うたぴょんスポーツFor about two months, Uta felt stuck. Training was going fine, but the races weren't showing it. That's a hard thing to sit with at 10 years old.
So when we headed out for the Katsushika Championships, a local track meet in Katsushika, a ward in Tokyo, on June 14, 2026, I wasn't expecting fireworks. I just wanted her to run free and stop fighting herself.
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How the day went
We got to the venue early, like always. Uta was quiet on the way there, the kind of quiet that usually means she's turning something over in her head rather than nervous. She'd told me a few times over the past weeks that she felt like she was running hard but not getting anywhere, which is a tough loop for anyone, let alone a kid who's used to seeing steady progress.
The weather was mild enough that it wasn't a factor either way. She warmed up the same way she always does, same drills, same routine. I didn't say much to her before the race. At this point she knows the plan, and extra words from me usually just add noise.
The race itself
Uta lined up for her race at the Katsushika Championships with the same focused look she always gets right before the gun. From the way she ran it, you could tell something had clicked that hadn't been there in her last few races. She wasn't fighting her own stride, she was just running it.
She came away from the race with a new personal best. After two months of races that didn't match her training, that one result mattered more than the time on its own would suggest. It wasn't a huge jump, it was her just getting back to running like herself.
What a parent took away from it
I think the biggest lesson from this stretch is that slumps don't always mean something is wrong. Uta kept training the same way, kept showing up, and the results eventually caught up. If I'd pushed her to change everything two months ago out of panic, I don't think this race would have gone the same way.
What I want to keep saying to her is simple: the work counts even when the race doesn't show it yet. She's currently ranked 10th nationally in the 1000m for third-grade girls from last year, so she already knows what it feels like to run well. This race was a reminder, for both of us, that one bad stretch doesn't erase that.
Going forward, I want to keep the pressure low and let her enjoy the process again. She's 10. There's a long road ahead, and a two-month rough patch is nothing in the bigger picture.
Next up, we'll keep chipping away at training and see where the next meet takes her. For now, I'm just glad to see her smiling after a race again.
The video above shows the race and the lead-up to it, including a short clip of Uta appearing on a TV morning show segment.