I am just back from taking part in the 2025 Tojinbo 62km ultra, and it has been a great experience. So, at the risk of boring everybody, here is the story, with pictures.
Category: Running
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Ray’s Theory of Running 😊
Here is a short post showing my approach to running races. Basically, I control my effort via hear rate and I let my pace be an outcome – which means running is more enjoyable and I still run quite well.
You have to listen to your body. I nearly typed you sometimes have to listen, but actually you always need to listen to it and I had to do just that, last week.
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Success disguised as failure
On Sunday morning at 8am I set off running 431km (268 miles) from Edale in the middle of England to Kirk Yetholm in Scotland, along the Pennine Way, as part of the Spine Race. However, I had to drop out at the first checkpoint, 72km (45 miles). It is clear that I did not meet […]
I tried a new race today. I knew that I would be under pressure to complete the checkpoints within the time limits, and I did it, just. Here is the story and perhaps a lesson or two.
Today, I participated in Rasselbock’s off-road marathon in Sherwood Pines (a nearby forest just south of the more famous Sherwood Forest). I am not training for marathons at the moment; my focus is on the Spine Race in January 2025 (a 268-mile / 440 km race carrying a relatively heavy bag). So, I was not sure how the run would go. At the start of the race, I was in two minds about whether to start with the 4-hour pacer or the 4.5-hour paces. I run road marathons in under 4 hours, but forest tracks are slower than road races.
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2001: A Running Odyssey
Today, my run streak (i.e., running every day) reached 2001 days (just under five and a half years). People have different definitions of what running every day means; for me, it means a minimum of 3km (just under two miles).
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The Minano 50K Trail Race
I have just had a fantastic weekend participating in the Minano 50K Trail Race (a 52km race in the mountains near Chichibu, Japan). Here is my account of the race.
On Friday, I landed in Japan (from the UK), met two friends, and travelled to Hakone to a hotel near Lake Ashi (芦ノ湖). Saturday (yesterday), we all took part in the Hakone running festival. I chose the half marathon, which was a hilly out-and-back course. I knew I would be sub-par from the travel, so my plan was to take it steady, and I achieved that.
This is a bit of a catchup post, talking about the last three weekends, but there is a common theme, focusing on participating, rather than racing. On each of the last three weekends, I have participated in races.