Monday, February 13, 2006

Oifuto - Tokyo's cycling mecca


As bicycle hot-spots go, Oifuto is not among the most scenic. Tokyo's number one destination for cycling training is an industrial port island on Tokyo Bay, where on Sunday morning, when the truck traffic slows down, hundreds of cyclists gather and cruise round and round a 9.5 kilometer loop.

Yesterday I struggled to complete 4 loops around the urban wasteland. I arrived early -- 7:30am -- and was one of the few cyclists at that hour, negating the real benefit of Oi-futo which is the pull of the other people riding.
Immediately after the ride I join Anthony, Mika, and Dave at the Palace and covered 21k at roughly 5:00 minute/k pace - which I am increasinly thinking is my triathlon marathon pace (plus some walking rests).

This ride/run comes on the heels of Saturday's 150-kilometer ride and 14k run. This "double-brick" weekend is probably not what a triathlon coach would recommend, but alas I have little choice but to make up my schedule as I go based on available time. Today (Monday) will be all recovery.
Training totals for week 10 (February 5-11)
Swim 3:30 hours (8 kilometers)
Bike 7:00 hours (180 kilometers)
Run 3:30 hours (43 kilometers)
Total 14 hours

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The distance you swim is impressive. I could only fit in about 5 or 6km a week, based on two sessions. How do you feel about your swimming now?

Jay said...

I am encouraged to hear you think that this amount of swimming is adequate.

I do feel a bit stronger in the pool thanks to improving surface tension by spreading my fingers and concentrating on "pulling that basketball down"..

In my past triathlons, it always seems like training technique goes out the window as I flail away in the open water - but apparently I have realized some improvement from my original times.