Monday, June 12, 2006
Monster Man Finisher!
Now that I have a good 12 hours of post-triathlon sleep under my belt, I'm ready to write a little about the adventure!
Phew. It was exhausting.
We lucked out in the beginning. The swim was reduced from 3 laps to one because the waves in the ocean were too rough. It was under 900 meters instead of 2,000. It's both a good thing and a bad thing for me. Good because I wasn't tired at all when I started the bike--simply warmed up a bit--and bad because I feel like I could've gotten more of a head start if the swim was longer. In my little experience with triathlons, I've noticed triathletes are usually pretty weak in the swim and excel in one or both of the other areas. Long distance swims, especially, I can make up some time.
But oh well. The waves were pretty nasty and I swallowed plenty of ocean water. I guess for my first long distance triathlon it's pretty lucky for me.
The bike was awesome. I was pretty worried about my knee and how it would handle the continuous hills, but I felt great the whole time!! Not only was it painfree, but I flew over that mountain!!! I broke my own personal record of 2 hours 15 minutes (for 4 laps around Komeyama) and had completed both the swim AND the bike in less than 2 hours!! I really enjoyed racing against other people. Even though most people were passing me, I loved to have competitors to try to beat. My first lap around I kept up with people pretty well, too. Third and forth laps, were pretty lonely, but I certainly wasn't last to finish.
And the run. I hate running. I knew I hated running. I still hate running. Therefore I walked a lot. I walked pretty much whenever there was hill, but tried my best to run any other time. There are some pretty monster hills on this run. It's not a jog around the park. One thing I didn't realize (until the day before the triathlon when someone told me), running off the bike is nothing like running when fresh. Of course, I knew from my own experience that my legs are really tight after biking, but I didn't know that this was a known problem and something I should practice.
So I got a bit psyched out even before the race. I was really nervous about the run, which I didn't start practicing early enough. But as it turns out, I could do it. I ran most of the way and stopped to stretch my quads when I felt I couldn't move anymore. It wasn't at all embarrassing to be caught walking or stretching, and I was only just minutes behind a relay team. I could do the whole thing in the same amount of time three people could do it.
That's cool with me.
So, for my next triathlon, I'm planning on running off the bike a lot more than ...NEVER! Really someone should have told me that. It's something I could have practiced had I known.
But, overall, I feel really proud for training, trying and finishing the whole thing. My total time was 4 hours and 17 minutes. (Well below my six hour estimate!) Today my students kept asking me my ranking and I told them a range of answers:
"Around 2,000" (for a race with 85 participants)
"Before the 70-year-old guy, and the man with one-leg."
Many of the people competing were professionals or people who have done triathlons for several years, so I really don't feel bad for my time or ranking. I wasn't last, but even if I had been, I still would have been a finisher!! The point is to have fun and get exercise. I did both of those.
And I weigh 152 pounds! My driver's license is correct for the first time in many, many years!
Finally, I owe HUGE THANKS to many people who have helped me. I wouldn't have been able to do it without their encouragment and support!
Catherine, for running with me when I reeeally, reeeally didn't want to, and driving me to the beach on race day, flowers and morning calls, and lots of other things I can't possibly count!
Asagami-sensei, for giving me my bike and more-or-less forcing me to sign up.
Koga-san, (an adult English class member) for taking the hour to clean my bike and check it before the race, and doing LOTS of pre-race preparations for Kara and me (including making sure our bikes arrived to the beach), providing me with energy gels, vaseline and confidence before the race, and especially for being there when I crossed the finish line.
Kara, who came from Shimabara to do the race together and was my pal from the pre-race dinner until the awards dinner.
Kocho-sensei, Mori-sensei, Yoshida-sensei, Jimucho-sensei, Tsujiyama-sensei, Takeda-sensei, Hamahara-sensei (volunteers and teachers at my school) and all my students who handed me water, wet sponges, bananas and salt and cheered me on to the very end!
Yuki's mom, Yoko, who woke up really early to drive to Narao and cheer me on and take pictures with my camera.
Shian, who helped me A LOT with my swim-bike transition and gathered all my clothes and wetsuit so I could rush off on the bike.
Masami for cheering me on at the end of the run.
Sanae, Nathan, Dawn, and Mama for their words of encouragement and emails before the race.
Otsukaresama-deshita. It's time to sleep again,
a Monster Man Finisher
Phew. It was exhausting.
We lucked out in the beginning. The swim was reduced from 3 laps to one because the waves in the ocean were too rough. It was under 900 meters instead of 2,000. It's both a good thing and a bad thing for me. Good because I wasn't tired at all when I started the bike--simply warmed up a bit--and bad because I feel like I could've gotten more of a head start if the swim was longer. In my little experience with triathlons, I've noticed triathletes are usually pretty weak in the swim and excel in one or both of the other areas. Long distance swims, especially, I can make up some time.
But oh well. The waves were pretty nasty and I swallowed plenty of ocean water. I guess for my first long distance triathlon it's pretty lucky for me.
The bike was awesome. I was pretty worried about my knee and how it would handle the continuous hills, but I felt great the whole time!! Not only was it painfree, but I flew over that mountain!!! I broke my own personal record of 2 hours 15 minutes (for 4 laps around Komeyama) and had completed both the swim AND the bike in less than 2 hours!! I really enjoyed racing against other people. Even though most people were passing me, I loved to have competitors to try to beat. My first lap around I kept up with people pretty well, too. Third and forth laps, were pretty lonely, but I certainly wasn't last to finish.
And the run. I hate running. I knew I hated running. I still hate running. Therefore I walked a lot. I walked pretty much whenever there was hill, but tried my best to run any other time. There are some pretty monster hills on this run. It's not a jog around the park. One thing I didn't realize (until the day before the triathlon when someone told me), running off the bike is nothing like running when fresh. Of course, I knew from my own experience that my legs are really tight after biking, but I didn't know that this was a known problem and something I should practice.
So I got a bit psyched out even before the race. I was really nervous about the run, which I didn't start practicing early enough. But as it turns out, I could do it. I ran most of the way and stopped to stretch my quads when I felt I couldn't move anymore. It wasn't at all embarrassing to be caught walking or stretching, and I was only just minutes behind a relay team. I could do the whole thing in the same amount of time three people could do it.
That's cool with me.
So, for my next triathlon, I'm planning on running off the bike a lot more than ...NEVER! Really someone should have told me that. It's something I could have practiced had I known.
But, overall, I feel really proud for training, trying and finishing the whole thing. My total time was 4 hours and 17 minutes. (Well below my six hour estimate!) Today my students kept asking me my ranking and I told them a range of answers:
"Around 2,000" (for a race with 85 participants)
"Before the 70-year-old guy, and the man with one-leg."
Many of the people competing were professionals or people who have done triathlons for several years, so I really don't feel bad for my time or ranking. I wasn't last, but even if I had been, I still would have been a finisher!! The point is to have fun and get exercise. I did both of those.
And I weigh 152 pounds! My driver's license is correct for the first time in many, many years!
Finally, I owe HUGE THANKS to many people who have helped me. I wouldn't have been able to do it without their encouragment and support!
Catherine, for running with me when I reeeally, reeeally didn't want to, and driving me to the beach on race day, flowers and morning calls, and lots of other things I can't possibly count!
Asagami-sensei, for giving me my bike and more-or-less forcing me to sign up.
Koga-san, (an adult English class member) for taking the hour to clean my bike and check it before the race, and doing LOTS of pre-race preparations for Kara and me (including making sure our bikes arrived to the beach), providing me with energy gels, vaseline and confidence before the race, and especially for being there when I crossed the finish line.
Kara, who came from Shimabara to do the race together and was my pal from the pre-race dinner until the awards dinner.
Kocho-sensei, Mori-sensei, Yoshida-sensei, Jimucho-sensei, Tsujiyama-sensei, Takeda-sensei, Hamahara-sensei (volunteers and teachers at my school) and all my students who handed me water, wet sponges, bananas and salt and cheered me on to the very end!
Yuki's mom, Yoko, who woke up really early to drive to Narao and cheer me on and take pictures with my camera.
Shian, who helped me A LOT with my swim-bike transition and gathered all my clothes and wetsuit so I could rush off on the bike.
Masami for cheering me on at the end of the run.
Sanae, Nathan, Dawn, and Mama for their words of encouragement and emails before the race.
Otsukaresama-deshita. It's time to sleep again,
a Monster Man Finisher
