＊申し訳ありませんが本日のブログは英語で書かれています
I ran Kasumi Geopark Full Marathon for the 4th time. As always, the route of this marathon was very scenic (as you can see in the attached video down below).
But apart from that, this race was a special one for me.
Just three days before the race, Yoshio Koide, who is very well-known for having coached two female marathon Olympics medalists (Yuko Arimori, who won Silver at Barcelona and Bronze at Atlanta; Naoko Takahashi, who won Gold at Sydney), passed away at age 80.
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201904250034.html
He was my "fantasy mentor". I was, and still is, an admirer of Koide sensei. I read his book, "30キロ過ぎで一番速く走るマラソン" (Marathon method by which you run fastest past 30k), which totally changed my running style. I have never managed to break my personal best by adopting this method, but it doesn't matter a bit. My PB was achieved 7 years ago when I was 45 (I started running the race when I was 43), and I'm 51 now. I won't be able to break my PB in the future because I'm getting older! And even if I should be able to do so, what's the point, when there are tons fo people who ran faster than me anyways?
What's important for me is to just have fun in the race. And this can be achieved by "running fastest past 30k". By doing this, you can outrun many runners past 30k, and that's fun!
So since I read the book, my goal was always to run slowly in the first half and run faster in the second half; when it comes to the full marathon, my goal was to save energy for the last 12k.
Now, my fantasy mentor passed away three days before the race, and the race was the last full marathon of the season. Since I had only run 80k for the last 30 days, I thought I would not be able to run fast. So my goal today was to simply break 4h, by, of course, adhering to Koide sensei's method, i.e. by saving energy in the first 30k and running faster in the last 12k.
But unexpectedly, my physical condition turned out to be excellent. And I could finish today's race in 3h48m11s, which was my best record this season. I ran the first 10k at the pace of 5m28s/km, the 2nd 10k at the pace of 5m27s, the 3rd 10k at the pace of 5m32s, AND the last 12k at the pace of 5m11s.
So I managed to follow Koide sensei's method. I shed a few tears when I passed the goal line.
This is my tribute to late Koide sensei. RIP!
過去の記録（フル）：
| Date | Name | Net Time |
| 2019.04 | 第6回香住ジオパークフルマラソン | 3h48m11s |
| 2019.03 | 淀川寛平マラソン2019 | 3h49m53s |
| 2019.02 | 高知龍馬マラソン2019 | 3h50m43s |
| 2018.12 | 第30回加古川マラソン | 3h55m23s |
| 2018.11 | 第8回神戸マラソン | 4h00m08s |
| 2018.04 | 第5回香住ジオパークフルマラソン | 3h55m13s |
| 2018.03 | 第8回なにわ淀川ハーフマラソン（フル） | 3h56m33s |
| 2018.03 | 第38回篠山ABCマラソン | 4h11m03s |
| 2018.02 | 高知龍馬マラソン2018 | 3h52m13s |
| 2017.12 | 第29回加古川マラソン | 3h50m06s |
| 2017.12 | 第26回赤穂義士マラソン | 3h55m56s |
| 2017.11 | 第27回福知山マラソン | 3h54m29s |
| 2017.11 | 第21回大阪・淀川マラソン | 3h58m16s |
| 2017.4 | 第4回香住ジオパークフルマラソン | 3h50m05s |
| 2017.03 | 第37回篠山ABCマラソン | 3h57m53s |
| 2017.02 | 高知龍馬マラソン2017 | 3h52m51s |
| 2016.12 | 第28回加古川マラソン | 3h49m25s |
| 2016.11 | 第26回福知山マラソン | 3h56m47s |
| 2016.11 | 第20回大阪・淀川マラソン | 3h55m57s |
| 2016.4 | 第3回香住ジオパークフルマラソン | 3h53m15s |
| 2016.2 | 2016 Death Valley Marathon | 3h57m02s |
| 2016.1 | A New Year A New You Huntington Beach | 3h57m50s |
| 2015.12 | Holly Jolly Run Huntington Beach | 4h7m27s |
| 2015.11 | Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Las Vegas | 4h16m06s |
| 2015.05 | Rock 'n' Roll Marathon San Diego | 4h08m58s |
| 2015.03 | 第35回篠山ABCマラソン | 3h50m33s |
| 2015.02 | 高知龍馬マラソン2015 | 3h54m30s |
| 2014.12 | 第23回赤穂義士マラソン | 3h55m37s |
| 2014.11 | 第24回福知山マラソン | 3h55m13s |
| 2014.05 | 能登和倉万葉の里マラソン2014 | 4h14m30s |
| 2014.03 | 第34回篠山ABCマラソン | 3h45m19s |
| 2014.02 | 高知龍馬マラソン2014 | 3h46m42s |
| 2013.12 | 第22回赤穂義士マラソン | 3h51m56s |
| 2013.3 | 鳥取マラソン | 3h57m46s |
| 2012.12 | 第24回加古川マラソン | 3h42m41s |
| 2012.11 | 第２回神戸マラソン | 3h46m56s |
| 2011.12 | 第２回奈良マラソン | 3h50m11s |
| 2011.11 | 第１回神戸マラソン | 4h20m46s |
過去の記録（ハーフ）：
| Date | Name | Net Time |
| 2019.04 | 2019 芦屋さくらファンラン | 1h44m52s |
| 2019.02 | 長居公園節分ハーフマラソン | 1h43m47s（グロス） |
| 2019.01 | 第45回武庫川新春ロードレース | 1h44m45s（グロス） |
| 2018.12 | 第30回三田国際マスターズマラソン | 1h45m04s |
| 2018.07 | 第1回神戸ベイエリアマラソン | 1h57m54s |
| 2018.04 | 2018 芦屋さくらファンラン | 1h44m38s |
| 2018.02 | 2018 神戸バレンタイン・ラブラン | 1h42m22s |
| 2018.01 | 第44回武庫川新春ロードレース | 1h43m11s（グロス） |
| 2017.12 | 第29回三田国際マスターズマラソン | 1h45m12s |
| 2017.10 | 第7回おんたけ湖ハーフマラソン | 1h53m00s（グロス） |
| 2017.10 | 第38回能楽の里池田マラソン | 1h52m03s |
| 2017.04 | 芦屋さくらファンラン | 1h46m44s |
| 2017.02 | 第6回すもとマラソン | 1h44m21s（グロス） |
| 2017.1 | 第43回武庫川新春ロードレース | 1h46m19s（グロス） |
| 2016.12 | 第28回三田国際マスターズマラソン | 1h46m00s |
| 2016.10 | 南魚沼コシヒカリRUN in 石打 | 1h47m57s |
| 2016.04 | 芦屋国際ファンラン | 1h48m30s |
| 2015.10 | Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Los Angeles | 1h55m54s |
| 2015.07 | Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Chicago | 2h08m04s |
| 2015.02 | 第4回すもとマラソン | 1h43m54s |
| 2015.01 | 第43回たつの市梅と潮の香マラソン | 1h41m58s |
| 2015.01 | 第41回武庫川新春ロードレース | 2h49m27s |
| 2014.12 | 第26回三田国際マスターズマラソン | 1h44m33s |
| 2014.10 | 和歌浦ベイマラソン | 1h53m59s |
| 2014.04 | 芦屋国際ファンラン | 1h42m46s |
| 2014.02 | 第３回すもとマラソン | 1h45m20sぐらい |
| 2013.10 | 第４回軽井沢リゾートマラソン | 棄権（19.6km 2h17m32s) |
| 2013.10 | 碓井峠ラン184 | 1h47m26s |
| 2013.04 | 芦屋国際ファンラン | 1h43m28s |
| 2013.02 | 第２回すもとマラソン | 1h45m41s |
| 2012.04 | 芦屋国際ファンラン | 1h46m11s |
| 2011.10 | 和歌浦ベイマラソン | 1h57m23s |
過去の記録（ほか）：
| Date | Name | Distance | Net Time |
| 2018.10 | 第1回 HAT神戸 ザ・チャレンジ | 30km | 2h43m13s |
| 2018.10 | 2018 大阪30k 秋大会 | 30km | 3h15m06s |
| 2015.06 | Triton 5k | 5km | 23m24s |
| 2014.05 | 30kmチャレンジラン 三木HARD | 30km | 2h44m01s |
| 2013.06 | 第8回乗鞍天空マラソン | 30km | 3h38m34s（グロス） |
| 2013.02 | 神戸バレンタインラン | 5kmラブラン | 32m47s |
| 2012.11 | 養父マラソン＆フェスティバル | 25km | 2h02m09s |
| 2012.06 | 第7回乗鞍天空マラソン | 30km | 3h44m代 |
| 2012.01 | 第22回六甲シティマラソン | 10km | 48m代？ |
| 2011.04 | 芦屋国際ファンラン | 10km（初レース） | 51m27s |
