Fuji-Yoshida 10k

It is all a matter of mental mindset going into an event. This past weekend at Fuji-Yoshida I was mentally prepared for a relatively easy tempo run. But the course was all uphill for the first 5k and all downhill for the last 5k. Now if I had planned on working through a long up and down course I would have been fine.

Back in October of 2004, amidst the painful recovery from the absurdly hilly Takao Trail Run, when Keren Miers first recommended the Fuji-Yoshida Fire Festival. Keren painted a vision of milk and honey - runners happily frolicking up and down gentle inclines through a thick, fragrant forest of pine and cedar trees nestled at the base of Mount Fuji.

And though it was a scenic and fun course, the happy frolic turned into one of those painful death slogs for me. My struggle was also because I went out too fast. I had told Adam moments before the starting gun that my enjoyment of the race is inversely correlated with the speed of my first kilometer, but somehow I ignored my own advice - something inherent in starting on a track heightens my sense of competitiveness. Moreover I had not figured on such a long climb - a steady uphill for the first half of the run and then a hard downhill from 5k to 7.5k and again at 9k.
My splits -
First 5k - 20:19
Second 5k - 18:02
Even with the faster second 5k it seemed like half of the runners in Japan passed me on the long downhill. The course was an interesting challenge, though I wish I had been better mentally prepared for the uphill.



Protein loading
Of course Fuji-Yoshida was not so much about the run - it was about the barbecue - a staggering array of meat and vegetables. As expected Namban's Australian runners (Colin, Steve) lived up to the stereotype of a nation of barbecue aficionados. The concept of a team barbecue proved popular. I have found that invariably in Japan when going out with a group we eat in restaurants rather than at barbecue picnics or dinner parties. So barbecuing was rather novel and most people ate and drank to excess.

The majority of my athletic endeavours this year have been triathlons at which I eat like crazy before, during and after the event. I seem to have forgotten that in a running race of a distant like 10k I feel much better when I hardly eat anything at all for many hours before the run.

So you might naturally ask at this point whether it would be more logical to have a big feast AFTER a running race rather than before. Well, yes, likely the race performance would benefit. However we consistently find that the team is simply too tired to prop themselves up for a big dinner after a hard race, let alone have the energy to prepare a barbecue. Very often one contemplates all the great things one will eat and drink after a triathlon. But then after hours and hours of eating gel and sports drinks in the hot sun your digestive system is so trashed that all you can do is sip the soup you are handed at the finish line aid station.

Perhaps Keren and Stu have the best strategy for post-race dinner - they make a point of staying at the Grand Hyatt whenever they do triathlons, and after the race they simply call down for room service.