Tokyo Marathon

I made a 13 weeks training plan for Tokyo Marathon with the training block starting early December. Nothing fancy really, 5-6 days of running every week (most runs were Easy/Aerobic/Zone 2 Heart Rate runs, 1-2 steady runs and one day of intervals to keep me sharp) and two days of full body strength training using some light weights and body-weight based exercises. The 3 weeks of taper originally had lot more miles every week, but chatting with Neeraj Engineer, I cut down the weekly mileage drastically to keep my legs fresh and body rested closer to the race, which surely was super useful. The detailed weekly buildup is here should you be interested.

Before the race 

My maternal cousin (Sairam) lives in Tokyo and was very kind to host me. As this was my first trip to Japan, I did want to get there early to make time for some sightseeing before and after the race, Sairam helped plan a rough sightseeing itinerary based on my interest for days before and after the race. I arrived Wednesday evening in Narita and after couple hours was in Shinjuku where Sairam lives, incidentally that happens to be the place where the race starts too. The weather that evening/night was cold (5-9c) and windy. Thursday morning, the weather continued to be the same with overcast conditions but no rains. Sairam and I did a 30 minutes easy run at the Shinjuku Chuo Park for me to check out the weather to (re)plan running gear basis the weather. I had read on Twitter that the Expo tends to get super crowded, so wanted to get the running number collection out of the way first thing in the morning. The Expo was pretty crowded, but was very well organized, it took me couple of hours to navigate through many of the booths/stalls. The lines to buy merchandise at Asics store at the Expo was the only bad experience at the Expo. Thursday evening, I met with my old friend from McAfee days, Eiichiro Kimura, it was great catching up with him and reminiscing our McAfee days over coffee. I did some local sightseeing on Friday and half day Saturday, mostly the touristy places in Tokyo. Sairam and I did a shakeout run on Saturday morning, I used the opportunity to assess the weather closely and plan my gear accordingly. Surprisingly, I slept like a baby Wednesday through Friday night which was really good especially with travel during the marathon week.

Race Expo on Thu morning

Met w/ Eiichiro Kimura an old buddy

Race day

Some anxiety about cold weather and sudden chance of rain didn’t allow me to sleep well Saturday night though, but 6 hours sleep nonetheless was sufficient, I thought. 6 am alarm! Oats with Milk, Danish Bread and Banana was the breakfast/fuel before the race. 10 minutes walk from my cousin’s apartment to the holding area was a blessing indeed, we left home at 7:45 am and were in the holding area at 8:00 am, 60 minutes before the flag off. It was cold and windy, I did have layers which I intended to discard as I got nearer to the start line timing mats. The flag off was at 9:10 am local time for the elite runners, I went over the start line timing mat at 9:20 am, the weather was cold, not a lot of wind (thankfully), the sun was out and it was bright start of the race. I utilized the first 1-1.5 miles to warm-up, get my breathing rhythm and also cautiously maneuver myself and not trip and fall due to the crowd. Tokyo Marathon is a flatish course with sections of downhill in the first 5 km. I didn’t want to hit the deck too hard, it gets especially difficult to hold back when legs are fresh and are firing well, it’s a downhill and everyone around you is running a touch faster. I wanted to save my quadriceps for later pounding, so kept the first 5 km steady and didn’t go nuts. The plan I had was to do the first half (21 km) sub 1:55:00 and try and do negative split of 2 minutes in the second half. I managed to run the first half in 1:52:12, didn’t do anything fancy just maintained a steady pace. Given I had ~2 minutes in the bank at the half way mark, I told myself, continue to maintain the same pace until the 20-22 miles mark and post 24 miles change gear and try and save an additional minute or so, if at all possible. By god’s grace, I was able to hold a steady pace all through and was also able to accelerate in the last 2 km. The second half came in 1:51:30, a negative split albeit by a small margin. I took 3:43:42 for the marathon, not a personal record, but a very satisfying finish time. 5 Huma Gels in total, one every 7 km and & 2 Salt tablets at 21 & 32 km mark, alternated with plain water and electrolytes at aid stations every 4-5 km kept be going. The icing on the cake was to have a family member not only cheering at the start line, but multiple locations on the course and waiting for me at the finish line. Sairam, thanks a ton and you were awesome that morning. Photo courtesy: Sairam Subramani

Start Corrals

At the baggage check-in

Before entering the Corral

In the Corral and waiting

Sea of runners

Gratitude

I dedicate this run to my parents who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and my sister, Aparna who celebrated her 40th birthday on 3/3/24 when I was pounding the Tokyo streets on that very day. Last, but not the least, Rashmi and my lovely daughters who always encourage me to travel the world for marathons. With Tokyo Marathon done, I complete 5 out of 6 World Marathon Majors with Boston Marathon remaining.

Thanks Sairam for being a wonderful host. Also, I thank my wonderful friends and family members who donated to the Plan International Japan, NGO, we were able to raise 150,000 JPY. I met with the charity at the Race Expo, you'd be glad to know they are doing some amazing work for underprivileged girl children in India and other parts of Asia. 

Post race