Back from abyss?

My training has continued to spiral ever downward. Last Friday saw me plunge into the darkest abyss yet. I struggled through a pathetic and humiliating performance at the Ohtawara 10k - staggering across the finish line in 37:25.

My teammates tried to be polite and supportive, but it was impossible for them to hide their disdain and embarrassment for me. Several suggested I am washed up and my days in endurance sports should come to a merciful end: "Perhaps you should think about taking up more sedentary pastimes Jay - maybe darts? crossword puzzles? rock-scissors-paper tournaments?"

On Monday morning I could feel a searing pain in my IT Band every time I stood up after sitting for a long time. After a slow shuffling training run and a gasping, sputtering swim on Monday afternoon, I sank into complete despair and began gathering up my triathlon equipment and dragging it out of the apartment to dump in the recycling bin. But then as I started to toss my swim goggles and bike cleats into the bin for plastic, non-burnable recyclables, I begun to think about my teammates counting on me at the ekiden, and all our plans for Ironman China. What would my Grandma Magda think if I just gave up? Hadn't I been taught - A quitter never wins and winner never quits, and when the going gets tough, the tough get going?

So I dragged my gear back to my apartment and did some stretching and strength drills. Then I went to B&D Sports and had my foot plant and stance re-examined and bought some high-arch, high-cushion shoe inserts and new training flats. On Wednesday night I went to the weekly track workout and stuck behind Yoshida-san for 5-kilometers in 17:31 at an almost precise 3:30 per kilometer pace.

I still have a long way to go, but today I am feeling better that I can eventually get back on track.

Running in Qingdao

The city of Qingdao is famous among triathletes, but famous for its
Tsingtao Beer not for running or cycling courses. I only had one
free afternoon to experience the city, so naturally I decided to put
together an epic running course covering most of the city's
sightseeing highlights. I could not find much information on Qingdao,
but after scrutinizing the hotel map, I set out on a course that would
take over five hours of running/hiking/walking from east to west with
a taxi ride in the middle.

I had a taxi drop me off on the far eastern edge of greater Qingdao at
LaoShan Mountain's Taiquing Tao Temple.
It was beautiful autumn day and with the help of friendly locals I
found a path leading up the mountain looping around the coast and then
back along a ridge that parallels the coast. The path took me past
waterfalls and granite rock formations for about 10k (here is map of
this section of run).
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/china/qingdao/514601474
(use the map's satellite view)

I was descending from mountain after close to 90 minutes of
running/hiking when I met a group of Danish and Canadian travelers
with whom I shared a taxi back to center of town. They had done a
much better job negotiating taxi fares out to Lao Shan and back. I
was told to expect to pay $30 to hire a taxi to get out to LaoShan
(one-way) and congratulated myself to have paid $20. My new friends
only paid $15 (for the round-trip) -- one of the advantages of staying
at a youth hostel. One of them told me (rather apologetically) that
he was on a "whirlwind" China trip of only 5-weeks and was spending a
mere 4-days in Qingdao. I hated to admit that I was only spending 36
hours in Qingdao, and had been thinking even that a rather extravagant
use of time.

The center of Qingdao is a forest of gleaming skyscrapers and
fountains and Starbucks and well-dressed urban professionals. I
re-started my run at the Sea Fountain, a strange piece of plop art
that the Qingdao city officials seem intent on making the symbol of
Qingdao (rather than the more familiar image of a Tsingtao beer
bottle). I ran along on impressive series of urban beaches where the
2008 Olympic sailing competition will be held. It was a weekday but
the beach was filled with wedding parties shooting wedding portraits
at sunset. I lost count of the brides in wedding dresses after 20.

The 9 kilometers along the waterfront path in the late afternoon was
great running. But for me the highlight of running in Qingdao was the
last 5 kilometers of my run in the older western section of the city.
I weaved my way up and down the streets filled with magnificent
colonial architecture. It felt just like being in Germany except
there were more Chinese restaurants.

Here is a map of the second half of my run:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/china/qingdao/302931086
Again use satellite image to see this

Running in Shanghai

Shanghai is another city I have visited frequently and always stuck on
the hotel treadmills since the sidewalks seemed so crowded, and the
streets far too perilous to run across. But I had heard rumors of a
mecca of running in Shanghai - Century Park - and sure enough on a
sunny Saturday morning in November I saw dozens of runners circling
the perimeter sidewalk of the huge park. The park's outside
perimeter path is approximately 5km which seems to be the global
standard for urban running loops (Tokyo's Imperial Palace, Seattle's
Green Lake, NY Central Park...). This may be the only place in
Shanghai where you can cover 5km without encountering a single
stoplight or cross traffic.

Being a tourist, I opted to pay the 10 RMB (US$1.30) and do part of my
12k run inside the park. Despite the throngs of local Chinese
families (invariably one child, two parents, four grandparents), most
of the park trails are quiet and empty. I managed two laps inside the
park before I joined the local runners streaming around the perimeter
sidewalk for half a lap. About half the runners appear to be foreign
expats and I learn from one that on my next trip to Shanghai I need to
come to Century Park's Gate 7 on Tuesday nights at 7:30pm for the
festive, weekly YiQiPao group run.

Century Park is on the Pudong side of Shanghai - adjacent to the
global financial district the Chinese government has built from empty
swampland over the past two decades. The park is right on the Metro
Line subway and my taxi ride back to the other side of town costs me
US$6

Mileage base

With the triathlon season over, you would think that I would be
laser-focused on run training.

Last summer and autumn I ran so little that when I increased my
mileage to prepare for the Tokyo Marathon I was beset my a whole
assortment of over-training injuries (shin splints, hip pain, back
pain). So I had grand ambitions of building a better mileage base
this year, and until mid-September I was largely on track. However a
lingering virus, travel, and minor hip pain have conspired to shatter
these plans.

The rule of thumb is never increase mileage by more than 10% per week,
so now as I finally start to run consistently I am still limited in my
training. Here is my monthly mileage: (in kilometers)