OSORAKAN TRAIL 22KM

May 19th, 2019
OSORAKAN TRAIL 22KM
2:37:10

Can't believe am writing a blog about a trail race. This was the first race I entered since tearing ligament in ankle over 5 years ago.

What a trip that has been.. With the ankle still goofy, didn't get around to proper training but looked forward to being in the racing environment again. Am also very grateful to be even just able to jog and run with friends again, despite not being able to run like before. Could write for ages on this topic, but for the sake of the reader, and also myself, will pass on all the details. hah.

Was actually signed up to do a 22KM a month before this but fell off a roof and broke elbow right before the race.

Luckily broken bones heal quick and was functionally back from that after a month.

For this race up in northern Hiroshima, Yamasaki-san and I drove to pick up Kenji from Hiroshima station. Danny was unfortanetly unable to run so Kenji would be running in place of him. It was awesome that Kenji came all the way from Tokyo to join the race.

Once meeting Kenji, passed him his favorite Kinmugi beer and we were reunited after our time living together in Tokyo. Funny how friendships work.

Yamasaki-san drove us the scenic route up to Osorakan and we made several stops on the way. First we stopped at Kintaikyo in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Kenji and I caught a pretty good buzz in the back of the camping car catching up on things. 

It didn`t take Kenji long until he ran off an played in the river with his Luna Sandals. It was pretty funny because from the top of the bridge I dropped the Bridge Ticket and said if Kenji caught it, would treat him to something and after tracking it in the wind, he caught it. Was almost in tears laughing so hard. Hahah Kenji.

After we got goofy tasting icecream (Curry-Rice/Hot Pepper)

and made our way to Sanzoku for dinner!

Thought I took more pictures than this but maybe not!

Think we just got chicken to make it not too long of a wait and headed out to the race site further up north.

It was pretty chilly higher up in the mtns and we ended up getting a final bite to eat at a convenience store before going to bed. 

Waking up early, we went to check-in and Kenji checked in as Danny. It was too funny with Kenji almost attempting to check in with a winter hat and sunglasses. 

It was super fun getting hyped up for the race. Started to get the nerves before like always. 

The start was exciting and wanted to fly at the beginning. With writing this blog post almost 6 months after the race, am having difficulties remembering the details but remember focusing on starting super slow and being very conservative on the downhills. With this being first time to join a trail run in 5 years, wasn't going to do anything stupid again. Was still able to climb pretty hard. It was fun chatting people along the course and seeing familiar faces from such a long time ago!

Here is the course elevation map and had some good climbing to it.

Saw INOV-8 peeps there and passed the two top girls about halfway through the race. Happy to not be losing to girls yet! Hah

There were starting to be alot of the Expert runners course (65km?)  runners scattered throughout the trail.

Legs were really close to cramping up at the end and slowed down alot. The last skihill was able to pass two runners who had been going back and forth for a while with. One of the guys screamed KUSO and I passed and I started laughing pretty hard at that. They were so fast at the downhills and was surprised to be able to have caught them at the end. Yamasaki-san was waiting at the last climb and cheered me on to catch the other guys.

Ended up finishing 7th overall which was very surprising. Without much specific training and feeling very outta shape, still placed pretty high up. Looking forward to trying to get some more training and and see how close to top can get at these local races!

Splits:

Pretty slow data looking at it now but lots of room for improvement.

Was awesome hanging out on the ski hill after and watching the other participants work their way to the finish!

Kenji crossing the finish!

Kenji and Yamasaki-san after the race!

Finishers!

Kenji ended up coming back to Kurahashi for a day and he did HIYAMA the following day. haha.

Very thankful again to be able to enjoy these experiences again after so much pain/waiting with the ankle. It still doesn't feel like a regular ankle but am still able to jog around which is enough now. Should right whole book on how grateful I am. Haha. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

ONDO EKIDEN 2019 音戸駅伝

ONDO EKIDEN
Sunday, February 3rd 2019
Morimoto Hospital Team

Hiroshima Prefecture
ONDO City

A week ago was one of the first races have been in since injuring ankle 5 years ago. Somehow 5 years has already gone by since tearing my ankle ligament. I ran this race 5 years ago (2014) with Doi-chan's team and here is the Strava data from that.

https://www.strava.com/activities/110998842

2014 Blog

http://jordanlangen.blogspot.com/2014/02/ondo-ekiden.html

This year we made a team for Dr. Morimoto's Hospital and here was our roster:
1. Yuuta Fujimoto (Carp staff friend)
2. Ryou Numata (Fujimoto's friend)
3. Jordan Langen
4. Daniel Matson
5. Yoshiaki Mesaki (Miho's husband)
6. Norifumi Nagata
7. Daisuke Satou (Sayaka's husband)

This was my second time running this race and kind of new what to expect. Was bummed that haven't been able to much training and speedwork leading into it but was happy just to be able to participate in the event with everyone who was running their first ekiden race.

Decided to cut out alcohol and sweets for the week leading up to the race and it actually seemed to trim off some of the extra fat have been carrying around.

It was fun talking with Yuma's friend Ryou before we started and we went out and did a quick warm-up together. Did a separate little w/u after that to get the legs moving and waited for the number 2 runner to pass of the sash to me. Had been feeling nervous/excited about finally running. The nostalgia that was induced from this race...

Our runner came in 12th and passed of the sash.

Felt very good at the start and had no idea what the pace was. Wasn't thinking about anything else other than trying to run as quick as possible and stay relaxed. Don't have a GPS watch anymore and borrowed watch to another runner on our team hah. Was just running by feel and trying to hang on to whatever pace I could until saw the bridge, then hang onto dear life for just a little longer. Morimoto-sensei was about half-way through the race cheering and taking pictures on the right-hand side. Was very happy he came to cheer me on and found out later that he has ran the 3rd segment of the relay race many times when he was younger. Passed 5 runners including a guy from IHI. Remember it was misting out and was so hot that wish that it would have started raining harder. Finally saw the Hayase Bridge and time seemed to go by quicker than expected. Danny was waiting for the 4th section and it was fun to pass of the sash to him and see him off.

After finishing, went back to the start in ONDO and waited for the rest of our team to come back . Saw Daisuke finish and he seemed be light/quick on his feet. Our team ended up finishing 10th place out of 20 teams in the open division. None of our runners received any awards so we left without attended the awards ceremony.

Here are the 2019 results:

Daisuke, Yoshiaki, Danny and I went to the Clayton Bay Hotel and ate a bento real quick in the lobby before getting in the super luxary baths. Happy Danny could make it to the hotspring sesh after. After finishing bathing, we went to the Kure Kaigun Beer place with the Morimoto Family and enjoyed delicious craft beers and Kure foods. It was the first beer in a week and boy did it taste good!

Overall, was surprised with the pace was able to keep for this short race.
3.8km
2014: 12:00
2019: 12:35

Was running quite a bit before running the 2014 ekiden so am happy to see haven't lost much fitness in 5 years. Just need to get some more intervals in and would be back to the same pace. Will be getting 1st place in the 3rd section of the relay next year!!! Will also try to recruit some fast runners!

Am very grateful for being able to do events like this again. Have realized that the ankle will never return to it's original condition before the injury but am happy to be able to do what I can now.

Have been getting stronger from working with the construction company in Kurahashi. Some days am shoveling almost 8 hours. Haven't been going to yoga that much but need to go more often!

Looking forward to participating in next race! To be decided..