Air Shibamata 60k 2018 - preparation / エア柴又 60km 2018 - 準備編

[日本語版は英語版の後に書きました]
Again, this year, I'm joining the virtual race as a preparation for Lake Saroma 100k in June. Thanks to the organizer, Ryota-san!( http://step-and-go.blog.jp/archives/75869481.html )

For the details including what an air race is, check the last year's post

エア柴又60k準備編 / Air-Shibamata 60k: preparation
http://blog.livedoor.jp/hiroto_o/archives/50119271.html

This year, I have to change a route as the old Changi Coastal road is completely closed, and a new alternative road is quite boring to run, so I want to minimize the section.

After a long thought, I've finally decided a course (no map as I don't have a laptop now):

East coast park D(start)->East coast food village(1k, u-turn)->Big splash->Garden by the bay east->Marina bay sands(11k, u-turn)->Garden by the bay east->Tanjong Rhu->Mountbatten bridge(19k, u-turn)->Tanjong Rhu->Garden by the bay east->Big splash->East coast lagoon(30k)->Singapore sailing club->Navy museum(40k, u-turn)->East coast park D(50k)->Big splash->Fort road bridge(55k, u-turn)->East coast park D(60k, goal)

Timetable:
Start: 3:00am, Sat 2 June 2018
If ave pace=4:40/k:
Marina bay sands(3:51am), Mountbatten bridge(4:28am), East coast lagoon(5:20am)->Navy museum(6:06am)->East coast park D(6:53am)->Fort road bridge(7:16am)->East coast park D(7:40am)

If ave pace=5:00/k:
Marina bay sands(3:55am), Mountbatten bridge(4:35am), East coast lagoon(5:30am)->Navy museum(6:20am)->East coast park D(7:10am)->Fort road bridge(7:35am)->East coast park D(8:00am)

If ave pace=5:20/k:
Marina bay sands(3:58am), Mountbatten bridge(4:41am), East coast lagoon(5:40am)->Navy museum(6:33am)->East coast park D(7:26am)->Fort road bridge(7:54am)->East coast park D(8:20am)

The point is to minimize a boring new Tanah Merah Coastal road, and to avoid direct sunshine. Hope not a thunder storm, the only risk. Fingers crossed.

--------
今年もやります。サロマ湖100kmに向けてエア柴又60kmを走ります。
りょうたさん（ http://step-and-go.blog.jp/archives/75869481.html ）、今回も開催ありがとうございます！

詳しくは（そもそもエアレースとは何なのかも含めて）、去年の記事を見てください。

エア柴又60k準備編 / Air-Shibamata 60k: preparation
http://blog.livedoor.jp/hiroto_o/archives/50119271.html

〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜
基本的には去年と同じ時間帯、コースで走るつもりだったけど、今年はコースの一部の道が完全閉鎖してしまったので、コースを変えないといけない。代わりにできた新しい道は、退屈すぎて精神的に削られるので走る距離は最小限にしたい。

結構考え抜いて何とか決めた（パソコンが壊れてるので地図は無し）：
East coast park D(start)->East coast food village(1k, u-turn)->Big splash->Garden by the bay east->Marina bay sands(11k, u-turn)->Garden by the bay east->Tanjong Rhu->Mountbatten bridge(19k, u-turn)->Tanjong Rhu->Garden by the bay east->Big splash->East coast lagoon(30k)->Singapore sailing club->Navy museum(40k, u-turn)->East coast park D(50k)->Big splash->Fort road bridge(55k, u-turn)->East coast park D(60k, goal)

予定:
スタート 2018年6月2日　午前3:00
平均ペース4:40/kmのとき:
Marina bay sands(3:51am), Mountbatten bridge(4:28am), East coast lagoon(5:20am)->Navy museum(6:06am)->East coast park D(6:53am)->Fort road bridge(7:16am)->East coast park D(7:40am)

平均ペース5:00/kmのとき:
Marina bay sands(3:55am), Mountbatten bridge(4:35am), East coast lagoon(5:30am)->Navy museum(6:20am)->East coast park D(7:10am)->Fort road bridge(7:35am)->East coast park D(8:00am)

平均ペース5:20/kmのとき:
Marina bay sands(3:58am), Mountbatten bridge(4:41am), East coast lagoon(5:40am)->Navy museum(6:33am)->East coast park D(7:26am)->Fort road bridge(7:54am)->East coast park D(8:20am)

ポイントは、先に述べたとおり新しく出来た退屈な区間（Navy museum付近）を最小限にすること、あとは直射日光を受けずに走れること。
雷雲が来なければいいと思うが、これは運任せになる。

Nagano marathon - race report

*Split/lap times will be added later

The result was ~3:01 both in net and gross. Disappointing one because I ran for a big new PB ~2:50 and at least breaking my PB 2:57.

Other runners from Singapore also didn't do well. Cold rain seems to be the most unwanted weather for us. It caused me cramp twice.

Weeks before the race
Felt tired in my body inside. Particularly, interval sessions on Monday and Wednesday two weeks before the race were terrible. It was not muscle, but something coming from interal organs. I experience it every year at the end of marathon season. In such a case, it's better not to continue quality trainings, but just to jog.
On Sunday a week before the Nagano, I ran 2XU half marathon, but the result was also average (effectively 1:26-1:27).
On Friday afternoon, I tried new arm warmers and ran 2k at a race pace in Japan. HR was a bit high.
Used a bus to go to Nagano from Tokyo on Saturday.
Went to bed around 10 or 11pm.

Carbo loading
Started from Thursday, but I limited the amount by half as my weight was a bit too much because of the series of low intensity trainings.

Thursday breakfast: riceball x 5, lunch: hamburg & stake, dinner: bento + ~3 riceballs + big size yakisoba
Friday breakfast: hotel's buffet with upsized rice, lunch: double-sized pasta, dinner: bento + riceballs
Saturday breakfast: 5 riceballs, lunch: 4 riceball + bento + bread, dinner: bento + riceballs
Sunday breakfast: 2 riceballs + 4 small bums

On the race day
Woke up at 5am and ate riceballs anf bums every 10-15mins.
Walked to Nagano station and took a chatered train just before 7am. Given that the flagoff was at 8:30am, I should've gone to the station earlier. But nice to see fellows from my Singapore team and chatted before the race. Went together to the venue, baggage drop, and gents. The toilet was crowded 40mins before the flagoff.
It was a bit cold rainy morning. Rather, I worried about headwind after 35km.

Race plan
Keeping 3:57ish pace until halfway. Wether forecast said that it would be windy but the wind would blow from north, should be a tailwind from 15-35km, but headwind after 35km.

Wear and nutrition
Wore t-shirt of Berlin marathon as a singlet might cool me down too much. Shoes were Mizuno wave emperor 2. I used the previous version in Singapore for several months and they got weary. So bought a new pair, but used the insole of my old one. This was recommended here:

One mistake was that I forgot bringing my usual GU gels from my home, which were not sold in Japan basically. So I bought similar ones (Shotz and medalist) based on reviews on the net.

Start-5km
Off with supposedly full of energy. But strangely enough, i didn't feel so energetic. Suffered a bit of ups and downs. Yes, must admit that I only assumed an almost flat course, and didn't take a closer look. Still, ~5k was in front of my hotel and my family cheered me, so I hang on and passed there strongly.

5-10k
Weird that I ran only at 4:00-4:05/k, much slower than my half marathon at tropical Singapore.
Hoping I could pick up later.

10-20k
Same. But one of my energy gels dropped but I didn't pick it up to avoid wasting time. Ok, still had 3 gels, should be fine.

20-30k
Aroumd a few turnarounds, exchanged words with my friends. I got motivated and my pace picked up...  but only for a kilometer.
But still, PB pace and within sub 55 pace on average.

30-35k
Felt less strong than PB London and sub3 Kasumigaura, but stronger than collapsed Koga. Thought I could run sub 3 at worst.
But at 33k, the right calf felt a sign of cramp. Ok, I have experience from ultramarathons, and I knew what to do. Slowed down and waited for the sign to go away. But had to pace down to ~4:50/k. I computed time and knew that 4:30/k was ok for sub3, but 5:00/k was no. What should I do? Now I didn't know what to do.
... and finally got cramped.

Did stretching and started again slowly.

35-40k
Ok, gradually picked up from a jog pace, but seemed a bit difficult for sub3 at this pace so tried to speed up. And again, felt a sign of cramp. Had to stop for stretching. Now thought sub3 was completely impossible, but just wanted to finish the race asap, because I had no fun in this race in terms of running (though I did have fun in cheering my friends each other and cheering from roadsides).

40k-finish
Again strangely enough, I sort of recovered and was able to run faster slightly less than 4:30/k. But had a feeling that my calves would get cramped again if I sped up more. Still I tried to run as fast as I could because of hope of sub3 again. The moments, I felt fun in running this race.
My finish was 3 hours and one minute in gun time, so if my time gap between flagoff and my actual crossing start line was longer than 1 minute, well done! -- I finished the marathon in 3 hours on net basis. So I immediately checked my GPS watch.




"Oh s**t, only 12 seconds."

That was how my Nagano Marathon 2018 finished.

To wrap up
This race was a failure for me. Although I improved around 3 mins in HM in Singapore, FM in cooler weather didn't improve. Part of reasons include a cold rain, but in terms of weather condition, only one decent FM per season is highly risky. Also, I inevitablly get tired towatds the end of season, so I need to diverse PB FMs in months.

So my plan for next season is to skip Singapore marathon, but take Taipei instead.

2XU compression run 21k - race report

*Split / lap times will be added later

Well I joined the half marathon as a preparation for Nagano marathon in Japan next weekend.

When I registered the race in January back then, I was hoping that I would run the 21k at my target full marathon pace, translated to 1 hour 24 mins in finishing time.

My resut was ~1:25:00, 15th overall. The time itself looks somewhat close to the target, but the route was short of 500-700m, so the "true" time should be 1:26~1:27.

Still, the result was ok for me because I have been suffering from fatigue these few weeks. Feels like it's from inner organs.
So I needed enough rest.

1 week prior to the race
I couldn't run well at Monday's team interval session. So kept recovery jog on Tuesday and Wednesday. I was doing 5-10k pace run on Thursday morning, but overslept so skipped it. The fact that couldn't wake up meant that my body was not up for intense run.

One day before the race
Hmmmm, the race start time was tricky - 4:30am on Sunday.
Had two choices: 1) going to bed early on Saturday and getting up after midnight on Sunday, or 2) getting up late on Saturday morning and staying up the whole night. This time I chose 2), because 1) looked pain in the butt to me. Ate curry and rice at dinner.

The race day
Went to the venue by share bike, a moderate warming up. Took an hour for 15km. Got there around 3:40am. Ate biscuit before and after the bike. Saw my teammates, went to a gents, and moved to the starting venue. Already a big crowd of runners there so hsd to slalom them. Luckily a friend waiting at the start line made space for me. We started off around 4:30am.

Start-5km ()
Ran for 4:00/k. Runners around me were a bit faster, so just stick to my own pace.

5-10k ()
A bit struggling to keep my pace, but this was not where I squeeze my energy. I was not even halfway, and this race should not be a target race, but just for preparation for Nagano marathon next week.

10-15k ()
The legs felt very easy, but the breath couldn't take.

15-20k ()
The pace collapsed. Could speed up by sprinting but was a fraid of any adverse effect on next week performance. So didn't speed up.

20k-finish ()
Saw a gate, but didn't know it was the finish as the timing system didn't tick. But when I ran further, the staff passed me medal, T-shirt and a drink bottle. So realized that I had already finished.

The finishing time, effectively ~1:26-27 at the real half marathon distance, which was very average , nothing special.

My performance was dampened by fatigue from my body inside.

The symptons are
- Muscle is okay. Hence speed for shorter distances is not bad.
- But fast to get tired. So, not good at distace.
- Very slow to recover. Feel tired even when not running.
- Always experiencing at the end of season since I moved to Singapore. Sounds like repeated long runs accumulates fatigue.

Given the today's performace, I will only jog before Nagano marathon.

As a race review, it was below my expectation. Some runners in online forum says this is a good and decent race, but I couldn't understand why. Organisation was just average. Distance was short of 700-800m.

ノートパソコン選びの一部始終

整理するために書いてみたい。
時系列で並べると

• 去年(2017年)の10月くらい:　内臓の充電電池を付けると起動しない。ACプラグを差してのみ使う。
• 12月、新しいバッテリーを買うも２日くらいで充電しなくなった。バッテリーは内蔵したままACプラグ専用で使う。
• 4月、日本に帰省中に電源の入りが悪くなる。スイッチにつながってるフラットケーブルの接触が悪いっぽいのでそれを直す。
• 日本から帰国後、症状はさらに悪化。AC電源で使っていても、ちょっと位置を変えると電源が落ちる。プラグの接触やケーブルを改善しても駄目。流石に、これ以上修理に時間を使うのは馬鹿らしくなってきたので新しく買うことに決定。
• 今回の購入の必須条件はとにかく「丈夫なこと」。直近使っていた機種は何れも安物でlenovoのG465，asusのx551MA，共にハードディスクが壊れたり、ディスプレイの付け根のネジ穴が壊れてそれ故に本体を少し動かすと歪が生じていた。きっとその歪みも電源の接触が悪くなった遠因だろう。
• 丈夫なノートパソコンで評判が高いのは旧IBMのThinkpadかパナソニックのToughbook or Let's noteのみで、予算的にThinkpad一択。
• 最初はThinkpadでも安めのLシリーズ、Eシリーズで探すも、持ち運びやプログラミングのためのスペック、丈夫さで多少不安になる。
• 日本のショップからシンガポールに送ってもらおうと思って日本のAmazonで探した。目を引いたのはT430のCertified refurbishedというもの。日本のウェブサイトによると中古品に手を加えて新品同様にしたものらしい。しかも安い。これはいいと思ったが、Amazon曰く海外発送は対応してないとのこと。残念。
• それは元々外国から輸入したものっぽかったのでアメリカのAmazonで調べると、輸入元らしきものを発見。しかし、レビューを読むと初期不良があって云々がやけに多い。シンガポールとアメリカの間で返品とかやりたくないので断念。
• 日本、アメリカ両国のAmazonで探すがいいのが見つからない。結局海外発送でシンガポールに届けてもらう方法は断念。
• 日本で買って、来月の日本行きのタイミングでシンガポールに持ち帰ることにする。日本のAmazon以外のサイトで探した結果、T480が良さそうだ。SSDとHDDが両方使えそうなのがいい。グラフィックボードはなくていいかなと思う。ハイスペック目的なら来年デスクトップを買う予定。ノートのcpuって新しくなるとクロック周波数が低いやつが出てくるんだね。
• あとは買う時期。6月末の決算に合わせて値下げしてくる可能性があってそれを待っているが、あんまり待ちすぎると日本行きに間に合わなくなるので6月第1週には手を打ちたい。
• シンガポールの通販サイトも見てみたけど悉く微妙だw　低価格帯は結構揃ってるけど、ちょっといいモデルになると、他国対比ですごく高く($300以上)なったり、輸入もの(しかも初期不良は元の国に各自送ってくれとか但し書きがある)だったりする。んん、これじゃ米Amazonから送ってもらうのと大して変わらない。あと電気機器は特に実物置いてある店だと、値段はメーカー側にコントロールされていてどこも大差なし。非常につまらん。

参考: Why are electronics so much more expensive in Singapore than in the US?

https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/6atgk1/why_are_electronics_so_much_more_expensive_in/ 

• そこいくと日本やアメリカは素晴らしい。日本だと量販店の力が強すぎてこんなことも起こってるみたいだけど。下記の記事のシリーズは業界の裏側を知ることが出来て興味深い。

参考: 貸出機の破損がまかり通る、メーカーと量販店の行き違い (1/2)
http://www.itmedia.co.jp/pcuser/articles/1803/16/news086.html 

--------------------------------------
追記(2018年7月4日)

欲しかった新しいノートPCゲットしました。ただ、これまた紆余曲折だったので時系列にして書きます。

• 最終セールに合わせてThinkpad T480のカスタマイズ品を日本のメーカーサイトから注文。値引き率は以前と大して変わってなかった。多分人気機種なのでメーカー側は強気なのだろう。最短到着が7月29日。日本にいる期間を考えるとぎりぎり。もうちょっと余裕をもって注文すべきだったか。
• ところが、何日経ってもオンラインページ上の状況が「We're working on accurate delivery date. Please come back in a few days.」みたいなメッセージのままでいつになっても先に進む気配がしない。1週間経って流石にしびれを切らしコールセンターに電話。状況を確認すると「CPU周りのパーツが欠品で出荷のめどが立たない」と詳しく教えてくれた。まあそれは仕方ない。でもそれなら事前に知らせてほしかったな。
• それに、このままだと今回の日本旅行中に新しいノートPCが手に入らない。これは絶対嫌で、後から日本からシンガポールに送ろうとするとシンガポールの消費税を払わないといけなくなるしこんな事態はぜひとも避けたい(つまり日本とシンガポールの消費税の二重払い)。幸い、日本滞在期間中にオンライン注文をキャンセルできるようなので(注文から14日、営業日含めないで)、キャンセルして、その代わり実物を買ってしまおう。
• ただ、Thinkpadの問題として店舗での実物販売は基本的にしていない。それでも、世界最大の電気街我らが秋葉原なら何とかなるかもしれないと思い検索してみると、少ないながらも新品の実物販売をしているお店があるらしい。メモして早速秋葉原に行く。最悪中古でも何も買わずに帰ってくるよりはいいや。
• いくつかお店を回ってみたが、今回はIOSYSというお店に現物があった。しかし僕がもともと欲しかったT480ではなくT480s(こっちはSSD+HDDみたいなデュアルストレージ出来ない)。しかもちょっとオーバースペック(グラボ付きなのだがゲームは基本的にしないので必要ない)。プログラミング目的で使うのだがCPUのクロック周波数が低くて不安(Core-i5 8520Uで1.6Ghz)。
• ここでいろいろ考える。CPUだが、Core-i5 8520UでC++のプログラミングは大丈夫かネットで調べると、お薦め、とのコメントがあったのでCPUは大丈夫らしい。また、HDDを載せると逆に持ち運びの際に壊れる可能性も出てくるんじゃないかと思い始め、それだったら最初から全部SSD(しかも256GBある)の方がいいんじゃないかと考えた。値段は税込みで15万だが免税できるらしい。オンライン販売では免税できないんだよね。免税で買えば当初の予算とあんまり変わらない。何よりもすぐに手に入るという価値は大きい。
• というわけで買いました。これで今回の日本滞在のミッションの一つ完遂！　僕の買ったモデルはメモリが4GBしかないので後日+8GB増設した。
• オンライン注文は、まだ13日しか経ってなかったので翌日にキャンセルした。コールセンターの対応は良かったと思う。言い訳じみたこともなかったし適当なこと言われて妙に期待させるようなこともなかったし。
• オーバースペックと思っていたグラボだけど、よくよく考えると学生時代にOpenGLとかで3Dデータを可視化していたのを思い出した。ああいうのには役立つかもしれない。

というわけで今回の件は終了。まだ本格的には使ってないけど、今のところすごく快適です。キーボードも入力しやすいし動作も速い。
しかし流石秋葉原だね。何でも揃うし店員さんも知識豊富だしいろいろ比較検討して買えたのでとても満足です。
--------------------------------------
追記(2018年7月7日)
内蔵メモリが4GBとのことだったがOS上で確認したら16GBもあった。既に8GBの増設メモリを買っているのでこれを付ければ24GBになることになる。(7月18日追記: オンボード8GB+1つしかないスロット8GBなので、別に買った8GBのDDR4メモリは余分に。誰か要りませんか～？　将来の何かのために自分で持っておいてもいいか。)　反面、SSDは128GBしかなかった。んんん、これは将来足りなくなる可能性大なので、256GBやそれ以上にしとく必要があるかもしれない。

(職場のPCがSSD128GBしかなくて度々容量不足になってるんで結構神経質にならざるを得ないんだよね)