Miyako Strongman Triathlon
On April 23rd I took part in a Strongman triathlon. It consists of a 3 km swim, a 155 km bike, and a 42... km run. When I awoke the morning of, it was lightning and thunder. Not a great way to start a day. With about 20 minutes till the start the thunderstorm dissipated or blew away. The swim didn't seem too tough but over 120 people didn't make it past the swim portion due to either slow times or exhaustion. I finished the 3 km swim in 1 hour and 2 minutes. The bike was next and after 5 hours 16 minutes, I had completed the 155 km ride. It started off nicely with relatively little wind but after the 100 km mark the wind slowed me down considerably and also my legs started to tire. The run was a total drain. When I started it I just wanted to run the whole thing but ended up walking about 5 km of it doing a run/ walk deal after the half way point. My dad came up beside me at about the 25 km mark and with his support I was able to jog most of the way back to the finish line completing the run in 5 hours and 29 minutes. My total time was 11 hours 48 minutes and 39 seconds. It was a wonderful experience and I look forward to doing more in the future and bettering my times.

Wow, it's been a while since I posted anything. My life has been pretty busy. The new school year has just started and I'm settling back into my daily routine. Time to recap... Well, the end of March had me going to about 5 parties in 6 days. Lots of good byes. Plus I've still been training hard and i ran a couple of races. One 20 km race called a trim marathon b/c you don't know your time or distance at any point during the run. When you apply you put down the time you think you'll run the race in. I put down 1:30 and ended up running it in 1:25 so no prize as I was 5 minutes off. The other race I did was my favorite and also my fastest run last year, the ayahashi half marathon. It's a race that goes on a bridge for about 5 km to another island and then on the way back you run over another bridge to another island. The view is spectacular and since it's a big circle you get to see the other runners (friends) a couple times. This year the weather wasn't that great, rainy and windy, so I didn't have the run I was hoping for but overall I ended the running season off on a good note. All my 20 km and half marathon runs were between 1:25 and 1:32. My one 10 km run, I ran in 39:56. My goal was 40 minutes so I was happy. Now all I'm looking forward to the triathlon next week. My knees have been bothering me on the bike lately so I've been going to a sports therapist a couple times a week and I'm feeling better and more confident about the race. My parents come in tomorrow so I'm excited about having them here for 3 weeks. My dad will be going with me to Miyako Island for the race. It'll be nice to have a family member there when (fingers crossed) I cross the finish line. April has been a month of meeting new teachers, having welcome parties, training, and starting classes (which have been awesome thus far). Well, that's about it. Here are some pics of me at welcome parties, training, random. Take care and Happy Spring.