20000 words from Athlete :
Nozomi Tanaka

Her quiet gaze is impressive. She seems to be immersed deep inside herself, but also staring straight ahead. Perhaps Tanaka Nozomi has already reached a great distance within her own reach.

Although she has demonstrated impressive running skills in some of the world's most prestigious competitions, she is actually only 22 years old.
This spring, he graduated from Doshisha University and joined the workforce. At a press conference to announce his joining Toyota Industries Corporation, he said he would "just go with the flow." These words were inspired by books such as "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse and "Kusa Makura" by Natsume Soseki.

"Since graduating from university, I've been able to spend a lot more time at training locations, competitions, and away games. Now that I'm focused solely on athletics, I should be in an environment where I can concentrate better than I did until last year. But maybe because I'm taking part in so many competitions, it feels like time just flies by without me realizing it. I don't really know whether I'm in good or bad shape right now. But I think it might be okay to just go with the flow like this for a while. Personality-wise, I don't like to be swept away, and I have a tendency to go against the flow if left to my own devices, so I made this aspiration. I'm not sure if I'm actually living up to it, though..."

He answered calmly, choosing his words carefully and with a gentle expression.
He pointed to the season from 2020 to the following summer as an example of a recent period when she went against the trend. This was the period when Nozomi Tanaka steadily made a name for herself, even as she was increasingly unable to practice as she wanted due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

First, at the 2019 World Championships in Athletics (Doha, Qatar), he set the second fastest time in Japan's history in the 5000m. In July 2020, he set a new Japanese record in the 3000m (8 minutes 41.35 seconds) at the Hokuren Distance Fukagawa competition. Then, in August 2020, he set a new Japanese record in the 1500m at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix (4 minutes 5.27 seconds), breaking his own Japanese record set the previous year in the 3000m at the Hokuren Distance Abashiri competition in July 2021 (8 minutes 40.84 seconds). He continued to break national records one after another.

"At the time, I think I was going against the flow. I didn't know where I stood, and with so many tournaments being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I had no opportunity to show my strength. So I began to see no point in enduring the tough training that was right in front of me. Even though I was sure that tournaments would resume someday, I didn't know when that would be, so it was hard to keep disciplining myself...it was really tough. I struggled, trying to find a way to go against the flow somehow."

It was the community that was born out of this extraordinary situation that supported practice during the state of emergency.

"Students who usually go out to the Kanto area have returned, and local high school students who were unable to do club activities have gathered together, and we have begun practicing together while taking measures against infection. There were frustrations with the self-restraint measures, but on the other hand, it was nice to be able to run with friends again after being separated. In high school, I would chase someone in club activities, try not to be overtaken, and always practice while being conscious of my position in the group. However, when I entered university, I had become somewhat distant from that perspective, so I was able to experience that feeling again for the first time in a long time. When running with current high school girls, I would lead them as a senior, but on the other hand, it was fun to run against the male runners without thinking about it. We were tense before the run, and after the run we all relaxed and relaxed... it was like my days in club activities were revived. It was a difficult time, but I think it was a good, extraordinary experience."

The initial struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic have since produced a positive rebound. After it was decided that the 2020 Hokuren Distance Fukagawa Tournament would be held, training picked up steam.

"My motivation really picked up because I had a clear goal in mind - training to run at Hokuren in July. I couldn't wait to show off the results I had accumulated so far. The event was scheduled to be streamed online, which wasn't yet popular at the time. The world was in a gloomy mood, and there were many people who were concerned about the situation surrounding athletics, so I thought they would be very happy if I could run here and break the Japanese record."

The current that she had been going against in the first half of the race turned into a rapid, and from there she continued her winning streak. In the end, she broke Kayoko Fukushi's Japanese record for the first time in 18 years and crossed the finish line. She achieved the results she had aimed for.

Tanaka was born into a family of track and field athletes. Her father, Taketomo, is now her coach and was a former 3000m hurdles runner. Her mother, Chihiro, is also a citizen runner who has won the Hokkaido Marathon twice. She was the first woman in Japan to run under two hours and 30 minutes after giving birth.
Seeing her mother competing in various citizen marathons and being invited to overseas competitions, Tanaka, as a young girl, began to think, "I want to go to many countries too." She started running little by little from the age of three, and her first overseas competition was when she was 11. She accompanied her mother to the Gold Coast Marathon, where she won the kids' division.

But at the time, what captured her heart more than running was the world of books. Tanaka, who often appears in the media, is a die-hard book lover. It all started during her third-grade Japanese class.

"I sometimes introduced my favorite books to everyone, and I recommended books like 'Anne of Green Gables,' 'Little House on the Prairie,' and 'Heidi, Girl of the Alps.' I was praised by people around me for knowing so many books, which made me happy and made me even more addicted to reading."

After school, I would run home to read my book as quickly as possible. The distance from my elementary school to my house was about 2.5km. It would take more than 30 minutes to walk there for an elementary school student. It is not hard to imagine that this time turned into good training and built the foundation for my leg strength.

"When I read, I can empty my mind and enter the world of the book, which is interesting. I couldn't run that fast in the past, and reading was more of my identity than running. I didn't see track and field as a sport, and I wanted to be a writer rather than an athlete. I was simply running in order to read books. Nowadays, I don't have much time to immerse myself in reading, but when I am able to immerse myself in the world of a book, it's a lot of fun, just like when I was in elementary school."

Many people say that when they exercise their body at full power, their mind goes blank. Some people make time for sports every day because it feels good to forget about the daily chores and focus on the task at hand. For Tanaka, is there a connection between the feeling of emptying his mind and immersing himself in the world of a book and the feeling of concentrating on running?

When I asked her, she prefaced her speech by saying, "I'm not trying to connect running and reading, but..." and then continued.

"Running is physically demanding, so it's not exactly the same, but it may be similar in the sense of immersion. When I'm immersed in the world of a book, or when I'm concentrating really hard on my run, I don't hear the voices around me. Or rather, I don't notice them. There's a state of mind where I don't really know why, but the sensation of my legs moving is really fun. I feel like that mild runner's high and the euphoria that makes you want to keep turning the pages are similar."

After the period when she only ran to read books, her identity changed little by little. She started to train seriously in the track and field club in junior high school, and before she knew it, track and field had a bigger presence in her life than reading. "When I grow up, maybe I'll run a marathon" - it wasn't until she entered high school that the outline of her future, which had been so vague, became clear.

While at his hometown, Hyogo Prefectural Nishiwaki Technical High School, he participated in many national competitions. At the time, he was also focusing on relay races, so he was not able to focus solely on individual events such as the 1500m and 3000m. Nevertheless, he placed second in the 1500m at the Japan Championships in his second year of high school, and was sent to the international competition the following year.

"I had reached a level where I could do well at the Inter-High School Championships, but I felt that if I continued like this to the senior level, I wouldn't be able to compete at all. I saw hope when I came in second at the Japan Championships, but if my conditions were slightly bad I would drop to sixth place right away, and I was not consistent at all. I didn't think that I could win a medal all the time, and I couldn't do well in international competitions unless I could win a medal all the time. I wanted to see the world through my running, but I felt that I still wasn't at the level where I could be seen. Looking back, I think I had stronger ambition to go further when I was running on the track and field team in middle school. In high school, I was able to see reality more clearly, and I just tried to get through each moment."

In other words, her high school years were three years of stimulation, blessed with good players and opportunities. She had the driving force to work hard. She also remembers something that happened when she participated in a training session with the top players in the country as a first-year student.

"My coach asked me, 'Are you prepared to become an international player?' But at the time, I couldn't even beat the second- and third-year students who were right above me. In that state, I couldn't imagine competing on the world stage. On top of that, there are no age restrictions in the senior category, so the number of strong players just keeps increasing. I had no idea how far I needed to go. But it was also the first time I was able to calmly think about what I needed to do to become an athlete who could take part in world-class competitions."

From there, she continued to run as hard as she could, overcoming each obstacle in front of her one by one. Perhaps, given her personality, that was all she could do. As a result, in her first year at university, she won the gold medal in the 3000m at the Asian Junior Championships, breaking the tournament record. She also won the gold medal in the 3000m at the U20 World Championships. The door to the world was gradually opening.

Of course, it's not easy to balance studying at university with athletics, so while enrolled in the School of Sports and Health Sciences, he practiced between classes.

"Many athletes graduate from high school and pursue a career in athletics, but I went to university because I wanted to know more about the world outside of athletics and also to gain academic knowledge about athletics. That's why my university days were mainly focused on classes, and I would find free time to practice whenever I could. But my mother was a former amateur runner, so it was normal for me to fit practice in between work, and she was very understanding. There were times when I was busy with classes and competitions and it was physically and mentally tough...but I'm glad that I was able to do it in a style that aimed to balance both. In fact, it even started to become interesting, like, 'What would happen if I entered a race in such a terrible state? Maybe I should just go and see what my limits are,'" she says with a chuckle.

No other athlete would have a similar training schedule, and when I thought about it, I sometimes felt proud of myself for choosing the difficult path.

"The time before I submitted my graduation thesis was tough. I collected data but didn't analyze it or read any papers, and I started working on it one month before the deadline. It was a hectic time after that. But now that I've gone through that period and graduated, I feel a sense of freedom to devote myself to athletics. This situation will continue for a long time, so at some point I might want to balance it out like I did as a student... But for the time being, I'll stick to athletics. Eventually, I'd like to use the time that was previously taken up by school to do something to get my mind in order."

Along with reading, Tanaka has also been keeping a diary for a long time.
After reading the biography of Anne Frank, I started to write down events and feelings little by little every day. It's only about 20 minutes at the end of the day, but it's time to look at myself. Even when I'm busy, I take simple notes and have been writing for 13 years.

"If I can write down exactly how I'm feeling at the moment in my diary, I feel much calmer. On days like that, I can lose track of time just by writing. Writing in my diary helps me change my mood and sort out my feelings. But there are days when I don't feel like writing, or when I don't want to look at my own feelings...I can't put my thoughts into words well, and I end up just listing events in a disjointed way. Maybe how I feel about writing itself is a barometer of my heart."

Before I knew it, writing a diary had become an essential tool in my continued track and field career. Writing out my situation and getting an overview must have been very helpful. Over the past few years, I have also learned to listen to the voices around me rather than relying solely on my own pen. Confessing my current feelings to someone I can trust and getting feedback on competitions also helps me sort out my feelings. The objective words of someone who understands me often help me to cheer myself up when I'm feeling down.

A year after Doha, Tanaka once again got a ticket to compete against the world when she was in her third year of university. In December 2020, at the Japan Championships (104th Japan Athletics Championships), she won the 5000m in a close race with Hironaka Ririka. Since she had already surpassed the standard record, Tanaka's participation was confirmed the moment she beat Hironaka. While she could have continued to focus on the 5000m, the following spring she competed in consecutive 1500m races. She also secured a place in the competition as the first Japanese woman to represent Japan in the 1500m.

"When I ran the 5000m in my first race, I felt a little out of place, as if I was not up to the challenge. I think competing with the world seemed too big to me," he recalled. He ended up losing in the qualifying round. Although he finished in 14 minutes 59.93 seconds, under 15 minutes, he was painfully aware of the wall he could not overcome.

"After that, over the next few days, I felt like I was gradually getting used to the atmosphere. Because it was such a big stage, I started to feel like I needed to just focus on the small details and not worry about them. I think that this difference in mindset was a big factor in my success in the 1,500m that followed."

In the 1500m qualifying, she broke her own Japanese record and advanced to the semifinals in 4 minutes 2.33 seconds. In the semifinals two days later, she further improved her time to 3 minutes 59.19 seconds, and advanced to the finals. As she entered the actual competition, she sharpened her skills on the big stage and got faster and faster. She was completely in a good "flow". In the finals, she again marked the 3 minute mark, and although she did not win a medal, she became the first Japanese to place 8th.

Not only did he run well, but the expression on Tanaka's face during the 1500m final also became a hot topic. At the entrance gate, he jumped around with a beaming smile and waved his arms widely, exuding the joy of being there. In stark contrast, just before the start, his mouth was tightly closed, revealing his determination to compete seriously.

"It was the first time for me to smile when I came out on stage. I had always thought that if I felt like it, I would smile during the race, but I think there were many times when I just couldn't. But at that moment, I felt like I was okay. I was able to concentrate properly, so even if I smiled here, I felt like that feeling wouldn't be interrupted."

He pauses for a moment and continues, as if savoring the happy memory.

"...I think the times when you get swept up in the atmosphere of a place are when you feel out of place. But that day, I was confident that I fit in perfectly. I was having fun from the bottom of my heart, and I was at my peak. I had a strong desire to tell everyone who had seen me cry and get angry in previous practices, and everyone who had supported me, that 'I'm OK now, I'm having fun'."

Running through the race with a feeling of satisfaction gave Tanaka a feeling he had never felt before.

"It's really strange to me, but it felt like I had the wind at my back. I was able to concentrate incredibly well when I was running, but the whole time I was facing the race I felt like I was in a dream. I had this comfortable sensation, like I was floating in a tank full of water, with all the sounds and lights dim, like I was isolated from the rest of the world. Even now I don't know why I felt that way."

During the race, the detailed schedule that was set for each day also encouraged me to concentrate. As I completed each task, my mind became calmer. I was able to focus on the race in front of me without being distracted by unnecessary things.

"Since the summer of 2021, the number of events has increased. I've been invited as a guest to various races and have been able to interact with children...I think I've been able to once again experience the joy that comes with track and field. Thanks to that, I've started to feel like I want to enjoy track and field itself, rather than just trying to improve my time as a sport. Right now, when I lose or am not doing well, I feel like it's not fun, but I think that people who really love the sport enjoy everything, including those ups and downs. I realized that this attitude is the basis of track and field...but even though I realize it, it's not easy to put it into practice (laughs)."

Tanaka says that if you can learn to love athletics in this way, you will not only be able to give your all in the sport, but you will also be able to use it as a tool to connect with many people.

"It's wonderful to be able to connect with people through athletics. Just running together with members who don't usually get together is a great way to spend time together. That was the case the other day when I teamed up with some athletes from my grade and participated in the Kitakyushu Ekiden."

In the winter of 2022, just before graduating from university, Tanaka gathered his friends who had competed with him up until then and participated in the open Kitakyushu Ekiden. In particular, he has competed with Tomomi Takamatsu Musenbi many times since junior high school. He shared the sash with her, who was retiring from competition after graduating from university.

"When I ran relay races in high school, I often ran the first section, but this was the first time I was allowed to properly runner up. What's more, the sash came to me in a good position... it may sound bad, but I felt like I had it the easiest time. Personally, I was at a low point, so I ended up running quite conservatively, but I was able to move forward by simply moving forward steadily. If I had been strong both physically and mentally, I would have aimed for the section prize, but I was afraid of the energetic high school students catching up to me again, so I ended up conserving my energy."

At first I thought he would talk about a page from his youth, but instead he reflected on his own racing. His determination to make the most of each and every race was conveyed.

"Unlike individual sports, in ekiden the timing of the race and your own condition can sometimes not match. If you're an individual, you can honestly say, 'I'm not feeling well,' but that's not the case in ekiden as part of a team. This was especially true in high school, but if you're the star of the team, it's even harder to say it. There may be people who are struggling more than you but working hard, and you feel like you'll dampen the morale of those who are in good shape. So if I'm not feeling well before the ekiden, it's tough not to say it, and even if I do say it, it's tough. For better or worse, it's not just your race. I was really happy to be paired with teammates who I'd competed with in the Kitakyushu ekiden... but as for me, I think that race revealed my weaknesses."

Tanaka says he is basically the type of person who makes rules and routines. But his tendency to go against the flow is apparent even in situations like this.

"When I find a rule that works, I stick with it for a while. But while there are times when that rule works well, there are also times when it doesn't. When that happens, I start to feel like it's ominous to be doing the same thing over and over again, and even though it was a really good routine, I find my contrarian self saying, 'I don't want to repeat that today,'" (laughs). I basically get bored easily, so I don't want to keep doing the same thing. But I'm stubborn, so that makes me anxious. But I also want to do things on impulse...I think that's a huge contradiction, even for me. Especially when I'm on an overseas tour, there are many situations where my routine doesn't work, so I'm half anxious and half excited. So I think it's better not to stick to the rules I've been using up until now, and to do the best I can under the circumstances."

In the end, Tanaka is able to let go of the routine she found for herself because she is a strong person. The more we become discouraged, the more we cling to our winning patterns and pray to God. She is able to adapt to the situation because she believes in herself at her core.

When I'm on an overseas tour, I try to be as light on my feet as possible. If I can brighten my mood by taking in new stimuli in this way, I might be able to get some kind of switch, even if it's not a routine.

"As long as I don't push myself too hard, I try to take up any opportunity that arises. I'll take a walk around town in between training, and if there's an interesting-looking exhibition nearby, I'll take a look. Eating is also one of the things I look forward to when I'm away from home. I enjoy the time I spend thinking about and searching for what to eat. Recently, the day before the Kanekuri Memorial Athletics Race, I had a parfait and soft serve ice cream with my teammate (Goto) Yume. I was nervous about the race, but just at that moment I was so happy."

With a busy schedule of training and competitions, even a meal or a walk must be a precious opportunity to refresh your mind. How do you control your mental condition when you often have to compete in consecutive races under a lot of pressure?

"Reading is definitely a good way to change your mood. You can read easily while traveling or at your accommodation, so it's a good way to refresh yourself. But sometimes you just can't bring yourself to pick up a book, and at those times you don't want to force yourself to read... In the end, reading a book may be fun when you're not under that much stress."

It would be easy to just say that I read books to refresh myself. Tanaka never neglects any of the questions. He carefully weaves together answers while carefully reflecting on himself, saying things like, "What about in that case? There are also cases like this."

"I think I'm not very good at dealing with stress. I don't have any particular way of doing it. When I'm irritated, I take it out on those around me, we get into fights, I yell... in the end, that's how I let off some steam (laughs). My father is my coach, so we clash quite often. Of course, when I can't run the way I wanted in a race, I fall into a valley of stress. But most of the time, the frustration passes before I know it. Also, if I can gain some benefit from a race, I feel better even if I don't perform at my best. The same is true when I've completed a tough training session. But sometimes the act of running itself can be stressful..."

As Tanaka was talking earnestly about this, something was flying by with a flapping sound. It was a playful yellow-green parakeet. It appeared on the screen many times during the online interview, and when I asked her how cute it was, "Do you have many?" she replied shyly, "No, there's just one flying around." Parakeets are one of the things that help her relax.

"My sister bought it for me when we started spending more time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was still a baby at first, so it was even cuter. Even now, when there's an awkward atmosphere in the house or someone is feeling irritated, the bird helps to lighten the mood. It's not exactly animal therapy, but it really is soothing."

She talks about her parakeet with a gentle smile that she doesn't show when talking about athletics. Then, she grabs the parakeet that landed on her head and throws it off the screen without hesitation, which is amusing. I felt like I could see a side of her as a person, not as an athlete.

When I asked Tanaka what he keeps in mind during his daily practice, he thought for a moment before replying, "A spirit of challenge." He practices for about an hour and a half to two hours a day. He runs at a race pace, keeping to a set distance, and doesn't slack off during the jogs between each run.

"Recently, I've been trying new things, like distances and speeds I've never tried before. My father's training menus were usually based on the same concept, but the content was completely different each time. But now, I'm doing training that's completely different in concept. I'm finding that quite exciting."

He talks about his new training with a warm and happy tone. Until now, he had been practicing with the image of 5000m in mind, for example, in the variation run, he would run 300m many times, aiming for a total of 5000m. However, now that he has entered cross-country and short distance races, he has also incorporated variation runs such as 50m and 150m. It's like a shuttle run, with short distances piled up without a moment's rest.

"I think that I'm doing training that neither long-distance runners nor sprinters do. Of course, it's unknown to us, so honestly I don't know if it will actually produce results. Also, when it's a new menu, it's impossible to predict how difficult it will be before you start. I look at the state of my body while I'm running and think, 'If I do this kind of training, I'll be in this condition after three runs.' It's fun to make new discoveries every time."

She says she enjoys the practice, even though there is no guarantee that it will produce results. It's a new moment, where the strain she's felt before and the strain she's never felt before blend together. She can certainly feel that she's successfully applied the type of strain she's never been good at.

"Even when my legs are stiff, I keep moving them and run straight away with almost no rest. This method may be similar to that of a sprinter. That said, I don't think you run dozens of sprints... so it's a completely new menu. But since I run a wide range of distances, from 800m to 10,000m, I think it's good to accumulate that kind of specialized training for a while. In a way, I think I'm able to run while feeling my unique strengths. When I practice by changing the distance and pace in small increments, I also get a sense of, 'These are my legs for x meters.'"

By trying out different running styles, not only in races but also in practice, she may be checking her own range and strengths. And if she struggles to her heart's content in practice, it will be easier in the race. She expressed this feeling as "you can cheat in the race." In a race where you are concentrating, you can distract yourself, but in practice, you are set on the edge of not knowing if you can handle it in the first place. Therefore, you can't just let it go, and there is no other way than to face it and do it.

At first, I had a hard time choosing shoes. Not being able to find reliable shoes was just as stressful as my condition not being stable. Even after signing a contract with New Balance, I tried out a variety of shoes.

"For me, the heel part often doesn't fit well. Even if the size is right, the heel part somehow feels unreliable. With shoes like that, the center of gravity shifts when the shoe touches the ground, and I can't run well. But if I get golf rubber attached to the heel or have them fine-tuned with cotton and cloth, I can increase the grip on my heel. I've learned how to make these adjustments, and it's become a lot easier. Also, there are a lot of shoes that are comfortable to wear without any adjustments these days, so I don't have any problems in the first place. There are so many options that you can use them for races and practice. Because they are designed to be functional and stylish, they sometimes feel like works of art."

Running different distances requires different shoes. And I guess I've acquired the skills to wear different shoes. Shoes that really fit me can feel like a partner.

"You start to feel confident that you can run if you just put on these shoes. At that point, your shoes are no longer just a tool. They become your partner, a part of you."

Tanaka's current companion is the FuelCell MD-X.

The first individual competition of 2022 will start with the 6km All Japan Lake Biwa Cross Country Championship. In the past, I have participated without much practice, but this time I also incorporated a menu that was properly conscious of cross country. At the 2021 Japan Championship Cross Country, I was not able to get a good feel for it due to lack of practice. That incomplete combustion had been stuck somewhere for a long time.

"I feel like even if other athletes haven't trained properly for cross-country, they are mentally prepared when it comes to the race. But in my case, if I haven't put in the effort in training, I can't be mentally prepared for the actual race... Running in a place only once doesn't feel like I've trained. So for me, cross-country is not a sport I can run whenever I want. There have been times when I've started out not knowing what to do mentally, and ended up completely exhausted. Even now that I've trained to a certain extent, I'm not super confident, but this time I want to give it my all. I don't know myself well enough to set a specific goal for myself, but I'm interested in how far I can go if I run now."

As a result, she won the race with a 52-second lead over the second place. She wanted to ride that momentum and move on to the Japan Cross Country Championships, but she had to withdraw due to discomfort in her legs. However, the results of her trial and error training must have left some kind of memory in her mind and body.

Even though the season has started in earnest, his challenging spirit continues. While honing his skills in the 1500m and 5000m, this season he also took on the 400m for the first time. From 400m to 10,000m, he has been competing in a variety of races, big and small, without a break. "I'm still a beginner in the 10,000m and 800m, and the 400m may be my first and last," he says, but the fun of taking on an unfamiliar distance seems to be what's important.

Tanaka's eagerness to take on new challenges stood out at the Hyogo Relay Carnival in late April. He entered the 1500m and 10,000m races. He never gave up the lead in the 1500m, finishing in 4 minutes 10.60 seconds. Just 25 minutes later, he was at the starting line for the 10,000m.
At last year's Japan Championships, he ran the 5,000m after the 800m. Based on that experience, he figured he would have two hours to spare, so he was surprised when he checked the timetable, but he decided to take on the challenge without declining.

"I created the ultimate schedule of 1500m followed by 1000m because I thought I wouldn't be able to break out of my shell unless I overcame the pain and fear. I couldn't bring myself to do that in practice, so I used the opportunity of a competition. Of course it was painful and scary, but races don't go according to manual in the first place, so there's no point in thinking too deeply about it. And with two races in the space of just a few minutes, you don't even have time to think. On the contrary, it helped me to mask the pain and fear. I'm not sure whether I wanted to suffer or mask the pain...it's similar to the image of charging forward with your eyes closed. After that, when you open your eyes timidly, it's like there's a light (laughs)."

Tanaka reflected that thanks to the support of those around him, he was able to reach his goal without feeling as much pain as he had expected. In fact, having been able to achieve this much gave him confidence that he could withstand any hard schedule in the future. "On the other hand, there is no schedule that is harder than this, so I have to think about how to break out of my shell next time..." he said, laughing.

By participating in the actual race, it is also good to see the faces of the athletes who will be competing in the same race before the start and feel the atmosphere. Because I am the only one who is doing something different, I am more dedicated. I feel that I must run in a way that does not shame the athletes who have bet on this race. I also feel that I cannot talk about how tough and fun the event is unless I actually experience the race.

"I've put in a lot of effort, even taking advantage of actual competition, so I want to run in a way that I can be proud of. I felt like the 400m I competed in at the beginning of the spring was just a run and then it was over, but I don't want to waste the experience, so I try to remember that feeling at the end of the 800m, 1500m and 5000m. I wanted to make it an experience that will stay with me forever, and I think I have."

She has also begun to actively look at overseas races. In May, she entered the USATF (United States Athletics Federation) Distance Classic. She has also decided to travel to the Diamond League, the top American race series. In this competition, where almost all famous runners have entered, she will ask herself where she is.

"I really enjoyed the various races in the summer of 2021. I started thinking about how I wanted to use that feeling next time, and I feel like my horizons have broadened. Athletics is fun, and this is what it means to run while interacting with other people -- I feel like I've gotten a taste of it. I feel like there are still many challenges I need to take on in order to delve deeper into this world."

She is also fully aware of the attention the world has begun to pay to her after she has made a name for herself on the world stage. At times, the gap between her own expectations and those of others can be painful.

"I feel that there's a big gap between how I see myself and how the public sees me. There's also a gap within myself, like 'I want to be able to run this far' and 'Right now I can only run this far'. That kind of discrepancy is certainly tough. Also, even though my ambitions are much greater than they were before, I feel like I'm no longer able to pursue them honestly. However, all of my goals from here on out can't be achieved in a short period of time... so I'm back to 'going with the flow'," she says with a smile.

She always had a clear vision of where she needed to go, and I had the impression that she was doing what was necessary to get there. But in fact, even she didn't have the whole picture in sight. She was just moving forward, repeating trial and error, so that she could go a little further, little by little. I think "going with the flow" was also a way for her to proceed carefully, even if it was just trial and error, but also boldly.

"I want to become an athlete who is more internationally recognized. It's tough to pursue that ideal at full throttle, so to a certain extent I'm going with the flow. But I also feel that if I don't pursue it properly I'll never get there... so I'm currently searching for a wave that I can just "ride" in moderation."

This is the record of Nozomi Tanaka, born on September 4, 1999, who has continued running until May 11, 2022. It is also proof that she will start running again from here.