Sports unifies Tabal’s family

MANILA, Philippines - For marathoner Mary Joy Tabal, sports isn’t just about competing and qualifying for the Olympics. It’s also about bringing her broken family closer together.

Tabal, 27, is the second oldest of four children. Her parents separated when she was 12. Growing up without a mother, Tabal was raised by her father Rolando, a policeman. It wasn’t until four years ago when Tabal found out her mother had relocated to Manila. A common friend on Facebook reconnected mother and daughter. For 11 years, Tabal didn’t see or hear anything about her mother Annabelle. When they rediscovered each other, Tabal vowed never to let her go again.

For the past four years, Tabal has sent her mother a ticket to spend the Christmas holidays with the family in Cebu. At least, once a year, her family is complete. “My father is now retired, he’s 56 and my mother is 46,” she said. “Of course, I’m hoping someday, my parents will get back together but even if that doesn’t happen, I’m just happy that we’re communicating again like the family we were once.”

Because of her success in running, Tabal has been able to grow her bank account. She supported her youngest sibling to finish college and she’s paying for the tuition of another sibling in school. The pressure to make a living out of running led to a rift between Tabal and PATAFA. While Tabal had no qualms in competing in at least six marathons a year, PATAFA wanted to rein her in for fear of a burnout. In the end, Tabal resigned from the national pool.

Tabal, a silver medalist in the Southeast Asian (SEA Games last year, tried to qualify for Rio without PATAFA’s support but she was backed by Milo and Motor Ace of Cebu. She didn’t make it out of the Boston marathon but booked her ticket in her last attempt to qualify out of Scotiabank Ottawa marathon.  When Tabal returned home, she appealed to PATAFA for reinstatement and was welcomed back.

For over a month, Tabal prepared for Rio at the Nippon Sports Science University in Yokohama under Japanese marathon legend Akio Usami and Yosei Sato. She trained tirelessly and was placed on a strict diet to maintain her weight of 45 kilograms. “My food was weighed and consisted of a balance of veggies, protein and carbs in little portions,” she said. “Everything was boiled or steamed. Fried food was rare. The diet was very disciplined and food was prepared based on what our weight should be for competition. My favorite food was ramen.”

On a typical day, Tabal worked out at least 4 1/2 hours outdoors or on the track. “When I trained in Japan in February, I worked out thrice a day but in July, it was warm so I did twice a day, 1 1/2 hours in the morning and three in the afternoon,” she said. “I worked out six days a week. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, I did hard training and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I did a mix of moderate and easy training. Sunday was rest day but I usually did optional jogging.”

Tabal was introduced to the Japanese method of training during a 10-day youth exchange program arranged by the PSC with the Japan Sports Institute in Tokyo in 2014. Her personal coach Philip Duenas negotiated an arrangement with Usami, a 73-year-old three-time Olympian, for a training regimen in Yokohama to get ready for Rio.