Yagawa 10k Run

For my Sunday long run yesterday I decided to wake up early and join Juergen, Stephan, Yuka and Takako for a casual 10k race along the Tamagawa River.

I ran the first kilometer with Juergen in approximately 3:50.  A pack of four of us cruised through the first 5k of the out-and-back course in a comfortable 18:50.  I had planned to run the whole race with Juergen, but then at the halfway mark one of the younger guys in the group broke away, and being the lousy team player that I am,  I abandoned Juergen to chase after this guy.   I figured I would just stay with the kid for a few kilometers, but we ended up running side-by-side until 9k when my competitive instincts kicked in and I made a feeble attempt to pick up the pace and shake him.  This effort failed miserably as I soon begun to struggle, and the kid moved by me with 800-meters to go and  ended up finishing light years ahead.  I completed the run in a respectable 36:49.

I wondered if the 14-hours of training over the previous week would have any impact on my 10k time, but apparently for a real triathlete the training I did was pretty wimpy stuff (see previous posting). 
 
The Tamagawa River is a bit different than the river where I usually train in Tokyo - the Arakawa.  The Tamagawa runs through Tokyo's fashionable, leafy, western suburbs.  The upscale professionals of west Tokyo are far more likely to cycle, and the trail is packed on this sunny morning with cyclists in flashy outfits on 500,000-yen bikes.   My Arakawa side of Tokyo, the older, traditional "shitamachi" is inhabited by us more blue-collar, bohemian people and the parks and trail along the Arakawa river are filled with drunken homeless men, young freeters, and naked unkempt small children, people fishing and playing baseball, rusted car parts and derelict factories.