At the airport lounge in New York I am seized by a burst of inspiration and I register for the Lake Stevens Half-Ironman. Suddenly the prospect of actually competing in a triathlon to be held only a month later launches me into a week of frenzied of training:
June 9 -
I wake at dawn (jet-lag) and ride through empty streets to the Arakawa River. Unsurprisingly I find my teammate Keren Miers is also cycling along the river this morning (Keren's training regiment for Japan Ironman is so intense that I presume he is doing intervals on a 24x7 basis). On this morning he is comfortably cruising along at his ironman race pace. I desperately struggle to keep up for a 20km stretch. Keren talks about his ironman race strategy, but I am too winded to say anything in reply.
June 10 -
I wake a little past dawn (still jet-lag) and join Chuck, Mary, Manuel and Gary at Oi-futo. In the afternoon I do painful and slow 15k run.
June 12 -
I strap my running shoes to the back of my bicycle and head up to a running track alongside the Arakawa bike trail. I can just feel the disgust and dismay emanating from the other cyclists when they spot my shoes and bike bag clumsily bundled to the awkward-looking bike rack I affixed to my bike seat stem. Cycling is 95% about looking cool and streamlined on your ultra light-weight bike. The fact my shoe laces and bag are flapping in the wind is a grievous affront, a slap in the face to everything these more serious cyclists hold so dear. But it is great training to jump off the bike after 75k and step right onto the 400 meter tartan track for a 5k at 20:00.
June 13 -
The one constant in my life - I run the grueling track intervals with Tokyo's most "serious" international running club.
June 14 -
I make the effort to swim in a "grown-up size" pool after months of lazy, hedonistic swim sessions at the 20-meter Roppongi Hills Spa. Halfway through the first length of the 50-meter Sendagaya public pool I begin to worry about drowning -- 50 meters is just so far to swim without the comfort and reassurance of touching the side of the pool. I manage to calm down, collect myself, and do 2,400 meters.
June 15 -
A long day of work combined with a short swim and a medium-length run.
June 16 -
An hour of furious pedaling on my indoor trainer followed by 24-kilometer long run.
So all this adds up to some 19 hours of triathlon training. The experts do not recommend such a burst of training - any effect at all is more likely to be counter-productive. But mentally I feel better knowing that I have done all this.
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