Tokashiki Marathon

Last Saturday, I took a 35 min boat ride from Naha to Tokashiki to run my second half-marathon (ever). It wasn't until after the race that I reflected on how I may be taking my Okinawan-life for granted. I mean, how many people get to run races on little islands like this:


I ran my first half-marathon in November with a goal of 2:30, but ran it in 2:46:57. This time, I gave myself the same goal even though I had a bigger obstacle in front of me: hills. My friend Dave told me, "Tokashiki is kinda hilly, make sure you train for it." After running the race, I realized that was like saying, "Siberia is kinda chilly, make sure you bring a jacket it."

Here is the elevation chart [stolen from Dave's blog]:


At the 3km mark, you start your climb all the way up to the top of a mountain, which ends around the 6 or 7km mark. Then you spend the next 10km running around the island at a high elevation which is constantly up and down. The race didn't flatten out until the last 2km.

But because my legs are like train pistons, I ran the race (21km/13.1mi) in 2:14:47, beating my Iheya race time by 30 minutes, and my goal by 15! At this rate, my next race should be 1:45:00, and the one after that, 1:15:00.

For comparison, Dave ran it in 1:34.57 and the world-record is 58:33, so I still have some room for improvement.


***

A couple of random updates:

-I failed JLPT Level 2, again.
-I took the Kanken Level 5 yesterday and we shall see if I pass. (I already failed it once.)
-I re-contracted for a 4th year!

Iheya Moonlight Marathon

Last year, I took a trip to Iheya Island to cheer on some fellow English teachers during the Moonlight Marathon, which gets its name because it is ran in the evening. There purpose was to run a half or full marathon. My purpose was to drink. I had a lot of fun, but I ended up drunk and feeling fat.

Fast forward a year later to last Saturday, and this time I was one of those runners on the ferry to Iheya. I had just gotten over a cold/light fever, and I even puked over the side of the boat because the waves were so bad. But I had arrived and was ready to run. (actually, I felt horrible getting off the ferry, but after an hour or so, I felt better)

A half marathon is about 21 km, and I ran it in 2 hours and 46 minutes.

I am not exactly proud of the time, as I did a 10k in 62 minutes, but since this was my half marathon debut, my goal was only to finish.

I learned a lot, too. I felt great around the 15k mark, but around the 17 or 18k, I stopped to adjust my shoes, and a wave of exhaustion came over me. I also became conscious of the amount of pain my legs were experiencing. Stopping once caused me to stop again, and again, and again.

Next race, no stopping.