Steve - 8.68

My first race in Japan! The Ikegami Honmouji 10k. A challenging 5 loop course that takes place at the site of a temple with great views of cherry blossoms. Each loop has a steep downhill at the beginning, a tough uphill climb halfway through, and a few more smaller climbs towards the end, and finally about 200 meters of gravel and rocks to run through. Plus the race was at 10:10 am start on a hot day. Not exactly a PR course.

For the warmup, some guy in a dress suit led people in a stretching routine with other spiritual leaders from the temple giving a speech. Swag bag was lacking, although we did get a towel instead of the oft done t-shirt of American races.

In any case, I was just looking to have fun and run a decent time. First loop I took it easy and clicked off a 9 minute loop. Didn't feel too bad, but tons of people were ahead of me. Second loop was 8:51 and I passed a lot of people who went out too early. Third loop I wanted to drop out of the race. I felt awful. I just told myself to get the final loop and then finish with a strong kick. Lots of my wife's family members were there because they all ran the 3.5k fun 30 minutes earlier, so they were cheering me on every time I passed through the lovely gravel pit. Once I got to the fourth loop, I felt a bit better. Lots of people were dying around me. I kept plugging and finally made it to the 5th loop. I was still passing people cuz many were walking the challenging parts or doing a "sprinter's jog". Once I got through the most challenging uphill climb, I summoned what little energy I had left, and surged a bit. Passed some more runners and "crossed the tape" in 45:57, good for a whopping 26th in the 20-29 age group. Lots of young fast runners in this race. I wasn't too disappointed with the time considering I seldom run hills and my mileage is still pretty low. Perhaps I will run again next year if I am in Japan again. We went for some soba afterwards. I'm gonna miss Japanese food when I return home.

1.23 mi wup in 12:22
Ridiculous 10k in 45:57 (9:01, 8:51, 9:35, 9:33, 8:57)
1.25cd in 11:30