Skip to main content

Akaba Completes 40 km Training Run

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/p-sp-tp0-20090603-502205.html
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/other/090602/oth0906021957011-n1.htm
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/olympic/news/2009/06/03/03.html
http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2009060200863
http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/f-sp-tp0-20090603-502398.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Thanks to "the power of being watched," Berlin World Championships women's marathon team member Yukiko Akaba (29, team Hokuren) ran a 40 km test run at her high-altitude training camp in Sugadaira, Nagano, on June 2 in front of 10 members of the press. Akaba's form and rhythm were smooth as she completed the 6-lap practice run in 2:35:27. She smiled afterwards as she said, "That was tough. It's been a long time since I've done something this hard."

Two days before the workout Akaba experienced some discomfort in the middle toe on her left foot, but she nevertheless ran the full distance as planned. "My foot is fine," she said. Her coach and husband Shuhei told reporters, "I think the foot pain she had was just from trying out a new pair of shoes. In terms of this workout, Yukiko always trains without many people around, so sometimes the motivation to push herself is lacking a bit. Without this gallery watching today she might have only run 2 loops [instead of 6]. It's a good thing that she finished the full workout, and that's the power of being watched."

With the success of this public workout it's clear Akaba's preparations for Berlin are going well. Shuhei described the family team's plans for Akaba's summer training. Akaba will continue training in Sugadaira until June 20, adding speedwork to help her get ready for the 10000 m in this month's National Track and Field Championships. After that she will continue her marathon training. "She's going to do 2 or 3 more 40 km runs before Berlin. We're covering all the bases." Asked about her goal for the World Championships marathon, Akaba replied, "A medal, or at worst the top eight."
Labels:

Comments

dennis said…
Come on beat Paula! Rikuren needs to train the world champs member to stick with Paula no matter what and try to beat her.
June 4, 2009 at 7:48 AM
Brett Larner said…
I don't see anywhere in this article where Akaba is crying about a sore toe.
June 4, 2009 at 1:51 PM
dennis said…
Who's gonna get selected for the 10000 meters in Berlin? Is there a selection race? I think they'll picked Nakamura, Mari Ozaki, Megumi Seike, Kayoko Fukushi, and Mizuho nasukawa.
June 5, 2009 at 8:12 AM
dennis said…
Is there any more track races. This year was a very disappointing track season. None of the japanese runner crack 32:00. Last year Akaka ran 31:36 and Nakamura ran 31:31.
June 5, 2009 at 8:14 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

World Marathon Majors Japanese Entries

We're back from a short summer break. A week and a half out from the first race of the season's four World Marathon Majors races, here's a look at Japanese athletes scheduled to run. Everything right now is about qualifying for the MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to be held in the fall of 2027 in Nagoya. The JAAF makes no mistake about wanting to keep its top people racing domestically where it can get a share of revenue from the TV broadcast and race operations, so anyone who decides to race overseas has to do it in a WA platinum label race and hit either 2:06:30 or 2:23:30, regardless of place, course or weather if they want to make the trials. At the same time concessions are make for domestic races, like for example the late-August Hokkaido Marathon where up to 3 men and 3 women can qualify if they go 2:12:00 or 2:32:00. As a result, you get things like last year where amateur runner Yudai Fukuda made the trials by finishing 3rd Jap...
1 comment
Read more

Nakajima Breaks 100 mH NR Twice, Kitaguchi Returns - August Track Roundup

Catching up on what's been happening in track and field this month during our summer break: Men's 3000 m NR holder Nagiya Mori was just off his 5000 m PB at the IFAM Oordegem meet in Belgium on Aug. 1, taking 16th in 13:15.01. Shota Nakano was 26th of 28 in 13:35.02. This year's national champion Ryoma Aoki ran the 3000 mSC but didn't finish. Naoto Hasegawa was the only Japanese athlete at Mutaz Essa Barshim 's What Gravity Tour stop at the Monaco Athletics Festival meet on Aug. 5. Having cleared 2.30 m for the first time earlier this year Hasegawa only managed 2.18 m in Monaco, taking 7th of 10. There were a lot of good performances at the Fuji Hokuriku World Trial meet in Fujiyoshida on Aug. 9, but the one that got the headlines was a 12.62 (-0.2) NR in the women's 100 mH by Hitomi Nakajima . Nakajima actually did it twice, running 12.62 (+2.0) in the heats before repeating in the final. Masumi Aoki also ran big in the heats, with a 12.68 (+2.0) for al...
1 comment
Read more