Track and Field Blogs - Nick Willis

After being intially sent into the "athletes village" (4 hotels in a 2 mile radius in downtown Osaka), I quickly found out that I was the only athlete in sight. The IAAF didn`t officially arrive until the 20th, so access to training facilities was going to be difficult.

I spent the first day trying to scope out the city for good running areas, food, massage and bottled water. Rumors about the humidity in Osaka were spot on. All the Japanese woman had unbrellas for shade, and the Men all fanned themselves with rolloed magazines. Few Locals could speak english, but were extremely friendly, and helpful. I eventually found out that the nearest available track was over an hours drive from the city, so I decided to pack my bags and catch a train to the USA team`s training camp (a hotel near the airport). Moving away has paid off nicely, and the US team has been awesome giving me access to their private training track at the local university.

I always like to hit a solid workout soon after traveling to get some jetlag out of my system. Normally I feel horrible, but it really helps adjust and prepare for future workouts. Yesterday however, things clicked really well, and I was able to glide around the track better than I have all year. I ran 3x300 in 44s with 30 seconds rest, then 3x200 in 25s with 2 mins rest. Most satisfying of all was how little effect the heat had on my workout. 5 months of wearing extra layers has now come to fruition, as even the sprinters were complaining about the humidity.

One more workout with Ron, and the US team tommorow (150,150,200,150,150,300,150,150,400 with 90 secs rest)
then I will head back into the city to join await the arrival of the New Zealand team.

All in all, I am very impressed with the Japanese. Extremely humble and polite people, with an amazing work ethic and desire to do things the right way. Yesterday morning, at 8am, I looked out my 44th floor window to see a sea of construction workors performing their pre-work exercizes. 200 men streching, swinging and jumping all in unison - quite the sight I must say. I highly doubt that you would see that replicated in the western world.

till next time...