Races in April

With road racing season over and the weather warming up, the time has come to take the spikes out of the closet and begin running in the track.
First month of track and things are going way better than expected.

April 6th - Komazawa track
Ran my first track race of 2008 in Komazawa Stadium.
This is the second time I take part in this event. Very well organized and with various events to participate in: 100, 200, 800, 1500, 5000 and 10,000.
Last year Taro won the 10,000 and Patrick the 1500 setting the event's record and Jason came 2nd in the 5,000 which he ran right after taking part in the 1500.
Although a personal best at that time, last year's 1500 ended up been my slowest 1500 in 2007, as it's in April right after the half marathon season ... meaning no appropiate track training done.
Today I didn't really know what to go for.
Had the confidence of having ran a 5000 pb recently. Did two fast track sessions this week, both ended up been faster than when I did them in 2007 ...
"Well first track race ... I guess I'll start fast and see how far I can get that way." I thought.

Excellent start, and stayed up front (except for the beginning as two crazy kids bolted to the front for who knows what??) changing between the first 4 places throughout the race.
Official time: 4.12.94 ... a pb ... barely ... but hoping this will again be by far my slowest run this year. Oh and won the race which was a good confidence boost.

(The video runs twice - twice the action woo)


Komazawa track 2008 from omar minami on Vimeo.

April 24th - 5000 GODO time trial - running under the rain
I had broken 16 minutes for the first time four weeks ago and was looking for reconfirmation in this time trial. Unfortunately the weather predicted rain and hard wind.
Looked out the window all day during work (the race was at 8pm) and not a single drop ... very strong wind though. Came home and the minute I closed the door it began to pour. Took a 90 minute nap and by the time I woke up it was raining very hard.
"To go or not to go ... that is the question"
"If I run under the rain I will not go under 16 ... and if I run under the rain I will have to use spikes and if I use spikes I will not even finish due to the rain"
Decision taken: Use spikes and run under the rain.
I was soaking wet after the first 400 meters, but felt very comfortable and strangely not too far away the leading guys (I guess the fast guys decided not to catch a cold). 4 km to go, still comfortable, 3 km to go, the rain is starting to feel heavy and my legs feel a bit cramped due to the cold. 2 km to go ... one of the two leading guys stop, I wonder if he was doing a 3km time trial or he got cramped. 1 km to go and all of the sudden I am second place right behind the 1st place. Waited for 200 meters to go by ... "time to spice things up" ... flew by the leading guy, opened a gap and "oh man, I am TIRED" ... 400 meters to go ... I just survive ... finish second with an almost pb of 15.59.02, just half a second slower than my personal best. Great run for such terrible weather.
Here are the splits: 3.09.02 - 3.10.47 - 3.12.85 - 3.14.34 - 3.12.34

April 29th - 5th Kumagaya Challenge track meet
Venue: Saitama - Kumagaya, at the track Stadium (200yen by bus, 1500 by cab)
Events: Time in parenthesis is the time you need in order to participate
1500 (4.40 for men / 5.15 for women)
3000 (10.15 / 11.15)
5000 (16.45 / 19.00)

Now the above probably seem like slow times, but I am pretty sure nobody in the race runs like that. They run A LOT faster. By far this has been the most competitive race I have taken part in. To give you an idea, in the 1500 there were 7 heats, each with 20-25 runners. The winner of the 4th heat (so 3 faster heats to go) won with under 4.15 so a 4.15 will place you in 70th place.
This year it was even more competitive as 15 guys went under the previous race record and in the last heat 12 guys went under 4 minutes. In the 5000 many of the runners were expected to go under 14 minutes - reason why I didn't register to run 5000.

Anyways to my race -
On the left hand ....
Had a party with my coworkers the previous night. Drinks, smoke and karaoke is probably not the best way to prepare for a race. Woke up a bit (very) late, took the train and headed to Kumagaya (90 minutes away). Arrived and took a cab (another 10 minutes). 100 minutes sitting down with a hang over ... This didn't look good ... did it?
The race was about to begin so jogged for a few minutes and was ready ... well not really but whatever, just wanted to go home and sleep.
On the right hand ...
I had done a pb a few weeks ago in Komazawa without any speed training at all. This time however I had spent April doing 1500 specific workout sessions.
I had arrived quite late ... which didn't give me time to warm up ... which didn't give me time to do that tiring warm up I do before running.

BAM the race began (5th heat). Took a comfortable spot in the 6th place after the first 200 meters to see just how fast the field really was. I was really surprise when I looked around, after the first 500 meters everyone was still pretty much together. Still with a bit of alcohol in the blood, I decided to go for it ... to hell with this, time to go up front. "It's not like I will win the event as there are still 2 heats to go with much faster runners." And so I did and with 400 meters to go I was in the first place ... 30 meters after that though I was in 3rd lol.
The finish was really tight I think the first 3 (I ended up 3rd) all finished in between 4.09.69 - 4.09.99 ...
And I learned a lot from the event ... I tried hard not to run in the very edge of the first lane but instead run almost in the 2nd lane to not be trapped in a box. And I thought it was a good move (not fair-but good) for the 2nd place to make me open all the way to the 4th lane in the last 50 meters ... I must have lost 0.09 seconds doing that.
Final time 4.09.60 in my watch but the winner did .69 so it was probably a bit more.
Happy to finally break 4.10

Here are the videos of both my heat and the 7th heat ... first place in the 7th heat finished in 3.51
...first video taken by my sister who cannot hold a camera ... sucks ... second taken by me which is okay.


Kumagaya track race from omar minami on Vimeo.


Kumagaya 5th callenge track meet - 1500 last heat from omar minami on Vimeo.