Japan has been barraged by typhoons the past few weeks. Fortunately the Choshi Triathlon fell on this past Sunday -- the one gorgeous, sunshine-filled day. Teammate Mary provided a ride to Choshi in her spacious SUV so I felt like I was back in the US. I was still completely unorganized prior to the race and arriving 90-minutes before the gun did not give me nearly enough time to properly socialize with friends and register and pin numbers on my singlet and use the restrooms and deal with bike problems and eat/caffeinate exactly 30 minutes before race time and splash in the water, etc. Nevertheless I somehow frantically made it to the starting line and ultimately did well --
Swim - 27:11 My primary goal for the day was to execute on the swim, and incorporate some of the improvements I have made in my swim technique this past year. So when the gun went off I energetically high-stepped through the shallow water. When I actually begun to swim my heart rate was high, I was breathing heavily and it took a long time to get into a rhythm. In fact I was feeling a bit discouraged until I noticed the numerous orange-colored swim caps around me. The orange caps meant that I had already caught up with swimmers from the 2nd wave which started 3-minutes before mine. I started in the 3rd wave and I found myself facing a constant wall of swimmers in front of me throughout the race. However I was able to pass on the inside. Since I prefer to breathe to the left it was easier to stay to inside on the clockwise course and elbow my way right under each of the inflatable buoys marking the turns. "Work the pocket" I kept telling myself, and was happy to see a time of 26:30 as I left the water (prior to long run to bicycle which completed the swim portion).
Bike -1:24:46 - My goal for the bike segment was to avoid having anything really, really bad happen -- somehow I succeeded, though I did have a few near collisions on Choshi's tight corners and my bike made some irritating and worrisome noises. It was a pleasant ride. Maybe too pleasant. I need to push myself a bit more on the bike - unlike running and swimming I do not automatically push myself when bicycling. Next year I hope to ride with a bit more intensity.
Run - 40:17 - I hoped to break 40 minutes on the 10k run. But unlike my last two triathlons at Murakami and Niijima, I felt spent at the start of the run. Normally I am pretty good about cheering and waving at teammates as we pass each other on the course, but on Sunday I was reduced to just grunting when my fellow Nambanners yelled support during the numerous out-and-back loops. I managed to drop to 3:45 pace on the 2nd of Choshi's 4 run loops, but struggled from there to gut out a reasonable time - probably the best time I could expect going in.
Despite all the logistical challenges and high entry fees, I really enjoy experiencing triathlons and intend to do more than two next year (and certainly will try to do Choshi again).
