Tokyo Marathon 2011

I was happy with my training and 2 week tapering leading up to my 4th marathon attempt (without a swim or cycle warm up that is) and so the goal to beat 3.5hrs looked more achievable here in Tokyo. A couple of 20min lunchtime runs every other day in the past week, enough to keep my legs moving without any chance of tiredness or injury creeping in.
As I switched from cycling to work to using the train, my biggest fear turned out to be the coughing and sneezing on the flu wagon which I was convinced was all aimed in my direction. I had definitely had a head cold of some kind, but without any coughing or muscle ache, so by Sunday morning I was feeling rested and ready to go.
Frosties, toast & muffin, orange juice and banana at 6am then I caught the train for Shinjuku. Utterly overcrowded with runners here, but I was meeting up with Namban Rengo members at Starbucks near Nishishinjuku, Marunouchi line and this proved to be a great location for some reason the area and cafe was utterly devoid of people, yet we could see the baggage trucks from out of the window. So no queues for toilets, no stress getting the final vaseline rub down and even time to have a plain coffee.
The baggage drop proved to be the only slightly chaotic part of the day as although the trucks lined opposite sides of a wide road, runners were moving from both directions to find their truck, then turning around to head to their own start areas. In London, the start areas are in huge parks, so its easy to find the correct baggage truck and start area without the rush hour traffic.

I saw the iRun guy who needs no further publicity, a guy with a temple on his head and many power rangers preparing for the start. Standing amidst the skyscrapers of Shinjuku for 40mins was a time to prepare and a time to realise that I really was at the start of the Tokyo Marathon, and at 9:10am I would have to carry myself 42km twisting around the city via the palace, Shinagawa, Asakusa, Ginza, Tsukiji to Tokyo Big Site in Odaiba. Perfect weather conditions, this race is notorious for bad weather and I remember last year I couldn't bring myself to even go and watch the race it was raining and very cold. Only lucky ones here today, already lucky as we were the 1 in 10 people who were successful in the ballot to actually get to the start line.
The start was swift, I was in group D and I crossed the start line after only 4mins and the pace was restricted as usual by the sheer number of athletes on the road. This is always good, as it forces a gentle pace for the first 3-4km.  Very soon we rounded the Imperial Palace, and here I heard a call from Meg and Motozo, who have run in the past but failed to get places this year. Thanks a lot for the photos Meg, they're better than any of the official ones!
With about 25 Namban runners on the course, it was easy to pick them out in their familiar yellow and black kit, and also of course being amongst the few non-Japanese runners (apart from Japanese Nambanners that is) This made it a very friendly event, chatting as we passed each other on the route.

Everyone knows Namban Rengo means "The southern barbarians", as its the first question you ask on hearing the name. What I didnt realise until today was how Japanese people react to the name. I often thought it might sound either stupid or even aggressive, but there were clearly many spectators seeing the name for the first time, and having smiling faces as they shouted out "Gambare Namban". We really did get a lot of support with these shirts, as much as the usual trick of writing your name on your race number.
Just before 10km, I met Brian who was suffering from jetlag and recovering from flu, so unlikely to equal his 3hr 22min best at Kawaguchiko last December. Around this point we were joined by an Australian, Chris who I stayed with for the next 17km, we really had a similar pace for this section from Tokyo Tower to almost Asakusa. We passed the 3.5hr guys after the Shinagawa turn, so 18km down. There were around 8 of them running in a line holding pink balloons, and the usual mob of runners who try to run just behind these pace setters.
It was from the 19km point that I felt my quads tighten - this was unusual, not had this in training or in other events, so I was concerned the wall was not far around the corner. I was taking power gels every 30 mins, and 2 of the salt/mineral sweets I picked up at the expo which keep your energy levels high, but I guess they never keep the lactic acid levels down. No matter how easy the pace is, if you run long enough the lactic acid and damage seems to creep up to painful levels, this never happens to me on the bike.
After the turn at Asakusa, a brief space opened up from the  endless corridor of monotonous buildings and we had a great view of the Tokyo Sky Tree which is due to be completed at the end of this year. Very brief indeed, then the corridor of buildings surrounded us once more as we head for Ginza and I could feel the muscles tightening all the time.

Then with 6km to go, when the enjoyment of the event was fading and just getting to the finish as soon as possible was the overwhelming priority, I was broken from my concentration by Satoko who had come to take photos and run alongside me for the remaining distance! This was a nice idea, but it wasn't possible to run on the road at all, also the pavement often went up/down steps or completely parted from the road so my progress was much faster on the direct route. I saw here once more before she accepted this was not going to be possible, and so I didnt see her again till after Id finished, bathed feet in the cool foot baths and made it through to "public" side of the expo site.
The last 4km were tough, the pain mounting, and I knew I was slowing down. I couldnt keep up a faster pace as my calves were on the verge of cramp and if I stopped to stretch, I knew I would lose minutes. As I had a big cushion on the 3.5hr pace setters at this point, it was a case of just maintain a reduced pace, run though the pain and get this over with.

And so, finally, I made it to the finish line in 3hr 25 2s! I was very happy to finish the marathon running start to finish for the first time with no major dip in performance, and so I was able to draw the second eye of my Tokyo Marathon Daruma as the wish had been achieved.
Normally I say never again at this point, and it takes another 5 years to forget the pain, but maybe I could do this again? Not this year anyway.

地点名	スプリット	ラップ
5km	0:24:26	0:24:26
10km	0:47:44	0:23:18
15km	1:11:39	0:23:55
20km	1:35:32	0:23:53
25km	1:58:27	0:22:55
30km	2:22:27	0:24:00
35km	2:47:04	0:24:37
40km	3:13:47	0:26:43
Finish	3:25:02	0:11