Tokyo Marathon

2 mar 2017 3 kommentarer

Karimas rapport från Tokyo.

Tokyo marathon took place on Sunday 26 February 2017. First marathon to start the year, making a stupid mistake even before start, major issue with the right hip after halfway, sunshine, light wind and a finish in …no idea! Ranking has not yet been published a few days after the completion of the race. Apart from the 50 first. Which I am not part of… Kind of an ok-start for the year then…

3:02:31, definitely not reaching the expectations for the race, but considering the happenings during the race, that would count as a good training. Sub3 was the plan, training had gone well and according to plan (apart from the freezing stupid cold at home during the last weeks prior to the race…), but runners ain’t soft people, right? :-) The body felt fine up to halfway, and then the right hip started to bother pretty much a lot, resulting into an easy decision to lower the pace to limit the potential damages, crazy slow kilometres between 30 and 40, but still strong finish last km with a malfunctioning hip and a not cooperating knee. Still a good way to end the week in the Nippon capital, under sunny skies and a smile of the face! Not every day one receives its 6-stars medal!

Completed the race in probably an ok-place considering the finishing time and the number of participants (30,000+ at start). Still the plan was not accomplished. There will be more races…. The last two weeks of training after Barcelona half-marathon had been going smoothly. Easy as it should be while tapering. Maybe too easy. Maybe too short time for recovery. Still, getting to Tokyo ahead of the race was a good move as it allowed to adapt to the time there (even though being dead tired in the middle/end afternoon each day leading to the race weekend) and being fit for fight way too early for the Japanese time :-) Final workouts in Tokyo were done in freezing cold and windy weather, drizzle and warm weather and finally sunny and chilly weather. Hoping for sun and smooth wind for Sunday! Felt fit enough. Felt prepared. Felt all ready to get there and run on some asphalt…

Short version? Good training, enough preparation to get confident for the objectives set, happy to be there, a bit “scared”/intimidated to be in a country where the language was so far it can be from what I know… Ready to run as I could be! The long trip to Japan did not really impact as the race was in the morning and that was when I was the fittest. Ever. OK-first half, dreadful second half, strong final km. And still 4^th best marathon time ever (and best for the 6 World Marathon Majors). Not satisfied regarding the time, definitely happy for the achievement (ie not quitting and completing still with a smile under the sun shining!)

Kommentarer

Björn 2 mar 2017

Bra! Hur kommer det sig att du valde en mara så långt bort från Sverige?

Karima 2 mar 2017

Sverige levererar väl inga mara som är snabba... samt fick ju äran att vara kvalificerad i Run as One som semi-elite international och Tokyo var min sista World Marathon Major. Fick en fin och stor medalj för det 😆

Björn 3 mar 2017

Kul, kände inte till det där med ditt deltagande i Run as One. Oj, vad många maror du sprungit i världsmetropolerna! Instämmer, Sverige har egentligen inga "snabba maror" även om flera banor är relativt platta som t ex Sätermaran, Kustmaran, Ölands Marathon, Göteborg Marathon, Växjö Marathon och Bromölla Marathon. Men ofta presterar vi svenskar bättre utomlands.