The first tri experience.
I am back from Oshima alive, and it was soooooo much fun! I really enjoyed this pack of assorted aerobic sports.
OK, to tell you the truth, the swim part wasn't easy for me. The ocean was quite rough and I really wanted to run away when I was waiting at the starting area, and even though the distance was cut in half from 1500m to 750m, I had some life-threatening moments in the water, not physically, but psychologically. It was so scary to think how far I was from the shore and how deep the sea I was swimming in. Many experienced triathletes told me about kicks and slaps you get in the water when you are in a crowd, but for me, it's more comfortable to have people around me so that I can feel I am not the only crazy person who dare to swim in this rough sea. I some how managed to finish my swim part with 22:25 / 188th out of 223. I was surprised that I wasn't the last one.
The 40km bike part was the most enjoyable for me. The course wasn't so hilly, but there were some hills and curves I really enjoyed. As I wrote in my blog before the race, I cycled hard and try to catch people in front of me one by one. Though I felt I need to learn the right gears at some parts, I am quite happy about my bike time 1:20:55 (incl. transit time) / 133rd. I was actually aiming for 80-90min range for the bike part, and without transition time, it was approximately 73min. I know I took so long at the transition. I rediscovered how disorganized I am.
I had some sort of pressure about my run part as a runner. I set 45 to 50 min as my target time range, but I had no idea how fast I could run after swimming and cycling. The 10k actually was totally different experience. My legs were feeling very funny and awkward at the first couple of kms, I felt as if I was a puppet or a robot. I simply couldn't go any faster. But when I got used to the feeling, I started to enjoy passing people. I passed 22 people and finished with 45:55 / 70th / 120th overall.
I have no idea if my oveall time 2:29:15 is slow or fast, but I can say, I enjoyed this new experience. I think I want to do it again sometime.
At last, I would like to thank Taeko-san, Mami-chan, Kanako-chan, David, Gary, Akira-kun and Stuart for sharing this great race experience with me. Arigato!
Overall time: 2:29:15
Overall place: 120th out of 223
Women category: 7th out of 40
Swim lap (750n): 22:25 / 188th
Bike lap (40km + transit time): 1:20:55 / 133rd
Run lap (10km): 45:55 / 70th
posted by mika t. @ 12:22 am
4 Comments:
Congratulations. What a great debut triathlon. You are so courageous. I would not have had the guts to enter the water if my first triathlon was in such a rough ocean.
初トライアスロン無事に完走おめでとう。
天候が悪かったんじゃないですか。
海水を飲まなかった？
くさやは食べましたか？
Well Mika, chalk up another great achievement for you. Congratulations. I would say that 7th out of 40 in your first race is pretty darn special. And with such a slow swim-bike transition, you obviously have a lot of room to get faster even if you don't improve your swim, bike, or run!
Jay, thanks. I was so happy when I heard that the swim part will be cut in half, but it means I have to do another Olympic distance triathlon...
しょうじさん、くさや食べました。すごーく臭かった。味はおいしんですけどねー。その他、ポストレースパーティでは、お刺身とか、お魚のミソスープとか、あしたばを使った料理とか、いろいろ出ておいしかったです。南蛮が陣取ったテーブルは、あっという間に料理がなくなり（くさや以外）、他のテーブルに食べ物を調達しに行ってました。
Steve, they gave prizes for top 6 people, so I was even close to the prize, but when I compared my time to theirs for each part, I was way way slower than them. A long way to go.
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