27 km - Accomplished!

Our big race was yesterday. I say 'race', but use the term lightly. While it was a race, we were not worried about 'winning' or even how close to first we came in. Running for me has always been about the enjoyment not the competition. And that's a good thing because, while I did not come in Dead Last, I was pretty close to the back of the line. Brian, however, managed decent time - 2 hours, I think, while I was 3 hours and 50 minutes.

We went to Kawaguchiko the day before the race and stayed at a Pension (a slightly Western-style, affordable Japanese B&B) so we wouldn't have to rush on Sunday morning. The weather on Saturday was not bad - there was some sunshine and warmth. But the usual views of Mt. Fuji were nowhere to be seen; heavy cloud blocked any sunshine and the damp, cold air seeped into our bones before we got started.

We had a good run, though, and enjoyed the race. However,  the fact is, I hadn't trained enough and I simply couldn't run through the pain. At about the 15km mark, my right hip began to ache, by 17 km it was shooting pain through my leg, bursting at the knee. I ran about 3 more kilometres, then slowed to a limping-walk for several kilometres.

I was by far not the only walker and I did run across the finish line - but only because it was in sight!

Brian ran well, but he, too, should have trained more, and really needed new shoes as several of his toe-nails have already turned black, and the toe with the missing nail took a real beating and was still throbbing long after the race. His old knee pain, too, began to act up again. But unlike me, he ran through the pain!

One thing I did not like about the race (other than the coldish, bleakish weather) was that only full-marathon runners received a T-Shirt. We, with our 27km, only got a towel. It seems a small thing, but considering that I've been collecting my race T-Shirts, I was somewhat let down.

In any case, I think we will next try a half-marathon which is only 21km, and will ensure it includes a T-Shirt!

Meanwhile,  here's  photo that Brian took on Saturday, with his little Lumix: