Skip to main content

Naoko Takahashi Back From "Q`s Boot Camp"

http://www.daily.co.jp/general/2007/11/11/0000735850.shtml

translated by Brett Larner

Sydney Olympic marathon gold medallist and Beijing Olympic hopeful Naoko Takahashi returned to Japan yesterday after 6 months of altitude training at her base camp in Boulder, Colorado. Inspired by the popular "Billy`s Boot Camp" series of exercise videos, Takahashi (known in Japan as Q-chan) joked that her recent training could be called "Q`s Boot Camp" due to its heavy emphasis on cross-training exercises and weight training. Takahashi will attempt to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics at either January`s Osaka International Women`s Marathon or March`s Nagoya International Women`s Marathon. The deadline for entering Osaka is December 12. Takahashi will spend a short time in Japan before heading to Kunming, China for further altitude training.

Touching her abs while talking, Q-chan described "Q`s Boot Camp" as consisting of a customized, daily 80-minute regimen of exercises accompanied by original music. Her Japan-based management staff brought a copy of "Billy`s Boot Camp," which went through a period of maniacal popularity in Japan over the summer, to her training camp in Boulder. When Takahashi watched the workout video she thought, "Oh, this is easy."

Up until now, Q-chan has always just done what she loves, running, but lately she has found that it isn`t enough. Weak areas of the body not strengthened by running have become more of an issue. Q-chan explained, "(Q`s) Boot Camp, kick boxing, aerobics.....These things are essential parts of my training now because they help to strengthen my whole body." As she focused on developing these weaker areas during this training camp, Q-chan found that her running improved as well. "I was advised to change my arm swing but had trouble doing it. Now that I`ve developed more upper-body strength I`m able to make these improvements to my form."

All of this preparation is targeted toward making the Beijing Olympic team. She has only one month left in which to decide which race she will run as her qualifier. "My motto has always been `never give up on your dreams and they will come true.` That`s the kind of running I want to show everybody." Whether in Osaka, where she ran one of her greatest speed races, or in Nagoya, where she won to qualify for the Sydney Olympics, Q-chan will only be racing herself. "I haven`t decided which race to run, but I`m not concerned with who else will be running in either race. The most important point for me is to run how I feel and to make it the best run I can."
Labels:

Comments

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

Keita Sato on Training with OAC, Breaking NR in the USA, and the Road Ahead

Translator's note: Over his 2nd year at four-time national champion Komazawa University , 1500 m, 3000 m, indoor 3000 m and 5000 m U20 NR holder Keita Sato spent a total of three months training with OAC with support from JRN, one week in Boulder last spring, three weeks in St. Moritz during the summer, and the last two months back in Boulder. During that time he ran the equivalent of a 27:57 road 10 km and 59:22 half marathon in ekidens and U20 Asian area best 27:28.50 for 10000 m, all at age 19, and since turning 20 in January an indoor 5000 m NR of 13:09.45, an indoor 3000 m NR of 7:42.56, and an Asian area best 8:14.71 for 2 miles indoor. This interview by journalist Tatsuo Terada took place in late February before The TEN, where Sato ran 27:34.66. Komazawa University 2nd-year Keita Sato had a great indoor track season. On January 26 in Boston just after his 20th birthday he ran a 13:09.45 indoor 5000 m national record, the 2nd-fastest time ever by a Japanese man behind o...
1 comment
Read more

Restaurant Owner Selected as Olympic Torchbearer Dies in Fire After Becoming Despondent Over Impact of Coronavirus Crisis (updated)

On the evening of Apr. 30, the 54-year-old male owner of a restaurant in Tokyo's Nerima ward specializing in tonkatsu deep fried pork cutlets died from full-body burns in a fire at the restaurant. The man had been one of the people chosen as a torchbearer for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics torch relay. With the coronavirus crisis causing both the postponement of the Olympics and a loss of business at the restaurant, the man had recently started talking pessimistically about the future to those around him. With evidence of the man's body having been doused in tonkatsu cooking oil, metropolitan police from the Hikarigaoka Police Station are carefully examining the cause of the fire. At around 10:00 p.m. on the 30th, the fire broke out in the tonkatsu restaurant on the first floor of a three-story building. A neighborhood resident who noticed smoke called the fire department. Firefighters found the floor and part of a wall burning, with the man lying on the floor in the customer seat...
Post a Comment
Read more