Izena 88 Triathlon - TriathlonLong Course

The current was pretty strong this year- stronger than last year, it seemed. I started a little further forward this year to take my chances with being in the crowd and getting thrashed around. I think I held my own okay. I was really surprised when I came out after one lap (of two) and the clock said 21:30. I think that is probably the fastest 1000m I've ever done, period. Then it was back in for another time around!

Nothing- the swim went really well for me. I sighted well, stayed close to the ropes the whole way around, never lost my breath, etc. I just need to get faster!

I'm guessing at this time- I didn't time my transitions.

The wind was a bear. My strategy was to just put out smooth over the west side of the island, and then when the wind was either at a cross or behind, try to attack. It worked pretty well. I was pretty tired on the last lap, though, and didn't have much in the tank for even maintaining some smooth power on the west side. It had a kind of "hang on for dear life" type of feel to it.

A big problem on the bike (even though it went pretty well) was the drink I picked. Turns out that it combined with the salt-water taste in my mouth (after the ocean swim) and turned into the foulest tasting stuff ever. Then it also seemed like nothing in my stomach was digesting. I noticed this about the 4th lap- I had two gels in me and probably a liter and a half of fluid in my stomach. It was going nowhere! And I began to cramp through the last lap.

Figure out a better hydrating solution.

Again, a guess. It was change shoes, then off we go!

Here is where my day didn't go so well. I wanted to run a 2:00 or 2:15, but just couldn't get there. I cramped pretty bad the first 2-3km, and it felt like my stomach was finally beginning to drain at that point. Of the six climbs over the 20km, I was only able to continuously run up two of them, and about half of the other. Otherwise I was walking and just trying to stay upright. My time this year was actually 4 minutes slower than last year, and I thought last year was bad enough!

I think I'm probably hitting the outer reaches of what I can do physically considering my weight/health. I can't imagine doing any more bricks or other types of training than I already did through July-August-Sept. of this year to get ready for this. My legs actually felt better off the bike this year than last year, if that makes sense. I think if I want to improve I'll just have to continue to train, lose weight, stuff like that.

Went immediately and put the legs (up to the knee) into an icy pool for about 15min. Then I got a massage!


The Izena 88 is a really well-done race. It is really well-supported by the local community, and they are very hospitable. I highly recommend it for anyone who can make it!

Everything is done in Japanese, but some local athletes (American, mostly military-related) do a great job of having everything translated and keeping the foreigners well-informed as to what is going on.