long and hard...

Tokyo Marathon is approaching and everybody is gearing up for that event. This means in particular that the long runs are getting faster, meaner and harder. A group of NAMBANs gathered at Tamagawa River today and shared the associated pain of such a run. We all started together and after a few km, Motozo, Meg, Ma, Mary and Christiane got into their 5:30min/km pace. Paddy and I left the group and we settled for a 4:35min/km pace. For me, this was not easy going since I hadn't done any speed work during the last weeks. Luckily, my right knee got better every minute. Paddy hit the button at the 20k mark and settled for a 4:10 pace. I just tried to stay with him from now on. These 10km were pretty hard for me. It's kind of weird. During the Ohtawara Marathon is was just thinking: "Don't get caught by Paddy". Now I was thinking: "Don't loose Paddy." Well, it just means that he is in good shape and ready for a PB, I guess ;-)