How to Push Yourself to a Limit

Running with a friend who is 10 year yonger than you!

My Osaka friend came to Tokyo for a relative's wedding. In order to repay his kindness during my refugee days in Osaka, I decided to take him to run around Kokyo (Imprial Palace) in Tokyo. The run is about 6km, we started from the north east side of the palace garden and jogged uphill for about 1km. We were keeping a steady pace and my friend kept checking time in such an obvious way - lifting his arm and read his watch - every 5 minutes.

I was getting a bit of out of breath since the pace is faster than normal, asking him if everything is ok. He gave me a big smile saying the pace is good. I was very confident that I can outrun him since his is not an experienced runner according to what he told me but the truth is he is very fit.

We didn't slow down for the whole course and, due to my runner's pride, I cannot ask for a break and I kept up with the speed. Until the end of the course, I thought my heart is going to burst and my lung is not big enough to get proper amount of oxygen. But we finished the run in 25 minutes, 10 minutes shorter than my normal time!