, a lean fit guy overtook me with a decent speed, ignorant of the fact that if it is my day, no one can have their way without a fight. I kept on his tail and sped past him easily from his left. Now it was a race to the finish line. He was on my tail making his intentions clear. He was not going to give up and let me have my way easily. Finish line came in sight. The fit guy went for a kill and sped past me like a wind. So he might have thought. 200m was the only distance left and two of us were now fighting for our pride. I was not as lean as him or even may be as fit as him but I was trained for situations like this on Yoyogi track with fellow Nambanners. I pulled all my reserve energy and went all out for the dash... and boom... In matter of seconds I left him and few other runners for dust and crossed the finish line.

In any race this last stretch is typically the highlight for runners. It certainly was for me in Kyoto. 04:29:25! I never had imagined to clock this time. Deep in mind, my best case estimate was 04:45:00 but was willing to accept sub 5. But sub 4:30 net time became possible only due to that guy who unknowingly created charged up atmosphere for those last few minutes.

Post marathon body pain was far less compared to first time Okinawa marathon experience and I knew it immediately after crossing finish line in Kyoto. So where does it take me? Completing marathon used to be the goal so far. But now the bar is raised.

Do You Kyoto?... Yes I do Kyoto,... err... I did Kyoto :)