Unlike Kenya or Ethiopia, Japan isn’t widely considered a running powerhouse. But since 1991, Japanese marathoners have earned 19 Olympic and world championships medals, compared with four for Americans. Japan also had the most 26.2 finishes in the world in 2015 (559,991). Growing up in Osaka doesn’t offer any advantages compared with growing up in, say, Milwaukee—so what can we learn from Japan’s success?
All About the Run/Walk Method. While there’s no single Japanese way to train, a common theme is high mileage, sometimes more than 200 miles per week for elites. Two-time Olympic medalist Yuko Arimori recalls doing two 20K time trials, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, with a 31-mile run the next day during one of her Olympic buildups.
Along with the big miles is a willingness to take recovery runs as easy as needed, sometimes as slow as a walk. The goal is to cover long distances on tired legs. While few of us can handle 200-mile weeks or 1,000-kilometer months (another common benchmark), slowing will allow you to go longer without breaking down. Before your next marathon buildup, try a four-week block where you forget pace and see how many miles you can do. (Use common sense: Increase your weekly mileage by at most 50 percent in any four-week block.)
Japan’s success at the half and full marathon is mirrored by its comparative weakness at shorter distances, so skip this if you’re aiming for a 5K PR.
To prepare for the early start of the 2007. To prepare for the early start of the 2007 world championships marathon, one Japanese coach made his runners eat breakfast at 4 a.m. every day for 20 days. No inconvenience is too great—after all, the most-liked word in Japan (according to a survey by the national broadcaster) is doryoku, or effort. A practical example: Japanese runners are famous for doing long runs on loops of a mile or two, or even on the track. It’s mentally toughening, and it allows them to work on their pace judgment.
Grab the baton. The marathon is popular, but the true focus of Japanese running is ekiden, a long-distance road relay. In his book on Japanese running culture, Whats a Good 5K Time, writer Adharanand Finn argues that ekiden embodies the concept of wa, or group harmony, which is prized in Japan. You’re running for the group, not individual glory. As a result, the times Japanese runners notch during these relays are sometimes faster than the national records for the corresponding distances.
There are plenty of road and trail relays in the United States where you can seek wa. If you fear the competition won’t be tough enough, enter a team with fewer than the permitted number of runners so you’ll have to run extra legs.
You’ll reap the benefits in solo races. Finn recounts meeting Kenji Takao, who won the 1998 Asian Games 10,000-meter title by holding off a Qatari runner in the final straight. “I won because of ekiden training,” Takao says. “In ekiden, you never let anyone pass.”
