I think we've been able to remove the psychological barrier, so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone achieve their goal next.

RRC member interview

A+ Team (Goal: Full marathon sub 2 hours 50 minutes) - Koji Karatsu was selected as the 5th round MVP

Last year, Koji Karatsu led the team by achieving a sub-3 time at the Kanazawa Marathon, giving the team momentum. He ran 2 hours 53 minutes 03 seconds at this year's Tokyo Marathon, and continued that momentum by achieving a sub-2 hours 50 minutes at the Gold Coast Marathon in July. He never misses a race, and the source of his continued best times is the accumulation of 450 kilometers per month.

The Gold Coast Marathon was a satisfying race

I was awarded the MVP as a result of the Gold Coast Marathon. I was happy to achieve my goal of sub-2 hours 50 minutes (2 hours 48 minutes 18 seconds), and I'm grateful to everyone on my team for their support. Thank you very much.

After finishing the Gold Marathon, achieving sub-Ega

One of the reasons I was able to achieve my goal was that my training paid off in the Tokyo Marathon, and I was able to significantly improve my personal best (2 hours 53 minutes 03 seconds). This gave me a better idea of ​​how to plan my training and race for the next Gold Coast Marathon.

Efforts to achieve sub-Ega

To achieve sub-second time, I needed to increase my pace by more than 5 seconds per kilometer in a relatively short period of time, and with Tokyo in mind, I felt that running at a pace close to even would be less strenuous and would suit me, so this time I focused on running 10-20 kilometers at an M pace. I had never run at a 4-minute kilometer pace consistently before, so I thought it was important to work hard at it to get my body used to it and to work on my pace.

Official training session

I also did a 6-8km short run (3 minutes 47 seconds per kilometer), a long run (30-40km), and a half marathon (20-24km) about once a week. Due to the heat, my pace for the long and half marathons was about 4 minutes 30 seconds to 4 minutes 50 seconds per kilometer.
I generally run in the morning, but honestly, sometimes it's tough. But I'd decide, "I'm going to go today," and head out the door. There were days when I thought I couldn't do it, but after running 4 or 5 kilometers, my pace would mysteriously pick up. By repeating that feeling, I managed to continue until the race. I started my M-pace runs at 10 kilometers, gradually increasing them to about 15 kilometers. I made good use of half-mile races for the 20 kilometers.

He has steadily improved his personal best (photo: Beyond in December 2022)

I think my sub-second time was a result of the training I put in, and being able to control my pace between 3 minutes 58 seconds and 59 seconds led to this result. I was happy that my overall pace was under 3 minutes. After the race, I also felt very different from before. Up until now, after a race, I would feel like I'd given it my all, and my legs would often cramp up and I'd be unable to walk. But like in Tokyo, this time it felt much easier, and I still had some energy left.

5th course 1500m time trial

Last year, I was the first to achieve sub-3, and Tomoyuki Hirano told me, "The wall is gone now," and I was happy to see so many others, including Hirano, achieve sub-3 since then. I was able to achieve sub-3 a little early this time as well, since I raced early before the full season started, but I think I was able to remove the psychological wall, so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone achieve it next time.

Future goals

With each session of RETO, everyone's enthusiasm grows, we inspire each other, and the synergistic effect is improving our times. I'm not the type to organize practice sessions myself, but I hope to produce results and inspire everyone. But looking at Strava now, everyone seems to be running really hard. I actually wanted to take a longer break after the Gold Coast, but watching it inspired me, and I realized I couldn't take that long of a break, so I started running again (wry smile). Next, I plan to run the Tsukuba and Tokyo Marathons. If possible, I'd like to break Taku-chan's (Kosaka Takuya) record (2 hours 45 minutes 52 seconds) in either one of them.