Overcoming fear leads to growth

RRC member interview

Text: Shun Sato

11th Course B+ Team (Goal: Full marathon sub 3 hours 20 minutes) MVP Naoya Yamamoto

Confidence gained through practice

I think the reason I was able to improve my time (3 hours 31 minutes 55 seconds) at the Itabashi City Marathon in March of last year and improve it in Tsukuba (3 hours 11 minutes 48 seconds) was largely due to the fact that I was able to overcome my fear of speed and the resulting psychological relief. When I was at Itabashi, I always ran at around 5 minutes per kilometer. Since joining RETO, I've been running more and more under 4 minutes in training sessions, and I thought that was fast for me. But when I ran cross-country at the RETO Sugadaira training camp in June, I was able to keep up at a pace of around 4 minutes 30 seconds. The feeling that I was finally able to run was a huge thing for me.

Mito's experience put to good use in Tsukuba

My experience with the Mito Manyu race also helped me. In Mito, I had breakfast about five hours before the race. After that, I ran the race without eating anything, and I ran out of energy. I started to feel hungry halfway through, and because I was sweating, my legs started to cramp and I couldn't do anything. I thought, "This isn't good enough," so in Tsukuba I ate three hours before, took six or seven gels, and some sports yokan with me when I ran. I felt like I was in good shape at 15km, and I was able to keep going until the end, but to be honest, it was a race that I thought was too good to be true.

Inspiration from peers

My experience with RETO was a big factor in my being able to run with a positive attitude. I had never done intervals before, but finishing the race at a high level with everyone panting gave me confidence, and that experience of success gave me confidence. Also, when other members of my team achieved a sub-3:05 time, it really inspired me to think that maybe I could do it too.

Reasons to run at night

I usually practice by running in the evenings after work. Many RETO members run in the morning, but I work in sales, so I don't like running in the morning and feeling my legs get heavy, and if I run hard I get sleepy (laughs). At night, after work my head is pretty cluttered, so I think running helps me clear my head and finish the day, so it suits me.

RETO changed my life

In RETO, I compete against Oyaken (Oyamatsu Kenta). We're almost the same generation and have similar times, so he inspires me. We're both aiming to become "second-generation growing-age uncles," and whoever wins the next marathon gets to eat dinner. We also have four generations of Year of the Pig members get together for meals, go to soccer games and horse races, and do many other activities that go beyond just our love of running, which is really fun. I never thought running would take such a big part in my life, so in that sense, joining RETO has really changed my life.

-Why do you run ?

It's because I don't want to lose to myself. It's easy to give up on anything, but I think there's meaning and value in persevering, persevering, and seeing it through. Also, I think that once you give up, you develop a habit of losing, so if I decide to run this much today, I run because I don't want to betray my promise to myself. I think that these experiences build up over time and help shape who I am as a person. I'm not good at steadily building things up, and even in middle and high school, I was the type to do my summer homework in the last two days. But running was different. I'm completely hooked, and I've been able to steadily build things up (laughs).