and I am out...

But before I talk about why I will not run Ohtawara, let me congratulate all our NAMBAN ladies to their great performance yesterday in the final Tokyo Women's International Marathon.

They all chased Ozaki, Shibui, Mara Yamauchi (who is a former NAMBAN by herself).

We watched the Marathon at the Stadium (Start), km 16, km 27 and km 39 and 40. Being a runner myself I know how important it is to cheer. And well, we cheered a lot. Still can't talk today too much ;-)

OK, now it's time to come up with a tough decision I had to make today. My cold/flue/virus infection got me last week and I didn't run for 7 (seven!) days. Started running again on Saturday, doing 25 km, most of them really slow at 5:40 min/km pace. But still not fit. 5k on Sunday morning. Today 10k in the evening. Already stronger feeling, cold even push one hill a little. But honestly, this is not the condition to go after a PB. So, what to do instead? I did a sub-3 M in Feb. in Tokyo already. Ran a really good HM in 1:18, just a few seconds shy of my PB and I did my first 100k Ultra having a lot of fun (well, for most of the time ;-) ). So, what to do next Sunday? I think I will be most valuable for my fellow NAMBANs cheering at the course, helping with some drinks/gels/etc.

Well, I got a spot in Tokyo Marathon 2009, let's see how it will go there!