Mutsugoro wrote:
I think the translation of the Japanese title is a bit, um, colloquial and makes the Japanese sound harsher than it is.
I'd prefer something like, "What's Gone Wrong with Japanese Marathoning?"
I agree. Much better translation.
Pro jogger wrote:
I thought Japan was pretty good in the marathon. Maybe they just have too high standards
If Japan was a high school, they would pump out a dozen 4:15 milers every year without ever having a kid win the state championship. The country just has an uncanny ability to produce very, very good runners without ever having a great runner.
Yes. My bad. Excellent book. Maniacal emphasis on Ekiden races, emphasis on working hard as opposed to scientifically based training. Massive overtraining of high school talent, training almost exclusively on concrete. Little interest in track and field events. 800m specialists must train for, prioritize Ekiden. National Collegiate Half-marathon Championships have 1:04, hundreth placer, but winner runs 1:02.
Norman K. wrote:
michael t smith wrote:Read "The Way of Running."
Did you actually mean to type "The Way of the Runner: A Journey into the Fabled World of Japanese Running" written by Adharanand Finn who wrote "Running with the Kenyans"?
I do plan to read that book in the year 2017.
I have trained with some of the top Japanese and I am a sub 2:20 marathoner myself.
I only partially agree with the posters are saying that "it's because of the ekidens."
The top Kenyan and Ethiopian marathon runners are running many sub 2:06 marathons because of their training methods in high altitude. End of story.
If the top Japanese marathoners were to show up in Ethiopia or Kenya to train with the top Africans, they would not be shoo'ed away.
The Japanese, as a whole, are very "risk averse." They are content to stay in Boulder or Albuquerque due to lifestyle / health / safety concerns. The thought of relocating out to some village in the highlands of Kenya is really scary for them, so they don't take the risk. They would not be able to get their sushi or soba noodles.
Konichiwa,
Excellent points, you have learned your lessons well, young grasshopper.
Personally, it is a demographic phenomena, Australia & NZ journalists were asking twenty years ago why they no longer produced any great male milers (or 800m/5000m runners either). But the decline in birth rates meant less of a young running population while increased urbanization meant a less conducive environment to train in. Meanwhile other athletes doing great things were not given the respect they deserve.
Heck, Japan did really well in the men's 4 x 100m relay, Japan should be thankful for that.
There is one (kind of) about the British that I bought a couple of years ago -- "British Marathon Running Legends of the 1980s". It is collection of interviews that the author did with numerous elite British marathoners in connection with her Master's dissertation.
Ackley wrote:
There is one (kind of) about the British that I bought a couple of years ago -- "British Marathon Running Legends of the 1980s". It is collection of interviews that the author did with numerous elite British marathoners in connection with her Master's dissertation.
https://www.amazon.com/British-Marathon-Running-Legends-1980s/dp/0957218605/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1484392861&sr=8-1&keywords=british+marathon+running+legends
Would love to read it but its $16!