Fuwa's Coach Igarashi After Watching Worlds 10000 m: "She Has to Run Under 9 Minutes for Last 3000 m"
With the Oregon 22 World Championships coming to a close on July 25, next year and beyond are already on the horizon. Having missed her likely spot on the Japanese team after an injury kept her out of May's 10000 m National Championships, Seira Fuwa (19, 2nd yr., Takushoku Univ.) and her coach Toshiharu Igarashi traveled to Eugene to watch the women's 10000 m in person. Coach Igarashi talked about their reasons for going and their plans for the future.
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"I went to see the 2011 Daegu World Championships, and the atmosphere was really something unique," he said. "The difference between watching it on TV and experiencing it in the stadium was incredible." To help Fuwa prepare for her own upcoming debut at the international level, he wanted her to get the same experience of the level and atmosphere at an early stage in her career.
Igarashi suggested the trip to the U.S. to her on May 4 right after announcing her withdrawal from the National Championships. "I definitely want to go and see it," she answered. Seeing the World Championships live for the first time, the high level of the international competitors make a big impression on her. "Afterward Seira told me she'd really been blown away by the atmosphere in the stadium, by the way Letesenbet Gidey and Sifan Hassan positioned themselves in the race, the way they saved energy to be able to race hard for the win at the end, and the sheer speed of the last lap," said Igarashi.
Seeing for herself what it means to be "world class" was a valuable lesson for Fuwa to learn. According to Igarashi, Fuwa said the experience reiterated to her that, "In order to compete at the same level, I have to rebuild my body, including continuing to get a handle on diet and nutrition issues, and make it strong enough to handle the training that will me compete with that kind of speed." The experience has her considering what has been missing in her approach.
Fuwa wants to be competitive in the marathon, but for the Paris Olympics she has already set a goal of making the top 8 in the 10000 m. "Looking at the splits I think Seira can handle whatever they bring through 7000 m, but in Eugene the top people were running under 3:00/1000 m after 7000 m," Igarashi said. "In the two years left before Paris we have to develop the speed for her to run under 9 minutes for the last 3000 m."
That will be the pair's focus in her training to come, but they understand the importance of patience. There's no rush to get her back into competition. "We're not thinking in terms of adjusting her training to fit what's on the calendar," he said. "The priority is doing the training that she's able to do right now." The first step on the road to a marathon medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is simply devoting their focus to rebuilding her basic fitness.
translated by Brett Larner
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