27 November 2010

For the third year running (sorry for the pun) I took part in the Run For The Cure event, signing up for the 10K race. Nick had been out for the evening before and was not in a good condition, but nonetheless I had to leave the apartment with him still in bed and Emily roaming free. He deserved a night out after missing out on so many lately though, and I didn't resent him for it, rather I pitied his depleted state.


At Hibiya Park, where entrants had to register, I was soon stripping off layers as the sun quickly warmed the air, though it was still rather chilly in the shade. It was a lot better organised than the previous year (which was totally shambolic), and we were soon walking over to the race start, at Sakuradamon. One rubber-necking driver was so busy looking at the hundreds of competitors making their way there that he got rear-ended at an intersection.


Nick and Emily made it to Sakuradamon just as the race was about to start, so there was just time to hand over my effects and I was off. The pace was perfect though I knew it was faster than my starting pace when I run alone. I was conscious that I ought not to get swept along and run out of steam later, but in fact I really found my stride and was soon passing people comfortably. That made me more worried that I was beginning too quickly but as we approached the Start line and lap number two I was feeling positive and strong. As always with lap races I felt deflated heading away from the end line and my pace dropped, but after a few minutes I recovered and was passing people again. I put on a powerful spurt for the last couple of minutes and was pleased to see that my total time was 56:36. Though the second lap felt slower it was only a few seconds behind the first. I think I have only bettered that time once, when I was a good deal younger.



Feeling buoyant, I sought out Nick and Emily. I found her to be in a very sullen mood and Nick confirmed she had been like that the whole time. Her cold has taken a turn for the worse and she has a hacking cough, so I'm sure that affected her behaviour. Also, she had narrowly failed to finish breakfast so I had told Nick no snack. However, I thought it prudent to let her have a couple of biscuits as it would be a while before lunch; she was all smiles straight away.





We made our way home and had lunch, then I could see that Emily was really tired so I suggested a nap, and she was very willing. In the end she slept for two hours. Nick went out for a haircut and I decided to lie down for a while too. Of course, I dropped off, and when Nick came back he joined me as he was done in. When Emily woke I had to get up and felt rotten, as I knew I would. We let Nick sleep on for some time then had a family meal. Emily finally went to bed at 9.30, the downside to napping. We did just have time to watch Rambo 2, which was a lot more thought-provoking than I recalled, though of course full of blood and guts.