Saving up for a race
People who follow my blog know that I run a lot of races. I most frequently run quite casual 5 km races, but what I really enjoy doing is running long distance races in the form of marathons and ultramarathons.
When running shorter races the term very rarely comes up, but when I’ve run with people who are running very long distances, the term 貯金 (chokin) frequently comes up. Chokin means both to put money aside/deposit money in the bank, while also meaning accumulating a surplus of wins. This can be thought of in English as “banking time.”
This concept can be explained quite easily with a 100 km run. If you want to run a 100 km run in 10 hours, you need to be running at 6 minutes per km for 10 hours. If I run the first 10 km in 50 minutes, I’ve managed to bank 10 minutes to be used later. If I reach the 20 km point in 100 minutes (1 hour 40 minutes), that means I’ve got 20 minutes in the bank.
When you run a 100 km race it can take a lot of pressure off you if you know you are ahead of where you need to be. Over the past few years I ran a 118 km race (Challenge Fuji 5 Lakes Ultramarathon) and a 100 km race (Nobeyama Ultramarathon) and I used this strategy both times.
Both of these races have quite strict checkpoints you need to pass, and each check point lets you know when the cutoff time is. If you don’t make it by the cutoff time, you get an automatic DNF (did not finish).
I banked a lot of time at the beginning of the Fuji 5 Lakes run, but by the time I got to about the 80 km point my body started to break down. It took me longer and longer to get to each checkpoint and I found myself “burning through my savings,” but I did eventually complete the race with about 20 minutes to spare.
During the Nobeyama run I was a lot more relaxed. Nobeyama is known as one of the toughest road ultras in the East of Japan, and it had a completion rate of less than 62.6%. I followed the strategy of banking time at every checkpoint, but the more checkpoints I cleared the more I managed to bank. I eventually got to the point where I passed the final checkpoint with so much time banked that I had two hours to cover the final 15.4 km. I literally could have walked the whole way and I still would have comfortably finished.
Front loading
I occasionally mention David Goggins in my writing. Goggins has been a major inspiration for me in both my running career and my life. When he talks, he says things about mindset that resonate with everyone, but there is an extra level of resonance when you are listening to him as an ultra runner.
To briefly summarize, “frontloading” is the practice of working exceptionally hard early in life to build a strong foundation of accomplishments and mental fortitude for the future. It involves embracing difficult challenges, developing discipline, and consistently pushing your limits to “front-load” success. The goal is to create a deep reserve of experience and achievement to rely on later in life when motivation or physical ability may be lower.
A brief Goggins clip on frontloading can be found below:
The concept of working hard when you are able to so you have a reserve of success is fantastic and applies to more than just running.
Training for retirement
I see some people out there (in particular, movie stars social media influences) that live very much in the here and now. They may look physically fit but a lot of their gains are as much chemically induced as they are the product of working out in the gym. They look fantastic, but they may not look fantastic for long.
One of the best fitness goals I’ve heard from someone is, “I want to dance with my wife at my granddaughter’s wedding.” Having that as a goal implies that the goal is to live a long, happy, and active life.
I have had some fantastic instructors in my life. Many of my iaidō instructors are quite advanced in years, and I’ve had more than one instructor who was in their 90’s. One of these instructors was an 八段範士 (Hachidan hanshi: 8th dan master), which is the highest rank it is currently possible to attain in iaidō.
I’m not sure how long this will last but it can be generally assumed that the retirement age is 65 years old. To pass away in your 90’s means you have been retired from work for more than 25 years. I am of the belief that people who live that long don’t finish work and then go into “sitting around doing nothing” mode for 25+ years. They get involved, keep practicing, have goals, and focus on developing the younger generations.
Attaining ranks in iaidō takes a LONG time. Once you have passed your 初段 (shodan: first dan) you need to train for at least one year before you can attempt your 二段 (nidan: 2nd dan). Three years for third dan, four years for fourth dan, and so on. Assuming you take and pass every grading, that’s a minimum of 36 years to 8th dan. That is the absolute best case scenario which literally never happens. One of my kendō friends told me that 7th dan is the final level a human can achieve, with 8th dan being the rank of “gods.” (The pass rate for 8th dan is usually around 1%).
Personally, I don’t think I’m ever going to get a “god tier” rank, but it would be nice to get to 7th dan one day, which (at this rate) might be achievable in 13 years IF I pass every test from now on.
My plan from right now is to simply frontload while I’m young, then have a good base to continue building on when I’m older. So far, so good.
Final thoughts and take home messages
This year I am aiming to run at least 3,650 km. This can be thought of as running 10 km per day, 70 km per week, or roughly 300 km per month (give or take a few km). October 29th (when this article is released) is day 302 of the year. I’m currently at 3,224 km. That’s 204 km of front loading, or 20 days of sitting around doing absolutely nothing and still able to make the 3650 km goal by the end of the year.
Of course I’m not going to sit around for 20 days, but I may have a bit of schedule disruption in November, and I’m glad I’ve got a decent amount of front loading done to offset that disruption.
Work hard now, so you can enjoy the results of your hard work later. If I get to the point where my ability to run long distances drops, I still have stories of 100 km and 100 mile runs I’ve completed and everything I learned along the way.
It doesn’t matter what you do. Think ahead. Your future self will thank you. Not only your future self, but family who may not even exist yet will be overjoyed to see grandad and grandma dancing at their wedding.
Make it happen.
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