Ironman Japan - Bike

"Enjoy your Ironman experience."  That is the most frequent advice I heard from the Ironman pros when they are asked to give advice to first-timers like myself.

And I made a point of enjoying the scenery of Goto Island during the 180 kilometer ride.   Much of the course is along the coastline and through forested hills.  I figured there is no reason to approach the event as a death march, and in fact I found most all of the 7 hours on the bike to be quite pleasant.

We got doused by rain early in the ride, but after that the weather was fine with only a light wind and mostly cloudy skies.

The first few kilometers I was still dazed from the swim, but eventually I picked up the pace, and hit the 60-kilometer mark in just over 2 hours, which is much faster than my training pace.  I was a little concerned at this point as my butt and back were starting to get uncomfortable and two-thirds of the course was still ahead including the most hilly sections.    Prior to the ironman I had been concerned about the hills, but the hill at the 30k mark came as a relief from the constant cycling motion on the flat areas.  It felt good to stand up on the saddle and the downhill sections were not too steep.

As I write this three days after the Ironman event is over I find myself pondering whether I could have pushed myself harder during the bike.   Given my limited bike training and struggles at the Wildflower Half-Ironman 4 years ago, my firm plan prior to Japan Ironman was to take it easy on the bike, and I kept telling myself not to push too hard on Sunday.  But other triathletes seem to be more aggressive on the bike with limited ill effects.