Sado Long Distance International Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

My swim time surprised me. I was thinking it would take me about an hour. I drank a bit more seawater than I thought I would.

My strokes were good (or at least, I thought they were good...technically speaking, I don't know). Lots of people touched my butt, but no one hit or kicked me! ;)

I will definitely place myself near the faster groupings at the start. (There were signs posted saying 30 - 40 mins, 40 - 50 mins, 50 + mins). I found I did a lot of dog paddling at the start of the swim, waiting for slower people to disperse from the large groups.

Took my time on this. No worries.

This is my favorite part of a tri: not cause I'm particularly good at it, but because it stresses me out the least.

Again, my time surprised me on this part. I was shooting for 5 hours. And I did it in less. I think I passed more people than passed me, but maybe I was even.

About half-way through the course, it started raining cats and dogs. It stopped pouring with 70 km left to go, but continued to rain (drizzle and just regular rain). The rain completely ruined my favorite down-hill part of the course! (>_<) But, it did keep the temperature pretty cool.

I think I did an OK job of hydrating myself and eating. I only dropped one bottle while going through an aid station; the rest were perfect grabs. I mashed a banana too, but I ate it anyway. :)

I made two short pit stops (one for the bathroom and one for nothing in particular). I don't think I'll do that next time. (But, then again, it'll depend on the race.)

Also took my time on this one. Had to dry off my feet because of the raining.

This, like the previous parts, went better than expected. I ran this eleven minutes faster than in a race I had done 3 months previous.

There were aid stations about every 2.5 kilometers on the run, but I only stopped at the 10 kilometer and 15 kilometer mark. And I didn't really stop: I just ran through and picked up a cup and tried to drink it on the run (maybe not a good idea).

The last five kilometers were tough, but the last 500 meters weren't. ;)

I think I would walk the aid stations and use one or two more of them than I did this time around.

Didn't really warm down. Kinda just milled around the transition areas.


Nothing I can think of. The rain was a pain (in Spain on the plains), but I don't think it limited my abilities. I don't have bike shoes, but I'm not sure how much of a factor that is.


This is a very well done Triathlon. Everyone I talked to had nothing but good things to say about its organization, staff, and island residents (i.e. friendly and welcoming). If you're in Japan, definitely sign up for this race.