Skip to main content

Shibui Leaves for Final Training Camp in Arizona

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/other/090714/oth0907141759011-n1.htm
http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/f-sp-tp0-20090714-518491.html
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/090715/spg0907150514000-n1.htm
http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20090714-OHT1T00246.htm

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Marathoner Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) left from Tokyo's Narita Airport on July 14 for her final training camp for August's World Championships marathon in Berlin. Shibui will be based at 2100 m elevation in Flagstaff, Arizona, but will train even higher. Her coach Takao Watanabe commented, "She'll be going as high as 2700 m, but the details are still a secret. I hope the change in evironment will help her get stronger." The oxygen level at this altitude is only 15% compared to 21% at sea level. By training in such an evironment an athlete's heart and lungs will become stronger. "We'll be listening carefully to her body," said Watanabe.

In April Shibui began to experience pain in her left thigh which kept her out of training. Watanabe said that at Shibui's first training camp in Flagstaff last month, "If she did even a little speedwork her face started turning blue." As a result the camp became base training. In her comeback race, the July 5 Sapporo International Half Marathon, she was 23rd in 1:14:09, her personal worst. "When I come back from the States," laughed Shibui, "I'll be a different person."

Shibui admitted some fears, saying, "If things don't go well the pain might come back," but added strongly, "Things have been feeling better and better." Asked about her goals for the World Championships she said, "When I get back I'll have an answer for that. If I'm feeling 80%....Well, what does a percent mean? You can't describe how someone feels with a percent. I don't want to overthink things since I'm going to run either way. But if I get at least 80% of the work done then I'll be ready to go in the main event."

As part of her training Shibui will run the July 26 San Francisco Marathon and currently plans to return to Japan on Aug. 10.

Comments

Brett Larner said…
Morimoto hasn't exactly been producing fireworks lately either.
Kevin said…
Why would she run San francisco marathon? There's not gonna be much recovery time for her for Berlin. Shibui looks tired. Running San Francisco would take away so much energy from her to use for berlin.
Kevin said…
There's should be news on Yoshimi Ozaki. She ran the season fastest time in 2008-2009. So far no one has crack 2:23:30. At least give her some credit.
Kevin said…
Tomo morimoto doesn't deserve to run. She finish so last to those wacoal runners. And what's up with her 1:15:00 run at yamaguchi. She finish 30th. There are so much better runners than her.
Kevin said…
I want to join Japan running universities. Can you help me sign up? I want to train with them and run ekidens.
Brett Larner said…
Dennis --
Shibui said she's just running SF as a training run. As far as Ozaki, I would put something up if there were any info about her. The last thing I saw said she had been injured and was just getting going again:
http://japanrunningnews.blogspot.com/2009/06/yoshimi-ozaki-to-build-base-one-more.html

As far as getting into a Japanese university, I've told you before, feel free to contact me through the email address on my profile page.

Most-Read This Week

2026 Tokyo Marathon Elite Field

The Mar. 1 Tokyo Marathon has great fields this year, so let's get right to it. The women's field has 3 of last year's top 10, winner for the 2nd year in a row and Tokyo CR holder Sutume Asefa Kebede , 3rd-placer and 2025 Chicago winner Hawi Feysa , and 5th-placer and 2025 Berlin winner Rosemary Wanjiru , plus 2024 Valencia winner Megertu Alemu , 2025 Prague winner Bertukan Welde , 2024 Paris winner Mestawut Fikir , 2024 Osaka winner Waganesh Mekasha , former WR holder Brigid Kosgei , and a lot more. Japanese hopes pretty much go to all-time #7 Ai Hosoda , 2:20:31 in Berlin 2024 but who announced this month that she is retiring after Tokyo despite having qualified for the 2028 Olympic marathon trials with her 2:23:27 for 6th in Sydney last year. Other internationals include Canadian Malindi Elmore , American Sara Hall , a big Chinese group led by Yuyu Xia , Poland's Aleksandra Brzezińska and Australian Vanessa Wilson . The men's race has 5 of last year's top 1...

Measuring Marathon Courses by Bicycle

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0110&f=column_0110_034.shtml translated by Brett Larner The full marathon is a sport where you compete over 42.195 km, but how do they go about measuring that distance?  Today we're going to look a little bit at how they go about certifying the distance of a marathon. The reality is that major international marathons use a bicycle to measure the distance.  This rule is an international standard, and the same method of measurement is used everywhere.  It was put into place in 1986.  In order to ensure that the same method is used everywhere, a bicycle that meets IAAF specifications must be used for measurement. In the case of Japan's major marathons, to be certain that the distance is correct a provisional measurement is first made.  Before the course is certified using a bicycle the course is measured using a 50 m-long length of wire to determine that it is in fact 42.195 km.  When a bicycle is u...

Ai Hosoda Announces Retirement

photo © 2025 Victah Sailer/Photo Run, all rights reserved On Jan. 8 the Edion women's corporate team announced that Ai Hosoda , 30, will retire at the end of March this year. The Tokyo Marathon will be her last race. At Nagano Higashi H.S. Hosoda ran in the National High School Ekiden her 2nd and 3rd years. During her 3rd year at Nittai University she won both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, going on to win the bronze medal in the 10000 m at the World University Games in her 4th year at Nittai. After graduating she joined the Daihatsu corporate team, debuting at the 2019 Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:29:27. 2 years later she transferred to Edion. She qualified for the Paris Olympics marathon trials at the 2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon and finished 3rd in the trials in the fall of 2023, but was later bumped down to Olympic alternate after another athlete ran a faster time. Instead of the Olympics, Hosoda ran the 2024 Ber...