Mary Joy Tabal posts a picture of herself at the Mactan Cebu International Airport in her Instagram account before departing for Italy for another set of training in perparation for the Asian Games.
Cebuana Olympian Joy Tabal gears up for grueling training in preparation for 18th Asiad
Cebuana Olympian Mary Joy Tabal is bracing for a more intense training once she sets foot in Tuscany, Italy today.
Tabal left for Italy yesterday morning to undergo five months of what she expects to be a gruelling training that will grind her to her core in preparation for her biggest competition this year: the 18th Asian Games happening from August 18 to September 2 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
This will be her first time to compete in the quadrennial meet that will pit her against the best female marathoners in Asia.
Tabal was supposed to fly to Tuscany, Italy earlier this month but her visa documents that were processed in Manila got delayed, thus she remained in Cebu for an extended period of time.
Instead of resting though, the 2017 Southeast Asian Games women’s marathon gold medalist decided to start her light training while gracing several activities that recognized her achievements such as the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) awards, wherein she was a major awardee, and the recent Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC) Cebu Sports Awards, wherein she was named as the “Athlete of the Year”.
According to the 28-year-old Tabal, who hails from Cebu City’s mountain barangay in Guba, her light training in the past weeks will help prepare her body for a more intense training program that will be set by her Italian coach, Giuseppe Giambrone.
She will be training alongside other foreign national athletes.
“I will be expecting a more intense training for Asian Games. I will stay there until August 14 and I will fly straight to Jakarta, Indonesia for the Asian Games,” Tabal told Cebu Daily News.
Tabal, who made history as the first Filipina marathoner to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics and became the first marathoner in the country to win the women’s title of the National Milo Marathon for five straight years, said that once she wraps up her training in Italy, she promises to give every ounce of her strength in the Asian Games women’s marathon.
“I made a promise to myself to do my best in training and give everything during the competition. I am very grateful for this opportunity again for getting the chance to train in an Olympic training camp in Italy and I have a mixed emotion right now. I feel happy and excited at the same time I am also nervous,” Tabal said.
She added that all she’s doing now, including her Asian Games stint, is for a greater goal which is the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“I want to stay focused on improving my performance as this will be the start of my Tokyo 2020 Olympics quest. My goal is to really improve and do my best in training so I will gain confidence for next year’s Olympic qualifying period,” said Tabal.
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