japan running news

Former Japanese men's national record holder in the marathon and Kanebo corporate ekiden team head coach Toshinari Takaoka , 47, appeared at a training and conditioning symposium last week in Osaka to discuss his training during his career as an athlete. His talk revealed the secret of how to successfully tackle 42.195 km. Before Yuta Shitara (26, Honda) set a new national record at February's Tokyo Marathon, Takaoka's mark of 2:06:16 stood as the Japanese national record for 16 years. In his lecture Takaoka mainly discussed his training for the 2003 Fukuoka International Marathon, a selection race for the 2004 Athens Olympics marathon team. Takaoka focused on five points: 40 km runs mileage utilization of racing speed work maintaining a pace of 3:00/km From August through November that year Takaoka did nine 40 km runs at 3:30/km for a total time of 2 hours and 20 minutes. "At first 40 km runs were painful because I wasn't accustomed to the distance,...

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/201505/0008049840.shtml translated by Brett Larner A former marathon great is working hard in her position as head coach.  International Pacific University in Okayama has named 2000 Sydney Olympics marathon 7th-placer Eri Yamaguchi , 42, to lead its new women's ekiden team.  Returning to the field of competition for the first time in four years, Yamaguchi was full of a sense of mission as she said, "I want to pass to them everything that I learned and accomplished." In March, 2011 Yamaguchi left her job as assistant coach at the Tenmaya women's corporate team to get married, afterward focusing on developing juniors.  When the knock on the door came from IPU she was conflicted, asking herself, "Can you go back to the competitive world?  You won't be able to take care of your family any more."  But after talking with IPU president Hiroshi Ohashi , she said, "I got a strong desire to help develop a strong ekid...

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2014052300819 translated by Brett Larner On May 23 International Pacific University in Okayama announced that it has hired 2000 Sydney Olympics marathon 7th-place finisher Eri Yamaguchi , 41, as an assistant coach of its track and field team.  Yamaguchi will be responsible for the women's middle and long distance programs. Yamaguchi was named to the Sydney Olympics team after winning the 1999 Tokyo International Women's Marathon in 2:22:12, then the 2nd-fastest time in Japanese women's marathoning history.  Since retiring in 2005 her activities have included coaching work with her former corporate team, Tenmaya .