Should You Run Like the Japanese?
Adharanand Finn, author of Running with the Kenyans, travelled to Japan to see what he could learn from the Japanese running culture. The results are in The Way of the Runner, which details his time living there and exploring the distance running scene. Three primary reflections after reading the book:
Run for something bigger than yourself. The biggest running events in Japan are ekiden, a distance running relay event on the roads in which runners pass a sash to the next runner at the changeover. Hundreds of thousands of spectators line the roads for the biggest ekidens and TV viewership is in the millions. The magic of ekiden is that the runners sacrifice everything for the good of the team. The devotion to each other propels remarkable performances and inspires runners to push to the absolute edge of their limits.
Keep your training diverse. Finn encounters several East African runners who are living and training in Japan. These runners routinely and fairly complain about the Japanese style of training, for two reasons: (1) not enough speedwork; and (2) too much concrete. The Japanese focus on road running means that even promising 800m or 1500m runners are pushed to longer distances to participate in ekidens rather than specialize in their track events. Speedwork is neglected in favor of distance running or fast 10Ks on the track. Gravel and dirt roads are nonexistent as much of the training centers around corporate-sponsored teams in densely populated urban areas. Finn is excited to find a single, 800m mulch trail near a hotel.
Form matters. Like any other runner, Finn struggles with occasional injuries and does his best to stay healthy and avoid missing training days. Smartly, he pays very close attention to his running form and has a eureka moment when he realizes that he’s heel striking late in runs when he starts to fatigue (even elite marathoners do this). To combat this problem, he builds up his strength, working on squat mobility in particular. Runners would do well to mirror his attentiveness to running technique and always be on the lookout for ways to improve.