It is apparent that Kawauchi has loads of talent, but I think there is more to his success. I can personally relate to his success even though I never had that kind of talent. He is busy and has a life outside of running. He has to arrange his running program in a very efficient manner so he can get the most bang for the buck and he is doing a super job of it.
After working his eight or nine hours, his run is truly a treat! He does not have time to overtrain, run himself into an injury, get stale, or to lay around and think about his next run all day.
If he were sponsored by a corporation, I doubt if he would be any better off. I admire his discipline and hope he continues to run for all the right reasons. I hope he continues to enjoy his running and perfect his training so he can realize his full potential.
I began running when I was 27 and quickly worked up to 50 miles weeks. I was always too busy to run much more than that so I had to really think about how to get the most out of my miles. I ran my first race, a 10K, at 28 in 34:46 and the next fall ran a 2:43 marathon. Every run and race felt like I was floating and I would get chills thinking about how much I was enjoying my running. 29 years later, running is still just as fun. I hit all my pr's at age 37 which were 4:24, 15:39, 32:39, 1:12:36, and 2:33:38. As a masters I ran 16:08, 4:28 mile, and 2:35 marathon.
I don't race as much at 56 but still giggle with joy every time I take off on a run or feel the sweet tingle of adrenalin in my legs and heart when the gun goes off.
Kawauchi and I have a lot in common but the main thing we share is our love of running and the fact that runnning is the icing on our cake. He and I are both looking forward to our next run and will do our best in our next race.