Date: Wednesday December 12, 2007
Place: Ohori Park, 2km loop (tartan surface!), Fukuoka
Subway: Ohorikoen subway, 5 minutes from downtown Fukuoka
Time: 4.30pm
Weather: Mild and overcast, no wind
Today I observed another 20km session from two athletes from the Shithetsu (bus company) team. The two athletes running were:
1. Ishida, 23 years old, 1.62/53 kilos - best times - 14:22/5000, 29:46/10,000, 1:03.20 half marathon
2. So, Shirokazu, 25 years, 1.82/62 kilos - best times -
14:16/5000, 30:08/10,000, 1:06.35 half marathon
Today they warmed up slowly and then ran the famous `bread and butter` favorite Japanese session, the timed 20km run.
Here are the splits for those two runners:
2km loop on a tartan surface around the artificial lake, with a slight rise on each loop lasting about 150-200m.
Splits for each 2km loop:
7:03, 7:04, 7:03, 6:49, 6:54, 6:46, 6:48, 6:44, 6:30, 6:17
It was very impressive to follow these two runners.
Observations:
Ishida is tiny (1.62) and unlike most Japanese he runs with a very bouncy stride with high back kick. He just bounces along the whole time.
So is much taller (1.82) and he has a much lower knee lift, and more upper body movement. Ishida looked a tad more comfortable, and he was the one turning on the heat in the last 4 km when they started running around 3:15 pace for each km.
The coach, as ever, was by the cafe, near the entrance to the park calling out the splits and noting everything down.
I followed on my bike a few meters behind.
Ishida training and details:
Club: Shihetsu club (bus company)
Job: Office worker
Hours: 9-3pm with early finish (1pm) on Friday
Training: On days when there is no session, the athletes run 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon.
Usual speeds training on non session days: around 4 minutes per km.
The Japanese are known for `slow` training, but every time I go to Ohori Park I see these characters running 3.20 pace for 20km!!! It is a lot faster than what I expected.
I also saw the Fukuoka High school Ekiden team train, and they all run together for 20km progressive run, finishing around 3:30 per km. They all wear those weird body long ribbons around their bodies, showing their team colors.
Other observations:
Japanese teams only focus on their teams and people. They totally ignore other runners and even if other people are running great sessions they do not bat an eyelid or acknowledge them.
The same with all the joggers in the park - they totally ignore all the star runners when they are flying along at 3km per km pace - not even glancing their way!
This behavior is strange to me, but a reflection, perhaps, of Japanese society - and the `us` and `them` syndrome.
Ghost in Fukuoka, Japan
Watch this space for more reports