Skip to main content

Akaba Checks in from Berlin

Click here to enter JRN's World Championships marathon prediction contest for a chance to win a 2009 Japanese national team singlet.

translated by Brett Larner

Berlin World Championships women's marathon medal favorite Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) and her husband and coach Shuhei updated their blog with some reports from Berlin ahead of tomorrow's zero day. Below are some highlights. Click here for a translation of Akaba discussing her Berlin training and preparations, her views on doping, and the connection between her family life and success in running.

Aug. 19 - In Berlin
Sorry we couldn't update the blog one more time before we left. We got to Berlin the evening of the 17th. The flight was really, really long, but I spent the whole time watching movies. Yesterday we went out to tour the marathon course, a 10 km loop that we run four times. There's basically no up-down, in fact it's almost perfectly flat, but there are a lot of curves, the road is very narrow, and there will be streetcars running so there are some pretty tricky parts.

Along the course there are some places where you can see remnants of the Berlin Wall. There are some beautiful cathedrals and museums too as well as some green areas, so I think we'll be able to soak up some of the Berlin flavor and relax as we run.

In the morning and evening it's been around 15 degrees, but when the sun's shining at midday it's gotten into the 30's and the UV seems like it'll be a problem. The humidity is really low, though, so it feels quite different from Japan. Anyway, I'll be anxiously checking the forecast for the weather on race day!

Today's the fifth day of the World Championships! It's going to be a tough, heated battle and it's all I'm thinking about!

Aug. 20 - Plain White Rice
It's our fourth day in Berlin. We're completely adapted to the environment here now. The Japanese marathon team is getting more excited every day! This time we're having breakfast every day on our own in the hotel's buffet-style restaurant. By special request they are making rice for us too. Nobody in Germany eats plain white rice, so when the waitresses bring it for us they ask things like, "Are you really going to eat it that way? I can bring you some soy sauce if you like," and, "Wouldn't you rather eat it fried?" They seem really genuinely concerned and it's clear that they want everything to be perfect for their guests. It feels nice to be taken such good care of.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

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

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