It's only 4 days since the marathon in Japan. Still coming to grips with the whole experience of Tokyo & the race….

Cab to airport at 4.20am for a 6am take-off to Tokyo. During the flight, dozed, woke up to be fed, dozed, woke up to be fed (this is my ideal kind of life)….

The 10 days prior to the trip I'd packed, moved apartment, unpacked, handed one apartment back - & been busy at work with the upcoming Chinese New Year vacation pending. All this on top of trying to keep focused on the Tokyo race, taper & keep my body from falling prey to sickness. Even I thought I started to look a little "drawn" & felt tired….

Lengthy visa queue on arrival at Narita airport. Noticed the prevalence of "uniforms". Apparently this is common - even taxi drivers wear them. Everywhere so clean, smart & ordered. David's Japanese linguistic skills ensured I was put on the right train to head into the city & my destination at Kudanshita, where I would be staying with Matt & Oscar, friends who moved from Singapore to Tokyo in December 2006. If you've ever seen a map of the colourful Tokyo train system, you'll understand my sense of trepidation…. The famous words, "I'm heading onto the Tokyo metro system and may be gone some time" sprang to mind….. During the long train ride, a young schoolgirl with cheeks reddened by the cold outside, dressed in her very smart blue coat, white tights & school boater, kept a strict watch on me. Obviously I looked "different" to everyone else on the train. Eventually she dozed off against her mother & I breathed a sigh of relief. Being held in check by a pair of piercing eyes belonging to a non-smiling 5 year old is quite an intimidating experience…

As we approached Tokyo, more & more suited, dark clothed executives joined the train. Couldn't get over how formally dressed & smart everyone was. Tokyo is huge: massive. A series of merging metropolitan districts forming a never ending city mass. Buildings as far as the eye can see. Navigated my way out via exit 3B of Kudanshita station as per Oscar's brilliant directions & found the apartment. Matt's easily identifiable toy giraffe key-ring was passed to me by the receptionist, bringing out a wry smile. Had to be Matty's! The guys were at a business function so I was left to wander the local area to find a place to eat. Peeking into various ramen shops inhabited only by businessmen seated at the counters, I was reticent to go in & perch on a stool alongside them. Finally I found a small bar-like set up, with a female slurping a bowl of noodles. The heat & warmth inside was a welcome respite from the plummeting temperatures outside. I discovered the system is to buy a ticket from the machine by the door for the amount of whatever you want to eat… I let the bemused meso soup maker sort through my currency to put the correct change in the machine. Hadn't yet had time to work out the currency. Settled down to chomp down a delicious meso soup with noodles before venturing back outside. Strolled locally, finding a Mizuno sports shop & invested in a pair of running gloves. It was just a great feeling to wander as a stranger in a city where I couldn't make myself understood (English is not widely spoken) & where I couldn't navigate as pretty well all signs are in Japanese characters. The experience of being wrapped up in coat, gloves, hat & with a face mask on was also a bit of a novelty. As for the Japanese toilets in the department stores… Marvellous - the seats are heated!!

Sat: took a stroll around the Imperial Palace with Matt, Oscar and friends and saw the Yasukuni Shrine, controversially visited by Japan's former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Today most Japanese primarily view the shrine as a monument to the country's war dead. However, it also honors several class A Japanese war criminals. The park is ironically home to scores of white doves, which swoop low and seem fearless of visitors. Given it was winter, the trees and general appearance of the streets appeared stark and rather grey under a stunningly blue and cloudless sky.

Matt and I visited Mizuno's running store again, investing in running tights and other warm weather gear. It was then onto the extremely efficient and well organized Marathon Expo at Tokyo Dome to collect our race numbers and race timing chip devices. Met up with Chris Flanagan, another ex-Singapore friend now based in Tokyo who would be racing in his first marathon. Had another bowl of meso soup (addictive stuff) - which I was informed has variations for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My body just wanted to eat and eat, perhaps aware I'd not beasted it for a few days and anticipating that I was just about to do something extremely nasty to it which would require extra calories!

Back at the apartment, Matt & I started to lay out our kit ready for the morning. For 7 years I've been used to running around in a crop top and shorts in temperatures of 28-32 degrees. It was confusing to decide exactly what I should wear. It's so long since I've worn "layers", thermals, tights, gloves. Before travelling I'd considered what I might need and packed what I had. Numerous variations of running gear were tried on and I got more confused and stressed. Early evening I ventured outside to find the rain predicted for tonight and tomorrow had arrived. It was very wet and (for me) felt freezing. Back upstairs I started to feel unsettled and slightly anxious. Finally settled on a long sleeved thermal top, another dri fit long sleeve top on top of that and then a dri fit t-shirt. The tights would definitely have to be worn and a headband and gloves. Put my race number on and tied the chip to my right shoe and started to wonder whether I'd cope. Quiet night in watching a DVD and carbo loading on pasta. Before hitting the sack, a few moments to reflect. I had no race strategy, simply could not get my mind to focus that I'd be running a marathon at 9am tomorrow morning and was seriously worried and apprehensive. Physically I knew I was in good shape, but mentally I had no idea how I'd deal with the conditions if they did not improve before morning.

Woke at 6.30am. From the balcony all that was visible was a grey mist. Matt said it was the worst weather he'd seen since arriving 3 months ago. Oscar headed out for his 2 hour training run: he is preparing to run his first marathon in Mongolia in July. He said he'd call to let us know what it was like outside. Matt and I got ourselves sorted out, breakfasted and took the metro to Tochomae, close to the start. Scores of other runners joined the train -easily identifiable by the large Asics plastic marathon bags slung from shoulders. I'm so tiny; mine was dragging along the ground. Both of us were very quiet on the train, worry etched on our faces. Arrived with one hour to go. Hard to know what to do: wandering around we were already soaked. We split up and I decided I might just as well dump my coat, tracksuit, change of gear/shoes onto baggage lorry "18" and head to my assigned start pen "D". Luckily the organizers had decided to hand out ASICS plastic ponchos and I managed to secure one and put it on. Around me was pandemonium as people sought to keep dry and then at 8.30am realized they had to get up to the next level where the start line was. Fortunately I managed to position myself under a gantry for 20 minutes or so before the gun went off - so stayed relatively dry. But others around me wearing short and vests were shivering and clearly suffering the effects of the rain and cold.

At 9.10am the start was heralded by a shower of white paper petals raining down on us and we started to shuffle forwards. It took about 52 seconds to clear the start line and I was feeling exceedingly apprehensive about the next 3+ hours. Slowly my feet thawed out: everyone was soaking wet and the rain continued its relentless downpour. My bladder needed emptying (I put it down to nerves and being freezing cold). Fortunately having a huge poncho on which nearly reached my ankles meant a quick side step behind a bush was not an issue!! What was amusing for me was the palaver of wearing tights and having to "drop" them!! We don't have this issue in Singapore….. For 5km I kept the plastic poncho on and then decided I really needed to ditch it if I was to run without hindrance: reached 5km in about 25:27 and the 21km mark in 1 hour 37 mins. I was stunned by the number of spectators lining the route, given the appalling conditions. They cheered and shouted "gambate!" (go for it), producing a great atmosphere and it was really heartening to see and feel their infectious enthusiasm and delight at seeing Tokyo experience it's first major marathon with 30,000 people registered to run. Imagine what it would have been like if the weather had been fine…

There were 2 long dog legs through the city once we reached the 10km point at Hibiya Park. The first basically an out and back to Shinagawa Station (and for me a second "loo break"). The second out and back leg from 21km headed through the Ginza district, towards Asakusa Kaminariom and back, passing the clock tower at the Ginza 4-chome intersection, Sensoji Temple and the Kabukiza Theatre near the 35km mark. My clearest memory was the turn around at the Sensoji temple with the huge black and white lantern outside and the ladies wearing traditional pink Chinese kimonos and performing some kind of dance, despite the rain. I also remember the huge drums: and the booming rhythmical beat produced as we passed through the city. It really lifted your spirits and top marks to the organizers for their attempts to incorporate an insight into Japanese culture for those taking part. The dog legs also meant we were able to see the front of the race and the race leaders. It was kind of heartening to see that they looked as cold as I felt: most of them were just in shorts and singlets…. By the second dog leg, several of the top male athletes were walking, having decided to pull out because of the weather. The top temperature during the race was a chilly 4 degrees….

It became a case of mind over matter and mental mind games. Throughout the race I felt physically strong but constantly worried that the cold would eventually cause me to cramp. I simply hadn't encountered conditions like these since I had lived one winter in rural Yorkshire. At the half way point, I seriously wondered whether mentally I could run another 21km. One thing spurring me on was the fact I was running to raise money for a rehabilitation centre in Cambodia for individuals maimed by land mines. Focusing on that made me feel angry at the wanton destruction caused to those people's lives, which spurred me on. Humorously I also tried to work out how I could return the cash raised to date back to those who had already paid!! Otherwise I just tried to stay calm and not panic, knowing these conditions were tough for everyone and all I could do was to keep going forwards. Right up to the end, I was overtaking people - which gives an indication of the quality of the field in Tokyo. The standard was incredibly high and I think we all took comfort from the fact we were all in the same boat and aiming to just beat the conditions and get to the finish. With 12km to go, I still felt pretty good and decided I needed to slightly ramp up the pace. If you see my splits, I actually sped up in the last 7km and ran the last 2.195 km in 9 mins 55 seconds. I was carrying 2 power gels tucked either side of my crop top: however I never touched them. Simply couldn't face the thought of putting wet gloves inside to retrieve them!!

At 35km, we left the enclosed streets and headed out toward the coastal part of the city where there were fewer spectators. Several bridge climbs, including the Tsukudaoohashi Bridge at 36km tested the spirits, but were no match to the hills we had trained on in Singapore during our marathon build up. The only problem was the wind, which was biting. Given we were wet, cold and tiring by this stage, it was the last cruel trick to be played. With 7km to go and at 4km to the finish, I just told myself to keep pushing the pace: by 2km I just wanted to get to the end and out of the rain. Physically I was fine and I knew the training runs I'd done in Singapore with my club mates had prepared me well.

Reaching the last turn, I saw the finish line and just headed for it, crossing the line in an official time of 3:18:18. I could not believe I had just run a marathon. Shook hands with a few people around me and felt a lump rising in my throat. We were given huge ponchos to put on: I thought we looked like Wombles… Handed medals, flowers, bananas, cake, water. It was a short walk to retrieve our gear from the baggage lorries and then into the huge Tokyo Big Sight hall where we could change. I couldn't bend down to take the chip off my shoe as my hamstrings and back had stiffened up but there were volunteers sitting out in the rain to help us untie our laces and remove the chips for us… Angels!!

It took me about 35 minutes to get out of my wet gear and into my semi-dry clothes. I hadn't felt as cold since I was last on the top of a Welsh mountain in the snow!! By the time I got out of the changing room, the main area looked like a battlefield. Exhausted, extremely wet and shivering individuals were trying to organize themselves and thaw out!! Later I found Chris Flanagan had finished his first marathon in 2 hours 59 minutes 47 seconds but had collapsed at the finish with mild hypothermia. It took the medics 45 minutes to get his core temperature up so that he could stand. That gives you an idea of what conditions had been like.

Marathons are designed to be a test both physically and of the mind. Tokyo certainly provided both. Cruelly both Sat and Mon were fine days with blue skies and sunshine!! This was my last competitive marathon and in a masochistic way, I did enjoy testing myself against the conditions and battling to defeat my own mental demons. At least I felt I'd given it my all and gone out on a high. For those interested in stats, here are my 5km split times:

5km 24:32
10km 23:49
15km 23:11
20km 23:13
25km 23:12
30km 23:07
35km 23:15
40km 23:09
Finish 9:55 Call me Miss Consistency!

Total: 3:18:18.

Congrats to Chris (2:59), David (3:27), Mika (3:40) and Matt (4:12) and to all the Namban runners: it was a tough race.

Matt, Oscar and I headed off for a much needed carbo lunch in the warm West Park Caf ? at Chiyoda-ku to share our experiences. Finally returning to Kudanshita, I spied a poster on the station wall advertising the marathon and thought that would be a great souvenir. Matt - thanks for "removing" it. My intention is to ask my club mates who ran to sign it - it will be a fitting momento….

Many, many thanks to everyone who has pledged and given sponsorship for the Cambodian Rehabilitation Centre, the charity for whom I ran this marathon. To date US$3,300 has been collected in Singapore. The final total once on-line transactions are included should be close to US$3,500. This will change the lives of some of the landmine victims in Cambodia, seeking to put their lives and spirits back together after losing limbs to these devices.

So what's next for me now my competitive marathon days are over? I'll continue to race 21km and below (KL half marathon is on 18 March) and hope to keep performing well.

And after my trip to Japan, a second career (in the warmth of a stadium) as a Sumo wrestler is still very much on my mind…. Especially if I can overdose on Meso soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner….. I'll keep you posted.

Pauline

On 26/02/07, Mulroy, Pauline < Pauline.Mulroy@comverse.com>