Tokushima Marathon Debrief

I finally got around to sitting down and writing this, but I may not be able to stand up again afterwards. My legs feel like you would expect after running a marathon. If you ignore the morning hours, this has actually been one of the most relaxed days I’ve spent in some time. Spending the afternoon watching TV in bed. Doing not all that much. It’s been nice. To the morning though…

Yes, I ran a marathon in Tokushima. You’ve likely never heard of Tokushima. It is a major city on the Japanese island of Shikoku, the least populated of the major islands. I did have a curiosity to explore Shikoku—somewhat of an untapped area of Japan—and the plentiful natural beauty within, but I honestly selected the Tokushima marathon not for that reason, but more so because that was just about the only race I could register for. The Japanese love their marathons.

Anyway, on the start line I found myself, listening to the fifteen-minute opening ceremony featuring various Japanese running celebrities hyping up the event. It felt like I’d just been teleported here at random. As though I was going out for a long run and happened to stumble into a marathon I never knew was occurring. I saw a few other foreign competitors. Not many though.

I went in with a plan for this race. Run a small negative split. Start around 4:20/km pace and keep my heart rate down, then settle somewhere around 4:15/km splits. Hopefully, break 3hrs. After the gun sounded, I eventually weaved my way through the crowd and got up to speed, but my heart rate was way too high. So, I spent much of the first 10km on the cusp of my lactate threshold constantly, never quite able to break below 4:20/km without spiking my pulse. It didn’t help that I also had to stop to use the bathroom at around 6km, costing precious time that’d I’d never recover. I stayed patient, working this range for 15km, but as I lost more and more time on my goal pace, I realised that a drastic tempo increase would be needed to even sniff sub-3.

At 15km, I upped the pace, splitting near 4:10/km for a little bit. But it wasn’t sustainable. I didn’t have it today. Providing me the opposite of reassurance, my watch informed me that my performance condition was -3 points below normal. I was in a comfortable rhythm, but the pace simply wasn’t there.

Timing is uncanny sometimes. I’d dodged illness for entire trip except for the past few days, where the dreaded sore throat feeling arrived, signalling something brewing, and never left. I honestly think my immune system was stressed. I’d only been able to check in the night before the race at 6:30pm after catching several trains, a plane, and a bus to travel from Tōkyō. I’d struggled with my diet and sleep the days prior, too, and it wouldn’t have helped that I’d been spending all day either out in the city or worrying over travel logistics at home. With my defences let down, sickness crept in. Just enough. I was gutted. It didn’t blow up my race, but it certainly had an impact. Alas.

The course was cool. A small event, to be sure, but with a warm atmosphere. Children from local towns ran up to the street among stretches of desolate farming plots to give you a high-five or offer you a drink they’d prepared at home. There was no repeat loop, which I appreciated. The route took you inland along the massive Yoshino river for essentially the entire event. Mountains lined the horizon. The scenery was nice, but not very stimulating at points. The road you followed was pretty much the exact same the whole way. Flat, primarily, although with a lot of annoying undulations whenever the path veered under a bridge or back up again. I actually struggled with these sections I think. Drink stations were often situated in these little valleys and it would really break up your rhythm. Being exposed by the water also left you vulnerable to winds, which really picked up at times whilst running back towards Tokushima. Again, I could have dealt with these more intelligently I reckon.

Nutrition worked reasonably well this time around. I took seven gels, spaced every 25mins or so. Only one caffeine gel in the end, after around 32km. Whether my more intense approach to carb loading on this occasion had any impact, I have no idea. I’d guess my glycogen stores were maintained quite well on the whole, and I felt fairly on top of hydration, although it is hard to tell sometimes.

Nevertheless, I slowed significantly through the last ten kilometres. After finding a rhythm back in the 4:25/km range, I quickly ballooned out to 4:40+/km once I was exposed to the harsher winds, and never brought it back. Three hours was well out of reach by this point. My new goal, reluctantly, was to still break my previous 3:13 time from Sunshine Coast last year. After flirting with a few 5:00/kms but digging into to keep the streak of fours alive, I ended with a kick to come home in 3:12.

In some ways, I felt dejected. Honestly, I don’t think it was my best effort. Yes, I was under the weather, but the conditions were excellent and I don’t feel that I fully brought my best effort when it mattered. After all, my heart rate was fine for much of kilometres 20 to 35, but I let my heavy legs weigh me down. It also was a little disheartening to battle just to scrape by my previous time, despite having done at least three times the preparation for this event.

Yet, I made it. First international marathon done. Personal best achieved. Huge milestone in my travels now ticked off. I have a lot to be grateful for. Plus, the hunger to do better, and, particularly, to make amends on a sub-3hr effort, will still be there now. More marathons on the horizon, for sure.

Before then though, my attention turns to Betong, Thailand, where a jungle ultra marathon awaits. With this, I’ve truly thrown myself in the deep end. I’m excited, but also apprehensive. It could be a stupid idea. We’ll have to wait and see. In my head, this also essentially marks the end of Japan. For that, too, I feel both excited and apprehensive. I’m extremely privileged to have the opportunity to feel apprehension about such things.

Anyway, bed time now. Hope you had a great weekend!