完走しました。Strongman Triathlon-Completed!

Aside from Miyakojima being a beautiful location for a holiday, it is also a perfect setting to swim, bike and run.

I won't bore you with too many of the details so I'll keep it really short:

• Friday and Saturday were mostly filled with race prep and a little bit of sight seeing. Lights out at 9pm
• Sunday-woke up at 4am, ate breakfast and headed off to the race start. Pumped the tyres up, checked all the bolts on my bike were all tight one last time, posed for pre-race pics and lubricated my neck before the swim so all wetsuit wouldn't cut me to shreds!
• Swim was fast, despite almost having a mid-ocean K1 fight with one of the other swimmers. Just for the record I think I won by TKO.
• Bike was brutal. The winds were either hitting you from the front, back, left, or right depending on which part of the Island we were circumnavigating. My speeds ranged from 64KM/H to as little 15KM/H. The aid stations and fans around the Island were fantastic though and took a lot of the monotony out of almost 5hrs in the saddle.
• On to the run. Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed the run...crazy, right!! Yes, it hurt. Yes, I wanted to walk or better yet, have a cafe latte at one of the cafe's nearby the run course, but I didn't. I was able to keep many of those inner demons at bay and run to the best of my potential on the day.
• Finish Line celebrations. They were no-where near as emotional as last year's Ironman Japan, but no less satisfying. After a cold shower and a 20 minute light massage from some volunteers, it was time to get back to the hotel. Laundry doesn't do itself, you know!
• I can't sleep!!! The combination of caffeine, sugar and muscle fatigue resulted in about 4 hours sleep in the following 48 hours. It's a good thing I don't do these races every weekend.
• Time for some R and R (Rest and Recovery). Getting to appreciate the beautiful marine life, albeit still being amped up on race-related stimiulates was a highlight, as well as the Salt flavoured ice-cream with various salt-infused toppings.
• Packing- There's nothing more satisfying than a seeing your bicycle all clean and revitalised, however I won't get a chance to see it until it lands in Melbourne, fingers crossed around the end of May. I pray it, and everything else we own makes it safely.
• Thank you. Big thanks to everyone who made it possible to do this race. Training partners, friends, family who wished me all the best, pushed me to my limits in the swim pool, cycling roads and runs around Osaka castle.

Now I need to get back into shape after about 1 and a half weeks of pure gluttony. I've got to look good in my first photos when we arrive in Melbourne, don't I!?

Thanks for reading,

Pete