Women's Marathon “To Be Prepared” for the Tokyo Olympics Ayuko Suzuki January 23, 17:18

A women's marathon that has long been described as a "slump." Ayako Suzuki is one of Japan's four Olympics medals for the first time in 16 years.
Suzuki was trying to break his shell in what could be called the "sacred place" of a Japanese women's marathon. (* Titles are omitted below)

First Sunrise Oath

On the first day of the Olympic year, Suzuki chose the place to watch the first sunrise at "Kin Misaki" in Tokunoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture.
It was the first sunrise, like a gold medal, that was clearly visible through the gaps between the thickly covered clouds.

Suzuki says, "I think that it has just begun, and I really feel refreshed. I want to run the best on the best stage." I swore with a smile.

Under the theme of "go over"

The practice place is “Naoko Road”.
This course is a sacred place for the Japanese women's marathon where that gold medalist, Naoko Takahashi, trained with Yoshio Koide, who died last year.
Suzuki, whose director Koide has been pushing the drums for life, says he can get medals.
The Olympic year was celebrated with a strong determination to "play a medal".

"I want to work on the theme of" overcoming ". I felt that if I didn't get past myself, I wouldn't be able to compete, so I would go beyond myself every day in difficult places."

The limit imposed

What Suzuki considers to be "the one who needs to be crossed" is the MGC race that was held last September.

Suzuki, the second marathon, was unable to keep up at a faster pace than expected by Honan Maeda, the winner, after 20km. Finally, finish like falling down. It was my best to defend the second place, which is a job offer.

I adhere to Suzuki practice before MGC. Recalling that time, I was impressed by the fact that I was training carefully with a limiter myself, trying to grab the national team surely while being said to be my favorite race.
And second place of MGC.
I was pushed to my limits.

"After all, the MGC was over and I was weak. I was short of practice and I was able to step on the distance more than before, but I needed to improve my quality to go further. felt"

Determined

I want to play a medal at the Olympics.
At Tokunoshima, he was working on training to create “legs” that could be played until the end of the race.
The course on the island has many hills and undulations. It is not easy to run without breaking the form, even exposed to strong winds.

Immediately after the MGC, coach Masahiko Takahashi told Suzuki, "Let's compete in 2020. Let's do rigorous training with the risk in mind."

In response to a proposal to improve the quality of practice, such as increasing the pace of long-distance running, Suzuki had to impose a strict practice of pushing a long-distance 30km run at a faster time than the conventional setting.

Overcoming injured walls

On the other hand, the practice that we pushed in could be a double-edged sword for Suzuki.
Suzuki, who has been called a genius runner since junior high school, has suffered many times from foot injuries due to the speed of his personality.
At the last Rio de Janeiro Olympics, there was a bitter experience of fatigue fracture just before the Games.

Three years ago, Suzuki turned from a track to a marathon, raising awareness of his body balance and taking time to care for his feet.
From the phrase "I think that if you do (practice) without noticing the imbalance, you will be injured, so you can avoid it by your own judgment" From the word, you will notice the cause before it leads to breakdown This has also signaled my determination to overcome the injuries.

"Beyond" myself with determination

The venue of the Tokyo Olympics marathon moved to a cool and flat place in Sapporo.
With high-speed races expected, Suzuki is now training abroad to improve his speed, based on the tough legs he has trained at the Tokunoshima training camp.

"In 2020, we will be ready for the medal, with the confidence that we have gained in practice, with the" preparedness "as a weapon,"

Suzuki, who doesn't speak slang, carefully confirmed his thoughts and expressed his thoughts on the medal with determination.
Believe that there is a dream medal beyond your limits so far.
(Sports News Department reporter Yuki Honma)