Tokyo Marathon

I think it essential to pay attention to any signs that your body sends you. They could be signs of a possible, or developing, injury. It would be heartbreaking to carry out all that training only to injure yourself during the weeks before the marathon.

I did hear of one professional marathon runner whose training scheme was to run a short while. And then, depending upon what his body was telling him, he would adjust his distance/time accordingly . I will see if I can find more details on this story.

Currently on a business trip in Hong Kong. I did have glorious dreams of running the 5km and 10km scheduled runs over the island.

Problem is work, wine, women and gin got the better of me and I ended up missing the training day ie) Yesterday Tuesday of 5km.  Plus I forgot my shorts which meant I would have to run in my under pants – not a very nice sight to see I can guarantee you !!

Anyway today, Wednesyda, I bought shorts, sobered up and hit the hotel gym. I ran the scheduled 10km but I am wondering what to do about the 5m I missed yesterday !! I walked 3 km and ran 3km so in total covered 16 km on the tread mill in one session.  Does that cover yesterdays session ? Do I need to run another 5km later today ? What the hell, I will try and do it.

Running really helps put things into perspective. Without a walkman to listen to, all you have are your thoughts to keep you mind off the pain in your legs.

 Still following Hals schedule. Tuesday was a very difficult 5km run. Difficult because I couldnt find my breath and was weazing like a weak smoker.

Missed wednesday but kind of made up for it by running around the palace at lunchtime. From my office in kamiyacho and back is around 8km. Friday was a holiday.

Today, Saturday, ran 15km on the treadmill in the gymn. dull dull dull but it was either the treadmill or running in the rain.

Next week in Hong Kong. Looking forward to running around the island.. 

The week started off well. Ran a 10km on Saturday and cross training on Sunday. Monday was rest but Tuesday was a run around the imperial palace with the manhole gang.

That run was great. It is the first time I have enjoyed the company of running partners. Certainly the chat during the run helped pass the time. That last sprint at the end was so invigorating.

 But after that Tuesday it all went bad. Wednesday was a dinner with colleagues where my no drinking rule was broken. It was only 2 glasses of red wine which I counted as medicine.

And Thursday, last night, was too many glasses of white wine, a pint of guiness and tantanmen. The things I do for Reuters !

At the end of Friday I was told some heartbreaking news. One lady in the office came to chat and told me she had breast cancer. What had started out as a pain in the arm was diagnosed as a cancer the size of an orange. By the time of the diagnosis it had spread to the lymph node and was one viral bastard.

 Those that know this lady would agree that this is shocking, heartbreaking news.

 I was going to dedicate the run to Downs Syndrome. However knowing what I now know of Downs Syndrome and suddenly realising how close to home cancer is, I will dedicate the run to breast cancer. Anything that robs the world of young beautiful woman demands to be stopped.

If anyone knows of any Tokyo based charities in this area or if anyone cares to join me in the dedication, please let me know.