- Izu Ohshima June 8, 2002 -
My first Olymipic size race.That's 1.5km swim, 40km bike and then after all that, still another 10K to run..
I honestly wasn't sure if I could finish. Afterall, I barely trained.
I almost wussed out, and was freaking out until the race started but then the nervousness went away.
The ocean was really rough, lots of high waves due to the typhoon 2days ago. 2 team members retired but I didn't know any better-I just kept on swimming..I washed up ashore like a sick sealion, and forced myself to the transition area-
Biking course was beautiful! Right by the shoreline..I couldn't help but enjoy it, until I hit the uphill part. I couldn't figure out how many laps I was supposed to bike, then as I was thinking, I forgot how many laps I finished. My 6800yen counter I bought last minute didn't help at all. I guess reading the manual would have helped.
Run-I basically tumbled off my bike and onto the run course. My legs..numb, tired..(are they still intact?) but passing teammates cheering me on helped a LOT! Thanks! I don't know if pacewalking would have been faster-but I just couldn't allow myself to "WALK" a triathalon! The last 4km was absolute torture-it was hot, uphill, knee killing me, and some dude chatting me up.. Maybe another time buddy-but right now I gotta finish!! I ended up running that last 1km with a guy who slowed down to cheer me on and ran with me. I really appreciated his encouraging words making me forget my knee pain. As I got closer to the finish line, I saw my teammates and all of a sudden I got a spark of energy, and a big smile. Ohtsuka-san's "you're a real triathlete now!" I will never forget!
SWIM : 00:38:02
BIKE : 01:38:03
RUN : 01:06:54
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T(284): 03:22:59
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