By David Martin
Mara Yamauchi is hoping for a testing half-marathon in New York on Sunday as she continues her preparations for next month's London Marathon.
The 2009 London runner-up is now fully recovered from a foot injury which resulted in her missing last summer's World Championships and faces a strong field including former Olympic marathon bronze-medallist Deena Kastor.
The 36-year-old Japan-based runner returned to competition in February with two victories in Japanese races and is adamant she can again be a threat in London, despite the lengthy lay-off.
Yamauchi, who has been training at altitude in Albuqerque, New Mexico, said: "Last May, just after the London Marathon, I got injured. I got plantar fasciitis in my right foot. Then I got a subsequent additional injury on my right foot in August.
"So it took me until about the end of October to start any consistent running again.
"So bearing in mind quite a long lay-off through injury, I'm really happy just to be able to run again at a reasonable level and just trying to make sure there is no recurrence of any injuries."
Sixth in the 2008 Olympic marathon, Yamauchi is satisfied with the progress of her fitness and is relishing a tough battle this weekend.
"Given the time I had off from running, I'm reasonably happy with my form - 70:46 in the half marathon was about two minutes off my best," she said.
"But given the time off I'd had, I was quite happy with that.
"My training's gone really well since then, so I'm hoping on Sunday, and next month in London, I can produce good performances.
"New York will be my last race before the London Marathon, so in some sense it's a tune-up before the marathon, an opportunity for me to see how my form's going, what more I need to work on in the five weeks remaining until London."
Yamauchi who last competed in New York in 2007 with a third-place finsh over 10 kilometres, added: "I believe the course for the 10k is the same as the first half of the half marathon, so quite tough up and down in Central Park.
"So I'm looking forward to the second half on Sunday. In terms of time, I would really like to break 70 minutes and obviously I'd like to win the race.
"So I'm just going to try to concentrate on my own performance and do my best and hopefully win in a good time."
After New York, Yamauchi will return to Alburquerque for another three and a half weeks of training before returning to the UK for around 10 days to add the finishing touches before her London test.
Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie heads the men's field and will be bidding to repeat the victory he scored three years ago.
Mara Yamauchi is hoping for a testing half-marathon in New York on Sunday as she continues her preparations for next month's London Marathon.
The 2009 London runner-up is now fully recovered from a foot injury which resulted in her missing last summer's World Championships and faces a strong field including former Olympic marathon bronze-medallist Deena Kastor.
The 36-year-old Japan-based runner returned to competition in February with two victories in Japanese races and is adamant she can again be a threat in London, despite the lengthy lay-off.
Yamauchi, who has been training at altitude in Albuqerque, New Mexico, said: "Last May, just after the London Marathon, I got injured. I got plantar fasciitis in my right foot. Then I got a subsequent additional injury on my right foot in August.
"So it took me until about the end of October to start any consistent running again.
"So bearing in mind quite a long lay-off through injury, I'm really happy just to be able to run again at a reasonable level and just trying to make sure there is no recurrence of any injuries."
Sixth in the 2008 Olympic marathon, Yamauchi is satisfied with the progress of her fitness and is relishing a tough battle this weekend.
"Given the time I had off from running, I'm reasonably happy with my form - 70:46 in the half marathon was about two minutes off my best," she said.
"But given the time off I'd had, I was quite happy with that.
"My training's gone really well since then, so I'm hoping on Sunday, and next month in London, I can produce good performances.
"New York will be my last race before the London Marathon, so in some sense it's a tune-up before the marathon, an opportunity for me to see how my form's going, what more I need to work on in the five weeks remaining until London."
Yamauchi who last competed in New York in 2007 with a third-place finsh over 10 kilometres, added: "I believe the course for the 10k is the same as the first half of the half marathon, so quite tough up and down in Central Park.
"So I'm looking forward to the second half on Sunday. In terms of time, I would really like to break 70 minutes and obviously I'd like to win the race.
"So I'm just going to try to concentrate on my own performance and do my best and hopefully win in a good time."
After New York, Yamauchi will return to Alburquerque for another three and a half weeks of training before returning to the UK for around 10 days to add the finishing touches before her London test.
Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie heads the men's field and will be bidding to repeat the victory he scored three years ago.
ShareThis