September 2011 Blog Posts (6)

Yesterday, I ran the Ome-Nippara 36.8k trail run. I finished in 7:12, not bad for an old man, but too long for team-mate Yoshi to wait for me! He had come in in fourth position in 4:48! Great effort on a course where the downhills partly had ropes because they were to step to descend without them! Well, it definitely was not my kind of course, as I prefer gentle…

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Last Sunday I went to Yuzawa for the annual "Cosmos" Half-Marathon. I took the Joetsu Shinkansen at 6:30h and arrived shortly after 8:00h in Yuzawa. Start time was 9:50h - enough time to get ready.

The weather was ok - while it was not particular cold it was much cooler than in August.

The course is nice but the first 6 km it goes uphill; then 5 km down and the last 2-3 you go up again.

I wanted to finish under 1:30h but I ended up with just under 1:32h. Still, no reason…

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Yesterday, we had a successful time-trial at Lake Saiko, with Tony finishing in 19:16, Tomohiro in 25:54, Katharina in 33:53, Yuri in about 38, and Masako coaching Sabine to a 41:30! Otsukaresama!

Tension is building, I'm sure Yoshi is ready to roll, but yours truly still battling summer heat and hardly got over the German jet-lag.

Next Saturday, we will run 36.8k in the mountains near Okutama, from Ome to Nippara. Over all elevation is 1471m, the highest point 1651m.

If you should be somewhere out there, come along to support us, or if you have been mad enough to apply, see you at the…

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In June a few moms from my sons youchien decided to join a 10k race this coming November. They asked me if I'd like to join but I said "No way! I have never run before!" Then I started going to the gym just to get into better shape. Between my son's school schedule and my teaching schedule I wasn't getting that much time at the gym. I live right across from the river so I decied to give running a try. My first couple of runs were almost enough to make me give up (too hot) but I kept going at…

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Yesterday, I ran the Darmstadt Marathon in Darmstadt south of Frankfurt. I came off a business trip and not much preparation, felt over-all tired, and had to settle for a sub-par 3:51:56. The course was also hillier than expected, and weather was pretty hot.

In spite of these conditions, my friends Andreas Gerrits (left) and Benedikt - Haile - Heil obviously…

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