London Marathon 2022 (VLM2020) 6th of six
I am writing this after coming back from London to Tokyo in October,'22. To add on I have got covid from this journey to London. It was tough. 1 week plan updated to 2 weeks plan including quantarine in hotel for one week. Recovering time plus 2 weeks now. Total 4 week updated package I'd say. Good news is I am recovering and gradually starting walk and jogging now.
So I am writing this blog to review my journey and to share with running friends during my fun trail memories are clear. :)
About my training for 20 weeks.
The training plan was provided by coach in UK organization towards London marathon.
So starting 20 weeks before. It was about Golden Week in April and May. London Marathon Official charity NPO Team Sense has contract and serices with professional running coaching organization called full potential in UK. I was lucky that I could have follow 20 weeks training program based on my target finishing time 3 hours 5 minutes after three years blunk since 2019 Berlin Marathon due to Covid-19 circumstances just like many other runners.
It was really interesting and actually I was enjoyning the training program. Training in Japan is like more intense and hard. Sometimes pushing too much and caused injuries during training. I noticed the fun part and difference in the program provided by the coach in UK, Full Potential. More relaxed and less stress training are embeded every week trainings. This is really good why because sustainable! Not to push too much.
Easy relaxing jogging. Even challenging training once, twice every week, the design was more focused on my self condition such as how many words I can speak during the run etc..
This is very different approach compare to what I have been working on in my running carrier including school years. For example 3 minutes/km * 5 sets *2 etc. which I was doing in shcool years. I feel very heavy before and after training like these.
Now I worked on different approach, concept design, focusing on my heart beat and breath condition supported me more relaxed and sustainable duirng 20 weeks training. And imporantly it was actually really fun!!! :)
Condition during training and now London marathon.
I completed the training program which trgeting actually about 3 hours 15 minutes level.
I could feel my condition refering to my strength level, recovering condition after hamstring injury in June and July. I did run 300km total in August finally after hamstring injuly. I could not work on this if I did not have my 21 full marathons completion experienxces to face and know myself listing to my body inner voices. ;)
One day before the London Marathon Sunday.
We had a carbonloading dinner and fully loaded with carbon and filled up mind for next day marathon. I woke up at 1:30 am on marathon day which is pretty early in the morning. I've got to start biringing my jet lag together for 42.195km which is ordinary condition for me just like other majors marathon outside of Japan.
It's been three years since my previous marathon race which was Berlin marathon 2019, October. Now I have knock the rust of marathon race...
About the London marathon route.
The London Marathon course is centered on the River Thames, which flows through the city, with Greenwich Park, famous for Greenwich Observatory, as the starting point, the first 20 kilometers crossing the River Thames and turning right at the halfway point, and then turning counterclockwise to the west for 30 to 35 kilometers. The last half is 4.2.195 kilometers to the finish line at Buckingham Palace, with the River Thames on the left and the famous architecture of the scenic city of London.
The temperature on the morning of the London Marathon day was just below 20 degrees Celsius or so. The weather was cloudy, which was very pleasant compared to the heat in Japan, where it was still 30 degrees Celsius. Charity NPO gathered in Greenwich Park for a group photo shoot.
We all had practiced together all over the world for 3 years and shared the joy of finally being able to see each other in real life after having been in contact with each other many times via Zoom.
I think I am the only one from Japan. There is something strangely comfortable about this feeling of being in the minority. I think it is very important to feel the stimulation of the unusual with one's whole body from time to time.
I feel once again that the senses that sharpen the five senses are honed through voluntary experience in various situations such as this.
It goes up the hill in Greenwich Park for a while toward the start area.
The start area is divided into four colors, the yellow area. Somewhat looking around, you can instinctively tell right away that there are runners who would normally run in the 2-hour range.
Wave 1 started at 9:40 a.m. with the sound of a trumpet, and the race began in a relaxed, friendly manner. This is a new sensation. To be able to start in a relaxed and leisurely manner. It was very good.
The first 5 km was just as I had prepped for the previous day's carbo-loading dinner. It is a downhill like the Tokyo marathon first 5 km. Even if I enter at a relaxed pace, I will be going at about 4:10.
The marathon is a warm-up until 20 kilometers, so I go in at a relaxed pace, thinking about a 5-minute pace. I can sense that this is the most relaxed marathon I have ever felt in my life. No full marathon race for 3 years and no stress since I have forgotten the real full marathon race, so I feel rather good with no noise.
After about 10 km, the descent calmed down and we turned right at the corner and approached the Cutty Sark. It seems that the Cutty Sark was built in the 19th century to compete for speed in transporting tea from China to England on fast ships, especially for the upper class, who competed to earn the most money by how fast they could deliver the tea. This sounds like sitting and running in a English history class in schol... ;)
I wave to the first cheering group around here. The charity teams are cheering us on at four different locations this time, so that's a checkpoint to look forward to. The distance around here will give you an idea of how well I'm doing on the day, but this time I'm feeling good and heavy with a full stomach anyway. LOL
I don't feel good enough to get personal best time. But it's not that bad either. I am determined to make a good trip without overdoing it.
At this point I can still afford to take pictures with my phone. ;)
It's the London Tower Bridge across the Thames at 20 kilometers! This is so exciting. The cheering is great and, best of all, it's photogenic.
"Why didn't I buy a GoPro this time?" (talking to myself)
"I don't know..." (asnswering to myself...)
Still, I was so elated that I just stopped on the bridge and looked up at the sky. Ah, I've finally made it here, I thought.
The cheers and the view are sobering.
Cross the bridge and turn right at the halfway point. After a while, lo and behold, my friend is cheering me on! We smile as we pass each other and wave to each other. What a treat to have someone call my name in London!!!
After a while again, I get cheered on by a charity cheering group. This makes me really happy, and this run has been very stable in terms of feelings of mutual support. It was a very good feeling, a sense of normalcy, and I was happy to be able to feel it naturally all the time I was running.
25 km.
After a while, you will reach the Canary Wharf area. My personal impression is that it is like downtown Tokyo, from Hatchobori to Tsukiji or Tsukishima.
The road is narrow and winding. The atmosphere of the downtown area is fun to feel. I thought that the cobblestone streets with a little bit of old-fashioned atmosphere is one of the good points of London.
Once you pass through the financial district, you will find yourself in a modern developed building district, which is like a financial district these days. This was my first visit to London, so I was struck by a completely different charm from the cityscapes of Tokyo, Chicago, Boston, New York, and Berlin, where I have run before.
In a word, there is a sense of spaciousness. There is abundant greenery. There is no sense of hurry. Perhaps it is because there are many historical buildings, but the cityscape is calm and lovely.
Just before the 27 km marker.
Cramping earlier than usual. Hamstring in left leg. Ah, the ham I hurt in June. Thanks for all your hard work. Thank you so much for carrying me all the way to 27 km.
15 more kilometers to go. A little early cramping, still a little long, but let's make the rest of the journey a good one. No need to rush. First, I'll recheck in nutrition.
In retrospect, I may have sweated quite a bit today. I had been drinking a good amount of water, but I must have run out of sodium. First, I poured in the gel I brought from Japan and the gel I got at the local aid station in LONDON, UK!!!
After a while, my friends are cheering me on again, this time with a Japanese flag! I have never been so happy. I was so happy that I almost stopped to make small talk. This is a race of continuous gratitude and thanksgiving. I felt like I was running with a smile on my face, relaxed from start to finish, not feeling rushed at all.
35 km.
We continue on The highway. When I came back along the Thames River to this area, my physical condition was gradually getting tougher as I looked at the Thames River on my left.
Is this the Tama River?
No, it can't be! It should be the Thames.
We managed to make it to The Shard, Tower of London, and Millenium Bridge.
My body continues to scream quite a bit already. I'm sweating a lot, I have intermittent leg cramps, and this is the moment I realize how much I've blanked out over the past three years. But that's the way it is. There is no such thing as an easy marathon. I think back to the surroundings that have allowed me to make it this far. My family, my friends, my colleagues at work, and...the running community.
How much support I have received from the friends I have met because of my challenge to the six majors. Such thoughts naturally come to mind. Slightly sentimental in front of the view of the Thames! Naturally smiles and tears.
On the way, the Sub3 pacer of the following Wave overtakes us. Oh, so this is what it feels like! and for the first time in a long time, I remember my Sub3 pace and my senses come back a little. For some reason, I feel my energy surge again. Little by little, I build up a rhythm from the jog, and though I am wreathed in wounds, I manage to make progress.
Around this point, a Japanese running buddy catches up with me. We greet each other. Suddenly I feel like I'm back in Yoyogi Park or Oda Field.
37 kilometers.
Around this point, I notice something strange.
What is it? The crowd.
Not only in the beginning, but up until the middle of the race, I was called by name by friends and charity cheering groups, but rarely by anyone else. It was a different dimension from the end of the race.
That's right. The crowd was shouting my name on my uniform. What the hell, what's going on? It wasn't as if they were dashing around.
No, quite the opposite.
The crowd is shouting my name to inspire me to struggle! From the top of Waterloo Bridge, from the corner where I turned right onto Big Ben, I heard cheers of "Satoshi, Satoshi-san~~~".
This is a feeling I have never experienced at all in my previous marathons. I was starting to feel weak, like I had no strength left in me, but they were pushing me back!
Around the 40 km mark.
Around the Winston Churchill statue, I get cramps again. Ah, Churchill and the statue of Gandhi on the other side! I'm no longer sure what it is, but I'm at my limit. Then, there's the local hotshot athlete... Hey, you okay? Cramps, okay, just keep it under control and you're good to go for another two kilometers! Naturally, he cheered me on in authentic British English. It was like my English listening test. I'm so happy I could cry.
I honestly don't know if I still have two more kilometers to go, I mean, can I even enjoy two more kilometers! I was in the zone of "I can't believe it's still 2km to go, I mean, I can enjoy it for 2km! Full adrenaline release. In fighting mode, I ran the two and .195 kilometers to the finish line, where Mara Yamauchi was broadcasting live!
Taken the day before the marathon
The interview appearance in the video of the 6 majors is a good memorial.
Six global marathons.
Running Journey, I completed London in 3 hours and 25 minutes and felt that this journey was a gift given to me by the environment I walked through. I arrived here in a natural way. I am grateful to my parents, my family, and all of my environment for raising me with a strong body and mind capable of taking on such a challenge.
And I am truly grateful to the very community of fellow runners without borders.
For now, I am enjoying the aftermath and taking care of myself, and in a little while I hope to get back on the road and keep running. Thank you again to everyone who supported our charity. Run and be happy!
Sorry for the long and rambling message... Thank you for reading to the end.
I look forward to seeing you again at some marathon.
Keep running, don’t settle!
1st half 92mins was actually very good for considering my condition
and overseas race while 3 years away from actual race.
