Inspiring and encouraging peers of the same generation

RRC member interview

Text: Shun Sato

7th Cool B Team (Goal: Sub-3.5) MVP Nozaki Nanako

First personal best in seven years

His time of 3 hours 34 minutes 16 seconds at the Tsukuba Marathon was his first personal best in seven years.

My previous personal best felt like a fluke, and although I continued running after that, my times weren't improving. Then COVID-19 forced me to stay home, and I got tired of running. After that, I changed my mindset and joined RETO, with my first goal being to run under 4 hours. I broke 3 hours 40 minutes (3 hours 39 minutes 02 seconds) at the Itabashi City Marathon last March, and this time I broke 35 minutes, so I was finally able to see the future (sub-3.5), and I was happy.

Family and peer support

In Tsukuba, my legs were not feeling well until just before the race, and Ton-san (my husband, Toshio Nozaki) had caught the flu, so I was thinking of quitting. But somehow the fever went down, and Ton-san's parents came to pick me up at Tsukuba Station and drove me to the starting line. At the end of the race, Yohei-san (Nariaki) ran alongside me, which I think was a big help (laughs).

Ton's kindness

My training averaged about 250 to 300 kilometers per month in terms of distance. I generally dislike speed training and prefer to run long distances steadily. At home, I sometimes get Ton-san to help me with my training. He runs 30 kilometers on the weekends, and he runs the first 15 kilometers with me at my M pace. He also leads me when I do speed training from Seiya's training menu or when I do another run of a menu that I couldn't complete in a training session.

Anxiety about taking a break

Recently, I've been pushing myself and running longer distances, which has led to more pain in my legs. I've rarely had to take time off due to injuries, so when the doctor at the hospital told me to take a week off, I got anxious. To be honest, I think it's partly because of my age, and I'm feeling anxious. Even if I manage to get through training sessions from now on, I probably won't improve at the same rate as everyone else. I think it'll be hard to maintain it, so I'm terrified that if I don't practice, I'll just keep getting worse and worse. So I run thinking, "It's okay if it hurts a little," but recently everyone has been telling me to stop (wry smile).

Girls of the same generation

I think it's great that RETO has a wide age range. I think it would probably be a little awkward if I was alone among a group of young people who are still growing. But there are girls my age, so I can talk openly about the same worries and all sorts of things, which is very reassuring and inspiring. Yukorin (Hasebe Yuko) in particular is working hard and getting faster and faster, so she makes me want to work hard too, and when I see how hard Cherry (Sakurai Tetsuya) works, I feel like age is no excuse, so they are both very inspiring to me.

I can't stop running marathons

I've always been the type of person who starts new things but quickly quits. I thought the blues harp would be easy to pick up, but I quit right away. I also bought colored pencils to do brush drawings, but I stopped using them right away (wry smile). I've continued playing tennis, but I've stuck with marathons. I've run more than I've ever run in my life over the past two years, and I've worked hard, but I'd like to keep running and achieve a sub-3.5 time someday.