13
Nanban rengo triathletes attacked, conquered, and hoarded the trophies
at Oshima Island over the weekend, which had all the elements of an ABC
wide world of sports outing. The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat,
gold medals, podium shots, fierce winds and rain, followed by deep blue
skies and a scenic island ride.
Additional race reports here:
Total Results:
Nick: 2:15
Jay: 2:18
Motozo: 2:29
Stan: 2:31
Mika T: 2:34
Brad: 2:42
Phil: 2:45
Mika K: 2:58
Ma: 3:13
Suni: 3:31
Chris: DNF
Taeko: moral support
Shoji: motto moral support
Motozo
Total - 2:29:56 (45th overall out of 346)
Run 1 - 23:27 (120th)
Bike - 1:18:53 (27th)
Run 2 - 47:36 (71st)
As you can guess by my times above, the swim was cancelled owing to large waves, which frightened the race organizers minutes before the race start. So we were forced to peel off our wetsuits in the cold rainy weather and substitute a 1.5k swim with a 5k run.
Given
my limited training regime, I was happy with the result, particularly
the 2nd run. 2 years ago I did a 46 minute run at Oshima, but this year I
was running about 15k per week. It was certainly disappointing to line
up at the swim area 30 minutes before the start and have them cancel the
swim, which was deju vu all over again as Jay and Yogi Berra once said.
Last year's swim was also cancelled, and Tateyama's swim was cancelled 2
months ago, so I am cursed to never break in my new wetsuit...
We
were freezing at the
5k run start, so it felt nice to finally get going. The 1st run felt
fine, but the bike was very rough and tough. I have never ridden in
those type of conditions in an olympic tri. There were heavy winds in
our face for the first 5k, which made it difficult to control my 60 and
90 cm race wheels. The back 5k we did have a tailwind, but the wet
surface made things a bit risky. To give you an idea of how harsh it
was, my bike was 1:08:40 in 2010, over 10 minutes faster, but 31st
place, so I actually was more competitive with a 10 minute slower time
(and much less training). Go figure... The 2nd run I pushed down the gas
pedal and was happy to crack 2:30 by a smidgen.
A big omedeto to podium appearances for Mika T, Jay, Nick, Mika K, and congrats to the first timers Suni and Nick. The next day the weather cleared brilliantly and we rode the island perimeter, taking in the scenic views, and stopping at the swim course for a dip and diving practice of sorts....
Many thanks to Mika T san for organizing the whole trip, ferry ride, minshuku, etc. Thank you Shoji san and Taeko san for your great support and photos. Most of all, I'd like to thank my lovely wife Megumi for putting up with my tri training, trips, and taking care of our son over the entire weekend.
