Janine-san

Homecoming

2010-08-27T22:29:00.002+09:00

Well, my plan to write a post for each day of my last month in Miyako failed pretty dismally. Things got unsurprisingly busy and writing my blog just wasn't a priority. But I still have a mental list of some stuff I'd like to write about, so hopefully I'll find the time for that once we settle in a bit more here.

The good news is: we made it to Melbourne. Thom made it to Melbourne. We have moved into our third temporary house in as many weeks, but this time we'll be staying put for a month!

We're having a quiet night in tonight and I am very happy to be heading to bed before midnight for the first time in months.

Thom update

2010-08-11T21:11:00.005+09:00

After a truly unbelievable amount of emails, paperwork, photocopying and faxing, Thom flew unaccompanied from Miyako to Kansai yesterday morning.

He arrived there safely and checked into the Promenade cat hotel for the night. It looks a lot fancier than what he's used to when he stays in the back room at our vet's clinic.

He checked out of his hotel at 1pm today and had finished his health checks by 3pm. At 5pm I finally got the mail that I was waiting for - everything went fine and Thom was now ready to fly to Melbourne!

I still can't believe that there weren't any stuff ups that prevented him from flying. A conversation with a quarantine official in Australia a couple of days ago had left me 90% convinced that his microchip could have fallen out sometime and we'd have to start the whole process again. I have the very helpful Aya at JTB Cargo to thank for making double sure that all the paperwork was correct.

It's strange having a cat free house for the first time in 4 years. Nobody comes running when I open cans, nobody sits on my chest in the mornings and screams until I wake me up (he really does this), and the little geckos can run around without fearing for their lives.

Bon voyage, Thom!

Packing up

2010-08-10T21:48:00.002+09:00

Tonight will most likely be the last night we spend in our apartment before we relocate to Gary's place. All of our furniture and other bits and pieces will be picked up on Thursday morning, so we're busy cleaning and packing.

There's something about pulling our photos out of the frames - and knowing that someone else's photos will soon be going into those same frames - that really makes it feel like we're leaving.

Booooooooooooooooooooo.

Taking Care of Business

2010-08-05T15:19:00.004+09:00

Taking care of business every day
Taking care of business every way
I've been taking care of business, it's all mine
Taking care of business and working overtime
Work out!

(You'll just have to imagine me singing, as Stuart has put on a ban on any actual singing of this song.)

So yeah, I've been taking care of business. Every day. Every way. Turns out that there is a lot to organise if you want to pack up the lives of yourself, your husband and your cat and move countries!

Our very first moving preparations began back in April when I packed my sanshin, some winter clothes and the x-rays of my broken back into my Mum's case when she was returning to Australia. Then Stuart and I headed off for a three-week trip to Osaka and Kyoto and I vowed to start thinking about the move properly once we got home.

I've taken a slowly-but-surely approach, trying to chip away at it gradually over a long time. I keep telling myself that it's like a long distance triathlon: totally overwhelming when you think about it as a whole, but if you just keep putting one foot in front of the other then it will eventually be over.

It helps that we decided to stay in Miyako for a month after my contract ended, so it doesn't have to be the mad rush that most people find themselves in. It also helps that a few things have happened to fall into place nicely.

For example, I was told I didn't have a successor to sell our car and furniture to. That was pretty worrying, but then I learned that an incoming ALT was going to need to buy a car and furniture when she got here. Mary Beth agreed to buy all of our stuff in a bulk deal, so that made things a lot less stressful for all of us.

Another Miyako ALT, Gary, is enjoying a long summer vacation back in Hawaii, and he's been kind enough to lend us his apartment and car so that we won't be living on the streets sans car once we sell all of our stuff. My Mum has offered to lend us her car for a while, and a couple of people in Australia have offered us a place to stay when we first arrive.

With all of those big things already in place, I have time to keep working on all the little things we need to do.

Yesterday's jobs were to get an eye test and order new glasses (it's cheaper here), to drop off a shirt at the dressmaker, and to buy a book of Miyako sanshin songs that I've been meaning to get for ages. It wouldn't be the end of the world if I forgot about any of those little jobs before going home, but it's nice to have the time to get them done.

Obviously my immune system is unaware that we're not feeling too stressed, because I have two very big and very attractive coldsores. So today I am trying to avoid any unnecessary human interaction and take care of business from home. I've been making dentist appointments, organising dates for when we'll move all the furniture out of here (maybe August 13th?), finalising the details for my accident compensation payment (!), calling all the utility companies to arrange final readings, doing MORE of Thom's paperwork, and working on the forms I need for my pension refund.

Sixteen more sleeps until we leave!

I'll keep taking care of business, every day. Well, maybe for another 10 days. After that, I'm just going to sleep, eat, drink, go to the beach and ride my bike.

Monday 2nd August - Another busy day

2010-08-03T01:37:00.002+09:00

It's well past my bed time so I'll try to keep this one short!

Today involved:

Throwing out even more bags of trash from inside our many cupboards
Phone calls about Thom's trip to Australia
Emails and phone calls about the upcoming junior high school speech contest
Washing clothes
A long session at Laidback Cafe for an iPhone unlocking party
Last night drinks at Mosswell for Megan, Buck and Sam
Emails and phone calls about the bike frame that I need to send back to the UK
Lots of blog updates - this 'post every day' attempt is time consuming!

On the cards for tomorrow:

Two airport farewells
Sending off one of the two bike frames I need to get rid off before we leave
A long overdue return to my Gold Coast Half Ironman training?

After tomorrow, we don't have any social obligations until Friday! Hopefully this will mean more time for cleaning and packing, triathlon training, home cooking, and maybe even some relaxation.

Sunday 1st August - Surprisingly busy for a lazy day

2010-08-03T00:54:00.006+09:00

The day started with Jeff's airport farewell at 8:30am. Jeff's been here for four of our five years so it was a bit emotional for me and Stuart as well as Jeff.

Good luck to him for his new life in Tokyo!

Stuart and I were both pretty uncomfortable with the fact that we'd be having our own teary goodbyes in less than three weeks (!). Time to drown our sorrows in food!

We had Mike, Megan and Buck over for breakfast after the airport. I forgot to take photos but you will have to trust me when I say it was a pretty epic breakfast: lattes, orange juice, toast, sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns, avocado, baked beans and fried mushrooms. I am very much looking forward to some good cafe breakfast sessions once we are back in Melbourne!

I thought about doing more packing after everyone had left but that didn't really happen. Then I thought about a nap, but I couldn't get to sleep. That left a nice window of time to spend at the beautiful Maehama Beach, which is about a 5-minute drive from our house.

I spent a couple of lovely hours bobbing around in the water before Megan very cleverly suggested that we hit up Utopia Farm for an icecream. This place has a variety of soft serve flavours which are made with the tropical fruits they grow. Usually I go with mango but this time I was feeling the island banana soft serve. It was seriously about as good as icecream gets, and I may need to find my way back there a few more times before we leave.

After the icecream bliss, I had time to get some petrol and have a shower before Stuart and I were due at Mike's place for dinner. Sumie cooked us an amazing meal which was also beautifully presented.

The starter was tomato, asparagus and eggplant in dashi:

Then we had a fantastic salad of sea grapes (a delicious Okinawan seaweed), mozzarella, prawns, avocado, tomato and celery:

Next was a chicken and mushroom nabe which she cooked in the tagine she was given recently. Apparently they are all the rage in Nagoya at the moment:

I must have been getting pretty drunk by this stage because the food photos abruptly ended here. But rest assured that Sumie kept the food coming all night long! Next we ate a steak and mushroom dish, then a fruit selection which included Miyako pineapple, and finally some herb and garlic cheese served with vegetables.

It's weird that I managed to escape a hangover with the selection of booze I drank during the evening: chu-hi, Malibu and Coke, sake and red wine. The best drinks of all were undoubtedly the cocktails we made by pouring Malibu into halved passionfruits.

Kampai!

Saturday 31st July - Farewell lunch with teachers + Hiroko's birthday

2010-08-03T00:13:00.003+09:00

I hit snooze on the alarm a couple of times before I could face getting up for my 11:30am lunch with teachers on Saturday, so my farewell letters were written even more hastily than I thought they would be.

Lunch was great though - the all-you-can-eat brunch at the Tokyu Resort Hotel!

Here I am with some of my past and present English teachers: Kazu, Aya, Gaku, Satomi, Ritsuko, Ikuyo, Kiyo and Etsuko.

(Yojiro-sensei came along too but he missed the photo opportunity.)

The teachers gave me a lovely bunch of flowers and a t-shirt with some Miyako dialect written on it. And I reciprocated with farewell letters and a selection of little Australian gifts.

The Vegemite was met with a lot of interest so I grabbed some bread rolls and margarine from the buffet and made up some Vegemite sandwiches. Some teachers handled the new taste quite well but three others had to dash to get glasses of water.

I relaxed for a few hours in the afternoon and then it was time to head to Captain Marian's for Hiroko's birthday dinner.

The food was delicious as always - chargrilled chicken this time!

The banana cake with cream and fruit was awesome, too.

After dinner, Stuart and I walked to collect one of the new ALTs and escort her to Pinecone. There were a bunch of people out to celebrate Hiroko's birthday and Jeff's last night in town.

I did a bit of late night packing / throwing out rubbish when we got home, then fell into bed for a few hours sleep before Jeff's airport farewell the following morning.

Friday 30th July - Farewell party

2010-08-02T23:31:00.003+09:00

The Board of Education organised a farewell party for me and Jeff on Friday night at the very unassuming-looking Cha no Kuni.

We often end up there for Board of Education parties because it's a pretty sweet deal - all you can eat and drink, plus karaoke, for 3000 yen. With no time limit. Yeah.

They skipped the kampai speech and jumped straight into otori after the welcome speech. It was a special otori because it would definitely be Jeff's last chance to participate in this somewhat scary Miyako tradition, and probably mine too.

The awamori got me nicely warmed up to deliver the farewell speech that I always meant to write down but never did. I still managed to remember most of the things I wanted to say, I think. I talked about some of the things I've done in Miyako and Japan, some of my favourite memories of the BOE staff, what I'll remember about Miyako, and my plans for the future.

Then there was more otori, a bit of karaoke, lots more beer.

And eventually, some sad farewells. Here's me and Stuart with a friend and former staff member, Naoki Aizawa:

There was a second party afterward but thankfully Stuart managed to convince a very drunken me to go home and get some rest before the next round of farewells the following day.

Island tofu

2010-07-30T01:49:00.007+09:00

I woke myself up this morning when I hit myself in the face. I had been dreaming that a mosquito was flying uncomfortably close to my ear and I was trying to swat it away. Silly brain made my real life hand do it, too.

So, here's something else that I will miss about Miyako: freshly made tofu at the supermarket! This stuff is made locally, sold cheaply, and - if you happen to time your grocery shopping well - still warm when you buy it.

Wednesday 28th July = write off

2010-07-30T01:28:00.005+09:00

Well the first couple of hours of Wednesday were all about nomihoudai karaoke, so they were pretty great.

Here's me loving life at Yume no Tairiku, with the lovely Asuka from Moswell:

Unfortunately I seemed to require about one hour of recovery for every beer that I drank, so that put me out of action for most of the day.

I did however manage to put together a pretty sweet fried breakfast when I finally surfaced at 6pm.

All Hail Chuzan

2010-07-30T00:26:00.005+09:00

The farewell party for ALTs + Stuart was held at our beloved Chuzan on Tuesday night.

This izakaya has been a favourite with foreigners in Miyako for years, not least because of the daily happy hour: 250 yen beers from 4pm - 8pm. I went there for the first time not long after arriving, but the food and conversation wasn't up my alley so I left the place thinking that I didn't like it.

I. Was. Wrong.

Thankfully, I was reintroduced to Chuzan a couple of years later and it has been a mainstay for us since. The food is reliably good Okinawan izakaya fare: think garlic fried rice, daikon and tuna salad, sea grape salad, yakitori, stewed pork, gyoza. The staff are always friendly despite our inevitable rowdiness. And the beer. Oh, the beer...

We're talking frosty cold steins of Orion Beer, perfect for hot Okinawan nights. These glasses have such a nice heft to them; they're awesome to drink out of. Beers are 250 yen until 8pm, and the staff don't take issue with us ordering 10 beers for the table at 7:58pm. (Ok, so it was 20 beers at 7:58pm on Tuesday night. But it was a special occasion.)

I always leave there completely satisfied / drunk, and the split bill is generally never over $30 per person.

I was too busy chatting and boozing on Tuesday to take any photos, but here are some happy snaps from the past few years.

Nick's welcome dinner:

Free shikuasa sours on the blessed day when they reopened this May after a long break:

David's farewell party:

Mum and David's visit a couple of years ago:

Dave and Beatka's visit:

Teresa's birthday:

Post-Miyako Matsuri:

Chuzan, you will be missed.

Bento section

2010-07-27T00:02:00.003+09:00

One thing I will definitely miss about Japan is the awesome ready-made food section in supermarkets. There you'll find bentos, salads, sushi, tempura, stirfries, fruit platters... The list goes on and on.

Tonight we picked up an easy meal from Max Valu: miso po-po, goya champuru and some kind of broccoli and seafood dish. Yum!

Stormy weather

2010-07-25T19:33:00.004+09:00

And the rain rain rain came down down down...

Bike crash + Miyako Matsuri

2010-07-25T17:14:00.006+09:00

I wish I had listened to the very loud internal voice that told me to stay home and eat a sausage and egg muffin yesterday morning. Instead, I listened to the comparatively quiet voice that told me to go for a ride despite the roads being a bit wet.

Just a minute after leaving the house, I looked over my shoulder for traffic before changing lanes. When I turned back around, I must have been leaning to the right a little. The wheels slid out to the left, and the bike and I hit the ground. Now I have some very attractive road rash and bruising on my right thigh, bruising on my left calf, a scratched up pedal and aerobars and some ripped bartape. So yeah, kind of wish I had been as lazy as I wanted to.

Thankfully the day got better after that. We spent a lazy couple of hours with friends at Laidback Cafe (for the fourth time this week), then I headed home to frock up for the Miyako Matsuri!

I enjoyed a couple of pre-games at Dave's place while Stuart got some choice photos of ALTs participating in the mikoshi. He thinks that Hilson looks particularly Jesus-like in this one:

Check out my sweet new yukata:

Stuart documented the main event, a massive tug-of-war, while I sat drinking beer with new friends at Moswell.

Afterwards, we made our way to Copacabana for some drinks and two enormous bowls of curly fries.

Another fun summer festival in Miyako!

Race report: 2010 Miyako Strongman triathlon

2010-07-23T23:37:00.004+09:00

Well it's been more than three months since the 2010 Strongman triathlon so it's probably high time for a race report. I am not feeling the long blog posts lately so I will try to bang out a quick one. I am keen to start writing about more pressing matters, such as our impending departure from this island paradise!

Pre-race
As I said in the last update, Mum arrived in Miyako on the Thursday before the race so she got to see all of the madness first hand this year.

She joined me for the race registration, my final swim workout, pre-race briefings and parties, bike check-in and many trips to buy last minute things.

Our second visitor arrived on the Friday during the welcome party - TeWhiti from Okinawa mainland!

TeWhiti is a New Zealander JET who arrived in Okinawa one year after me. He came down to Miyako to cheer on friends in the 2007 Strongman and was pretty much bitten by the triathlon bug then, just like me! We met up at a work conference in Okinawa City last November and I managed to convince him to sign up for the 2010 Strongman. It was great to have someone to discuss training with during the lead up to the race, and great to know that I would at least be starting (if not finishing) the race with a friend on Sunday.

(Speaking of the welcome party, one of my Kurima students made an English speech to the foreign athletes there. Go Manami!)

Saturday was pretty busy. We got up at 5am and ate breakfasts number 1 and 2, then spent some time setting up the bikes.

TeWhiti and I both wanted to do a final little session so we rode down to the swim start while Stuart and Mum followed in the car with our swim stuff. We swam for 10-minutes then checked in our bikes at the bike registration. Here's my bike all excited about doing it's first race:

We drove home after registration and then headed out for a 15-minute run. We noticed this awesome sign on the way home. Thanks, Shimoji JHS!

With all the last minute training done, I only had to pack my many race bags and eat. And eat. And eat some more. It was a relatively calm pre-race afternoon. I was all about staying calm and avoiding rage this year.

TeWhiti stayed in a nearby guest house that night, but Mum and Stu were both instructed to go to bed when I did. I was determined not to have a repeat of last year when I ended up with only three hours sleep. Just to be sure, I doped the three of us with sleeping pills. True story.

Race Day

It was the best pre-race sleep I've ever had - probably 7 hours, and I only woke up a couple of times through the night. I'm sure you'll agree that all of that beauty sleep paid off:

Race morning went pretty smoothly. Peanut butter bagels, bananas, juice and black coffee for breakfast. We picked TeWhiti up on the way to the beach and he was in good spirits, too. There were no dramas at check-in.

In the few minutes before the swim start, I took a minute to think about what I had gone through to make it to the start line that morning. I thought about my crash and my (not quite finished) recovery. I was really pleased that I had made it to race morning feeling so positive and was just keen to get started!

Swim

I started a little further forward in the swim this year and I think it paid off. I wasn't stuck in a big group like I was last year - it seemed like the people I was swimming with were more my pace.

It was generally a comfortable swim, except for many unwelcome encounters with the inevitable non-swimmers that figure they will somehow survive the swim and then regain that lost time during the bike and run. I try to avoid bitching about this, because there are probably plenty of people who think I shouldn't be doing triathlons if I can't run the full run course. But seriously, people: PLEASE. STICK. TO. DUATHLONS!

If I am walking during the run, it doesn't impact on anyone's race but my own. People who can barely swim but decide to try out a mass start 3km open water swim are actually a danger to me as well as themselves. I am sick of having run-ins with swimmers that dangerously frog-kick their way through the whole race, kicking unsuspecting nearby swimmers in the sides. Or even better, the kind that grab onto my shoulders to get towed along for a while! (I am not making this stuff up.)

Anyway.

The swim was the only leg that I was pretty keen to get a good time for. I felt like my swimming was getting faster in the pool, and I had done more open water training than ever before. It was also the first sport that I could return to after my crash, and the one which was least effected by my injury. I felt like I was flying during the parts of the course where I found clear water... I thought a personal best could be on the cards...

But it wasn't.

Swim time - 1:03'05"
(My best 3km time to date was 1:01 at the 2008 Strongman.)

T1

I don't remember my transition time and my watch has long since been reset. But it was a pretty good one, maybe 5 minutes.

I got my wetsuit off with less trouble than usual. I also tried out a different system this time after watching last year's footage of the pro athletes in T1. Rather than taking my bag from the rack and sorting through it en route, I just kept the essentials in there and everything else on my bike. I dumped out the contents of my bag, shoved my wetsuit in there, and left it on the bag hook. Then I put on my race belt, bike gloves and sorted out other bits and pieces while jogging to the bike area. I put on my glasses, helmet, socks and shoes when I reached my bike, then I was good to go. No crashes when leaving the transition area, so that was an improvement on last year!

Bike

It's amazing how little I remember of the bike and run legs of the race only three months after the race. Either I have subconsciously tried to block it out, or all of the booze is wreaking even more havoc on my memory than I thought it was. What I do remember can easily be broken down into bullet points in the interests of brevity:

Wiiiiind! It was so damn windy. It slowed me right down, but at least I dealt with it better mentally than I did last year.
I usually ride with one earphone in, pumping something like Girl Talk. It just makes me go faster. But I hadn't been listening to music while riding since my crash because I was too scared. I didn't turn on my iPod until my toilet break at the 50km point during the race, and it was only then that I really understood how much of a boost I get from the music. I had been dragging my arse along for that first 50km but had much more energy for the next 50km.
The 50km was also the point where I took my first painkillers. (There were many more to come throughout the day). My back had started hurting and it didn't stop. I had to stand and stretch out my back often, and had to get off the bike to stretch properly a few times.
I stopped for a quick chat with Stuart, Mum and Mike on Kurima Bridge. No 10-minute phone calls this year though!

I really struggled in the last third of the 155km race and could not wait to get the fuck off the fucking bike!
I had told myself that I would retire after the bike if I didn't have 5 hours left for the run, as that was the absolute minimum time that I would need. Well, there were 5.5 hours left when I pulled into the bike finish so I decided to give it a go despite being pretty certain that I wouldn't finish. What can I say? I am a glutton for punishment.

Bike time - 6:50'23"

Run

There isn't really much to say about the run except that it sucked from start to finish. My shoes were too tight and gave me numb feet. My upper back, in between my shoulder blades, was really painful for some reason and I needed to stop and stretch often. I had a lot of support from my students and teachers on the course, and that was great as usual.

Megumi, a friend who is a camerawoman with Miyako TV, spotted me on the run and flagged me down for an interview. That was probably a run highlight, if only for the amusement I got out of how bad my Japanese had become mid-race, and how it was being broadcast live to the whole island.

I can't remember if I was consciously trying not to check my times during the run, but I definitely got a shock when I eventually did check the time at the run halfway point. The first half marathon had taken me 3 hours, much longer than I had expected. That left me only 2.5 hours to make the cutoff.

I knew that there was no way I'd be 30 minutes faster on the way back, so I decided then to retire. If I couldn't finish, there was no point in continuing. I did that whole 'I'll continue until they kick me off the course' thing last year, and it wasn't much fun. I knew I would be much happier enjoying the atmosphere at the finish line, and having a beer while cheering my friends on, than trudging along for another 2.5 hours.

I called Stuart and told him that I was planning to retire and that he should standby for confirmation. I didn't want any mix-ups about him coming to collect me this year!

I told the next official that I came across that I wanted to retire right there, but he told me that I'd need to inform the officials at the next aid station. Ok, I thought. Maybe a few hundred metres to go. Umm, no.

2.7km!

Let me tell you, 2.7km feels like a very long way when you've decided you're ready to retire after 11 hours of triathlon! After what felt like an eternity of walking, I finally came across the aid station.

Post-race

The officials took my timing chip and gave me a towel and a chair. I called Stuart and waited for him and Mum to zoom out to collect me. And yes, I had a bit of a cry.

I had fully anticipated going into this race that I might not - probably wouldn't - finish. I had broken my back only 7 months earlier, had done less training than ever, and still had a lot of pain when riding. But even knowing all of that, of course there was a part of me that was crushed not to finish. (Again!)

I cried a bit harder when Stuart and Mum turned up, but I quickly recovered. I filled them in on some of the details of my race during the ride back into town. We stopped at Family Mart to get me some fried chicken and a Corona.

A lot of friends turned up at the finish line to congratulate me on the effort, and I actually agreed with them. I could honestly say this year that I was happy to have made it as far as I did in the race.

I had a couple of beers, cheered for friends (including TeWhiti!) as they crossed the finish line, ate some of the post-race food that had eluded me in the past two years. TeWhiti was all about the post-race massages; he had even brought lollies to give to the volunteer masseurs. We headed over to the massage tent once his legs felt like working again, only to find that they had already packed up shop!

I guess we will both need to be faster next time...

OMFG WE ARE LEAVING MIYAKO!

2010-07-23T23:37:00.003+09:00

Stuart and I are leaving Miyako! Four weeks from tomorrow!

It is s-l-o-w-l-y sinking in that we are soon leaving this awesome island which has very much become our home over the past five years.

We've been sending boxes, cleaning out cupboards and selling our stuff for a couple of months now. But that stuff is all easy compared to the goodbyes we have had to start saying to people and places.

I have finished work now, so in theory I should have more time than ever for internetting. I am going to set myself the lofty goal of posting something here every day before we leave. Maybe a long and rambling post, maybe just a photo. Either way, I think it will help me be more mindful about my remaining days here and help me to remember them a little better once we're back in Melbourne.

Kitten room

2010-06-30T11:14:00.002+09:00

NB. I just found this old draft - not sure why I never posted it. I remember this day well. It was my first week back at school after my injury, and the stress and ongoing pain had me crying within an hour or so of being there.

A couple of abandoned kittens had been found near the lunch room and were being looked after in a spare tatami room. Students and teachers alike were sneaking into the room constantly to have a few minutes of play with them. The kittens were a very welcome distraction in an otherwise crappy week.

If asked to describe my fantasy workplace, a private room containing kittens and / or other entertaining baby animals would surely make the list.

THERE IS A KITTEN ROOM AT MY SCHOOL.

School fun

2010-06-29T14:59:00.004+09:00

These paper animation and lip sync projects are making me excited about the potential future projects that I can do with my own potential future classes!

Awesome photo

2010-06-29T14:29:00.003+09:00

Isla's mum called the local newspaper a while ago and tipped them off about a good story opportunity.

The resulting photo and accompanying article still make me smile.

Summer's back.

2010-06-19T15:16:00.004+09:00

There's a heat index of 49 degrees here today.

Forty! Nine!

Strongman update - 2 more sleeps!

2010-04-16T10:35:00.002+09:00

I can't really believe it, but it is only two more sleeps until race day!

I've been trying to write an update for a while now but it always ends up out-of-control long. I'll use subheadings in the interests of brevity!

Atmosphere
It really feels like race week in Miyako! The newspapers (and presumably the TV, but I wouldn't know because I don't watch it) are full of Strongman coverage. The front page of the Miyako Mainichi newspaper features this daily countdown.

Supporters started hanging their banners last weekend, which is always exciting to see. I love reading - or, more accurately, trying to read - the messages people have written to their friends, family and colleagues. The student council at Shimoji JHS are making a banner for me but I haven't seen it yet. I'll make sure I post a photo once it's finally been erected. Ahem.

Many athletes and some non-athletes, including my mother (!), have been arriving for the past week or so. Mum decided at the last second that she'd like to see the race in person this year so she hastily organised some flights and arrived from Australia yesterday afternoon. I let her eat a quick meal before I dragged her out for my final swim training (she did some water walking). We also bought a few bits and pieces at the bike shop yesterday, and some painkillers which I hopefully won't need on Sunday.

There was a party held for foreign athletes, English-speaking volunteers and other random people involved with the race last night. Mum, Stu and I went along to meet some of the guest athletes and enjoy a freebie meal. I was also happy to provide the evening's entertainment; my anally retentive race plan was the source of much hilarity and mirth.

I spoke mainly with two Korean athletes at the party, Kim Hyungsik and Park Byung Hoon. Kim runs a bike shop in Korea and was very excited to hear that I'm riding a Ceepo as he is one of their Korean dealers.

Park is pretty famous here in Miyako because he has won the race twice, but I've never had a chance to speak with him before. I also didn't realise that he lives on the Gold Coast for a lot of the year, with his wife and kids living there full time. He showed me a photo of his two cute sons in Australian primary school uniforms. Those uniforms look kind of strange to me now after five years of seeing Japanese uniforms.

I also talked to a couple of the many Australian athletes and supporters who are here, and I'm hoping to get around to the rest of them at the race meeting tonight! This is probably the most Australians that Miyako has ever seen, and the population will double again when Dave's friends and family roll into town this weekend for their pre-wedding visit.

Swim
Swimming has always been my strongest leg in triathlon, but I recently decided that my technique was improving thanks to the drills I did when I returned to swimming after my back injury. I got the chance to test my theory when KuruKuru bike shop / MSSC triathlon school organised a 1km open water swim a month ago. And I was proven very wrong. Haha.

It was a windy and rainy day, and the water was some of the choppiest I've swum in. I drank what felt like litres of sea water, and my 1km time was 26 minutes, 6 minutes slower than my goal pace. It was a pretty terrible way to return to open water swimming, but also good in a way: if there are terrible swim conditions on race day, at least I'll know that I have survived worse.

I did four sprint triathlons and another ocean swim practice since that day, and I'm pleased to say that my time improved a little in each swim! I finished my last 500m ocean swim in just under 10 minutes, so a 20 min/km pace. If I can sustain that pace for 3km - and that's a big 'if' - then I can complete the Strongman swim in an hour or less. My best 3km swim time to date was my 1:01 swim at the 2008 Strongman.

Fingers crossed for a swim personal best!

Bike

I will tell you the very long and frustrating tale of my replacement bike sometime, but today is not the day. I'm trying to stay c-a-l-m. For now it will suffice to say that I will not be riding a Ceepo Vixen on Sunday, but a Ceepo Grace. It's pretty sweet.

Given that I finally received the bike last week, I have hardly had any time to train on it. I've been trying to sort out my position and I think it's getting there, but I will no doubt have my bike tools out again before Saturday's bike check in.

I haven't done as much training as in previous years but I still managed to get a few 100km rides in. They all generally went ok, but I had some back pain on my last one. Climbing hills is pretty tough on my back. I'll pack some painkillers in my bento box and hope that I don't need to use them. If my back isn't feeling great after the 155km ride on Sunday, I'll retire, stretch it out, and cheer my friends across the line with a beer in hand. Hopefully it won't come to that though.

All of my bike training was done by feel this year, not with a bike computer like usual. I've since installed my old wireless bike computer - well, Stu has - but the result is that I have no idea what speed I've been riding at. I really hope it's up around 25km/h because that's the speed I figure that I need to do to give myself enough time to finish the run. My goal time is 6:22 (25km/h + 2 x 5 minute break).

Run

There's not much that I can say about running except that I still kind of hate it. I did two half marathons earlier this year and did another three runs which were up around 17 - 20km. Most runs were shorter than an hour though.

This year I added in more interval training and it seemed to get my average pace back to a better level pretty quickly.

I ordered new shoes which took forever to arrive, so I have only run in them for 30 minutes so far. I'll have time for another tiny run in them tomorrow morning. They are the same model shoes that I've had for the past three pairs, so hopefully I won't be in for any nasty blister surprises on race day.

Race wear

I ordered a trisuit from the shop that fucked up my bike order, and (surprise surprise) they fucked up my trisuit order too! I ordered a long distance trisuit which has a good chamois and a back pocket, but they've sent me the lightweight sprint / Olympic distance suit which is sans pocket.

I wore it for a couple of sprint race and it was quite good, but I am not sure how I will carry my gels and iPod on the run if I use it, and whether I'll be screwed without back pockets on the bike. I'll come to a final decision soon, hopefully.

Paparazzi

I've found myself in more newspaper photos and TV interviews than ever before. This one would have to be the best: a 1/4 page article in the statewide newspaper, the Ryukyu Shimpo, about my amazing recovery!

I sometimes ride with a friend or two on the weekends. I turned up to our meeting spot one Saturday and there was an impromptu TV interview in progress.

The TV news covered at least one of the KuruKuru / MSSC sprint triathlons that I did.

And the Ryukyu Shimpo turned up last Sunday.

Support

A few different kids quietly got my attention as I patrolled the classroom this week so that they could whisper 'triathlon, fight!' or something similar to me. So cute. And after lunch yesterday, a representative from the student council gave me a surprise 'gambarre' speech in English. They also presented me with this card, which is pretty much the best thing I have ever seen.

Please note:

The card features a pizza.
I appear to be running in my underwear.
And my reading glasses.
Somebody decided to draw me drowning during the swim.

Thoughts on whether I can finish or not

I haven't trained as much as either other year.
But I've done more race-specific training, including 4 sprint triathlons and more interval training.
I'm 3kg heavier than last year, 6kg heavier than two years ago.
But my bike is 3kg lighter.
I haven't had a foot injury or the flu this year.
But there is that small issue of the broken back...

2009 missing race reports

2010-04-01T16:05:00.001+09:00

30th Birthday Sprint Triathlon
(June 20th, 2009)

I would have never predicted it a few years ago, but when I started thinking about ways to celebrate my 30th birthday, a triathlon sounded like the most fun option. I also figured it would also be good training for Tokunoshima triathlon which I would do the following week. So I printed out a course map for our 750m swim, 17km ride and 5.5km run and set about hassling people into joining me.

Four of us started the 750m swim but two people retired partway through. I finished first in 16 minutes.

My first transition was pretty slow, about 5 minutes I think. Then me and 6 others set off on a very hot bike ride. I had an average speed of about 29km/h - much faster than usual! It was probably because I knew I only had to ride 17km, not 100km or more. I completed the ride in first place, in a time of 36 minutes. At this point Stu accused me of only organising the race so that I could kick everyone's arses.

T2 also took about 5 minutes. The sun was scorching by then and I was tempted to just skip the run, but figured that I should just run as far as I could and then start walking.

I think I ran about 3km in the end, then caught up with Sam on Kurima Bridge for a chat and a cold drink. We met up with Sumiyo and Emiko and walked back to the finish together.

I finished the run in 35 minutes, giving me a total time of 1:37. It wasn't my fastest time on this course, but it was a pretty good effort considering the heat.

Emiko let me play on her awesome yellow Ceepo Stinger after the race. Here's me pretending that it's mine.

And here are the happy athletes (minus Mitsue, Amy, Rick and Naoki). We hit up the dodgy old shower block at Maehama Beach and then headed to Tokyu Hotel for the all-you-can-eat brunch!

Tokunoshima Triathlon
(June 28th, 2009)

After Chikage and I were both timed out at 35km of the Strongman run last April, she suggested that we do Tokunoshima triathlon as a "revenge race". We signed up and began our training. Again.

Unfortunately Chikage became ill and couldn't do the race, which left me struggling to find the motivation to train, and worried about myself and Stu navigating our way through this race alone.

Tokunoshima is a small island in Kagoshima prefecture, about halfway between mainland Okinawa and mainland Japan. There is no direct flight there from Okinawa. If you want to fly there from Miyako, you need to fly to Okinawa first, and then fly to Amami Oshima (north of Tokunoshima), and then back down to the island. And it costs a fortune. The expense led Stuart and I to push our mutual fear of boats out of our minds and to take the 9-hour ferry from Okinawa to Tokunoshima. We flew up on Thursday afternoon, stayed in a Naha hotel for the night and then caught a 7am ferry the next morning.

Whenever I think about ferries, I draw on memories of the overcrowded, hot, hungover and nauseous trips I took on ferries in Thailand. So I was very surprised when this ferry journey ended up being one of my favourite things about our trip to Tokunoshima.

The room was air-conditioned and quiet, the sea was calm. We had our own little futons on a tatami floor, including barriers so that wouldn't have to lie face-to-face with strangers. And I took an eye mask, earplugs, a bunch of movies on my laptop, a novel that I received as a birthday present (thanks Dave and Betty!) and snacks.

Basically my day on the boat was spent much like a hungover day at home - lots of lying around doing nothing, intermittent napping, and a bit of food. I realised afterward that this enforced day of rest was probably one of the best things I could have done so close to the race day. Usually I find myself frantically running last minute errands in the couple of days before a race, despite all good intentions to rest my legs.

We arrived at about 4pm and collected our rental car, dumped our stuff at the hotel and drove straight to the welcome party. The highlight of said party was my introduction to a new drink - shochu poured into a fresh passionfruit and stirred around with a spoon. Not really the best time to be discovering new drinks, I suppose.

On Saturday, we combined a bike course check with some Tokunoshima sightseeing. It was rainy and bleak and there were clouds on top of the hills I would be climbing the following day. Clouds only hang around really tall hills, so that was a concern.

There was a special bullfighting event at 5pm on Saturday for the locals and athletes to watch. Apparently bullfighting (or 'tougyu') is popular in Okinawa too, but I'd never seen any before. It was semi-interesting / semi-disturbing.

We ate dinner at the chain restaurant Joyfull which was on the ground floor of our hotel. I had beef and wasabi on rice, so obviously the bullfighting didn't disturb me that much. I also had a beer, claiming that it was carb loading that would also help me sleep.

The beer may have worked because I had my best pre-race sleep yet, probably six hours of undisturbed sleep. So I woke up feeling good. I listened to quiet music and tried to stay calm, then got all our stuff packed in the car before breakfast. We used coupons from the hotel to get a free breakfast at Joyfull and then headed to the swim start. The race started at 8am - much more civilised than the Strongman 7am start!

I could see clouds capping the hills - nay, mountains - from the transition area and it made me very nervous about the bike course.

The 2km swim featured the shallowest course I have ever swum; it was rarely deeper than 1.5 metres. I caught some strange movement out of the corner of my eye a few hundred metres into the swim and stuck my head up to see what was happening. It was a guy walking the swim course! He really mustn't have been able to swim well because he kept up with the walking for a long time.

Umm, ok. You can't swim. No problem. But why sign up for a triathlon?! I tried my best not to be judgmental. After all, if I can walk parts of the run course, why shouldn't he be able to walk parts of the swim?

My own swim - not walk - was awesome. The first kilometre was against a light current so that took a bit of work, but I felt like I was flying on the way back!

2km swim time - 0:43'27", 127th position.

The bike course started with a steep climb and pretty much continued that way for 75km. A lot of the course was along the coast too, which meant winds + hills. I had done some extra hill training in preparation for the race but I soon realised that it wasn't enough. About three-quarters of the way up a winding 3km hill, I actually got off and walked my bike up the hill. It's the first time I've ever done that in a race and it was pretty embarrassing. I found myself wondering whether the swim-walker was one of the people flying past me on their bikes.

So, yeah. Hilly, hot, and that's all I want to say about that.

75km bike time - 3:30'34", 172nd position.

The run was H-O-T. The race takes place in late June, right in the middle of the rainy season. It was around 33 degrees but the humidity was very high, so the heat index was probably up around 40 degrees. I was just happy that I had finished the bike with enough time for me to walk a lot of the half marathon and still be able to finish.

Bad: Enthusiastic volunteers dousing me with water led to the curbside wringing out of my socks on more than one occasion, and to the ultimate death of my iPod.

Good: Bags of ice at the aid stations.

I'd say that I walked at least 5km of the run, probably closer to 10km. I suffered in the heat, but was sustained by the knowledge that it was only a half distance and would be over within 8 hours!

21km run time - 3:22'10", 194th position.

Total - 7:36'11", 177th position.

After the race, I grabbed a free beer and headed to a tent where volunteers covered me in frozen towels and bags of ice. Heaven!

My new buddy Sakai-san, who was staying at our hotel, crossed the line just after the cutoff time of 8-hours. Unlike the Miyako Strongman though, they still gave him a finisher's towel and t-shirt! I thought that was a nice gesture for us not-so-fast people who still manage to get it done.

Actually, that's one thing that stood out about this race - more stuff! Everybody got a nice t-shirt in their race bag, regardless of whether they went on to finish. Then there were finishers' t-shirts and towels handed out at the finish line. The aid stations also had a great range of stuff, including Soy Joy bars and other snacks that you could easily take with you on the course rather than having to scoff the whole thing there.

(The race organisers also later sent out finishers' certificates which had a colour finish line photo on them. It was a nice touch.)

The post-race party was great. Families, friends, volunteers and people from the island were all invited, not just competitors. And the massive quantities of food and booze stopped the usual mad rush / hobble of starved triathletes lest they miss out.

I had one beer but it didn't go down as well as I had expected. So I switched to Coke and a bowl of keihan, a chicken and rice soup which Tokunoshima is famous for. It was delicious.

Then we returned to the hotel, but not before stopping by the dubious-looking local pizza shop. Luckily for us, appearances can be deceiving and 'Pizza Max' served up a couple of quality pizzas for us! Yum.

We returned the rental car the following morning and were given a big bag of locally grown passionfruit by the friendly staff there. Then we took a ferry to Yoron, a plane from Yoron to Naha, and eventually a plane from Naha to Miyako.

Getting there and back was a hassle, but it was a great chance to see another part of Japan and to get that Strongman DNF (did not finish) monkey off my back.

Fukumine Elementary School Inaugural Duathlon
(July 13th, 2009)

After I joined my elementary kids for one of their swimming classes, my teacher and I came up with the brilliant idea of a swim-run-swim duathlon for the grade 5 and 6 students as an end of term activity. Well, we thought it was brilliant. The kids were skeptical.

The course was officially a 100m swim, 1.2km run and another 100m swim. But as the kids had varied swimming ability, they were allowed to just swim as far as they could before stopping.

Here's the poster that Eisaku-sensei made. (The three kids down the bottom were the favourites to win.)

And I was touted as the 'guest athlete'!

Race day was a typically hot summer day and everyone was pumped to get into the water. Only myself and the science teacher joined the kids in the race but many other teachers were there to cheer us on. The nurse set up this aid station:

And I prepared certificates for the kids. Here's the girls' version:

And the boys' version:

We had an opening ceremony with speeches from the kids, their teacher, the principal and me:

And then we were off!

(Kickboards were optional.)

The swim went well - only one head-on collision with a student. Next came the run.

Our course was two laps around the school and I was dreading it because of the heat and because it would be my first run since Tokunoshima.

I pulled on my shoes and a hat and headed off. I was the fastest swimmer but it wasn't long until children came flying past me on the run. They were fast! They were also super cute, with many of the boys running barefoot in just their swimming shorts with their goggles and swim caps still on their heads.

Either I was really unfit, or that 1.2km course was way more than 1.2km. It took a lot longer than that distance usually would. After the run, I showered and jumped back in the pool for another 100m swim. It was over before I knew it.

I know I shouldn't really count this as a race, as my opponents were fourteen children and one adult who couldn't really swim. But I will anyway. My times were:

First 100m swim - 2:05
T1 - 2:42
Run - 11:03
T2 + second 100m swim - 2:20

Total time: 18 minutes 10 seconds. If only more races were this short!

We had an awards ceremony and more speeches after the event, with the principal saying that she'd love to try it again the following year. Then we feasted on watermelon in the sun and had some time to play in the pool.

It was yet another day that I couldn't really believe that I am paid to do this job.

Strongman weather

2010-03-28T15:43:00.004+09:00

My last few 100km rides have all been on horribly windy days, and this has made me even more preoccupied with the weather than usual. I suppose the extra wind training should make me more confident but it doesn't. It just scares me. I really don't want a repeat of the torturous headwinds from last year.

So everyone, it's time to start wishing-and-hoping-and-thinking-and-praying for perfect weather on April 18. Here's what I'm after:

Wind: Practically non-existent during the swim and bike (unless a consistent tailwind can somehow be organised). A breeze for the run would be nice. So let's say 15km/h or less between the hours of 7am and 2:30pm, and anything up to 24km/h after that. While we're talking specifics, I'd prefer a straight-up north or south wind. No north-east / south-east combinations, thank you.

Sun: Scattered clouds until 8am, at which point more and more clouds should roll in. The weather should move quickly through 'partly cloudy' to settle at 'overcast' by about 9am. Please note that this overcast weather should not be accompanied by high humidity.

Temperature: A comfortable 24 degrees from 5am until 8:30am, then I'd like to see a drop in temperature for the bike and run. Between 18 and 22 degrees would be best.

Rain: Not required.

Weather requests only have to cover until 8:30pm. A typhoon could blow in after that for all I care because the race will be officially finished and I will be either celebrating with a beer or drowning my sorrows in one.

This morning's weather was a nice example of what we're shooting for.

Please keep this example in mind, and feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about the specifics.

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

Winter Olympics

2010-03-09T12:32:00.005+09:00

I watched more of the Winter Olympics this year than I ever have before and I got right into it. However, I realised that I had been watching too much downloaded figure skating when I caught myself choreographing my own hypothetical footwork sequences while out running.

Stuart and I also gave a little too much thought to which events we could have Thom compete in if there was a cat Olympics. I vote for a kitteh version of this:

A Christmas Miracle!

2009-12-31T17:34:00.003+09:00

Well, that may be putting things a bit strongly. But my recovery is coming along well.

I am still going to rehabili but my physical therapy sessions are down to once a week, and the x-rays and consultation are every third week instead of every second. The boss doctor says it's all going well and he told me about three weeks ago that I could start exercising again!

I got right back into swimming. I worried that my shoulder would give me trouble but the swimming actually seems to be helping it. It's still sore to sleep on but doesn't give me any pain during the rest of the day. My fitness is pretty much non-existent but I think my strength and form haven't totally disappeared. We did 50m x 4 time trials in my Saturday night triathlon swimming class and this is what I came up with:

1st - 49 seconds
2nd - 50 seconds
3rd - 51 seconds
4th - 52 seconds

One second slower each time. I'm nothing if not consistent.

The doctor suggested jogging intervals of up to 3 minutes to start with so I have been mixing shorter walk / jogs in with longer walks. I was doing 3 min x 6 on the interval runs, all on an AstroTurf-covered footpath near our place. I haven't had any extra pain from running. It's good to get back to it! He told me a couple of days ago that I can start proper running now, as long as I don't increase my time or distance too quickly. I'll get started on that soon.

Bike riding is coming along more slowly than everything else. Pinky is out of action so I bought a couple of bits and pieces that I needed for my old road bike and got it roadworthy again. Stu joined me for my first ride about a week ago. We rode about 5km altogether, but it was a start at least.

I headed out yesterday for my first solo ride! I went about 15km I think. I'm not using a bike computer at the moment. I figure it's best to get used to being on the road again before I worry about how fast or far I am going.

The ride was physically ok, except for the unexpected problem of not being able to reach my water bottle. I couldn't bend far enough to get it from its bottle holder on the seat tube. I think that it should be ok if I move the bottle holder to the down tube though. I haven't tried out the aero position yet - I think that is best saved for when I'm on the indoor trainer. Mentally, the ride was a bit tough. I was expecting the worst at every intersection, kept imagining danger at every turn. But hopefully that will disappear soon.

In other news:

1484

That's my race number for next year's Strongman! I got in! I'm feeling good about my back so I have decided that I'll do the race, but only of much of it as I can without getting sore or exhausted. I'm sure that the swim will be fine, as I'm already back to swimming 1500m with no trouble. The bike will probably be ok with the 3.5 months training that I can do before then. At the moment I'd say that completing - or maybe even starting - the run is very unlikely. But who knows.

A quick word of advice to anyone who is considering telling me that I shouldn't do the race because of my back / I should put my health first / there are plenty of other races:

Please don't bother. I have done the race twice and know exactly what is involved. You haven't. I have lived in this body for 30 years now, including every day of its recovery since my crash in September. You haven't. I know what I am and am not physically capable of, and as I said, I'm not going to push it. I will know on the day that just getting to the starting line is an achievement, and I'll retire if / when I have to.

Just saying.

Finally, I have ordered a new bike! I am still waiting on the guy who hit me to pay up, but Strongman is on April 18th and I'd rather be training on a fancy new bike than my rattly old one. I found a Vixen for sale online! I was all set to order it, then I started wondering whether it was the best choice. It was my first love, but it also kind of feels cursed now.

I also thought about what would be the best bike I could buy for the money I'm getting, whether another model might have better resale value than the Vixen, and which colour bike would be the easiest to co-ordinate race clothes with. In the end I decided on a black 2009 Ceepo Venom. I would have preferred a white Venom, but I'm sure that I will love the black one too.

If anyone else wants that Vixen, it's on sale here.

Brokeback update

2009-11-19T09:04:00.004+09:00

I present an update in response to (semi) popular demand!

Broken back
It's still sore. Not so much if I am lying flat on the ground, but rolling over onto my side, standing for longish periods of time and sitting for any amount of time still gives me some pain. I still have to squat if I want to pick something up - no bending at the waist. And no twisting of any kind, so no looking over my shoulder or anything. And I can't drop my chin to my chest or look downwards too quickly; I fell asleep on a plane on Saturday and woke up to screaming pain when my head dropped forward. Ouch!

I get xrays taken every two weeks, and the doctor has said every week that they show no change. That's kind of depressing to hear, but he assures me that 'no change' is good. It looks to me like the cracks have healed, so I think he is talking about the height of the squashed vertebrae. But I thought I remembered hearing or reading that the bones won't return to their original height without surgery? I will have to ask him more about it at our appointment next Wednesday. I guess I will be learning some new Japanese vocab before then!

My left shoulder (which took the force of the truck) is still sore. I have to be careful not to put too much weight on it when I sit up from lying down, and to avoid moving it in certain ways.

Treatment
I am still going to physical therapy - or "rehabili", as they call it here - twice a week. At first, this involved just lying still while my doctor manipulated my back, left shoulder and right hand thumb (the lower joint and surrounding tissue were damaged when it was slammed against my right aerobar extension in the crash). Then I progressed to breathing exercises which aimed to strengthen my abdominals and the small muscles of my back. Then I moved onto isometric, pilates-type exercises for my back. Then crawling on the floor like a baby. Then, to my excitement, the exercise bike!

I have only used the exercise bike three times so far. I rode 10 minutes for the first couple of times. On the third time, I advanced to 15 minutes! I was excited about my stellar progress until my heart rate climbed so high after 10 minutes that the machine shut down and locked me into cool down mode! For a girl who regularly rode up to six or seven hours, this was pretty disheartening. Current fitness = zero.

I take multivitamins, calcium, and L-lysine everyday (I read early on that L-lysine helps your body to absorb more calcium and it also promotes the formation of muscle protein). I also try to eat a balanced diet, drink a lot of water and avoid too much booze and caffeine.

I am also still wearing my very attractive back brace constantly except for when I am sleeping. Aside from being uncomfortable, it also limits the clothes that I can wear because it is too bulky to fit under a lot of my tops. I am resigned to wearing old race shirts most of the time.

Compensation money
Apparently there is a lawyer here retained by the local government for it's employees, or something like that. All I know is that my supervisor told me that this guy will help me for free. Unfortunately he won't see me until my rehabili is finished, and I have no idea when that will be.

I have read in a lot of places that this is the only way to go, because then you'll know the full extent of your injuries before discussing compensation. I know it makes sense, but it is frustrating. I want to start asking some questions. I'm also worried that there are things that I should have been doing this whole time to help my compensation case, but I haven't known to do them because I haven't had advice from a lawyer.

For example, I read online somewhere that you should keep a mileage diary of all the times you have to travel to the hospital or rehabilitation and add this to your claim. So I started a diary. Then I met with my supervisor last week to look over one of the perp's insurance forms, and it had a section for reporting mileage! I would never have known to do that if I hadn't researched traffic collision compensation claims online.

Broken bike
Towards the end of my hospital stay, my supervisor brought me a quote from the bike shop for a replacement bike. I think it was for 420,000 yen or something ($AU 5080). This amount covered the frame, aerobars and wheels. Unfortunately for the perp, the aerobars which I had found on eBay for $US 200 are sold in Japan for $US 1000. The replacement frame and wheels are also more expensive to buy here. I still hadn't seen the bike in person, but figured that I could get a new bike together with that much money so I said it was ok to show the quote to the perp.

The day after being discharged from hospital, I went to check out the bike myself. I found that my left pedal and brake lever were pretty scratched up. The seat was marked, but it was nothing too obvious. I also realised that I should probably include my smashed sunglasses and helmet in the quote, too.

I have since had my supervisor come to the bike shop and agree to have those things added to the quote. I recently remembered that I was charged 20,000 yen for service when the mechanic put my bike together for me. There's no reason why the shop should have to build the replacement bike out of charity, so I think this amount should be added to the quote too. I haven't talked to my supervisor about that yet though. I guess that will make the final quote close to 500,000 yen ($AU 6050). He picked the wrong bike to crash into!

Because I can't speak to a lawyer yet, there is no saying when I will get this money for a new bike. I am keen to ask whether I could get the bike money before the rest of the compensation money. If that's not possible, my options are to either buy a new bike myself and wait to be reimbursed, or to fix up a couple of things on my old bike and ride that until the money comes through.

Training
In short, there is no training to speak of. My doctor has told me for three consecutive visits that I should be able to start swimming in two weeks. Then I see him for the next appointment and he postpones it.

The main trouble with swimming, which is the first sport that I will be able to return to, is that it requires you to twist your back so that you can breathe. I wore a snorkel in the pool once to get around that problem but the pool staff told me off. I have also tried backstroke to eliminate the whole breathing problem, but it was tough on my shoulder.

I have been walking in the pool for 30 minutes three times a week for about a month now. It's not exactly thrilling exercise, but it was good to break up the monotony of lying on my floor all day, and to feel like I was doing something active to help my recovery.

As of last week, the doctor said I could try walking outside for exercise. He suggested starting at 20 minutes twice a week and increasing that if there were no problems. My first 20-minute walk was fine, so I walked for 25 minutes the second time, and then 30 minutes the next time. I've only walked three times so far.

Weight
I have only technically put on one kilogram since I was admitted to hospital. That's pretty good going considering that I spent two solid months lying on my back and eating the delicious contents of care packages. But while the scale shows a difference of just one kilo, my body shape tells a different story. Fat is lighter than muscle, so my theory is that I've lost basically all of my hard-earned muscle and replaced it with way more than 1kg of fat.

There is unfortunately not much that I can do about the dismal lack of muscle at the moment, but I can probably stop any further weight gain by reigning in what I eat. I started tracking my calories in Calorie King again on Monday (I used Calorie King for a year to help me lose the 28kg that I have been slowly putting back on).

Work
My doctor told me two and a half weeks ago that I could return to work this Monday. I forgot to confirm that with him at our appointment last Tuesday but I decided to sack up and give it a go.

I had four classes on Monday, which were a combination of regular classes and judging skit contests. So a mix of standing and sitting in classes, and then a lot of sitting in the staffroom when I wasn't busy. The sitting was actually worst because I guess that when you're standing, your legs hold a heap of weight - there would be less pressure on the spine, I think. Plus the school chairs are terrible. I ended up being so sore at the end of my classes.

I left school at about 2:30pm and went home and cried hysterically to Stuart. I had it in my head that returning to school was a milestone, that it meant I was getting better. But I felt so terrible afterwards that it was all a bit letdown. I wailed to Stuart that I was so sick of it all, and wondered how long it would be until I could sit in a chair without having to think about 10 different variables first!

I had a rehabili appointment that afternoon at 4:30pm and really didn't want to go. But I gave myself a stern talking to, deciding that treatment is probably most necessary when the injury is so sore. So off I went to the appointment... and embarrassingly started crying part way through the session! I had pretty much recovered and was rushing to leave the clinic when a friend who happened to be in the waiting room called my name. As soon as I saw him, I burst into tears again and he had to calm me down. Then I was almost ok and was again leaving the clinic when I bumped into a lady from the Board of Education and I started crying all over again. Argh!

Tuesday was better. I left school at lunch time and came home to rest. But yesterday morning I was sore when I woke up. It wasn't a crippling pain but I knew I'd be in pain by mid-morning after sitting in the dodgy chairs, so I took the day off. I spent most of the day lying on the futon with my cat and willing my back to be less painful. I also called my supervisor and said that I'd like to just do half days until my back adjusts to all of the extra action.

I felt good this morning and came to work, ready to face my four classes. So far, three of four have been cancelled. That has meant A LOT of time sitting at my desk in this crappy chair. Plus there is an English presentation from 2pm, so I'll be here for the whole day today.

My teacher from tomorrow's school emailed me and said that the school will be closed because half of the students have the flu! Poor kids. But it's good news for me because I get to stay home and rest, and maybe do some water walking in the pool. Exciting stuff.

Life in general
One upside to having two months of forced inactivity is that it gave me a lot of time to think. My job here finishes next July, so Stuart and I will be packing up our cat and our house full of stuff and returning to Melbourne. When we arrive, we won't have a house. I won't have a job or a car. And until recently, I had given this situation a disturbingly small amount of consideration.

I have been using the last few weeks of time spent flat on my back to think about it all, and have come up with the following:

I want to do a graduate diploma when I get back so that I can continue teaching.
I don't think I like teenagers enough to want to teach them full-time, so primary teaching would be a better choice for me.
I need to save some cash to prepare us for this move, and so that I have the money to pay for the said diploma in cash.
Rent is extortionate in Melbourne. If monthly rent costs almost as much as a mortgage payment does, I'd rather be paying off our own house.
We're not in a position to buy a house right now, but we might be once I have finished my studies and started in a steady teaching position.
That will only be two or three years away, so I need to start thinking more seriously about getting a decent house deposit together.

That's all I've got so far.

Brokeback, Brokebike

2009-10-13T03:15:00.002+09:00

I had been meaning to write about my new bike for months. Seriously. It was even on my 'to do' list for the day I crashed. Sadly the post has to be about my dead new bike now, but it's still a post I feel compelled to write.

When I bought my first road bike in June of 2007, I wasn't after anything fancy. I didn't even really know what a fancy bike entailed. I just wanted a cheap bike that I could use to train for, and compete in, the following year's Strongman triathlon. One doubtful friend even encouraged me to buy a mountain bike or a hybrid, since I might find that I didn't like the idea of triathlons after all.

Haha.

HA HA HA.

I ended up doing nine triathlons and around 6000km on that bike in the two years that I rode it.

I had the feeling that I was outgrowing my $600 bike before this year's Strongman, but I didn't for a second entertain the thought of buying a new one. My plan was always to sell or give away this bike before leaving Japan, and to buy a new one when home in Melbourne. That way I wouldn't have to pay to ship a bike home. Plus I could make sure that I was definitely committed to continuing the sport in Australia before spending a fortune on a fancy bike. Well that was the plan until May or so, post-Strongman.

I had such a torturous ride in the race this year. I cried, for God's sake! I think most of it can be put down to the strong winds, the fact that I had only three hours sleep the night before, and the bad case of the flu I had suffered through a few weeks before the race. I was also 4kg heavier this year, which wouldn't have helped. But I kept thinking that surely, surely, my heavy aluminium bike wasn't helping my cause.

Once I started thinking about it, I came up with a heap of reasons why it would be better to buy a bike while still in Japan.

I have more disposable income here than I'll probably ever have in Australia.
I could use the bike for the Tokunoshima triathlon in late June.
I would be able to ride the bike for a full year before leaving. And I really didn't want to have to ride my current bike for another year.
I could do the 2010 Strongman on it.
A new bike would motivate me to ride like nothing else could.

It started to seem stupid to not buy a bike here.

I had remarked to Stuart some time ago that if I ever did buy a fancy triathlon bike, I'd be tempted to get a Ceepo. This was surely because I was brainwashed by their tent at the Strongman expo; I'd never done any actual research into triathlon bikes and didn't know shit about them. But Ceepo seemed like a good place to start looking.

Just a few clicks into my internet search, I came across the Ceepo Vixen.

My, oh my.

I know, right? It was love at first sight.

I hadn't given myself a definite price range for the new bike, but I thought I could probably get something that would suit me for $1500 - $2000. Well, I read that the Vixen was around $3000 but that didn't stop me from obsessing over it. I decided to visit the local bike shop to ask a few questions.

Bad news #1: Vixen was a limited edition and was sold out in Japan.
Bad news #2: Umm, yeah. That $3000 price tag was for the frame only.

For some strange reason, I wasn't deterred. Love will make you do strange things.

I emailed the Ceepo dealer in Melbourne to ask whether he had one of the frames. He said he didn't have one in stock, but could have one within ten days if I placed an order. I deliberated for a week or so. It was kind of terrifying to commit to buying such an expensive frame, and knowing that the expense wouldn't end there - I'd have to buy thousands of dollars worth of parts for it before I'd have a usable bike. Eventually swayed by the idea of having a new bike for the Tokunoshima triathlon in late June, I placed an order.

Ten days came and went. Then fifteen. Apparently the frame had been sent from America without a shipping number. Aargh! When it had been about 20 days, I was told that the bike had finally cleared customs. Surely it couldn't be much longer? Well actually, it could. Because the bike was sent to Melbourne via Sydney and then Brisbane!

Days later, the frame still hadn't turned up in Melbourne. It had become clear that I wouldn't have the bike in time for my race, and I was pissed off enough with the whole situation to cancel my order and get a refund.

I started thinking that maybe I had dodged a bullet. Did I really need a $5000 bike? Probably not. And choosing all of the parts myself was sure to be a pain in the arse. Maybe it had worked out for the best. I had pretty much talked myself out of buying such an expensive bike but that soon changed when I had an opportunity to actually ride a Ceepo for the first time.

I had organised a sprint triathlon for my 30th birthday in late June and invited a few Strongman friends along. Emiko turned up on a shiny yellow Stinger that I didn't even know she owned, and kindly obliged when I asked to try it out. I couldn't believe how light it was - kind of like riding a kids' bike. And so smooth! Coming from my heavy old road bike, it was like riding on air! Here's a photo of me pretending that it's mine:

A week later, I went on to use my old bike for Tokunoshima triathlon. I cursed its weight on each of the many hills on the 75km bike course.

You know what really sucked though? Looking over Stu's photos of random athletes after the race and coming across this woman who seemed to be loving life on her CEEPO VIXEN.

Bitch.

I kept wishing that I had seen the Vixen in person and maybe even had the chance to con this stranger into letting me ride her bike. Oh well. With no more races on the agenda for a while, I could take my time looking for a bike. The Vixen always stayed in my mind but I looked at a heap of other bikes, too.

I was pretty sold on the Felt B12 for a while. It seemed like a great value bike, and all of the reviews were good. Plus I liked the idea of buying a complete bike rather than dicking around with choosing and finding all of the parts myself. But unfortunately for the B12, it looked kind of boring.

Another frontrunner was a second-hand white Ceepo TT Killer that I found on Yahoo Auctions here in Japan. The frame was in my size, had only done 60km and was being sold complete with CKT aerobars and full Dura-Ace components. It seemed perfect except that the asking price was a bit too high for me. I tried bartering with the seller over the course of a few weeks but they didn't really seem to grasp the concept of bargaining. My offer went up, his price stayed the same. Then my offer went up again, his price stayed the same.

I realised at some point that if my offer went much higher, I'd be pretty much paying the price of a Vixen frame plus all the parts I would need. Would it be dumb to buy a second-hand bike for the cost of a new one, even if the second-hand bike had better components?

I spent countless hours reading reviews, comparing photos, and laying awake at night thinking about it all. Crippled by indecision, quickly running out of friends and family who could tolerate my whining, I did the only thing I could do: made a list of pros and cons.

My chart was fantastic. I gave each of my three top bikes scores out of ten for many variables. I emailed it to Stuart for further input. I spent hours staring at it. Unfortunately, it didn't help at all.

One day, soon after arriving home from school, I just snapped. How long had this bullshit been going on?! I had the money; I knew I was going to buy a bike - I just had to make a damn decision! Or better yet, have someone else make one for me! I grabbed my laptop and drove up to the bike shop. Poor Watanabe didn't know what had hit him when I set up my laptop on the counter and began talking him through the pros and cons list with the visual aid of the many Firefox tabs I had open.

When I asked for his opinion about it all, he was pretty convinced that I should go for the Vixen. He said the B12 is a great bike - so great that it was close to being sold out in Japan - but worried that my predilection for neon pink bikes might leave me a bit bored with a silver and black frame.

He thought the TT Killer sounded like a good deal but was worried about buying a second-hand carbon bike. If it had been in a crash, even an insignificant one which didn't leave a scratch on it, there was a chance that the frame could be damaged and weakened. We had no way of knowing that the seller was being honest about it's condition. I can't help but think that his reasoning was influenced by the general skepticism that the Japanese seem to have for second-hand goods, but had to agree that he had a point.

His final advice was that since I'd loved the Vixen since I first saw it, and had always had it in the back of my mind, I would probably regret not buying it at some point if I went with another bike. He thought the hassle of researching and buying the parts would be worth it if I ended up with a bike that I loved. I agreed. I went home and emailed Matt, the Australian Ceepo dealer, with my order for one Vixen frame. (!)

I organised for my Mum to collect the frame and bring it to Japan when she visited me in early August. Next came all the research about wheels, seats, handlebars, components. I had next to know knowledge about any of it, and the only thing guiding me was that I wanted the complete bike to look as much like the bike in this picture as possible:

I already knew that I wanted Shimano Ultegra SL components. The grey colour is cool and I thought it would look best with the frame. I considered ordering the components in Australia but found out that they were cheaper in Japan, so I ordered them with Watanabe. Except for the rear derailleur, which was apparently "out of stock in Japan". I thought that I would have to consider buying one on eBay and paying import taxes on the part, but I actually found one right away in a Japanese online bike store. I was thrilled when I received the part in the mail - the very first piece of my bike!

Next was the saddle. If my saddle had been perfect on my old bike, I would have just pulled it off and used it on the Vixen (henceforth referred to as the name I came to know it by: Pinky). But sadly, it was far from perfect. It used to leave me very sore after long rides until I had the brainwave to point the nose downward. Now I've read plenty of times that pointing the nose downward is not a good move, and I could definitely feel my quads having to work harder with it in that position, but it was better than the alternative.

I had read stories online about people who spent thousands of dollars in their search for the perfect saddle, and I was determined not to become one of them. So I trawled websites and forums and did a lot of Google searches based on variations of the phrase " the best triathlon saddle for women". My research turned up a lot of options but one of them stood out as the clear winner: Cobb Cycling's V-Flow Plus.

Here's why:

I wanted a white saddle so my bike would look like the one in the picture.
I read rave reviews about a lot of seats, but this was the only contender that I couldn't find a negative review for. Well, a couple of people commented that it was too padded for them, but that's more an issue of preference rather than a problem with the design of the seat.
There was a lot of positive feedback about the company's customer service.
They have a 180-day comfort guarantee (full refund with no questions asked)
They send you a free tool kit and seat installation DVD.

(For the record, I love this seat. There was no breaking in period - it was just comfortable from the start. Anyone who has had trouble with 'soft tissue discomfort' should definitely consider trying one of the three Cobb Cycling saddles. Their customer service was also outstanding.)

I was still committed to making my bike look like the one in the picture, but I was also realistic. No Zipp wheels for me. I knew I wanted something with a deep rim though, and rims without any red deacals on them (couldn't have them clashing with the pink paintwork). I figured that I could get some decent 30 or 40mm wheels for around $600, so I started the hunt online.

Same story as the seat; I read about a million reviews. I'd say the feedback about wheels was even more confusing than the seats though - a negative review for every positive one. I had kind of decided on getting some Easton wheels from within Japan, but then I made a snap decision which ended up working out very well for me.

I saw some FSA RD-400 wheels listed by a bike shop on Ebay Australia. These retail for about $850 or something in Australia I think, but the starting bid was $500 including two nice tyres and tubes. I had been checking Australian eBay regularly, thinking that I could ask my mum to bring over any bargains which turned up. Buying these wheels seemed a bit risky though - the auction finished the morning before my mum would fly out of Australia, and they were also in a city which was a few hours' drive from Melbourne.

I checked out courier schedules and prices, but none of them looked like they could get the wheels to Melbourne before the flight. Oh well. I decided that I would place a bid and hope for the best. I figured that if Mum couldn't get the wheels in time, I could always have someone else post them to me. It would still work out cheaper than the equivalent wheels here in Japan.

Very hungover, I checked my mail the following morning. Oh shit. I'd won the wheels! Aargh!

I got chatting to Mum online and she called the bike shop for me. It was my lucky day because they said they had a supplier from Melbourne scheduled to visit the store that afternoon, and he could take the wheels back to Melbourne with him!

Mum and Paul drove over to the guy's place later that evening, the night before her flight, and picked up the wheels. They stuck with family tradition and gave him a few steaks for his trouble.

A couple of days later, I had my bike frame! And my wheels!

Stuart and I had met up with Mum and Paul in Naha for some sightseeing. I was very eager to get back home to Miyako so I could deliver everything to Watanabe. Not long until I would have a bike! Oh shit: no aerobars yet.

Out of all of the parts, I had probably done the most research on aerobars. But the more I read, the more confused I was. It had been impossible for me to make a decision! Suddenly, I didn't care how confused I was. I decided I would check eBay and buy the first affordable integrated carbon bars that I could find.

Again, luck was on my side. An American bike shop was selling BBB integrated carbon bars for $300 or best offer. I offered $200 and hoped for the best. They accepted! And a week or so later, the final part for my bike arrived in the mail.

(By the way, I recently found out that these bars retail for over $1000 in Japan!).

Watanabe was busy putting together another bike for about a week after we returned to Miyako. When he eventually got started on mine, I visited the shop around a million times with questions and to check my position on the bike.

I could hardly believe it was true, but one rainy Saturday night in late August (about four months after I decided that I wanted it), I FINALLY GOT MY BIKE! PINKY!

I went on a group ride with Watanabe and some other bike shop customers the following morning at 7am. Yes, I was keen. We rode 40km and it was awesome.

Here's the only photo I have of Pinky out on the road:

During summer, it was too hot to ride unless I left very early in the morning. So yeah, that didn't happen much. But when September rolled around and school started again, I decided that I would take advantage of the cooler weather (and lose some of the summer pounds) by riding to school a few times a week.

And...yep. You know the rest. Got hit by a car and Pinky was destroyed.

We only ever got to ride 160km together.

And Vixen frames are sold out everywhere now.

It fucking sux.

Brokeback - Strongman Dreaming

2009-10-06T21:57:00.002+09:00

2010 Strongman application, originally uploaded by j9.

I know, I know: first things first.

I'm not getting ahead of myself. I'm not rushing my recovery. I am still laying down for about 22 hours a day. But I did pick up an application for next year's Strongman after my rehabilitation session yesterday.

I figure that the applications are due by the end of next month, but the final confirmation and payment isn't until late December or maybe even early January.

I'll apply now, just in case. And I'll make the real decision (based on my condition) in December.

Brokeback - Letter of Thanks

2009-10-01T17:39:00.003+09:00

I am thankfully out of the hospital and relaxing in the privacy of my own home!

Here's a group mail I sent around the night before I was discharged. I thought I would post it here for anyone I forgot or whose mail addresses I didn't know.

Hi everyone,

I just thought I would send an update around since this is MY FINAL NIGHT IN HOSPITAL!

I have been walking for almost a week now. I started by walking very short distances with a walking frame, but I haven't used the frame recently. And I'm walking longer distances each day. I have done two days of rehabilitation sessions and none of it was too stressful for my back. I even got to ride an exercise bike!

I have been recovering faster than the doctors expected, maybe thanks to all of the triathlon training. I think it must help that my back muscles are in good condition from regular riding and running before the crash. So I guess if there was ever a good time to get hit by a car, this was it.

I am going home sometime tomorrow. The doctor hasn't been to see me yet, so I'm not sure when it will be exactly. I am looking forward to choosing what I want to eat, and when. And sharing a room with one husband rather than the five grandmas who have been my roommates for two weeks. I can't wait to have a beer (just one! or two). I will miss my remote-controlled bed though.

Thanks everyone for your emails, calls, care packages, online chats and comments on my blog and Flickr page. And I want to say a special thank you to everyone in Miyako who came to see me in the hospital. Visitors were really something to look forward to, especially during the early days when I couldn't get out of bed or even sit up.

This is definitely a time when I appreciated having so many friends and family around me, even if they are not so close geographically. I felt so bad for the people in my room who weren't getting visitors or phone calls during their stay - I would have been so upset without everyone's efforts to keep my spirits up.

The broken back drama is not over yet. I will have to spend a while longer laying in bed at home, and also going to rehabilitation sessions. I need to sort out a replacement bike. And then I will need to think about returning to work in two week's time. I guess I will be driving to school for a while instead of riding.

Thanks again,

Janine

Brokeback - Very good news!

2009-09-30T12:24:00.001+09:00

I am being discharged from hospital in 35 minutes!

Brokeback weather update

2009-09-29T12:56:00.003+09:00

Am I the only one who is imagining an enormous chicken parma hurtling towards Miyako?

Brokeback - Recovery milestones

2009-09-29T10:22:00.001+09:00

Day 2 - Fed myself meals

Day 4 - Had my first shower since arrival, on the shower bed; secured a remote-controlled bed, which meant I could sit up in bed (to about 50 degrees) whenever I wanted; new rolling table across the bed meant I could reach my things without assistance

Day 5 - Sat straight up in bed; sat up on the edge of the bed with no support; nurse organised a shelf so that my toiletries would be within reach

Day 6 - Stood up; walked a few steps

Day 7 - Catheter removed; walked to the toilet using a walking frame under nurse's supervision

Day 8 - Started internet tethering on my laptop so I could type more easily

Day 9 - Allowed to keep the walking frame near my bed so that I could walk to the toilet by myself

Day 10 - Brushed teeth while standing at the sink, rather than in bed; sat up without support to eat meals

Day 11 - Walked without walking frame; went outside for the first time (sat in a wheelchair)

Day 12 - Started rehabilitation sessions (rode an exercise bike); picked things up off the ground by squatting knees but keeping back straight

Day 13 - Sat up from laying down without assistance

Day 14 (tomorrow) - Released from hospital!

Brokeback entertainment

2009-09-26T13:32:00.004+09:00

Watching the AFL Grand Final today from my hospital bed thanks to some live streaming Innernette magic by Stuart and Ross. I'm going for St. Kilda!

Brokeback - Cancelled trip

2009-09-25T10:28:00.004+09:00

Want to see how awesome our trip to Hokkaido was going to be? Here's a copy of the itinerary I had been planning.

Monday 21st

Depart Miyako 11:20am, arrive Hokkaido 6:40pm
Collect car from Toyota airport branch
Moiwa yama ropeway
Dinner (lamb? ramen? meat pie?) + shopping
Stay at Dormy Inn

Tuesday 22nd

Morning run in Odori Park
Drive to Furano (about 2 hours) - cheese factory (pizza lunch - open 10:30am - 4pm; asparagus icecream, pumpkin icecream), Farm Tomita lavender farm, winery (open 11am - 8pm), micro-brewery
(Daisetsuzan National Park, Japan's biggest, is north of Furano. There's a chairlift.)
(There's an outdoor onsen about 25 min drive from Kamifurano station where boys and girls can go in the bath together if they wear bathers. But it could be too far to drive.)
Stay at Toyoko Inn Ekimae Nishiguchi Hokudai Mae
Dinner + shopping

Wednesday 23rd

Drive to Otaru (about 45 minutes). Sightseeing there (Otaru sightseeing - brewery tour and lunch? Famous sushi?)
Then drive to Jozankei for sightseeing (suspension bridge, waterfalls, foot bath, golf at Mikasa park?)
3pm check-in at Jozankei Daiichi Hotel

Thursday 24th

Nijo market
Looking around Sapporo, shopping
Beer Museum tour + Sapporo Biergarten lunch
Dinner + shopping
Stay at Toyoko Inn Susukino Kosaten

Friday 25th

Return the car to Toyota airport branch
Buy omiyage
Fly to Haneda and spend the weekend in Tokyo, arriving in Miyako at 6:30pm on Sunday

Brokeback - A Pretty Crappy Time of Things

2009-09-25T09:14:00.006+09:00

So I last left you with last night's news that I will be here for some indeterminate time, not the two weeks that I have been desperately counting down to. There was another upsetting episode yesterday afternoon before I learned about my extended stay.

My supervisor called and started asking why the quote for the bike was so much - doesn't Ceepo have a 60% crash replacement warranty. Yes, they do. But I bought the bike from Ceepo Australia and he has asked a Japanese bike shop to prepare the quote. I asked him to call the bike shop and ask them whether they could honour the warranty here or if I'd have to get the replacement bike from Australia.

He went on to tell me how he's spoken to the perp's wife and she fears that their insurance won't cover the bike, and they may not have enough money to cover it themselves. Awesome.

I said that they have six adult children so if they can't get the money together themselves then they can ask their family for help. He told me that they are nice people and we should be trying to save them money. We should contact the Australian bike shop and sort it out.

Last time I dealt with getting the bike from Australia, it took months and was a massive hassle. I do not want to be worrying about all of that while laying in a hospital bed with a broken fucking back!

Yes, the perp and his wife are nice people. I feel bad for them that they're in this situation. But they wouldn't be in it if he had come to a complete stop at the stop sign for three seconds and looked right-left-right like he was meant to. Anyway, I already have my own messed up feelings of guilt about this accident. I don't need the person who is meant to be my advocate in all of this calling me up with a guilt trip.

Anyway. Insert seven hours of interrupted sleep and it was morning time again.

The woman next to me woke me up this morning with her incessant coughing and hocking up of phlegm. This is nothing new - it's the last sound I hear every night and the first every morning. But I am sick of it. I can only hope she is wearing a mask in there because I would hate to catch a cold - the coughing would hurt so much.

The pain is always worst just after waking up so I asked for painkillers at 7:30am. They were finally given to me at 9am, ten or more requests later.

The nurses forgot to bring my hot towel (for having a wash in the morning).

The doctor came for his bi-weekly one-minute visit. I asked how long I'd have to stay here and he said he wouldn't know until they had some feedback after I start rehabilitation.

I told him that my left shoulder is still sore when I lift my arm above my head or when I move it across my body to the right. He said he thought I'd been complaining about my left rib. I had been, yesterday.

I'd said I suspect that an upper left rib is fractured or something because it hurts when I breathe in sometimes. He just nodded and did nothing about it.

So I confirmed today that both my shoulder and rib are sore. I know there is nothing I can do about a sore rib anyway but I am worried about my shoulder. It is kind of important for swimming. I told him that I do triathlons and want to make sure I get some physical therapy for the shoulder as well as the back. He said 'let's wait and see'.

I found myself feeling pretty helpless and wishing that I wasn't dealing with this situation in a Japanese hospital. It would be nice to have a doctor who felt duty-bound to both take their patients' concerns seriously, and periodically inform them of what the fuck is going on.

I decided I would cheer myself up by looking online for stories of full recoveries from compression fractures of the lumbar vertebrae. Well, I found some information but it didn't have the desired effect.

The lumbar vertebrae are the 5 largest and strongest of all vertebrae in the spine. These vertebrae comprise the lower back. They begin at the start of the lumbar curve (ie, the thoracolumbar junction) and extend to the sacrum. The strongest stabilizing muscles of the spine attach to the lumbar vertebrae. Fractures of lumbar vertebrae, therefore, occur in the setting of either severe trauma or pathologic weakening of the bone.

The largest and strongest vertebrae, but they still got smashed?! And I know that the accident technically counts as "severe trauma" but just reading those words makes me feel sick.

In the past, treatment options for lumbar fractures were quite limited, with bracing and rest prescribed most often. While many patients improved with this regimen, some did not and were left with chronic, disabling pain.

Chronic. Disabling. Pain. Three bad words, right there.

Lumbar compression fractures can be a devastating injury, therefore, for 2 reasons. First, the fracture itself can cause significant pain, and this pain sometimes does not resolve. Second, the fracture can alter the mechanics of the posture. Most often, the result is an increase in thoracic kyphosis, sometimes to the point that the patient cannot stand upright. In trying to maintain their ability to walk, patients with kyphosis report secondary pain in their hips, sacroiliac joints, and spinal joints. These patients are also at risk for falls and accidents, increasing the risk of secondary fractures in the spine and elsewhere.

Sounds fun.

Fractures in the lumbar spine occur for a number of reasons. In younger patients, fractures are usually due to violent trauma.

Violent trauma = *shudder*

Brokeback - good news and bad news

2009-09-24T22:34:00.001+09:00

Walking!, originally uploaded by j9.

The Good News:

They took the catheter out today.
I WALKED!
I went to the toilet like a grown up!

The Bad News:

You know how I've been saying that I'm here for two weeks? Well, Stu informed me tonight that that date isn't written on my treatment plan anywhere. I don't know where I got it from.

I interrogated a nurse and she said that people usually stay for a week or two after they start rehabilitation. I start on Monday next week. Going by that time frame, I'll be here for either two weeks and four days in total, or THREE weeks and four days! Let's just call it what it really is: a month.

Hopefully they will agree with all the grandmas in my room who say I am healing quickly, and let me get out of here as soon as possible.

Brokeback schedule

2009-09-24T07:46:00.000+09:00

5:00 - Often wake up at this time for some reason. Sometimes find the time to cry and feel sorry for myself before the day officially starts

7:00 - Nurse opens the curtains (Sometimes earlier. One eager bitch had them open at 5:00 the other day)

7:15 - Nurse delivers a warm wet towel

7:45 - Nurse helps me put on the back brace, ready for the day's first sitting up

8:00 - Breakfast and morning medication

9:00 until 12:00 - Replying to mails, writing blog posts, chatting online, watching shows, sometimes a nap, sometimes part two of crying and feeling sorry for myself

12:00 - Lunch

12:30 until 18:00 - More mails, shows and chatting, unless I have visitors

18:00 - Dinner

19:00 until 21:30 - Stuart gives me a bath or shower, helps me clean up the day's mess, puts everything I need where I can reach it, takes off my back brace, goes home

21:30 - Try to distract myself from the fact that I am spending another night in the hospital by watching a show

22:30 - Sleep (sometimes)

Brokeback update

2009-09-23T12:41:00.002+09:00

I just spent close to two hours pecking out a massively long email to Sam and Teresa on my iPhone, so I thought I'd post an abridged version up here to get a bit more mileage out of it. Enjoy!

Today is the 7th day in hospital so I guess I am halfway there. It's one of those weird times when time is crawling by but at the same time it's going fast. I can't believe I've been here for a week now!

The pain is getting a bit better. Most of the time it just feels like an uncomfortable pressure rather than a sharp pain. The real pain is worst in the mornings. I think it is probably just from being stiff after a night of not really moving (I sleep on my side but stick pillows in front of and behind me so that I can't roll around).

I am down to having pain killers about 3 times a day. The morning nurse gave me some this morning, but then this other jerk nurse came along and didn't say a word to me but left some pain killers on my table. Maybe he didn't check the chart or maybe the other nurse didn't write them down or something. Anyway, I didn't bother pointing it out - they might be handy later.

My hospital wardrobe is the height of fashion. I rotate my baggy race t-shirts and the t-shirt from my old mechanic in Melbourne (Triumph Spares) every day. On the bottom, I rotate my two pairs of Nike tempo shorts. The daily shorts washing schedule is a bit annoying for Stu so my mum went out and bought some more of them yesterday. She has express posted them and I can't wait to get them!

The doctor said that when I can sit up then I can go to the toilet properly by using a walking frame under a nurse's supervision. Well I was able to sit up unassisted for the first time a couple of days ago, for about two minutes. I sat up three times yesterday. So maybe today is the day that I will try the walker, or maybe tomorrow. I don't want to rush it.

Stu has been amazing, of course. I am more independent now that I have an electric bed and a rolling table that I can reach, and can sit up a bit. But in the first days he did everything for me - washed me, helped me brush my teeth, fed me, held drinks for me, etc. Bet he didn't know when we got married that sponge baths and catheters would be on the agenda quite so soon!

On the fourth day, he spotted a shower bed in the hall somewhere and got me to ask the nurses about it. They transferred me to the waterproof bed and wheeled me into a big shower room where Stu hosed me down like a dog. Haha, not really. It's the only shower I've had in a week and god it was good. I'm hoping he will have time to do it again today. If not it will be another sponge bath for me.

Stu is trying to figure out how to balance visiting me (and the prep for visiting me - washing my clothes, burning DVDs, buying stuff that I've requested) with doing work and all the other stuff that you have to do in life. Plus he was trying to make sure that he was home enough for Thom not to go crazy. But last night we realised that Thom seems sick with another probable urinary tract infection.

He was trying to wee in weird places, and trying to wee but nothing was coming out (Thom, this is - not Stu). Now he is at the vet for a diagnosis. I think it is probably best if he stays there while I am in here, even if they can fix him up. It will be one less thing for Stu to worry about.

Other than Stu, I have had a bunch of visitors. All except two of the ALTs have visited, with Rick and Amy coming every day!

Kazuyoshi, a former teacher, was my first official visitor. A couple of triathlon friends - Sumiyo and Emiko - have been by. Ryu and Memi came yesterday with ice cream! Kenji and Asuka from Moswell dropped in. Masumi, Miyaguni and her husband, Yoshinobu, a couple of iinkai head honchos. Chiho, Sumie, Hiroko, Chiari. There were 16 visitors yesterday!

I am surprised that none of my current English teachers have been to visit me yet. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they have all been travelling during the Silver Week holidays.

The wife of the guy who hit me visits every day and the guy comes when he has a day off work. She brought their daughter yesterday - she looks a bit older than me, maybe mid 30s.

The bike shop man came yesterday, telling me that I am eligible for some kind of sports insurance through their Miyako Sports Science Centre group since I am a member. I have only done group training with them once but apparently I can still get coverage. He wasn't sure how much it would be but maybe between 2 and 10 man. I won't say no to that.

The iinkai have been deciding which insurance I should use for all of the hospital stuff. There is the guy's basic insurance, the JET accident insurance, and also iinkai insurance since I was traveling to work at the time I was hit. You can only use one insurance policy, can't split the costs between them. It looks like they will go with JET policy since it includes after-hospital care.

The guy apparently only has the compulsory insurance, which could cover my injuries but not my bike (I think). The iinkai is going to ask him to pay for my bike and the custom-made back brace I'll be getting on Friday.

My bike shop guy (Watanabe) prepared a quote for the bike and it was 443,000 yen for the frame, wheels and handlebars. That's more than the whole bike (including components and seat) cost me in the first place, but only because I spent ages hunting around for cheap parts on eBay and stuff. To buy the parts new in Japan will cost a fortune. But if someone has to pay it, I'd really rather that it was him than me.

Well until now I have really tried not to talk about the bike too much. I start crying as soon as I even think about it.

After I was hit, I spent about two seconds thinking about my back and then immediately started crying for my bike. Sprawled across the intersection, I rotated my head, twisting my fucked spine, to try and assess the damage. I couldn't stop crying about it, no matter how many people told me that I shouldn't be focusing on the bike but on my injuries.

It's probably hard for people to understand what that fucking bike meant to me. Aside from it being the coolest and most expensive thing I have ever owned, of course. It was partly a reward for losing weight and changing my whole lifestyle; partly a commitment to keeping up that lifestyle (I couldn't justify quitting triathlon as long as I owned a bike like that); partly motivation to train hard for my final Strongman and finish better than ever. I spent MONTHS deciding on the frame and every single thing on the bike. So many sleepless nights.

In the end, I only had the completed bike for about a month. And I only started riding it a lot in the couple of weeks before the crash because it was always too hot during summer. I was also nervous about riding something so perfect - I told Stu that I didn't want to ride it in case I ruined it. He said he would keep it for himself if I didn't start riding it all the time.

It's extra annoying that I was hit while riding to work because the truth is that I kind of hate commuting by bike! It's always a drama. You turn up sweaty, you can only carry so much with you, and there's always the chance that you'll forget something essential like a bra or shoes. But I was loving it for a week because it meant more time on my sweet bike. I was 5 minutes faster over 10km than on my old bike, despite being heavier and unfit. Just because the bike was that damn cool.

I know it's mental but I keep wondering whether this happened because I loved that bike so much. Maybe it's some kind of lesson about materialism, a warning about investing so much money and emotion into a thing. Realistically I know that's not the case but you have a lot of time to think when you're flat on your back for two weeks so all kinds of thoughts turn up.

Now the aerobars and one wheel are wrecked, and the frame has hairline cracks, which make a carbon fibre bike too weak to ride. So yes. It's Fucked (capial F).

I also had to cancel the trip we were meant to be taking to Hokkaido this week. I could tell you all about it but I am emotionally exhausted after talking about Pinky so let me just say that it was going to be fucking awesome. And it was going to be a 10th anniversary trip for me and Stu. And it really sucks arse that I had to cancel it all from my hospital bed.

This is my last racing season in Miyako and I was so excited about it all. The marathons and triathlons all start up again in fall. I was signed up for a half marathon next month, and had plans for three more in November, January and February. I wanted to do the 47km run with my school in December.

I am too scared to ask a doctor what this all means for Strongman next April.

It's unbelievable how fast everything can change.

Brokeback vocabulary

2009-09-21T21:55:00.000+09:00

Bedpan: benki, べんき, 便器

Brokeback Crime Scene

2009-09-20T17:55:00.006+09:00

I never did get back to writing about the crash. It's funny how busy you can be in hospital between the visitors, the feed times, the naps...

I remember the terror and confusion of flying through the air, then silence and blinding pain after I hit the ground. I don't think I was knocked unconscious but can't be sure because I have a definite recollection of my mind slowly coming into focus and understanding what was going on.

That's about when I started screaming OW OW OW OOWWW repeatedly. The old guy who hit me (henceforth referred to as "the perp") and a guy who witnessed the crash both appeared beside me. The perp didn't have to say anything - I knew it was him who had hit me because he was totally flipping out and crying. I had the presence of mind to remember that I was in Japan and I switched from screaming OW OW to screaming ITAI ITAI ITAI ITAAAAIIIII! Although I'm sure it really went without saying that I was in a bit of pain.

The perp and the witness decided between themselves that I should be moved from the middle of the intersection. I decided that I wasn't going to let that happen. They removed my helmet, something which I thought I remembered hearing that you weren't meant to do. Then they rolled me on my side to pull off my backpack. That one was DEFINITELY a spinal injury no-no, and hurt like hell. Then they grabbed one arm each and tried to lift me up despite my protests. They had me pulled up to about 35 or 40 degrees when I felt a stabbing pain in my lower back. Hearing my scream, they quickly lowered me back to the ground. I told them in no uncertain terms that they couldn't move me. I thought my back was broken and they had to call an ambulance.

I figured that my [beautiful, new, expensive] bike was fucked, but I asked them to move if off the road anyway. Then I asked the witness to get my phone from my back pocket so that I could call my teacher. I found the school's number and had him call them to pass on the news to my teacher, Tomoko.

While waiting for the ambulance, a lot of people passed the scene and stopped to help. First was a cyclist who I remembered passing on a run the night before. To tell the truth, it was actually his sweet bike that I recognised. A nice mint green Bianchi one. I asked him to assess the extent of the damage to the bike. He said that I shouldn't be worrying about that now, but I insisted that he check it for me. He reported that the handlebars were broken but everything else was ok. He was LYING. But I guess he had a good reason to.

Next came a triathlete who I know from the swimming pool. I'm not sure what his job is but he was wearing some type of uniform and knew first aid. He asked me whether I could move my feet, which was terrifying. I had tried to stop them from moving me so that I'd avoid further damage to my back, but I hadn't really considered paralysis as a possibility up until that point. Thankfully I could move my toes just fine.

Next, a teacher of mine from another school was driving past when he spotted me laying there. Tadashi has only recently started cycling himself so the scene has possibly put him off the sport a bit. He started collecting up the smashed parts of my bike and directing traffic (I was still in the middle of the intersection). He also offered to take my bike back to the school for me.

A couple of other strangers stopped to help - one woman giving me a towel for under my head and loosening my bike shoes. Tomoko, the teacher I was meant to be working with that day came into my line of sight, tears streaming down her face. She said she would call Stuart but I said not to, not wanting to worry him with it until I knew more about what was happening. Fortunately I realised almost immediately that I was making a stupid post-trauma decision and that he should really be told as soon as possible. She took down his number and said she would try him.

I remember a policeman asking me how fast the car and I were both going (don't know about the other guy but I would have been going at about 14km/h or less since it was at the top of a hill). Then, after what seemed like ages, the ambulance arrived. I was happy that someone was there to stop the two guys from any further attempts at moving me around.

They asked me if lots of different places hurt. I said no to everything except my back. Then everyone gathered around to get me onto a back-board, and then to lift that onto the trolley.

Siren on, speeding to Miyako Hospital, the paramedic began asking me a series of questions. Name, age, address, birthdate. Each answer I could give reassured me that I was lucid and probably not suffering any head injuries.

I gave my birth year as Showa 50 and then remembered a minute after that was Stuart's year. I am Showa 54. I corrected myself, hoping that they saw it as a foreigner's confusion with the Japanese year system rather than a sign of concussion or brain damage or something.

I debated for a while about taking a photo of myself in the ambulance. I knew it was kind of a weird impulse but I was also thinking that I am unlikely to be in the ambulance neck/back brace setup again in my life (touch wood) so I should get a photo while I had the chance. It's lucky that I asked when I did for the paramedic to pass my iPhone because we arrived at the hospital very soon afterwards.

Brokeback presents

2009-09-20T11:41:00.004+09:00

What kind of present best says "sorry I broke your back"? The perp and his wife have visited every day, presenting the following offerings:

Jasmine tea, sports drink, grapes, mandarins, pears.

Flowers.

Jasmine tea, turmeric tea, bananas, mini Milky Way bars, vegetable juice, black sugar lollies, warm roasted satsuimo (a type of potato).

Brokeback - Day 1

2009-09-17T21:52:00.009+09:00

Yeah. I broke my back today.

I've been riding to work lately for two reasons: to get fit and to spend as much time as possible on my awesome new bike. It's been going well, except for the usual hassles of carting my stuff there, and the occassional pursuit by yappy dogs. Today however, an old guy didn't check for traffic properly and drove into my left side as I crested a hill. While wearing a fluro yellow top and riding a fluro pink bike.

I remember seeing the mini truck at the last second and thinking that it would surely stop in time. Then I was flying through the air for what felt like ages, not knowing which way was up. I remember feeling a series of distinct bursts of pain, but I don't know what they were now. Probably the car hitting me, my body hitting the ground, my head hitting the ground, the bike falling on me and my spine snapping in two places. Not necessarily in that order. I was lucid enough to wonder if the pain was over or if the car would actually run me over.

The short version is that I'm alive and staying in the hospital for at least a week, maybe two. So I'll have plenty of time to continue with the story outside of visiting hours tomorrow.

Now I will sign off to have the day's final battle over painkillers with the nurses. Goodnight.

The off season

2009-07-03T18:01:00.004+09:00

Today marks my first official weekend off from triathlon training since October last year. How do you think I am celebrating this newfound freedom?

Well, so far I have visited a 25th anniversary exhibition of Strongman triathlon memorabilia, read the new copy of Triathlete magazine, and put aloe cream on my latest trisuit tan lines - all while wearing the finishers' t-shirt from Tokunoshima triathlon.

Way to start the off season!

Mami-chan

2009-06-11T08:52:00.001+09:00

Mami-chan, originally uploaded by j9.

Mami-chan belongs to a former student who lives close to Seijo JHS. She wanders down and hangs out at the school every day.

In winter, she sits on kids' laps in class. There's something really nice about having a cat walk around the classroom on a cold and rainy day.

But lately it's hot so she tries - usually unsuccessfully - to sneak into the air-conditioned staff room.

There are also chickens here, which eat the leftover school lunch. And goats across the road at the elementary school.

Race report - Irabu triathlon (May 24th, 2009)

2009-06-04T11:39:00.005+09:00

I'm back with another race report - more punctual, and hopefully shorter, than usual!

The night before

There had been a teachers' volleyball tournament during the day so we had the requisite otsukarekai planned that night. Knowing that I had a race the next day, Stuart and I skipped the drinks at Jake's place and met up with everyone at karaoke. I gave myself an ambitious two-beer limit. Final count was one beer while getting ready, one traveller and three at karaoke - a very reserved five beers! Then I left Stuart out on the town and took a daiko (driver service) home.

Race morning

I didn't sleep well. I kept waking up and wondering what time Stuart would be getting home, and I was also worried about the weather. We are in the midst of the rainy season and there was a 50% chance of storms. There had also been news reports of possible bad air pollution which warned people to stay inside.

I woke up to heavy rain at 7am, but it didn't last long. I ate a breakfast of naans, bananas, juice and a cup of tea. Then I gathered up my bike and pre-packed bag and headed to the port to catch the 10am boat.

Driving onto the car ferry, I was pleased to find that a bunch of people I know from the pool were also doing the race. Most of them were entering as teams though - each person only doing the swim, bike or run.

I followed Chikage and her husband Kinichi to the start point because I always get lost in Irabu! Then we hung around at the race start for about 1.5 hours, which was pretty uneventful. I drank sports drinks, chatted with the others and tried to stay out of the sun.

It was a hot day and the water was warm. Only about half of the swimmers were wearing wetsuits, so I wasn't sure what to do. I definitely swim faster in a wetsuit but I didn't want to overheat in the lukewarm ocean. I left the decision too late and ended up having to struggle into the suit at the pre-race meeting with everyone looking on. Not a good idea!

I realised just before the start that Chikage and I were the only women doing the whole race. That meant a guaranteed place for me - either 1st or 2nd! Guess which one I wanted...

Swim

I think there were 8 - 10 people doing the swim. I started out at the front and a few of the guys passed me right away, but nobody else passsed me for the rest of the swim.

There were three 250m laps in the 750m swim course. Annoyingly, I thought there were only two laps. I tried to swim a bit faster on what I thought was the final stretch. It must have worked because I passed one of the men! But I got an unpleasant surprise when I arrived back at the shore Kinichi told me to keep swimming.

The water was definitely the warmest I have raced in. I was happy I had worn the wetsuit but also happy when the swim was done and I could get the bloody thing off me!

Time: 0:33

Some interesting facts:

I swam at the exact same pace as my Strongman swim (1:06' for 3km Strongman swim, 0:33' for 1.5km Irabu swim). This makes me think that I was capable of a better time in the Irabu swim, since the conditions were better and there was nobody crashing into me and ripping my goggles from my head.
This was a 5-minute improvement on my swim time in the January 2008 Irabu triathlon.
I later found out that I had the fastest women's swim time (out of four people I think), and I was only two minutes down on the top swimmer.

T1

I forgot to wear my watch so I'm not sure of individual transition times but I'm guessing it took 5 - 7 minutes. Nothing out of the ordinary here - just got ready and got going!

Bike

The hilly 40km bike course was also made up of three laps. Unbelievably, I had it in my head that this part was just two laps, too. I figured out after about 1.5 laps that I was either going incredibly fast or that I had further to go than I initially thought.

I only drank water during the ride, and ate a gel every 20 minutes or so.

I felt strong on most of the course but faded a bit toward the end. I passed a guy right at the start but he caught me just before the finish. He wasn't very modest about it either: rode past yelling that he was able to catch me because I had slowed down so much.

Time: 1:32 (also 5 minutes faster than my previous time)

T2

Again, I'm not too sure about the transition time but it was possibly up to 10 minutes. Just under my armpits had been chafed by the westuit (I forgot to put Body Glide there), so I pulled a t-shirt over my trisuit for the run. That would hopefully stop any painful rubbing of my arms against the chafed bit.

A big drink of sports drink and then I was running. But not particularly happy about it.

Run

The usual 10km run course had been changed for the day because it was so hot. It's usually 5km out and 5km back, but the organisers changed it to two 5km laps so that everyone would more chances to drink water at the turn around points. That suited me fine. Breaking it up into 2.5km stretches made the 10km - my first longish run since Strongman - seem much more doable.

I had beaten Chikage out of the water and led the whole way on the bike. My only goal for the run was to stay ahead of her so that I could be the winner of the women's race!

I ran to the 2.5km mark and then walked while I had a drink of water. The guy who had gloated about passing me on the bike was sitting down while he drank his water. I refrained from saying anything but laughed on the inside. I ran most of the way back, only stopping to walk up a short hill.

Back at the transition area, the 5km point, I spent a couple of minutes taking off my arm covers and putting them with the rest of my stuff. They were good for sun protection but were making me too damn hot. I drank a Coke and lots of water, then got back to it.

I didn't want to continue but I knew it was only 5km and it wasn't going to kill me. Plus I was on track to winning my first ever race!

I ran back to the 2.5km mark, walked while I drank my water and then ran back. I took another walk break up when I got to the hill, but only after checking that Chikage wasn't in sight!

A few hundred metres from the end, I had to make the final turn back to the race. I guess I was slightly delirious because I couldn't remember which of the two small streets it was! Strange that I had run down the street without thinking about it only 30 minutes earlier, and now I couldn't even remember where I had gone. I stood there staring at the two options for a while before I snapped and just ran toward the farthest street. I realised I was wrong once I made it to the corner and had to backtrack.

Nevermind. I was at the finish within a couple of minutes.

Time: 1:13 (6 minutes slower than my previous race there)

And I was the winner!

My finish time was 3:30'30" - just one minute faster than my last Irabu triathlon!

The swim, bike and run times add up to 3:18, so the two transitions plus the messing around with my arm covers only took 12 minutes in total. Not too bad. The run was my real downfall in this race. My faster times in the swim and bike were adding up to a good new personal best, but I was slow in the run because of the heat and wind. It would be good to race there again in colder weather to see how fast I can go!

I was the 1st woman, and 3rd overall because two men (including the gloating guy from the bike course) retired after 5km on the run.

Chikage came in just a few minutes after me. She had a fast run and made up a lot of time. Here's us, women's 1st and 2nd place!

There was an otsukarekai afterwards with soba and booze.

I had to make a speech because I was the women's winner. I fully expect that this is the only time I'll win a triathlon in my lifetime, so I revelled in the accolades!

We caught a 5:30pm ferry and arrived back in Miyako at 6pm. Then I raced to get ready for a former teacher's wedding which started at 7pm.

A busy but fun weekend!

Miyako Strongman 2009 - post-race / black hole of self-pity

2009-06-03T11:35:00.002+09:00

I have put off writing about this because, in some ways, what happened after the race was even worse than the torture of the race itself and the disappointment at not finishing. It's what still makes me cry when I think about the day. It would probably be less painful if I just banged it out quickly, but my triathlon-focused blog posts are not exactly known for their brevity.

Disclaimer: this post is even more self-indulgent than usual. I've written it more for it's cathartic value than any belief that it will be interesting / enjoyable for other people to read. Feel free to read on but don't hate me for my whinging.

Post-race

I was stopped at the 35km point because I didn't make the cutoff time. Another woman had been stopped there too, and an older guy was stopped just after me. I joked with them, saying that at least we could have a beer now. We had some photos taken together, calling ourselves the 35km team. All things considered, we were in good spirits.

The officials said that they would drive us back to the finish line at the track because we weren't allowed to continue on by ourselves. I said that my husband would be waiting just a couple of blocks away, so I would call and ask him to come and get me instead of taking the bus.

I had given my phone to Stuart to carry in the car, so I had to borrow a phone to call him. His phone was busy so I left a message saying that I'd been stopped at 35km and to come and pick me up. Then I walked about 10 metres to wait out the front of the Family Mart convenience store.

I stretched a bit while I waited. Some kids whose parents had been working at the nearby aid station brought me a massive bag of bananas (just what I felt like after eating what felt like thousands of bananas during the day) and a bottle of tea. And then I waited some more.

I asked one of the volunteers who was packing things up if I could use his phone. I called Stuart and left a slightly more frantic message. I was stuck by myself a few kilometres from the finish with no water, none of my planned recovery food, no warm clothes, no phone or money. I didn't know anyone else's phone numbers.

I was worried that everyone would be freaking out about where I was. And I was getting increasingly anxious that I would still be standing right there at 9pm when the race officially finished and the fireworks were let off. I moved around the corner into the shadowy car park so that I could cry without people staring at me.

Then I waited some more.

Volunteers were still milling about so I couldn't just walk back. I considered getting a taxi back to the ground but then I'd have to leave the taxi driver waiting while I ran into the track to find Stuart or someone else to get some cash to cover the fare. I didn't know why the hell Stuart hadn't checked his messages but it had become clear that I was going to miss the finish. This was so upsetting to me. I didn't have a lot of time to enjoy the finish last year because people were keen to get out of there in a hurry. This time, I was determined to get my free massage, eat some food, drink some beers with friend and other athletes - even if I didn't finish.

I borrowed a third phone from a customer leaving the store and called Stuart again. I don't remember what I said but there was a lot of sobbing involved.

Soon enough, 9pm came around. I was stuck at Family Mart, exhausted, cold, hungry, thirsty. And alone.

I watched the fireworks with tears streaming down my face, imagining all the people celebrating at the ground. People who had been timed out at the 30km point would have been taken back to the ground already. And I knew that the others timed out at 35km had all taken the bus, too. This meant that out of the 1500 athletes who did the race, I was the only one watching the fireworks from the outskirts of town. I am not exaggerating when I say that it was one of the loneliest times of my life.

I had experienced all kinds of setbacks in my six months of training. I'd dealt with a torturous day where every possible thing seemed to go wrong. For it all to end this way just made my heart BREAK.

The volunteers and officials had all left by this stage. I waited another 10 minutes or so just to be sure that nobody was coming for me, then I went into Family Mart and asked for a bag for my stupid bunch of bananas. I told the girl at the counter that my husband may turn up looking for me at some point, and if he did, to tell him I had walked back to the track.

Feeling completely sorry for myself and still crying uncontrollably, 40 minutes after being stopped there, I picked up my bananas and started the walk back to the finish point.

I watched all of the oncoming cars so carefully as I trudged along, convinced that one of them would be Stuart. At one point I even thought I saw him and tried to wave him down. The car didn't stop though so I just kept on walking.

We spotted each other about 500 metres before the entrance to the ground. He was on the phone, and I heard him tell whoever he was speaking to that he had found me and that he had to go. He pulled me into a hug and said that he had been so worried, asked where the hell I had been.

Where have I been? Where the fuck have you been?? I was by myself! I was freezing and hungry and I missed the finish! I had to watch the fireworks from fucking Family Mart by myself! Why the fuck didn't you check your phone messages?!

Don't fucking yell at me! I didn't get any phone messages. And I've had about a million phone calls - the phone's been busy the whole time. Everyone has been going mental here! We've been talking to police and checking the back of fucking ambulances! I thought you were dead!

After many tears and accusations, I eventually got us both in the car to drive up to the track. I wanted to collect my transition bags, including the one with my warm clothes, before everything was packed up. Stuart dropped me at the entrance to the track while he went off to park the car.

There I saw a group of my friends all leaving the ground.

If anything was to be salvaged from the night, it would have been the chance to sit around with friends and drown my sorrows. To explain the whole sorry story over some Strongman beers. When I saw that everyone was leaving before I even had the chance to talk to them, I was partly confused / partly upset / partly pissed off.

I spoke to them briefly and they didn't even mention the race. Nothing. It was so strange. It felt like I was a crazy person who they were trying not to set off. Sam asked if I might want to talk later. I was so shaken by the whole thing that I just said whatever, I didn't care. And I walked off to get my stuff.

I didn't think it was possible but the disappointment continued inside the track. The food vans had packed up. People had gone home. The lights were turned off. There would be no celebratory beers.

I found an official to ask about my bags. They had all been packed into a van by that stage to be taken to lost property, but he helped me find them.

Stuart came in and told him about what had happened with the girls outside. He said they were probably too scared to talk to me since I had been a psycho all day. When I explained the weird vibe I had gotten from them, he said that one of the popular theories about what had happened to me was that I had flipped out because I didn't finish. People thought I'd either gone home or gone somewhere else because I didn't want to come to the track and I didn't want to see anyone.

It pissed me off so much that people thought that. I lectured Stuart, saying that there was no reason for me to go crazy like people thought I had. Not finishing didn't mean much to me. It wasn't that which was upsetting me. The fuck around after the race was much more upsetting than anything about the race itself. I said that I knew I'd carried on a lot longer than most people would have. I didn't quit even though it was tough - I carried on until I was made to stop. And I swore that if anyone gave me any 'don't worry, you did a good job' speeches then I would fucking snap! Because I knew I had done a good job!

We both wanted a beer but I was still in my race clothes, still hadn't eaten and was still crying. Instead, we went and bought some Coronas from the supermarket. We stopped at the 35km sign on the way home so that I could get my 'finish photo'. I also returned to Family Mart, the scene of the crime, to buy a pasta.

Back at home, I ate my pasta and drank a couple of beers. Stuart showed me some of the photos he and Mike had taken. I talked to a few people online and told them to save their consolatory speeches. I sent out the following email to set the record straight:

To all concerned parties,

I was stopped at the 35km point because I missed the cutoff by two minutes. The officials said I was not allowed to continue on and they would drive me and the other two people who didn't make it back to the ground. I said that it wasn't necessary because my husband was waiting in our car nearby and I could have him come and pick me up.

I borrowed someone's phone to call Stu (because my phone was in the car with him). His phone was engaged so I left a message explaining the situation and asking him to come to Family Mart and get me. I did some stretching and stuff. After a while, I started getting cold and hungry. And of course I was exhausted after doing the Strongman minus seven kilometers. I just wanted to get back to the track and see the fireworks, have a beer and massage and to congratulate my friends who finished. So I borrowed another phone, and then another, and left two more messages. I didn't know anyone else's numbers or have money for a taxi.

In the end I waited 40 minutes and didn't want to wait any longer because I was (a) exhausted / hungry / thirsty / freezing, and (b) I knew you would all be thinking that something extreme had happened to me. So I told the Family Mart girl that I was walking to the track and to please tell that to Stu if he came in. Then I walked back to the track, so I guess it was pretty much a full Strongman in the end. I bumped into Stu just before I got to the track and he told me that everyone had been going crazy, and the consensus was that I was either injured or had flipped out because I didn't finish.

I wanted to assure you all that neither is the case! I am alive and well. I knew from 3pm that I wasn't going to finish the race and that's ok with me. I was even in some happy snaps with the two others who were stopped at 35km, which was a bit of fun. My marathon time was on target to be 20 - 30 minutes faster than my run last year, despite all the bullshit that happened today, so that's something good to take away from it. And I was ended up feeling a lot better later in the run than I did in the start, which is another first. But I am pretty upset that I missed the fireworks, the beer, the free massage and all the other fun about a Strongman finish.

I will write a more detailed version on my blog at some point and will stop bothering you all late on a school night. Thanks for all your support with making the sign and cheering for me today. I was too tired and generally demoralised to speak to anyone for any amount of time but I did really appreciate the efforts you went to. Over and out. (Take away message: not dead, just stranded at Family Mart).

Then after the longest day ever - having been awake for 24 hours straight and having done 13.5 hr/193km of a 14 hr/200km race - I went to bed.

The next day

Monday was quiet. That's the best way to put it. Last year I was kept busy responding to congratulatory phone calls and emails, but the phone didn't ring this year. There was no medal or t-shirt or certificate to photograph. Stuart was sleeping throughout the day and everyone else was at work, so there was nobody to talk to about the race. I started feeling like it had never happened.

I went and collected Thom from the cat hotel, and then my bike from the transition area. Then I hung around the house generally feeling sorry for myself. Stuart eventually got up and I complained to him that nobody was calling me or anything. He asked me again what I had expected, considering I had been such a bitch to everyone the previous day. I cried that this was exactly what I had been trying to avoid when I said I didn't want to see friends during the race. It felt so unfair.

Stuart was apparently sick of dealing with it all. He said he didn't want to come with me to the closing ceremony which started at 3pm. That set me off crying again.

I didn't want to go by myself! What if I couldn't find anyone I knew?! I would end up standing by myself again - wouldn't that be fitting for the loser who couldn't finish and ended up by herself at Family Mart.

Yes, I was well and truly wallowing in self-pity.

I had been really keen to talk to Teresa about the race. She ran the final 7km with me last year and had seen some of the physical and mental struggle firsthand - I just thought she would understand my disappointment better than others. Stuart must have known this too because I found out that he had been trying to get her American cell phone number during the latter stages of the run. I guess he figured that she might give a pep talk that I would actually listen to. So I was happy that she popped up online while I was sitting at my computer trying to decide whether I would go to the closing ceremony.

She said that she couldn't sleep the night before because she knew I'd be somewhere on the course, but she had no internet at home so she had no way of checking how it was going. She was checking the Twitter updates as we spoke, so I got to break the news in person that I didn't finish. And then I told her the whole sorry story over the course of a couple of hours. She was shocked when she heard about the Family Mart debacle, and gave me the final push I needed to go to the closing party:

me: it's really weird when a massive race like this comes to an end. especially when it didn't really have a real end

Teresa: i was just going to say that. the sooner you go back to 'normal life' the sooner it's all just kind of over, right?

me: yeah

Teresa: it'd be nice to get pictures organized and soak it all in

[She's American: it's not her fault that she can't spell 'oragnised' properly.]

me: yeah

Teresa: it's a huge deal and don't let people tell you it's not

me: that's why i want to go to the closing ceremony and see other people who did it, look at the photos and merch. remind myself that it actually happened

Teresa: i think that's pretty important...that and having a few celebration beers

Hearing that Teresa had ordered him to escort me to the party in her absence, Stuart got himself ready and we headed off.

Post-race party

I drank Strongman beer and joined the rush for food. I watched the video footage of the day. I helped Stuart take some photos.

I soon bumped into some friends from the pool and caught up on their races. Everyone complained about the tough conditions in comparison to last year. And it turned out that Emiko and Mitsue, some women that I've ridden with a few times, were also stopped in the run. I was sad to hear it - especially for Emiko, because she didn't finish last year either - but happy to know that I wasn't the only non-finisher in the room.

Also, seeing the way that Emiko was handling the result was a good lesson for me. She wasn't moping around like I had been - at least not in public. She was drinking beer and celebrating alongside everyone else, still considering herself as much a part of the race as they were. It gave me some perspective.

At the other end of the spectrum, I also chatted with Mitch and Tamara. They were both seated beside the stage when we spotted them, ready to go and collect their first place awards.

I congratulated them both on their wins. I really was so happy for them! They had both been great to talk with before the race and were both so modest about their chances. It was Tamara's first race of the season and she wasn't sure how she would go. Thankfully she kicked arse!

Mitch asked if I'd finished in time and they were both sympathetic when I teared up and said no. They had some encouraging words for me.

It hit me when I watched them on stage collecting their awards that this is another thing I love about triathlon. I can't think of any other sport where total beginners and top athletes compete in the same race / game together. Aspiring tennis players will never get the chance to play with Roger Federer.

But in triathlon, everyone turns up on the day and deals with same conditions, doing the best to reach their personal goals - whether that means winning the race, getting a new best time or just trying to finish the fucking thing before the cutoff. And then when it's all done, you have a party together. The pros aren't fenced off in a special room. Anyone can go up and chat about the race with them. Or even request some dorky fan photos:

The realisation made me really happy to be part of the race, regardless of the fact that I didn't finish.

Tamara and Mitch patiently posed for photos with age groupers all night - people who were possibly hoping, like I was, that some of the brilliance might rub off!

I also got a photo with Shiono Emi who came second in the women's race for the third time this year. She won the race four years ago but hasn't been able to take it back yet. I am a bit in love with her.

After getting his many, many trophies and awards, Mitch came up to chat. He gave me the massive bunch of flowers he'd received, wishing me better luck next year. I know he couldn't take the flowers on the plane with him and had to pass them off to someone, but I'm happy that he thought to give them to me. It was such a nice gesture. Plus it meant that many people in the room assumed that I'd won an age group award or something and kept congratulating me on my success.

At the end of the night, Stuart and I got a chance to chat with Sam Hume, another top Australian triathlete, and his wife.

Sam was first out of the water but was beaten to the timer during a sprint across the sand with a Japanese athlete, so he goes on the record as the second fastest swimmer. His wife found this pretty amusing considering that Sam has a background in surf lifesaving!

From there, Sam's race only got crappier. He got a puncture right at the start of the ride. He changed his tube. The new tube split open. And that was the end of the day for him. What a pain in the arse!

They'd come all the way from Australia for a race that was over within an hour or so. This made me grateful that I got to complete as much of the race as I did. And that I live just 5km from the swim start. I joked and said I was happy to say that I performed as well as a pro on the day, since we both ended up with a DNF (Did Not Finish) in the results book.

Hopefully he will be back next year. Mitch said he is going to try and round up a group of Australians to compete, which would be great.

The party finished at 6pm-ish. I got Stuart to take this photo, which seems like a nicer finish photo than me crying with a beer in hand at the 35km mark. Then we said our goodbyes to the foreign athletes and headed off.

The merchandise stands were still set up outside the gym. I bought a couple of photos of myself on the bike course. I really like one of them in particular: it's of me looking at a field of sunflowers as I ride past it.

I also saw a t-shirt that I liked, a bright blue shirt which said 'Strongman. Can you finish?'

Umm. As it turns out, no I couldn't. Not this year anway.

I didn't realise at the time but I think I was still punishing myself for not finishing the race. I had seen the shirt the day before the race and loved it. I still loved it after the race, but I didn't let myself buy it. I didn't think I deserved it because I hadn't finished. Now I am still thinking of that t-shirt and wishing that I hadn't been such a dickhead.

Feeling considerably more happy than I had been earlier that day, Stuart and I made a plan to go out for some drinks. We emailed the other ALTs to drum up some interest and then went to Pinecone.

I had a good few beers and some chilli cheese fries. Mmmmmm. I showed off my new photos and told whoever would listen about the torture of the race. It seemed that with each retelling, I was feeling a tiny bit better.

Congratulations emails had also started arriving. They really helped. It was great to hear from everyone who took the time to mail, but a couple in particular really affected me that night. Hopefully these people won't mind me copying and pasting them here.

There was this mail from Marita in Melbourne:

Dear Janine & Stu,

Janine - congratulations on your achievement in the 2009 strong man! It is just amazing. Stuart and I have spent the last 48 hours thinking about the amazing distance you have covered and the physical, mental and emotional endurance required to complete such a feat. It boggles my mind, it is awesome!

We have made comparisons to destinations within Melbourne, in order to understand the distance you have covered:
Swimming out three kms into Port Phillip Bay
Riding your bike to Seymour and back to Cragieburn
THEN running back to Melbourne GPO from Cragieburn...... fucking UNBELIEVABLE DISTANCE!!!!! Excuse my swearing, but had to be done.

Thanks Stu for your great twitters and flickers,
made me feel right on the pulse!

Congratulations Janine! Superbeing!
I hope you are enjoying a well deserved strong alcoholic beverage!
Love Marita xxx

What I loved about her mail was that it didn't even say anything about not finishing the race. She had spent some time contemplating the distances in a way which really made her comprehend it, and wanted to congratulate me on covering that much ground off my own steam, irregardless of the last 7 kilometres. Of course everyone else who contacted me was doing so for the same reason, but Marita's mail really stood out to me.

And I loved this mail from Isla in London, who has been my triathlon mentor right from the start:

Good evening J9!!!!!!!!!!!!!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, I hope this email finds you in good spirits!
Those twitter updates were fantastic, I got home from the 'pub' and caught
up on an excellent swim, off onto the bike, then I went to bed, woke up and
followed right till the end. I wish I could have been there to lift your
spririt!!!

I know that you will have put everything into that race, and that you
probably feel crappy inside, even if you are putting on a typical J9 grin
to cover it. I want to hear all about it in GREAT detail - if you can bear to talk
about it!

At the end of the day Janine, you were so close, you achieved so much in
one bloomin day! You travelled so far!!!!!!!!! Time limits are so rubbish!!
You are the strongest person I know! I don't know anyone else who started
from nothing, already put themselves through it once, and to go and train
alone and do it all over again - toughest thing in the world!

Everyone's soproud of you, all those monkey kids, your teachers, those lazy
ALTs!! Theyare all envious and in total awe of what you have achieved...of what
you put yourself through to get yourself to that start line...they will never
ever know how tough that is. (I am sitting at my desk trying not to let these
tears spill out of my eyes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) But it's true! They'll never understand
fully.

I was sitting in the park yesterday thinking about it all. I came to the
conclusion that there is only one way forward from this. You have to get
back out there, and do it all again next year and kick it's royal butt, and
I'll be there to do it with you. I'm excited :)

I hope you are physically feeling ok, and mentally - well, I'm sure you're
not on top of the world right at this moment, but please just take a step
back and look at what you did do...you're amazing.
Speak to you soon, let's plan a skype session!!!!!!
Lots of big hugs,
Isla

p.s. I am absolutely serious about coming to do it next year - it's not
THAT far from Australia, and it's the last chance I'll have to see
everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Isla's mail was great because it came from someone who could really understand what I was going through. True, she has never had a DNF herself. But she has done a bunch of triathlons, including her first Ironman recently. She knows just how much of yourself you put into training for a race and how much you pin on it's outcome.

2 days later

This was mine and Stuart's anniversary. But much like the t-shirt, I didn't think I deserved it. Plenty of people who had actually finished the race were going back to work, so it would be weak of me to take another day off.

In hindsight, I should have stayed home. The boozy happiness from the previous night had worn off and now I was simply tired and depressed.

I cried every time someone asked me about the race. I cried whenever I thought about it, even when I was in class. Plus the P.E teacher at this school had also done the race, and finished. I felt bad that he couldn't discuss the day with me because he was too terrified that I would burst into tears again. I couldn't get out of there fast enough at the end of the day.

3 days later

Much the same as the previous day. I wasn't sore, but depressed and tired. The pelting rain complimented my mood perfectly. It sounds ridiculous to say now, but it honestly felt like someone had died. The disappointment was almost like a physical pain. I was grieving.

I made up an excuse to leave school early and drove to the nearby public bath. I soaked my tired legs, watching the rain hammering down through the enormous window which faces the coastline. I sat there thinking and crying for a long time. Then I drove home in the rain, listening to 'It's Rough' by Smog (awesome song for indulging self-pity).

The bath and the rain, all the emotion - it suddenly added up to ridiculous tiredness. I couldn't fight it. About 1km from home, I fell asleep at wheel. It was only for a second, but the car was veering toward parked cars on the other side of the road when I came to! That was the first time I've ever fallen asleep driving and it was terrifying. The fear woke me up enough to get home safely and then go straight to bed for a long nap.

4 days later

Back at the same school for the final day that week. All the crying in the bath must have been cathartic because I felt myself coming out of the depression a bit; I could answer questions about the race without crying.

I thought about ways to cheer myself up. It wasn't at all what I felt like doing, but I kept coming back to the idea of doing another race. It would have to be even tougher than Strongman. If I could finish a race like that, then I could prove to myself and everyone else that I was capable. Japan Ironman seemed like the only good option.

Registration had already closed but I emailed the race office asking if a late entry would be possible. I wasn't certain that I'd end up doing it, but I wanted to know if the option was there. They promptly wrote back and said that they could give me a special late entry, but I'd have to let them know within two days.

Then began lots of obsessing. I examined the course profile in great detail, read race reports, looked into prices for flights. Stuart didn't sound entirely convinced but said he would come with me if I decided to do it. Later that night, I emailed Isla for some advice. She wrote back with some sensible advice:

Right J9. Firstly, Close this email, go and re-read the email that I wrote
you a few days ago, then come back. GO!

Ok, welcome back.
Right, I'm going to write a list of things that are against doing IM Japan
in June...if you feel that you can overcome each of these challenges, then
go for it!!!
(sorry if it all comes across brash and blunt, but you need to think hard
about this).

(Then she talked about the time it would take my body to recover from Strongman, how fast I could possibly do it in, how fast I could do it in the worst possible conditions, mental readiness for another potential blow, and financial / logistical stuff).

Janine, I want you to challenge yourself to the highest place, but just
remember that there are a zillion races out there - I had to really reign
myself in from doing IM UK...and I think it was the right decision for me,
but perhaps for you to do IM Japan, perhaps that is the right decision for
you...???

I hope this helps. I personally think that you'll go for it, because life
is too darn short, and we need these things to keep us going....but please
do think hard about it, ok!!!! ;)

Chin up buttercup!
Isla
xxxxx

I obeyed the instructions and found her previous mail - the one I copied earlier in this post - before reading on. I think that I decided for sure against doing the Ironman as soon as I reread that first mail.

I felt kind of empty after the decision. Really, I knew my body was tired even if it wasn't sore. And that it would be a real struggle to get ready for that kind of race by late June (the course is both longer and tougher than Strongman). But I was really enjoying the distraction. I guess I was trying to fill the void by replacing a Strongman obsession with an Ironman obsession.

Coming good

Over the next few days, I let myself really feel upset instead of seeking distraction. It turned out that I was really sad. I struggled to find the energy for even the smallest of everyday tasks, like cleaning the house or cooking dinner. Thinking back on it though, I managed to do all of the things that a heartbroken teenage girl does: I put on a facemask, I got a haircut. And I cried into my pillow more times than I care to remember.

It was more traumatic and time-consuming than I thought it would be, but I eventually started coming out of the DNF depression. I finally got to the point where I was after the race last year - just happy that I didn't have to do any more bloody training! I was enjoying sleeping in and lazing around watching movies.

About a week later, Stuart and I bumped into Chikage at the supermarket. She told us how depressed she'd been, how she couldn't stop thinking about not finishing the race. And how she really wanted to do another race to get another chance at finishing. It all sounded very familiar!

She said she'd been meaning to contact me because she knew of a race that I might be interested in doing! She had done this 99km race on Tokunoshima in Kagoshima prefecture three times previously, and thought it would be a good revenge race for herself this year. Her husband - a nine-time Strongman finisher - wouldn't be doing the race but he would go with her for support.

Stuart's ears pricked up when he heard the distances involved (2km / 75km / 21km) and he started elbowing me, saying it might be a good one for me. I was thinking exactly the same thing. It sounded like a perfect distance; still long enough challenging but not the hell of a 14-hour day. The timing was pretty good too. After some rest, I would still have about seven weeks to prepare for it.

We exchanged email addresses and I said I would give it some thought. But if I'm honest, I think I decided on the spot that I would do the race. It wasn't like the Ironman decision - a desperate grab at the toughest race I could think of, just to get that DNF out of my head. I was keen on this race because we could combine it with a trip away, the distances sounded doable, and the timing was right. I went ahead with the planning and began some light training again. It's all going ahead, but that's a story for another blog entry.

Now it's been more than six weeks since Strongman and it feels like a lifetime ago. I have had to tell the whole sorry story countless times to teachers and students at my seven schools, people at the pool, neighbours and other random people who knew I was doing the race. And over time, it seems to have become less of a tragedy and more a comedy of errors with each retelling.

The P.E teacher at Seijo JHS, Masahiko-sensei, recently asked me to tell him what went wrong on race day. I warned him that it was a long story but he was keen to hear it. Relaying everything in Japanese, and using gestures when I didn't know the words for something, the story seemed funny even to me. By the time I reached the last act - a dejected Janine walking along the dark street by herself, shoulders hunched, crying her eyes out and lugging a bag of bananas - there was a full house in the tea room. Masahiko was literally rolling around on the tatami laughing. The tea lady was crying. I was both laughing and crying!

Masahiko told me that such persistence on a day when everything was going wrong was impressive. At least I think that's what he said. I definitely understood one thing: he said I have an Ironman spirit.

And he was so impressed with my tale of woe that he asked me to make a speech to the students about it. I passed, but said he should feel free to tell the story. I wonder if he ever did. I am picturing it becoming some kind of historial Seijo JHS fable: teachers 50 years from now will remind unmotivated students about the story of 'Janine and Her Bag of Bananas'. Hahaha.

With a bit of distance from it now, I can't really believe that I was so upset by the whole thing. Like I said earlier, it felt like I was grieving. Except it was for something, or even the idea of something, rather than someone. I even felt like I was going through the stages of grief that you hear about - denial, anger, etc. Thinking along these lines, I did an internet search for the stages of grief recently and was amused by some of the parrallels I found. There really should be a self-help book for triathletes called 'The Seven Stages of Coping with a DNF'.

1. Shock and Denial.
Deny the reality of the loss and some level, in order to avoid the pain. Shock provides emotional protection from being overwhelmed all at once.

I told myself I didn't care that I didn't finish. My persistence on a tough day was the only thing that mattered. I was happy that the race was over so that I could sit down and have a beer.

2. Pain and Guilt.
As the shock wears off, it is replaced with the suffering of unbelievable pain. Although excruciating and almost unbearable, it is important that you experience the pain fully, and not hide it, avoid it or escape from it with alcohol or drugs. You may have guilty feelings or remorse over things you did or didn't do ~~with your loved one~~ in your race. Life feels chaotic and scary during this phase.

I missed the 35km cutoff by just two minutes! What if my goggles hadn't been knocked off in the swim? What if I hadn't crashed my bike? What if I had had faster transitions? What if I hadn't stopped to call Stuart on the course? What if I had taken less walk breaks on the run? Whatifwhatifwhatif.

3. Anger and Bargaining.
Frustration gives way to anger, and you may lash out and lay unwarranted blame for the ~~death~~ DNF result on someone else. Please try to control this, as permanent damage to your relationships may result. This is a time for the release of bottled up emotion. You may rail against fate, questioning "Why me?". You may also try to bargain in vain with the powers that be for a way out of your despair.

This is when Stuart copped it for waking me up at 1:30am on race morning, for insisting that I call him and meet up with him on the course, for not checking his voicemail after the race. For everything, really.

4. Depression, Reflection, Loneliness.
Just when your friends may think you should be getting on with your life, a long period of sad reflection will likely overtake you. This is a normal stage of grief, so do not be "talked out of it" by well-meaning outsiders. Encouragement from others is not helpful to you during this stage of grieving. During this time, you finally realise the true magnitude of your loss, and it depresses you. You may isolate yourself on purpose, reflect on things you did ~~with your lost one~~ in training, and focus on memories of ~~the past~~ past races. You may sense feelings of emptiness or despair.

I left work early to go and cry in the public bath. I felt totally depressed and struggled with everyday things. And I ignored phone calls from family and friends because I didn't want to have to tell the story again. Then I briefly considered signing myself up for a ridiculously tough race.

5. The Upward Turn.
As you start to adjust to life without your ~~dear one~~ finishers' medal and t-shirt, your life becomes a little calmer and more organised. Your physical symptoms lessen, and your depression begins to lift slightly.

After a week or so of moping, and with the help of lots of sleep and a haircut, I finally pulled myself out of it. I even managed to clean the house and buy some groceries.

6. Reconstruction and Working Through.
As you become more functional, your mind starts working again, and you will find yourself seeking realistic solutions to problems posed by life without your ~~loved one~~ race victory. You will start to work on practical and financial problems and reconstructing your life without ~~him or her~~ it.

I decided to enter the Tokunoshima triathlon - a decision based on reasoning rather than desperation.

7. Acceptance and Hope.
During this, the last of the seven stages in this grief model, you learn to accept and deal with the reality of your situation. Acceptance does not necessarily mean instant happiness. Given the pain and turmoil you have experienced, you can never return to the carefree, untroubled YOU that existed before this tragedy. But you will find a way forward. You will start to look forward and actually plan things for the future. Eventually, you will be able to think about your lost ~~loved one~~ race without pain; sadness, yes, but the wrenching pain will be gone. You will once again anticipate some good times to come, and yes, even find joy again in the experience of living.

Writing parts of this entry still made me cry, but I no longer feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest. I'm looking forward to racing in Tokunoshima on June 28th.

I will be more determined than ever in next year's Strongman.

Miyako Strongman 2009 - race report

2009-05-04T15:55:00.007+09:00

Short version: I fucking didn't finish the fucking race.

Long version: Bring some booze and country music; I'm gonna have myself a pity party!

Pre-race

After not much sleep on Friday night, or for much of the week before that really, I was counting on five or six solid hours of sleep on the night before the race. Stuart expected to be up late reading camera manuals and stuff, so he did his part by sleeping on the couch so as not to wake me up. Except that he didn't. Unable to sleep on the uncomfortable couch, he came to bed at 1:30am and accidentally woke me up. Of course I was anxious on the night before the race; so once I was awake, I was really awake!

The alarm was set for 4am. I tried in vain to get back to sleep for an hour or so and then split the rest of the time between eating bananas and being generally hysterical. I was so upset. I knew I wasn't as well prepared for the race this year, and really doubted that I could handle 14 hours of continuous hard exercise on only three hours sleep. It felt like the six months of training and all the preparation had been pointless. So yes, hysterical.

Here's how excited I was shortly after getting up:

Luckily we had arranged for Mike to come over at 4:30am. I reigned in the crying and screaming and began focusing on the day ahead. I had a second breakfast of two bagels with jam, a banana, black coffee and orange juice. I checked the weather report, which just depressed me: strong winds and a high chance of rain in the afternoon to evening. Perfect. I read over my race plan and the many lists, and thought that I had double-checked everything.

We were all ready in a surprisingly short time so we headed to the beach at 5:15am, about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. A quick toilet stop at a convenience store on the way (anything to avoid portable toilets), then the boys dropped me off to set up my bike stuff.

As always, there was a real air of excitement in the transition area. I could feel it despite my sleep deprivation. The passing around of bike pumps; the collective intake of breath when tyres popped.

I looked at the bike set-ups around me to check for any good last minute ideas. (Helmet on top of the seat instead of the handlebars! Ingenious! How about the sunglasses? Propped up on the helmet, you say? Ok, why not?!)

I was moving slowly and everything took longer than I had expected. But it was good to chat to a couple of people, including Robert who was back to do the race for his third time. He had been in a wheelchair with an illness for a while before the last race but ended up finishing in less than 11 hours! Awesome.

I realised that I'd forgotten my arm covers for the bike ride. At least it was an overcast day. I asked Stuart to pick them up and carry them around with him for the day in my emergency bag (also containing a bike tube, bandaids and sunscreeen).

I lost a lot of time. All of a sudden it was daylight and there were only 10 minutes left until registration closed.

I headed up to registration and thankfully it all went smoothly. I got numbered, got a timing chip, wrestled with my wetsuit for an eternity. My new bike shorts certainly looked awesome but they weren't perfect for wearing under a wetsuit because they're not as skin-tight as other shorts. I then headed to the swim start with not much time to spare, about 15 or 20 minutes before the race start.

Swim

I splashed around for a few minutes in the warm-up area. This was my first time swimming in the wetsuit for ages and I found myself wishing that either it was bigger or I was smaller. Oh well, nothing I could do about that. Best to focus on the things I could control, like how the hell I was going to deal with the choppy water on top of the usual horrors of a triathlon swim start.

The start is self-seeding, which means you have to guess how fast you will be compared to the competition and then situate yourself in the right spot. I'm not a super fast swimmer, but I'm definitely not slow. I guess that makes me... mediocre?

I stretched for a while and tried to get in a good spot for the start. I was thinking about random things and just looking around when I heard splashing and cheering coming from the front. What? False start?! No, apparently it was just the world's quietest starting gun. I had no idea that the race had started until I saw the non-mediocre swimmers already battling it out in the water.

The swim wasn't much fun. It seemed that most of the people in front of me were hesitant to actually enter the water, so it took a couple of minutes until I could start swimming. I felt my goal time of 1 hour or less slipping away.

Once horizontal, I soon realised how rough the water - and fellow competitors - were. My goggles were pulled off three times, I was hit countless times. And more than one person's version of forward motion involved grabbing my shoulders and just pulling themselves over me!

The pack had thinned out considerably by the first turn at 600 metres last year, but wasn't the case this year. Rather than actually swimming, I spent much of the first half just trying to not drink sea water / receive any more blows to the head / drown. I checked my watch at the 1500m buoy: 31 minutes.

In another course, I might have made up the time in the second half to reach my one hour goal. But the second half of the Strongman course includes a 1300m swim against the receding tide. I lost time in the return leg last year and expected the same outcome this year. I tried to at least limit the damage by really focusing on my form and swimming strongly for the remainder of the course.

Time: 1:06'30"

T1

I jogged up the beach to Dave's amusing commentary from the announcer's booth. 'Australia's own, Janine Kelly! What a magnificent swim she had. Give us a wave, Janine!' and so on.

I approached the showers, determined to spend less time there than I had last year. One wetsuit leg came off quickly but I was struggling with the other, so I took another guy's lead and sat down to continue the battle. Then came a unexpected highlight of the day; a random guy noticed me struggling and came over to help. He yanked on the leg like there was no tomorrow and soon had the stupid thing off me. I offered to help with his suit but he said he was ok.

I waste a lot of time in my races, but many people don't. So it was pretty nice of this guy to add a minute to his race time to help out a stranger. I'll definitely remember him long after some of the crappier parts of the day have been forgotten.

I had a quick shower (complete with commentary: 'She's in the shower now, doing it for Australia!'), waved to my supporters and official photographers, and then jogged to grab my transition bag. It was conveniently hung on the end of a rack, so I had no trouble there. I moved to a grassy area beside the path to sort my shit out.

Last year I wore a one-piece triathlon suit for the whole race, including the swim, so I didn't have to deal with any clothes changes in the transition areas. I did that mainly because I figured I'd be so slow that I wouldn't have any extra time left for changing outfits. The suit was awesome except for the time it took to get the bloody thing on and off during toilet stops on the run. Fearful of another dodgy stomach this year, I had gone with a two-piece strategy. I was also using race bib holders instead of a race belt because I'd read that race belts and other things around the waist can also contribute to stomach distress.

These bib holders are pairs of flat, plastic, button-sized discs which you push together - one of the inside of your shirt, and one of the outside - to hold your race number in place. I thought they were a great invention until I used them in a running race and one pair popped off when I bent over to adjust my laces. I had my doubts about using them again but I didn't want to put safety pins through my new jersey.

So, I pulled off the tank top I'd worn for the swim and pulled on my dry bike jersey. Of course, of course, one pair of the stupid bib holders popped off. I couldn't get them back on myself as the race number was on my back, so I scrounged around on the ground to find them and then enlisted the help of a volunteer. I explained how the things worked and asked her to put them on. She was confused and asked another volunteer to help. And between the two of them, it took three minutes to figure it out. Three minutes in which I felt every second ticking by. They also decided to attach the errant pair to the bottom left corner of the bib, even though the only other pair was on the top right corner. This meant that the bib was flopping down over itself and it was probably impossible to read my race number anyway.

I know the debacle was my fault, not the volunteers'. They were doing me a favour. But that doesn't change the fact that it was very bloody annoying! Lesson learned: race belt or bust! I have since thrown out the remaining stupid bib holders, just to be sure that I'm not tempted to use them again!

I grabbed a banana and drink from my Shimoji JHS kids who were volunteering in the transition area, dropped my bag with a volunteer and then jogged across to my bike. I used the PET bottle I'd left there earlier to wash most of the sand off my feet and ate a gel. Helmet, sunglasses, gloves, socks and shoes on. Then I ran the bike up to the mounting line, noticing that the transition had taken 14 minutes, four minutes longer than planned.

Bike

I had been riding for all of 30 seconds when I remembered that I hadn't reset my bike computer. Apparently the computer wasn't attached properly, because it came flying off my bike when I pressed the reset button! I checked to make sure there was nobody immediately behind me: there wasn't. I unclipped my left shoe from the pedal in preparation to stop and then pulled over to the far left. While braking, I heard someone behind me start shouting.

'Abunai! Abunai! Abunai! Abunai!'

And so on. I'd say he found the time to shout 'dangerous' about eight times before he, instead of veering to the right, followed me to the left and crashed into my back wheel. My right shoe was still clipped into the pedal, so both me and the bike fell down to the right. I guess he hadn't upclipped either shoe because he also hit the ground. (I hope his bike was ok, as there's a good chance that it cost considerably more than the $600 I paid for my bike.) We were in the path of other riders who had just left the transition area and were looking to build up speed, so it was a bit scary. But I was physically fine. The other guy wasn't hurt, just pissed off with me.

I know the crash was my fault; I obviously hadn't clicked my bike computer into place properly. But I was pissed off too, because - judging by the amount of time he was yelling at me - he had time to avoid the crash.

Lesson learned: double-check that all detachable bike parts are attached properly! You'd think I would have remembered to do this after my drink bottle holder fell off the bike partway through Izena triathlon.

So, take two. I did mention that it was windy, right? Let me rephrase that: it was fucking windy! It was up around 40km/h for the entire ride. It was the kind of wind that would usually have me using the indoor trainer rather than risk being blown over outside (Hmm...potential training flaw right there).

Because the wind was from the east, we had crosswinds and / or headwinds for 125km of the 155km ride. I came close to being blown over a few times when reaching for a drink bottle or some food. Highlights in this 6.5 hour torturous battle against wind and tiredness were few and far between, but they included:

wearing my awesome new bike clothes
hitting a new high speed (down a steep hill) of 57.6km/h!
finally remembering to turn on my GPS tracking thing at the 50km mark and knowing that people would be able to stalk me online

GPS tracking powered by InstaMapper.com

I was also happy with the way I stayed on top of my nutrition plan this year. I was aiming for 300 calories and 800ml of liquids per hour, and salt tablets when I could get to them. I had Powergels, Shotz, Sports Beans and some Haribo cola bottle lollies in my bike bag, and I took bananas (so many bananas), water, Coke and sports drink from the aid stations. I remembered to eat and drink regularly and I added the calories and fluids to my mental tallies every time I had something. This was a lot better than last year's approach. The race was tough as it was but it would have been worse if I'd forgotten to eat and ended up with a big calorie deficit before the run.

Side note: It was my first time using both Shotz and Sports Beans and I have to say I'm a fan of the Shotz in particular. They come in a bigger pack than Powergels for about the same amount of calories, which is annoying, but they are less viscous and the flavours were better. Except for the banana flavour. I didn't want to taste anything remotely banana-flavoured ever again by the end of the ride.

The best part of the ride was undoubtedly crossing the Kurima bridge to find all of my students waiting for me at the turn-around point. I'd told them to expect me at about midday but I ended up getting there about 15 minutes late, so I wasn't certain they would be there. I shouldn't have worried. They were in top form and started screaming for me as soon as they spotted me. They must have filled in the other spectators too because all number of strangers were shouting out to Janine-sensei! I once again got to see the fantastic sign which they had made for me, and gave them all high fives as I rode past.

So fun! I felt sorry for all the poor suckers riding behind me who didn't have throngs of children calling their names.

From Kurima, it was only a 15-minute or so ride until I reached our house at the 105km mark. I had been looking forward to a 10-minute rest there because Stuart and Mike would be waiting to take photos and chat. Except they weren't.

I grabbed my phone from my saddle bag and rang Stu. Turns out that they were doing a less than stellar job of photographing the bike course because they had both fallen asleep! Stuart eventually came down for a chat. All the while, I watched people I had passed earlier in the race flying by. I had a creeping feeling that I should have changed my race plan once I saw that I was slower than usual and not taken this break after all. Well, not much I could do about it at that point.

The last 50km was a real struggle, physically and mentally. My derailleur had apparently been damaged in the crash because there was often a delay when I shifted gears - that was a lot of fun on hills! If anything, the wind had gotten worse. And I was starting to worry that I wouldn't have enough time to finish the race.

After climbing the course's longest and slowest hill at Nanabata for the second time that day, I just broke down. I had become convinced that I wouldn't finish the race because my bike time would be at least half an hour slower than planned. If my calculations were correct, which they might not have been because I was probably semi-delirious by that stage, I would only have six hours for the run.

The Strongman run last year took me 6:03. And while my running has improved, I had to keep in mind that the swim and bike conditions were both tougher this year and had probably taken more out of me. Plus the fact that I was now up to around 8 hours of solid exercise on only 3 hours sleep. I was SO. TIRED.

So that's the state that my friend Sumiyo found me in when she caught me on top of the Nanabata hill. I was sobbing uncontrollably and ready to retire from the race after the ride. If I wasn't going to finish anyway, I reasoned, why put myself through running for the next six hours? Instead, I could go and get a massage at the track, eat some real food, shower and put on some clean clothes. I could stake out a good spot near the finish line to cheer from, and get started on some Strongman edition Orion beers. It all sounded so much better than embarking on a marathon which seemed doomed from the start.

Thankfully Sumiyo was in good spirits and managed to talk me off the ledge. One of her tactics was suggesting that we speak in English, even though she can't! She did the calculations which were well beyond me at that stage, and said that we could run 8 min/km and still finish. That sounded possible. She suggested that we run together and I agreed, even though I don't really enjoy running with other people. It sounded like good insurance against me deciding that I'd had enough and asking the nearest official to get me the hell out of there.

Just minutes before we reached the bike finish, Sumiyo caught part of a broadcast from a radio on the street. She said she thought that the Australian I'd been talking about had just won the race! Go Mitch! There were fireworks just above the track a few seconds afterwards.

Feeling as though I'd been riding for two weeks or so, we finally pulled into the bike finish. Everyone was there cheering and I could finally get off the damn bike. I must have been happy; I am even smiling in a photo!

Bike time (including both transitions): 7:07'12"

T2

I suffered another brief bout of hysteria when I met up with Stuart in the transition area but soon got my act together. I headed into the changing tent while he started work on the phone switch we'd planned. (I'd been using a GPS application on my iPhone during the ride, but it uses a lot of battery. I wasn't keen on taking my iPhone with me on the run in case it got sweaty and gross, and it's also kind of heavy. So Stuart put my SIM card into an old phone of Mike's, put that into a ziploc bag and then I was good to go.)

This was my first time using a changing tent. I expected that it would slow me down a lot in the transition, but I didn't have another option because I was wearing cycling shorts, not triathlon shorts. The chamois would have been annoying in the run. And I thought that changing into a clean top might help to cheer me up.

I found Sumiyo and another friend, Chikage, getting started in the tent. Having not used one before, I wasn't sure about changing tent etiquette. I looked around for clues and saw Chigake tied a towel around her waist as she got changed. I didn't have a towel! Next began a complicated dance of bike short removal while holding the transition bag in front of me. I'm sure this alone added a couple of minutes to my time. I later saw a few girls just strip off without towels so I was annoyed that I'd bothered with the bag trick.

Chikage and Sumiyo were ready to start the run. I wanted to talk to Stuart for a minute afterwards and didn't want to hold them up, so I said to go ahead. In the back of my mind I thought that I might be able to catch up to them.

I put on my tri shorts, hat and clean tank top. I changed my socks and shoes, remembered sunscreen and 25+ lip balm (which I'd also applied about 20 times throughout the ride). I grabbed the ziploc bag which held my nutrition (gels, salt tablets, Sports Beans) and the bag which held my lip balm and stomach emergency supplies (baby wipes, Immodium). I got the phone and iPod. Lots of luggage! I had one race number clipped onto my race belt and planned on pinning another to it. Then I was set to go. But before I actually got that far, I took a few steps outside the tent and realised that the tank top was rubbing under my arms where the wetsuit had chafed me earlier.

Fuuuuccckkk! Why me?!

I grabbed my bag back from the volunteers and returned to the tent to change back into my bike jersey. At least the jersey still had the badly attached race number on the back, so I could use the race belt in addition to that and not have to worry about pinning on any extra bibs. (You need to have a front and back bib for the run, only on the back for the ride.)

The whole changing debacle made me resolve then and there to only wear trisuits for future races, and to use a race belt with two numbers attached right from the start, regardless of what my stomach decides to do!

A bunch of ALTs and other friends were waiting with my banner just outside the transition area. They cheered enthusiastically for me but I just couldn't give anything back. I felt defeated. My optimism following Sumiyo's advice was apparently short-lived and I was struggling to remember why I would want to start the marathon at all. Still. I sacked up and started, even while crying.

Sam jogged up to give me a 'you've done it once, you can do it again' kind of pep talk. It was a nice gesture but I absolutely wasn't in the mood to hear it, and told her so pretty rudely. The way I saw it, none of the people there cheering for me have ever done a 155km ride. They have never done a marathon. And they have certainly never done the two in combination, with a 3km swim as a warm-up, in 40+km/h winds with no sleep. I didn't want to hear any thoughts on what I was and wasn't capable of unless it came from someone who knew what they were talking about; unless it came from another athlete on the course.

Realising that I had probably offended all of my friends here, but not having the energy to care, I set out on the 42.195km death march.

Run

From the start, I was determined to stick with my nutrition plan - I knew I would feel even worse if I didn't take in enough calories. So I ate a Powergel with water at the first aid station, and just Coke at the next, and so on. That would give me around 300 calories per hour. I was carrying enough gels to get me to the special needs bags at the 16km aid station in Gusukube, where I was looking forward to eating some salt and vinegar chips from a recent care package. I had figured I would be craving something salty by then, and I wasn't wrong: I already felt like my teeth were about to fall out thanks to all of the sweet gels and drinks.

Just a few kilometres into the run, I spotted Tamara rounding a corner. She looked pumped! We gave each other a wave and I shouted that she was doing a great job. I said that automatically and it wasn't until I thought about it for a second that I realised that she was probably winning! That definitely constitutes a great job! Mitch hadn't finished long before, and I didn't remember seeing any other girls before her. I really hoped she would take it (and in the end, she did)!

Another kilometre on, I went for what I hoped would be the first of very few toilet breaks. I stopped in at a service station which was advertising their toilet to athletes with signs by the side of the road. Thank you, supportive businesses! You helped to keep me out of the port-a-loos.

Stuart called just as I was leaving, saying he wanted to come and meet me on the course. I said I wasn't in the mood for any kind of pep talk so he should just stay away. I also knew that time was short, and would be even shorter if I spent time walking with him to chat. But he insisted. I agreed to meet up at the next aid station which was a couple of kilometres away.

I don't really remember what we talked about. He took a photos and said he'd send them to Twitter, where friends, family and strangers were cheering me on. He said that Makiko and Scott were going to drive out and cheer for me; I said they had better not expect much from me. I really didn't want to see friends in that state. It felt like enough of a struggle saying thanks to supports and aid station volunteers, but they were strangers and I had to be nice to them. It's not right, but I knew I wouldn't be so polite to people who actually know me. And they are exactly the people I didn't want to be rude to. It would make it easier if I just didn't have to see anyone until the end, when the race was decided one way or another.

Stuart said he might come out to the halfway point to get some photos, and then he headed back to the track.

A few kilometres later, the first of the four aid stations manned by my schools came into sight. It is really great having so many schools on the course, especially on the run. It gave me a lift knowing that I'd have dozens of kids screaming my name and trying to be the one to give me something. 'Janine-sensei! Mizu! Aquarius! Janine, Janine! Cola! Banana! Onigiri!'

Sports Academy, my ridiculously overpriced swimming pool, also had a tent set up for their staff to cheer from. It was good of them to come out to the run course after finishing work, and I was happy that my swim coach got to see first hand that I had survived the swim.

I don't really know how I kept going, but I did. I ran until I reached each aid station, then walked for a couple of minutes while I drank or ate a gel. Sometimes I ate a piece of orange, too. Then I started running again.

Scott and Makiko appeared every couple of kilometres to cheer for me. I was - very strangely indeed - feeling better as time went on, and it must have shown. They seemed less and less scared of me each time.

I stopped at the special needs section at the 16km aid station and immediately saw that my bag wasn't there. The bag in which I had put all of my gels for the remaining 26km, not to mention my bag of chips! The volunteers said that all the bags they had received were on display on the table. I tried not to be furious and just said thanks. Of course, I could have switched to eating the fruit, biscuits and sandwiches at the aid stations but I didn't want to. A big part of my plan to avoid a dodgy stomach was to stick with predominantly liquid calories in the run and latter part of the bike. I drank some extra cola, and called Stuart with an S.O.S while I walked.

I had stocked up on Powergels a few days before the race. But then on the day before the race, I spotted lots of alternative products at the expo. Shotz? Sports Beans? I'll take them all! Thanks to that, I had an excess of gels which I had (probably stupidly) left at home. I don't know why I didn't give them to Stuart for the emergency bag which he was carrying with him, but at least I knew where they were. I asked him to go and collect the extra gels and bring them out to me on the run, which he happily agreed to do.

Running again, and thinking about why another thing had gone wrong, I got a clear picture of the bag in my head. I remembered labelling it carefully on both sides. I remembered writing my race number correctly. And I remembered writing 'special...'! Oh fuck! I wrote 'special bike'! Not 'special run'! Why the hell would I do that? I never had any intention of using a bike special needs bag. Yet I had written 'bike' and actually dropped it at the bike section during registration! I put it down to the stress and lack of sleep but I was so annoyed with myself for making such a dumb mistake. I carried on, thinking that maybe Stuart would get there in time for a photo at the halfway point after all, then it wouldn't seem like such a waste of time.

Scott and Makiko were still turning up now and then. A lot of other people I know, and many more that I don't, were also cheering me on. A student's father gave me an onigiri and a sports drink. I saw Sumiyo at about a kilometre before the halfway point, and Chikage some time after her. I guess she had dropped back a bit.

Just before 21km, one of my Fukumine elementary kids spotted me and shouted my name. Hearing his call, about 10 others appeared from nowhere! They jogged with me to the turn and for a little while after. I felt like the Pied Piper. Makiko and Scott were able to get a photo of me rounding the oversized traffic cone and send it on to Twitter.

Stuart arrived with my gels a little further up the road. He parked the car and walked with me for a while as we talked. He'd been stuck behind a bus for ages and was stressed out about not being able to get out to me. He reported that everyone was proud of how I was doing, and that it didn't matter if I finished or not. I said again that I was pretty sure that I wouldn't finish. But now I was starting to wonder whether it might actually be possible. I didn't have time for extra walk breaks, so he decided to drive up to the next spot where I would walk and meet up again there (I was still walking through aid stations, and expected to be walking up most hills).

I'm glad that Stuart spotted this photographer while we were walking together, so I was actually able to get one photo of myself smiling on the run course.

We kept up this routine the whole way back into town, and it actually worked pretty well. For once I could talk to him without adding any extra time. And since I knew that I'd be seeing him at each aid station, I jettisoned everything except for my iPod for him to carry in the car.

There's not a lot to say about the last half of the run. I kept meeting up with Stuart. I talked to my kids and teachers at their aid stations. At some point, Jason and Erika came driving by to cheer for me. It got dark, but somehow not quite as lonely as it did last year. Paramedics rode by on motorbikes periodically, calling out to check if I was feeling ok. As it turned out, I was feeling better than I had for much of the day. Maybe because of good nutrition. Or maybe because I knew it would all be over soon.

Shortly before the 30km mark, one of the timed check-points, Stuart reported seeing Chikage not far ahead. He said that I could definitely catch her and run together. I didn't run any faster to find her - I didn't think it was possible - but I did catch up to her.

She was pretty lifeless compared to the late stages of the run last year. I assured her that we could finish if we kept running, even though I didn't necessarily believe that myself. We ran side by side for a while, then she dropped back and said she would run after me. She said she thought she'd eaten enough but probably hadn't had enough water and was now dehydrated. I gave her a gel and some salt tablets from the stash in the car and then left her to go at her own pace.

I reached the 30km checkpoint sometime before the 7:45pm cutoff. I usually run 5km in around 29 minutes, so even accounting for being slower than usual, I was cautiously optimistic about reaching the 35km checkpoint by the 8:30pm cutoff.

I wish I had had it in me to go any faster, but it seemed like enough to just be running. There also wasn't much motivation to try harder: even if I made it to the 35km point, I knew it was physically impossible for me to run the final 7km in 30 minutes. I didn't see much difference in being stopped at 35km or being stopped at 40km, except that 40km would be possibly more heartbreaking.

When I approached the convenience store at 33km, I saw that a bunch of friends had gathered there to cheer for me. I gave a wave and continued on to the aid station just past the store. They were out of water, of all things. But I figured that at this stage of the race, it didn't really matter what I drank. It would all be over soon enough. I arranged to meet with Stuart at the next aid station and then kept running.

The next aid station and the 35km checkpoint are just after a hill. As I was walking up part of it, a woman jogged by and tapped me on the shoulder. 'Come on, we can finish!'

Umm, I doubt it lady. But more power to you.

Stuart and I argued at that next aid station about where to meet next. He thought that he should just follow me in the car if I was going to be stopped soon. But I hate being followed like that, so I told him to go and wait at the next big intersection. He returned to the car which was parked at Family Mart, just behind the aid station. And I continued on.

For about 10 seconds.

A saw a volunteer holding out his arms out wide. I thanked him for cheering. Then he set me straight, saying that he wasn't cheering; he was stopping me because of the time cutoff. Ah fuck.

I asked how long I missed it by: two minutes. The enthusiastic woman who had passed me shortly beforehand was waiting there, and they stopped another man while talking to me.

My next thought was not that I was devastated. But that I could. finally. stop.

(This year's run)

(was better than last year's run)

Stay tuned for the next mind-numbingly long episode: Post-race / Black hole of self-pity

Miyako Strongman 2009 - the week before

2009-04-22T10:31:00.008+09:00

Race Week
I wasn't very busy at school on Tuesday so I used the time to write up my race plan. The plan has sections labelled 'organisation', 'physical / techinique' and 'mental / nutrition' for each part of the race, as well as the days prior and after.

Seeing everything in writing made me realise how much I had to do, so I took a day off the following day. I rode for an hour, swam for an hour and spent an eternity cleaning my bike and doing some last minute maintenance.

On Thursday, I made race playlists for my iPod and collected my race pack. Unexpected highlight: 25th anniversary Strongman otori glass!

I had school on Friday. I took the Friday off work last year but my schedule has been changed around a bit this term so I couldn't afford to miss another day at that school. After work we dropped Thom at his hotel, then headed to the pre-race meeting for foreigners.

I was happy to meet pro triathlete Mitch Anderson there. I'd been stalking him online just before the meeting after seeing that he was from Australia. Originally from Geelong, actually! (I knew his name was familiar but it took me a while to realise where from. I'd read about him coming 10th at Ironman Australia a couple of weeks previously, getting across the line less than a minute before Chrissie Wellington! She is awesome.) Anyway. Mitch holds the bike course records at Ironman Australia and Ironman Japan, and came second in the Strongman five years ago! I was rooting for him to win even before I found out he was a nice guy.

Tamara Kozulina from Ukraine (or "the Ukraine"?) introduced herself at the meeting and was also really lovely. I had seen her photo in the newspaper but didn't really know anything about her, except that she appeared to be another extremely modest pro triathlete. I was able to give her some information about the run course and second transition area, so I hope that helped her out a tiny bit on the race day.

After the meeting, everyone headed up to the opening ceremony at the gym. I got a nice surprise when I found a bunch of ALTs and this awesome sign there to meet me. Thanks everyone!

At the party, I enjoyed a couple of Strongman edition Orion beers and caught up with some other triathletes. In particular, it was good to chat to Chikage, a woman I met about 18 months ago at an Irabu triathlon. This year would be her 10th consecutive Strongman! Here's a photo of Chikage and her husband, Ayano (my former masseur and first-time Strongmaner) and me:

Stuart and I only stayed for an hour or so, then headed home for a big pasta dinner and an earlyish bed time.

The day before
I had been doing sleep training all week, getting to bed at 9 or 10pm and getting up at 5am. But my body must have decided it was already race day because I woke up at 3:30am! Fuck. Two nights before the race is an important sleep because it's hard to sleep well on the night before. I managed an hour's nap and then resigned myself to the fact that I was up for the day.

I had a couple of breakfasts. Firstly naan, bananas and juice at 4am, then a pasta with pesto sauce at about 7am. I was avoiding dairy, fibre and protein in that last 24 hours so I wasn't really sure what to eat. It didn't leave much.

I stuffed around for ages, using time that could have been better spent packing my race bags, then headed to Koja Soba for lunch at 11am. Yep: a lot of eating. I dropped Stuart at a press meeting at midday, then went out to organise a couple of things myself.

My race day clothing had been a source of confusion this year. Last year, I wore a one-peice suit which I was really happy with. It was comfortable throughout the whole day but annoying when I developed stomach problems later in the run. I'd decided that a two-piece suit would be better this year in case of toilet emergencies.

I ordered a Louis Garneau top and shorts online from America with a few weeks to spare. I really liked the look of them, but unfortunately the provided sizing chart must have been dodgy and they weren't a great fit. The top was also asvertised as having more pockets than it actually had. Very annoying considering that I paid $40 postage to find that out.

Next up was some TYR gear from the same online company. The clothes were comfortable during a practice run but the top was too short for my liking. After six or more hours of riding, I would have had a nice red strip of sunburn across my lower back. Plus I'd be constantly worrying that my arse was on show for the rest of the field.

So I snuck off to the newish bike shop while Stuart was in his meeting and tried on an outfit that I'd had my eyes on for a while. Thankfully, I loved these Terry shorts and top as soon as I tried them on. The Spinnaker capri pants are the most comfortable bike shorts I've ever worn (and I have worn a lot of lycra in the past couple of years). Shorts which don't cut into the chubby bits above the knees = BRILLIANT. I wasn't sure how these would go under the wetsuit as they're not as fitted as other shorts, and I thought I'd possibly have to change into different shorts for the run because they had a bit of padding, but I didn't care. Because they looked hot!

From there, I went looking for new running socks. Didn't find any though. For some reason I decided that my time would be best spent browsing for new glasses frames instead of going to another sports shop or heading home to pack my race bags.

I picked up Stuart from his meeting at 2pm then went home. He grabbed his camera and went to join Mike at the swim start area to scope out potential spots for good photos. I put on the new race clothes and rode my bike up to the beach for bike check-in. No problems there. I racked my bike and walked around with the boys for a while.

By this stage, I was starting to panic about everything left to do. I had planned to have the bags packed by 5pm, eat dinner by 6pm and be in bed by 8pm, but all of that was looking pretty unlikely. I hurried Stuart along and we headed off to do the rest of the stuff on my list. We took photos of the signs made by Kurima and Shimoji students, went to a bike shop in town for CO2 cartridges and a bigger saddle bag, bought coffee, did some groceries, then went to Koja Soba for the second time that day. I had a delicious curry and rice which pretty much fit the diet description for that day.

Finally home, I tried to stay calm while I packed my swim, bike, run and special foods bags. I stayed away from the computer, wanting to get to bed as early as possible. Stuart would be up for a while getting organised for the next day, so he decided to sleep on the couch. With him out there, Thom in the cat hotel and my ear plugs in, I was confident of getting five or six good hours of sleep. A little more preparation, another sip of water and then I made it to bed, praying for sleep to come quickly!

A rambling Strongman update

2009-04-08T11:57:00.006+09:00

Foot injuries
When I eventually came to on New Year's Day, I realised that my right ankle was sore. It was also a nice shade of purple. I was confused until Stuart said that I probably sustained the mystery injury during my wrestling match with Paddy the previous night. Oh yeah; that happened. That might explain it.

The sprain didn't bother me much while running so I got back to training as usual once we returned to Miyako. I did the Waido half marathon on January 11th with no ankle-related problems. A couple of weeks later though, I noticed a new pain in the same foot.

It felt like a badly bruised heel. The pain was still there a week later so I went to the physio doctor.

He confirmed that I had a sprained ankle and diagnosed the heel pain as plantar fasciitis. He said it was possibly because I was walking and running differently because of the ankle pain. Some other potential causes are overpronation and dramatic increases in mileage. CHECK and CHECK.

The doctor advised me to stop running for two weeks and to withdraw from the Irabu half marathon which was in a few weeks' time. This was unwelcome news because I'd made a new 10km personal best the previous night and felt like I could possibly go under 2 hours in Irabu. I had a whinge but the doctor reminded me that my real goal is the Strongman triathlon. Really, it doesn't matter when I beat my half marathon record. He is a triathlete himself, which made it easier to accept his sensible (but annoying) advice.

I began icing the foot after exercise, doing stretches throughout the day and going to physiotherapy when I had time. Two weeks became a month and it still hadn't improved. So I began doing some short runs and hoping that I wasn't damaging anything further.

Illness
On March 12th, I went to the graduation ceremony for one of my junior high schools. I left home feeling fine but after a couple of hours I developed a sudden and strong fever. Well, at least it seemed that way. I was due at another school for a volleyball match following the graduation but really didn't feel up to it, so I stopped at the convenience store to buy a thermometer.

My temperature was around 38 degrees so I felt justified in heading home to bed instead of visiting the other school. But I checked my temperature again when I got home and found that it had kept on climbing. Slightly delirious, I drove to the hospital for a flu test. This involves sticking a long and skinny cotton bud up the nose until it feels like it hits your brain. Fun!

The test came back negative. They figured it could be another bout of the sinusitis I had last year - but didn't bother testing to check - and prescribed some antibiotics. Then as I was waiting for the drugs, the nurse came and told me that the flu can't actually be diagnosed on the first day of a fever, so I should come back in a few days for another test. Ummm. Why bother sticking something up my nose at all then?

My temperature went up to 40.1 and stayed about there for 36 hours. My back, hips and then knees ached so much! I couldn't sleep. It sucked.

The fever dropped a bit on Saturday afternoon so I headed out for a coffee. Possibly a bad idea because I got exhausted and the fever came back. A second trip to the hospital and a second test showed that I actually had the flu! I hope I hadn't been infecting everyone all day.

After a week or so, I seemed to recover. I was on the mend for three days. And then I got a new cold. Yay! That became sinusitis and lasted for another week.

I sadly spent half of the school holidays feeling crap and the other half very slowly regaining some energy. But now I'm all better!

Training (of lack thereof)
Thanks to my foot, flu and sinusitis, the training has been less than stellar. There was also a cold last year, the one-week booze fest when Teresa visited and a three-week trip to Australia. It all adds up to a lot less training than I did last year. Damn. I decided to go over my training charts from both years and do some comparisons.

I used a 22-week plan for both years. Each week included a short, medium and long distance swim, bike and run. That adds up to 66 workouts for each sport, plus weights and core strength work.

So. Last year I did 53 swims, 57 rides and 51 runs. A pretty good hit rate, I think.

This year, the not-so-grand total is 46 swims, 40 rides and 44 runs. About two-thirds of what I had planned. And that's assuming that I actually do all of the training planned for the next week and a half.

It's interesting to see the differences. Last year I did more cycling than anything else, possibly because I felt like it was my strongest sport and enjoyed getting better at it. After the race itself, I found that swimming was actually my strongest leg. This year I've done less cycling than anything else and ended up swimming most consistently. Maybe I've been practicing my strengths instead of my weaknesses, which is not really the right way to go about training.

It was also strange to see that I've done more running than cycling this year. I feel like I've done hardly any running but I guess that's not the case.

It's not exactly great news, but I'm feeling strangely reassured about my training since I looked at the numbers in this way. My schedule is based on doing each sport three times a week, but others are based on two sessions of each per week. If I was following one of those plans, I'd be right on track!

Also, I bumped into a teacher of mine at the pool last night. He did the race for the first time two years ago and he's competing again this year. When I asked how his training was going, he detailed about 10 - 15 rides, all less than about 50km long. He hasn't done any really long rides, but doesn't seem too concerned about it. If he's not worried, then maybe I shouldn't be? But then again, there's not really much point in comparing myself to other people.

Anyway, the short version is that I've done a lot less training than last year. I don't know whether it's enough to get me through the race but I'll give it a try. I'm hoping that Isla is right when she says that my endurance base will be stronger this year, even if it doesn't feel that way. If so, I can probably achieve similar results with less training. Kind of like doing a half marathon after no training and being only six minutes faster than the same race last year.

Eleven days and counting!

Race report - Waido half marathon

2009-04-08T11:35:00.000+09:00

Three months after the race, but here it is!

I was nervous about this race because it was only five days after returning from the Christmas trip to Melbourne, where I had done considerably more eating and drinking than half marathon training. But I decided to just turn up and hope for the best.

I had an egg and ham bagel for breakfast, a coffee and a Luna bar for lunch, and some energy lolly things while we waited at the start line.

I meant to start my stretches shortly before the race start, but then saw some people I know and got chatting. Suddenly the gun went off and it was time to run! Oops. No stretching for me.

I warmed up and ran pretty comfortably until about 1okm when I came across the dreaded hills. I walked up some of the hills and picked up speed on the downhills to try and balance it out.

I ate a gel at 7km and then again at 14km. I had a cup of Coke at some point, 1/2 a banana and 5 cups of water. I think this was an ok amount to eat because my energy stayed pretty consistent throughout the race.

I was feeling good on the final approach, a long downhill, so I started chasing people down. I passed about five half marathoners, hoping that would make a difference to my finishing place.

I eventually finished in 2 hours 20 minutes. This is 12 minutes slower than my best half marathon time (boo!), but only 6 minutes slower than last year's Waido race for which I'd trained a lot (yay!).

Stuart was running late so I don't have any finish line photos for you. Here's me with my medal:

Once again, the medal depicts the Ueno German Cultural Billage:

Here's the ugly race t-shirt:

And here's some delicious post-race pizza:

A lesson learned

2009-03-25T22:24:00.000+09:00

Don't open Tabasco sachets with your teeth.

Where did I put my glasses?

2009-03-14T22:41:00.003+09:00

Oh, that's right: under the cat's arse.

Glasses, originally uploaded by j9.

Ironman New Zealand results

2009-03-07T20:43:00.002+09:00

Well there are now six more Ironmen / Ironmenwomen (?) in the world! At least I assume that there are; I don't know Charlotte's race number or surname so I wasn't able to stalk her like I did the others.

Here are their results:

Josh - 12:26'37"
(swim - 1:16'32", bike - 6:35'46", run - 4:18'49")

Isla - 13:05'05"
(swim - 1:16'46", bike - 6:46'15", run - 4:34'22")

Te whiti - 13:27'28"
(swim - 1:25'54", bike - 7:14'10", run - 4:28'24")

Anna - 14:01'06"
(swim - 1:16'59", bike - 7:17'50", run - 5:06'40")

Perry - 14:01'07"
(swim - 1:22'33", bike - 6:28'16", run - 5:50'15")

Congratulations, everyone! おめでとうございます! I can't wait to hear all about it.

Ironman New Zealand update

2009-03-07T12:53:00.004+09:00

Everyone finished the bike course in impressive times.

Perry - 6:28 (27.8km/h)

Josh - 6:35 (27.3km/h)

Isla - 6:46 (26.6km/h)

Te whiti - 7:14 (24.9km/h)

Anna - 7:17 (24.7km/h)

And props to Josh for his 4:59 bike to run transition!

Ironman New Zealand!

2009-03-07T10:48:00.005+09:00

Err, no. I'm not doing it.

But six friends, all previous or current Okinawa JETs, are racing right now! They have all been training hard for six months or more and I'm so excited to see how they do. Having said that, I am currently glued to the online athlete tracker!

So far, it tells me that Josh had the fastest swim in 1:16'32", but Isla and Anna were out of the water just seconds after him. Perry finished a couple of minutes after them, and I have no idea where Charlotte finished because I don't know her bib number or last name! Aargh! TeWhiti finished in 1:25'54" - an awesome time for the 3.8km, especially since he only learnt how to swim quite recently! He also had the fastest swim to bike transition, getting his shit together in just 10:20.

I am especially excited about following this race because a few of the people have told me that they were inspired to take on an Ironman race after following my Strongman progress last year - what a great compliment! But of course, I wasn't even interested in triathlon before watching friends including Josh and Perry do the race the year before last. And I wouldn't have persevered with my snail's pace training if it weren't for Isla cheering me on since the very first kilometre.

It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to know that we are inspiring each other to do our best.

Gambarre!

Fingers crossed!

2009-02-25T11:08:00.003+09:00

After a seemingly endless wait, applications for The Best Job in the World have closed! Now it's all hands on deck at Tourism Queensland as they sort through over 34,000 video applications (including mine! and Sam 's!) to decide on a short list of only 50 applicants by the 2nd of March.

Those 50 people will then be asked to submit further information to support their one-minute long video applications, including another photograph and a short essay. I am really hoping to get to this stage in the application process. One-minute isn't much time to summarise all the reasons you'd be perfect for the job - unless, of course, you opted to make one of those fast-talking videos which read like a rug emporium's TV commercial. (I'm not joking. I saw them.)

If I get the chance, I'm thinking I'll write about:

my personal and employment history
why I would love the job
my travel experience
my favourite things
my ability to inspire enthusiasm in others
the reasons I have maintained this blog and my Flickr page for years now
the live-in web developer / technical assistant (read: husband) who would join me on Hamilton Island

Actually, that seems like quite a lot to cover in 300 - 500 words. I'd better get cracking!

I'll let you know what ends up happening. But in the meantime, please cross your fingers for me!

One-word answers

2009-02-19T11:59:00.003+09:00

A did a quiz forwarded from a friend the other night, with the rule that I had to answer each question with just one word.

This was sometimes trickier than expected and I found myself wanting to write Japanese words a few times. I had never really thought about it before, but you can say a lot with one word here!

yaritakunai - I don't want to do it
yamerarenai - I can't stop
zenzen - not at all
basshirain - I can never forget this (in Miyako dialect)
atsukaribanaran - I'm sick of this hot weather (in Miyako dialect)

Anyway, these were my answers:

Where is your mobile phone?
bag

Your significant other?
Stuarto

Your hair?
sweaty

Your mothers name?
Leanne

Your fathers name?
Peter

Your favourite thing?
food

Your dream last night?
brother

Your favourite drink?
beer

Your dream/goal?
Strongman

What room are you in?
tatami

Your hobby?
triathlon

Your fear?
earthquakes

Where do you want to be in 6 years?
Melbourne

Where were you last night?
home

Something that you aren't?
rich

Muffins?
yes

Wish list item?
lots

Last thing you did?
cycling

What are you wearing?
bathers

TV?
lots

Your pets?
stupid

Friends?
yes

Your life?
great

Your mood?
average

Missing someone?
yes

Drinking?
water

Smoking?
no

Your car?
Toppo!

Something you're not wearing?
shoes

Your favourite store?
PizzaLa

Your favourite colour?
variable

When is the last time you cried?
yesterday

Who will resend this?
Betty

Where do you go to over and over?
school

Five people who email me regularly?
friends

My favourite place to eat?
Melbourne

Favourite place I'd like to be now?
bed

Stop wasting power

2009-02-02T08:54:00.003+09:00

Here's an article about a Facebook group my cousin started after ridiculously hot temperatures in Melbourne last week led to rolling blackouts across the city. I'm glad to be here in 24-degree weather and away from the melting tram tracks!

Race report - Shimoji ekiden (30th November, 2008)

2009-01-23T14:57:00.004+09:00

Ok. This race was a loooong time ago now, and I actually ran for less than five minutes. But, in the interests of keeping a full record of my races here, I'll bang something out.

Ekiden means a long-distance relay race. The sport was invented here in Japan! Here's an interesting article about the famous Hakone new year's ekiden race.

All of my schools have ekiden races, and I've heard of town ekiden races, but I had never competed in one.

One night while handing over the maintenance money to the danchi supervisor, he slipped into conversation that I might be needed in the danchi ekiden team. Err...what?

It turned out that there would be a 20km long town ekiden in about a month's time, with teams from different areas competing for glory.

'Don't worry!' he assured me. 'The woman's course is only 1km.'

Oh, ok. One kilometre is nothing. I'll practice heaps and run it in a ridiculously fast time!

Fast forward one month. I had practiced running my 1km course only TWICE. And while I hadn't drunk the night before, I had eaten about half of my body weight at a Thanksgiving dinner. Possibly not the best preparation for a sprint race?

I ran the 10 minutes to the start point for my leg as a bit of a warmup, and Stuart drove up there to keep me company and take some photos. I tried to look particularly serious while I stretched to psych out my six competitors. Not long before the start, the kaicho drove up to give me a race update, an energy drink and to offer some advice.

Apparently our danchi's team had taken an early lead and was looking strong. Advice-wise, he said that we're always told to run races at "my pace". But today was not a day for running at my pace: today was a day for running fast. Way to put the pressure on, guy.

Myself and the six other women waited eagerly for the first runner to appear at the bend. I have to admit that I was kind of relieved when it wasn't my team member.

My man eventually arrived, sixth out of seven runners, and passed on the sash. Stuart had time for a quick photo and then I was out of there!

This was definitely the fastest I have ever run. In my whole life. My hands went numb as blood was redirected to my legs and I quickly lost any conscious thought other than 'MUST..RUN..FAST'.

Someone from the danchi rode next to me the whole time cheering me on. That was a nice gesture but it was a bit much trying to run fast and understand Japanese.

Four minutes and twenty-four seconds later, I pulled up to the finish line and passed on the sash to the 7th runner in our team. Thank god.

I coughed and spluttered for the rest of the afternoon but I was really happy with my time - it was 20 seconds faster than I'd managed during either of my trial runs.

I found out at the after party that I'd come third out of the seven people in my section! The rest of the team were impressed and said that I should try the 3km course next year. Hmmm. Maybe with a little more training.

Oh. Just one more thing:

What kind of food would you expect to eat at a post-race party?

Horse sashimi, apparently.

Australia update

2008-12-22T19:49:00.001+09:00

Hi Beatka. I am typing on my laptop on one couch while you are typing on your laptop on another couch. That's about all that's happening.

That is all.

En route

2008-12-16T23:19:00.002+09:00

Pretty lights, originally uploaded by j9.

I am tapping away from my iPhone in our Nagoya airport hotel. We made it this far today and will depart for Melbourne via Singapore tomorrow morning at 9:40!

I've had two dreams about returning home in the past week or so. Well, not specifically about the trip but obviously borne of my brain trying to comprehend it all.

In the first, I was at the Miyako onsen when I bumped into a bunch of girls I hadn't seen before. They spoke perfect English and were part of the local netball team! Sadly, there is no such team on the island.

Then, a couple of nights ago, I dreamt that I was on an airport escalator which became incredibly steep. To the point where my legs were dangling and the only thing that stopped me plummeting to the floor was my awesome grip on the handrails. That was pretty terrifying. I hope it never happens.

More amusingly, I was wondering the other day about how I could maintain some fitness on the bike while in Melbourne. Running and swimming will be straightforward enough but I don't have a bike to use. I had the brainwave of doing my first ever spin class. And my next thought was that I must remember to pack my indoor shoes for the class. Except that yeah, indoor shoes don't exist there.

Two more (terrible) sleeps until we're home!

Star gazing

2008-12-13T18:52:00.002+09:00

My principal stood up in the middle of school lunch yesterday to make an impromptu speech. The only things I understood were tomorrow's date and the words 'full moon'. But my teacher filled me in: there will be a meteor shower tonight! And I love me some shooting stars.

It's kind of cloudy here and there's a fullish moon so apparently it will be difficult to see all but the brightest stars. But I'll give it a go.

I also learnt that in the Japanese wish-on-a-shooting-star rules, you have to make your wish three times before the star disappears! That's asking a bit much, isn't it?

New jacket

2008-11-27T11:45:00.001+09:00

I got this new jacket and it's making me very happy.

That is all.

And so it begins.

2008-11-20T12:10:00.003+09:00

I started my 22-week Strongman training plan on Monday. I'm slower than I used to be and I'm already sore.

Upcoming events:

This Sunday - Irabu triathlon (or part of it).

Next Sunday - I'm representing our building in the town's long distance relay race.

December 14 - Shimoji Junior High School's annual 47km run.

January 11 - Waido Marathon (half marathon).

Race report - 2008 Turtle Marathon

2008-10-27T10:12:00.003+09:00

Another weekend, another race. True it was only two weekends in a row but it certainly felt like more.

On Sunday morning I ran the 22.8km course in Miyako's Turtle Marathon. In this race, there is no prize for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Everyone gets a medal, certificate and towel, regardless of how slow they are. Thus, the Turtle Marathon.

I walked the 10km course for my first two years here, which felt like more than enough exercise at the time:

That was back when the course went straight along the relatively busy Gusukube road. The organisers had switched to a less busy - and more hilly - course this year. This was my first time running the event, and also my first time doing the half marathon course. It would also be my longest run since the Strongman marathon in April. Eek!

Sunday morning was clear and sunny, and by 7am it was already 24 degrees. For breakfast, I ate my recent standard of oatmeal, banana and cinnamon along with a coffee and orange juice. I got my iPod stuff together and packed a drink, towel and some food for after the race. It's amazing how quickly you can pack for a race when you're only doing one sport instead of three!

Here I am on race morning:

I met up for some pre-race chat and stretching with Jonathan, Jason and Greg at the start line. We were all worried about the sun and the heat but there wasn't much we could do about that.

The gun sounded and we were off!

I kept a good steady pace until about the 13km point, even running up the hills and overtaking a few people. I'd eaten a couple of gels and drank water at each aid station. But as it got hotter and I became more tired, I started walking for longer and longer stretches.

I finished my previous half marathon - at Irabu in February - in 2:08. Allowing for my lack of fitness and training, I was expecting to finish in about 2:30 this time. However once I started all the walking, I realised this wasn't going to happen. I ended up jogging over the finish line at 2:54.

The finish time wasn't great but I wasn't too disappointed. No injuries, no blisters. And all the other triathlete types I saw there assured me that this race signifies the start of the Strongman training season. All the real work starts from now.

Here's me post-race with Jona, Jason and Greg. They all finished a bit slower than they had hoped to but well before I crossed the line.

Erika kindly dropped me home and then I got straight on the phone with Pizza La for some post-race deliciousness. Mmmm...

Here's my medal:

And here's my towel:

Next race: Shimoji JHS's annual 47km run on December 14th.

Race report - 2008 Rough Water Swim

2008-10-20T14:09:00.006+09:00

After deciding not to do the Izena triathlon this year - partly because I didn't feel ready to start training again in earnest, but mostly because I didn't want to spend the $1000 or so for travel and accommodation - I signed up for the 3km Rough Water Swim and a half marathon to keep me honest. I figured I would focus on swimming and running and then introduce bike training again following the half marathon in late October.

Well. It turns out that "focus" might be too strong a word for what I've been doing. Sure I've been training in both sports, but not at the frequency, intensity or duration that I could have been.

Anyway.

Saturday started like this:

There was heavy rain on Friday and I'd decided that I wouldn't be doing the swim if the weather didn't improve. I'm still not 100% comfortable swimming in the ocean and this wasn't a key race for me, so I didn't want to spend an hour or so in absolute terror if I could avoid it. As it turns out, the rain (unfortunately?) cleared up and we had a beautiful sunny day for the race.

Dave, who was also doing the 3km race, his girlfriend Chiho and I waited at the finish line to cheer for Jona who successfully completed his first 5km (!) ocean swim. We took a few photos and then I realised that there was only about 15 minutes to squeeze into my wetsuit and warm-up before the race started at 11:30am. Aaargh!

In my hurry to get the suit on, I forgot all about using Body Glide on my legs. That made it even trickier to get into the (rather tight) suit which I hadn't worn since April. I really had to yank it up, but I was eventually zippered up after about 10 minutes. That gave me enough time for a very quick warmup and to accidentally coat my goggles lenses in sunscreen.

Dave and I walked out onto the floating pier, ready for the starters' gun. With about 20 seconds to spare until the start of the race, I figured out how the stopwatch function on my watch! And then we were off!

The course had us swimming parallel to the shore for 750 metres and then returning to the start point. We did two laps, adding up to 3km. Thanks to my awesome watch programming abilities, I can tell you that my 750m lap splits were:

750m - 22 min
1500m - 17 min
2250m - 26 min
3000m - 20 min

So as you can probably gather from those , we were fighting a pretty strong current in one direction. And I must have gotten tired toward the end because I slowed down on the second return stretch.

The third leg, from 1500 - 2250 metres, was just torture! It seemed to take forever. I kept convincing myself that I must be almost there, but I'd look up and the buoy was still a speck in the distance. Urgh!

I also had some pretty painful chafing on my neck and arms quite early on despite remembering to use my Body Glide there. But I hung in there, knowing that I would finish sooner or later.

I'm not yet sure of my official time, but my watch said 1:25'59".

That's 12 minutes faster than last year's Rough Water Swim, but 24 minutes slower than my 3km swim in the Strongman triathlon. I'm not sure exactly where that leaves me. Keeping in mind that the conditions on Saturday were worse than both of those previous swims, I guess I'll say that I was pretty slow but that wasn't entirely due to my lack of preparation.

A few post-race observations:

I got a blister. From pulling on my wetsuit. MOST PATHETIC RACE INJURY. EVER.

In Australia, on the few and far between occasions when I wore bathers or shorts, the bathers were short and the shorts were long. Now it appears that I wear long bathers and short shorts. When did that start happening?

Not realising that we had to sign up in advance to get a t-shirt, we missed out last year. But this year I walked away with this sweet shirt!

Unfortunately, it's yet another race shirt which is too big for wearing outside the house. The mindset which recently made me purchase a non-refundable skirt that's two sizes bigger than me is also making me circle the wrong t-shirt size on race applications. It's time to bite the bullet and start circling 'small'. Worst case scenario, I end up with a shirt that's too small and I won't be able to wear it except at home. Which is exactly the situation I'm in now anyway.

So the race left me with a lacklustre finish time, chafing, a stupid blister, and a too-big t-shirt. But also the first trepid thoughts about next year's Strongman. Ooo!

Happy birthday to me!

2008-10-14T12:19:00.000+09:00

Setting out to type up a new post this morning, I found that I'd written this entry about my birthday almost four months ago and then saved it as a draft. I'm have no idea why I never posted it. Anyway, enjoy this belated report of my 29th birthday!

It was a weird birthday this year because I wasn't really excited about it. I couldn't think of any present ideas and didn't really make a party plan until about 4pm on the day. But it still ended up being a really good day. Here's a recap.

In anticipation of all the empty alcohol calories I'd be drinking that night, I got myself up for a 5km run in the morning. It was already 30 degrees or so by that time. Upon arriving home I woke Stuart up to make me some damn breakfast. Mmm... bacon and egg samidge.

Then we played 9 holes of golf at the short course near our place. That was great except Stu had a massive tanty because he was playing badly. I had the brainwave while on the course that golf clubs would be a good present, so we went out and chose some clubs afterwards. And some red shoes too.

Then I ordered a heap of pizza with some membership points I hadn't realised I had. And I can tell you, the only thing that tastes better than pizza is FREE PIZZA.

Me, Stu and Jona had a little pizza party at our place then me and Jona went to the beach. Stu's still not keen on the beach so he stayed home and had a nap.

Everyone was at the beach so we swam, formulated a plan for the night and "layed out" - that's Amurrican for 'sunbaked'. I ate some pizza while I did it.

At 8pm we went to an izakaya and had their $25 all you can eat and drink course. Yep. $25 for non-stop food and booze, with no time limit.

It's mental. I got lots of nice presents there, most of which are documented on Flickr.

We boozed for a few hours, then had three hours at karaoke.

I got a birthday discount there! Sang lots of songs and had a surprise birthday cake. I had the foresight to take a list of the top songs from 1979 (my birth year) and encouraged people to use the list for guidance.

Some of the songs which were sung from the list:

Rapper's Delight - The Sugarhill Gang
I Fought the Law - The Clash
Is She Really Going Out With Him? - Joe Jackson
The Gambler - Kenny Rogers
In the Navy - Village People
You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth - Meat Loaf
Roxanne - The Police
My Sharona - The Knack

Next we went to a little bar and danced for ages. I even had Stu doing the two-step shuffle with me at one point. He said that will never happen again. I should have taken a photo while I could have.

From there we went to the sports bar because we knew some friends had been there watching the soccer European Cup since 3:30am. We hung out there for a while until I realised it was daylight and hot and probably high time that we went home. Got a taxi home and I passed out on the couch with the aircon pumping.

I slept until early afternoon and then Teresa came to pick me up and drive me to our car. We stopped in at the air-conditioned Baskin Robbins and I had a massive iced mocha which may well be my new favourite hangover drink.

Then I came home with a bit of time to clean the house and eat (lime/coriander marinated chicken and rice) before my former teacher came over for some help with a translation project.

And that's about it! I wish I could have seen all you guys but it was still a good day. I have a bunch of photos on Flickr.

Race report - Nike+ 10km Human Race (31.08.08)

2008-10-14T11:34:00.002+09:00

I ran this race about six weeks ago now and it was definitely nothing to write home / blog about. But yesterday I realised that I have written about all my other races - even the non-official ones with friends - so I should probably document this one too.

I loved the idea of this race: the world's biggest ever running race! Sadly that enthusiasm didn't lead to dedicated training. I ran 5 to 7km a few times a week in the lead up to the race but avoided any long runs. It was TOO DAMN HOT.

Race day was the last day of summer, but summer lasts a lot longer here than it does in other parts of the world. (Halfway through autumn, today is 28 degrees and 70% humidity). I was dreading the heat:

I had also given up on my previous goal of a 10km personal best well before race day, but never considered not doing it. Here's me on race morning, trying to look enthusiastic.

Race morning!, originally uploaded by j9.

The first 4km or so of my chosen route went by without incident. It was bloody hot but thoughts of tens of thousands of other people running in similar or worse conditions kept me in good spirits.

Then, for no reason at all, my iPod decided to throw a fit. It politely told me "workout completed", although I hadn't touched any buttons to stop the recording for the run. Bastard!

I figured that the Nike+ site would probably only recognise me as doing the Human Race if I'd run 10km at one time. By that thinking, my options were to run 10km from that point (so a total of 14km), or to give up on the race.

Well, it was bloody hot but I decided to sack up and run another 10km. I wanted to be part of the race!

Then, about 5 metres down the road, the iPod died again!

And again.

And again.

I gave up on the idea of running a whole new 10km since my iPod was being so unreliable; there was no guarantee that the stupid thing wouldn't have another tanty at 9.5km. Instead, I decided to just run 10km in total for my own peace of mind and try not to be bothered if that wasn't enough to be considered part of the race.

All up, it took me about 12 attempts to reach 10km in total. The heat made me a bit delirious and I was having trouble adding up the distances in my head, so I actually headed home at one point. I opened up my computer's calculator and entered all the recent distances from the iPod history. It turned out I had another 800 metres to go, so I had a quick drink and then headed out for the final stretch.

All in all, it was pretty horrible. It was stinking hot and really sunny. It was my first 10km run in a LONG time. And the iPod problem pissed me off so much!

A while after uploading my run, I checked the Human Race site and was much relieved to see that I had been counted as a race finisher! At least it wasn't all for nothing.

My final time was close enough to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Pretty disappointing considering I'd intitally been hoping to beat my personal best of 1:00'01". But I guess it's not so bad when I account for the heat, the lack of training, and all the walk breaks while I tried to sort out what the hell was going on with the iPod.

Interestingly, I read through some Human Race forums on the Nike+ site later that week and found that lots of people had reported the same problem with their iPods. For me and these other runners, it was the first time to experience this problem. But surely nothing about the fact that it was race day could affect the iPods, right?

Weird.

Operation Halloween costume

2008-10-06T22:46:00.001+09:00

Halloween costume supplies, originally uploaded by j9.

Check out this pile of stuff which I bought from the department store today!

It's sad to think that all that time spent measuring ribbons and comparing fabric swatches will be wasted as soon as I actually thread a needle. I can't sew for shit.

I had to make a pair of shorts in my high school home economics class and they were a total disaster. My friend Belinda and I had decided that it would be cool if we made shorts which would match each other - one leg in her material and one leg in mine. Unfortunately we neglected to account for the fact that one of the materials was stretchy and the other wasn't, so my shorts ended up with one skin tight leg and one baggy leg.

Ten points if you can guess which character I am hoping to create out of this pile.

A return to running

2008-06-20T11:59:00.000+09:00

All the triathlon stuff I read - and there is a lot of it - says people should focus on improving their weakest sport during the 'off season'. It seems that winter / spring is the off season for most triathletes, but for me it is definitely spring / summer. Well, post-Strongman spring and most of summer. Even if Strongman wasn't in April, I would probably try to avoid doing much training in summer because it's so damn hot.

Izena 88 triathlon is on November 2nd this year and I'm only planning on doing about 10 to 12 weeks of training for it. Maybe less, depending on how lazy I'm feeling. This means that I may not be at my highest possible fitness for Izena, but at least I won't be totally sick of training by the time Strongman rolls around next April. Like I was this year.

So as I was saying, now is my off season. I'm still exercising for at least 30 minutes per day, for five or six days per week. I always planned to stay fit during this period, and to try out some different sports, but I wasn't concerned about making any great fitness gains. I certainly had no interest in working on my weakness, which is undoubtedly running. But it seems I have accidentally started doing just that.

For the past month or so, I've been running three times a week. Once I ran four times in a week! I can't even remember the last time I did that. It was definitely before my Strongman training started in earnest, because doing a fourth run in a week would have meant cutting a workout from another discipline.

These runs are nothing spectacular. Only usually 5km or 6km if I'm feeling keen, and I'm not breaking any speed records. But I am getting out there more regularly and have even run before school (gasp!) twice this week!

Some of the highlights from my Return To Running include:

This shining example of a negative split:

Motivation in the form of an online race against Isla! It's true that Isla ('MiyakoPookie') doesn't actually know about our race, or else she would be kicking my arse. But it's entertaining for me to calculate just how much I'm winning or losing "the race" by after each run. Simple things, simple minds, etc.

I longed to get a stitch during a run so that I could test out the magical cure I read about on Joe Friel's blog. My day finally came (two stitches in one run!) and was amazed to find that it worked!

I'm really excited about this Nike+ 10km race on August 31st. 'The Human Race' will be the world's largest ever running event. There are real life races being run in 25 of the world's most scenic cities, and tonnes of Nike+ runners will be doing their own races and then logging their results online. It's a pretty massive thing to be a part of. I can't wait to hear how many people actually ran on the day. My current 10km record is 1:00'01" so I'll be aiming for something under that. Unfortuantely this means that I'll have to actually start running longer than 6km again soon.

Hello, new JETs!

2008-06-04T13:21:00.004+09:00

Well, it's that time of the year again. Five of you are scouring the internet for facts and photos of your JET placement: Miyako-jima Shi, Okinawa-ken.

Congratulations on your placement!

When I first started JET three years ago, I wasn't sure I'd like the place. I wasn't sure I'd even last the full year here. But here I am, about to start my fourth year. What can I say? This is an awesome place to live!

My blog doesn't make for the most informative reading around, I'm afraid. But these links might be useful if you haven't found them yet:

Okinawa JET

Wikipedia

Miyako weather (It's the rainy season now, but not for long. Don't be put off!)

My photos on Flickr

Miyako-jima group on Flickr

Your predecessors will be in touch soon, but also feel free to mail me if you have any questions.

We're all looking forward to meeting you soon!

Something That Shits Me: A Blog Entry

2008-06-02T10:46:00.005+09:00

Although the summer holidays are still six weeks away, I have begun the groundwork for my summer reading collection. It's been a while since I bought new books so I had managed to forget the relatively recent and highly annoying addition of 'A Novel' to about 80% of modern fiction titles.

In my first cursory glance at Amazon's Bargain Fiction and Literature section, I spotted:

Capturing Paris: A Novel

Frangipani: A Novel

Heir to the Glimmering World : A Novel

Sacred Games: A Novel

Sweetness in the Belly: A Novel

The Corrections: A Novel

The Dramatist: A Novel

The Girls: A Novel

The Lincoln Lawyer : A Novel

The Memory of Running: A Novel

The Myth of You and Me: A Novel

The Shadow Catcher: A Novel

The Spellman Files: A Novel

And the list goes on.

I also noticed some emergent sub-categories in the 'title-colon-a novel' title structure. There are authors who want to express exactly what kind of novel we're talking about:

City of Shadows: A Novel of Suspense

Those who think their work of fiction isn't best encapsulated by the word 'novel':

The Pleasure of My Company: A Novella

Unseen: A Mystery

And those who think a more descriptive title is called for:

Royal Harlot: A Novel of the Countess Castlemaine and King Charles II

When did this trend start? And why?! Of course it's a fucking novel! You don't need to tell us! Does this herald the start of sweeping marketing changes?

Bic pen: a writing implement?

Fuji apples: fresh fruit?

Umbrella: to be used on rainy days?

I'm not smart enough to write a novel myself but I can certainly identify one without the explanatory sub-title.

Aargh!

Gone too soon

2008-05-27T15:47:00.002+09:00

For just five short months

I tasted deliciousness

Pizza shop, don't close!

2008 Miyako Strongman: the following month

2008-05-21T10:44:00.003+09:00

Post-race

The five or ten minutes immediately after crossing the finish line passed in a bit of a blur of hugs, kisses and photos. It seemed like everyone was there! I excitedly talked with Stuart and the friends and students who had supported me throughout the day. I also got to congratulate Yuko, Greg and Chikage who had all crossed the line a few minutes before me.

The guy who had interviewed me for Miyako TV a couple of weeks earlier was doing post-race interviews at the finish line. He's a really nice guy. After offering his congratulations, he lined me up for an interview.

I had suspected that I might be interviewed at the finish line and had even thought through some phrases I'd like to say. The main point that I wanted to get across - the phrase I'd forgotten to say in my previous TV interview - is that anyone can do it (dare demo dekiru). I wanted to encourage any other people who thought that triathlon sounded like a good challenge but not something that they could achieve.

Unfortunately for those future triathletes though, all of the phrases I had rehearsed were forgotten once the cameras pointed at me. I just said that I'd done well up until halfway through the run but then I slowed then. And that I thanked my friends and students who had supported me through the race. It was pretty boring stuff but I guess I should be thankful that I could speak Japanese at all after 14 hours of exercise.

Jona and Justin had both finished well before me (Jona in 11:59, Justin in around 12:30) so they had stretched, eaten and rested by the time I arrived. We congratulated each other and took a couple of photos but then they both headed home to showers and bed. I need to get some slower friends so I have some fellow triathletes to hang out with after races!

After all the photos were done, I shuffled over to the track and sat down to stretch! Ah... it was a good feeling to finally be off my feet! My stomach had settled enough that I could run the final 7km at a decent clip but it was still feeling a bit fragile. I ate the delicious Luna Bar which Teresa had given me for a recovery food but I struggled to eat much more than that. I drank some water and sports drink and chatted to everyone while I stretched a bit.

Before long came the inevitable question: will you do it next year? Hmm, I don't think that's necessary. There were perfect conditions, I was really happy with my performance; I don't think I need to do it again.

After checking whether my special needs bag had turned up (it hadn't), we packed everything up and headed home.

Under the kitchen lights I realised that I really was sunburnt. I also had a nice new temporary tattoo: a white number 140 on the red background of my left upper arm. I took a long-awaited shower in lukewarm water and then had Stuart slather me in after-sun lotion. Surprisingly my quads were the only muscles which hurt, so I stretched them out a bit. And then bed glorious bed!

The following day

I had planned a well-deserved sleep-in for the day after the race but unfortunately my body clock thought I should still be getting up at 5am. Too bad. I stretched my legs a bit, trying to assess the pain factor before actually standing up and walking around. Strangely enough my quads were a bit sore but everything else was fine! I've definitely been sorer after long training rides or runs.

I got up and chatted online with Isla and Perry in England - the only other people awake at that hour. They are both triathletes and Perry did Strongman last year, so they were full of congratulations for me. Isla said it was hard not being in Miyako for the race but she will make up for it when she returns to Miyako next year to do Strongman! She tried to sign me up, saying I couldn't let her do the race by herself. Haha. And Perry even said he was considering doing an Ironman, which would be his longest ever race, partly because he was inspired by my efforts! It was great sharing the victory (of sorts) with them.

After not really eating the night before, I found that my appetite had returned with a vengeance. I ate creamy pasta for breakfast and it tasted better than any pasta I'd ever eaten. I guess I was hungry after all.

At around 9am I collected my bike from the transition area and then picked up Thom from the cat hotel. He was very unimpressed about being sent away for three nights but I really didn't want him disrupting my sleep before the race. Poor kitty.

After that I went for a quick swim at the pool. Nothing strenuous, I just tried to loosen up my legs a bit. I swam and walked for about 30 minutes and then headed home to change for the triathlon closing party.

The party wasn't that exciting but it was good to see a few people and congratulate them. I drank a couple of Strongman beers and ate some sandwiches. The real highlights of the party though were finding my special needs bag in the lost property section, and collecting my certificate.

Stuart and I headed home after the party for some more pasta, then arranged to meet friends at Copacabana for some otsukare (well done?) drinks. Although a bit overshadowed by the race this year, April 21st is also our wedding anniversary! So that called for some celebration too.

After a few drinks, Justin turned up with some of the foreign athletes including Nadelle and Patrick. It was good to see some drunk Australians (other than ourselves) in the bar. It was also a good chance to talk to some real-life triathletes! I've found out almost everything I know about the sport through the internet, books and through triathletes here in Miyako. It's not often that I get to sit down and talk shop (in English) with so many people.

Patrick asked how my Kiwami trisuit had performed during the race. (I guess he spotted it as he flew past me on the run). I had spent countless hours researching trisuits online before deciding on Kiwami's long distance suit, the Kaiiman, based partly on a good review I read on Slow Twitch. Also, it looked hot.

The suit had some loose threads when it arrived but I ignored them because it was a great fit and very comfortable. I was disappointed to see more broken seams and cracked decals after wearing it a few times in training. It was also more difficult to wash dirt from it than from my other tri clothes. But the real disappointment came after the race when I noticed the material had pilled badly under my race bib.

For a fairly expensive piece of clothing, and one designed especially for long distance racing, I was shocked that it held up so poorly during the race. I definitely expected that I'd be able to wear a nice-looking suit for more than one race. Patrick said his Kiwami suit had met the same fate but it was still among the most comfortable suits he'd worn.

A week or so later, I ended up emailing the company with my complaint and some macro photos of the damage. I was told that they couldn't promise anything but to send the suit back to France for inspection and they might replace it for me.

I also had a good chat to Clemens that night - he's a German triathlon who had finished 4th (!) in the Strongman. All the foreign athletes knew from the pre-race meeting that this was my first Strongman and I was expecting to just scrape through, so Clemens was very congratulatory. He asked how I felt about finishing.

Still on a high, I waxed lyrical about the awesome sense of achievement I felt. About how I still didn't really believe that the training would work, so I was kind of amazed when it got me to the finish line. And how there aren't many things in life that you can prepare for and have a guaranteed result like that.

Obviously I was beaming because Clemens thought about it for a second and said that he was kind of jealous. He said it's been a while since he felt that elation at just finishing, because the longer you do triathlon, the more you focus on your time. A professional triathlete, jealous of me! Ha! I thanked him for the compliment and assured him that I was also jealous of him and the other foreign triathletes there, but for different reasons.

We had a couple more drinks and then headed home, very glad that I had taken the following day off work as well.

The following weeks

When I returned to work on the Wednesday, Toyomasa-sensei (who had cheered me on and given me a gel on the run course) was so enthusiastic about the race. He was unable to do the race this year because he has a young baby but he is so pumped to do it next year.

'It'll be the 25th anniversary race! It'll be awesome! We'll do it together right, Janine?!'

First Isla, then Toyomasa. Is this what they mean by peer pressure? Oh well, there was no fighting it.

'Err. Ok. Sign me up!'

While I'm to some extent missing my diet and exercise routine, I'm really enjoying life after Strongman. I'm still exercising about five days a week, but for shorter periods and at lower intensities. I'm not wanting to make any great fitness gains, I just want to enjoy exercise for it's own sake for a while.

Some other highlights of the last month include:

Kiyo-sensei bringing me a hot pizza from Pizza La for a congratulations present!
not having to ride or run in the recent strong winds.
not having to ride or run on rainy days.
going to the beach just to laze around, not swim.
watching movies on the weekends instead of doing 7-hour bike rides.
trying other sports like volleyball, water aerobics and golf (!)
hearing from people who are inspired to start exercising more, attempt a longer triathlon or even do their first ever triathlon!

Next on the agenda is an Olympic distance triathlon in Irabu next month, and possibly a sprint triathlon just for fun. I'll do the 3km ocean swim in October and the next big race will probably be Izena triathlon, also in October. But serious training for that won't start until July or August, so I'll be enjoying my rediscovered freedom until then!

Thanks everyone for reading and thanks again for all the support.

2008 Miyako Strongman: race day

2008-05-09T00:25:00.001+09:00

No more sleeps

I slept well on the night before the race. From 9pm until 12am, that is. I woke up just after midnight and my heart started racing with the knowledge that I'd be leaving for the beach within hours! I got up and talked to Stuart for a while. He was still up doing last-minute support team work: adding music to my iPod, changing my regular shoelaces for elastic ones, experimenting with the various cameras and video cameras. He said a helicopter had just flown overhead and that was probably what woke me up.

That sent my heart up a few more bpm because I started thinking about the press helicopters which would be circling the beach in the morning. I eventually got back to bed and tried to calm my breathing until I fell asleep. Stuart ended up coming to bed at 2am.

And then the alarm went off at 4am.

Race morning

The morning was no different than usual in that my first priorities were food and coffee. I wanted to eat early enough for everything to digest properly before the race. Breakfast was two packs of instant oatmeal with a banana, orange juice and black coffee. No latte for me because I had vowed to avoid dairy all day; it's apparently one of the things that can lead to a dodgy stomach during the run.

I spent longer than usual adjusting my trisuit when I put it on. I would be wearing the outfit for at least 17 hours that day so I wanted to make sure it was comfortable.

Then Stuart and I gathered up the many cameras, the swim bag, bike bag, run bag, special needs bag, post-race bag and Stuart's bag, and lumbered down to the car. Thankfully I had handed over my bike at the compulsory check-in the day before - one less thing to carry. We also left a set of keys in the letter box in case any of the J Team had to make an emergency stop near our house.

We stopped at the convenience store en route to the beach so that Stuart could buy some food and I could use the toilet. I was very keen to minimise my use of the inevitably disgusting portable toilets during the day.

Expecting to have to park the car miles away, we were surprised when the traffic warden looked at my race ID and ushered us through to the hotel entrance. When we were stopped again, I just showed my ID and said 'senshu desu' (I'm an athlete) and we were sent through again. Awesome! Stuart said he would try saying the same thing throughout the day if he ran into any traffic restrictions. Although I think they might have wondered why he was driving a car rather than a bike. Still, worth a shot. Stuart dropped me off with all the bags and then went to find a park.

I took a second to think.

Wow. This is it.

It's race day and I'm here.

I. AM. PUMPED.

Pre-race

I had no idea where to register and couldn't remember which of the bags I'd put the race guide in. So I just harassed the nearest familiar face, a Korean man who I'd seen speaking perfect English at the foreign athlete's party.

'Excuse me! Do you remember me?! We met the other night! Do you know where the registration is?! I have no idea!'

'Ok. Just calm down. I'm trying to find it, too. It's probably down this way, where all the people are.'

Hmm. I guess some cracks had appeared in my seasoned triathlete facade.

Sure enough, the registration was where all the people were. The closer I got to the tents, the louder the buzz of anticipation. In the pre-dawn light, with people dressed in fluorescent lycra and camera flashes going off everywhere, it kind of looked like a rave. Once I started thinking that, the comparisons were endless. Except for the drugs, of course. More on that another time, though.

First stop was body marking. I had my lucky (hopefully) number 140 written on my left arm in a black marker which was sure to smudge. Then I moved to Teresa and Hiroko's tent to receive my timing chip. Hiroko took this photo before I headed over to the bag deposit tents.

I dropped off my special needs bag for the run. This optional bag could be accessed twice on the run, for whatever you thought you might need at the time. I'd included some socks, pain killers and a variety of savoury and sweet foods including some Chip Star (like mini Pringles) and a delicious looking strawberry pound cake.

Next, I met up with Stuart and headed to the bike area. The transition set-up for Strongman was different to other races I'd done in that your bike transition bag was kept on a separate rack (not with the bike). The order would be: do the swim, shower, grab your transition bag, get dressed in the changing tents, hand in your transition bag (now full of your swimming stuff), go to your bike. So anything that was left with your bike had to be either taken with you or left behind, it wouldn't be returned to you.

I loaded up my bike bag with Powergels, pre-cut Powerbars and cookies, a water bottle, a sports drink bottle, salt tablets and my mobile phone. I put an old towel and 2L water bottle beneath my bike for washing off my feet. Most people don't bother with this but I hate the thought of cycling and running with sandy and dirty feet. I left my bike shoes, socks, helmet and gloves. My iPod and a couple of other random things went into the bike transition bag which I hung up near the changing tents.

My bike stuff sorted out, I headed over to meet Jona and Justin on a nearby grassy area. It was good to sit down away from most of the people for a while and chill out. These would be the last moments of rest until 9pm that night.

Then began some serious BodyGlide application. I wanted to slide out of that suit like a glazed ham. If a ham ever wore a wetsuit. The boys only usually lube around the arms and neck - the chafing danger zones! But I have more lumps and bumps to pull the suit over.

Sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the childish jokes will begin once the J Team begins to strip off and lube up. It was good to have a laugh together and relax before the madness began. At some point during the great lubrication, I noticed the beautiful sunrise. Photographer Stuart took the first of the day's 1700 photos.

I tried to remember the saying old saying. Red sky at night, someone's delight? Red sky in the morning, someone's warning? Eeek! I didn't know what it all meant so I took it as a good omen. I invented many good omens for myself in the days before the race.

And actually, as the sun came up, I noticed how good the weather seemed. There was no wind and some cloud cover. The boys tried telling me there were massive waves in the ocean but they couldn't keep straight faces. The water was flat as a pancake. Woohoo!

Finally ready, I dropped my run bag (for the 2nd transition) and swim bag (now containing my bike pump and the clothes I had worn that morning) in the separate trucks and we walked toward the swim start.

Stuart pulled me aside and I managed to focus my attention for a second while he wished me good luck. Well he said good luck but what I think he meant 'Don't drown! Don't crash your bike! Don't cross the finish line with horsey legs, a la Julie Moss in the 1982 Ironman.'

I scanned my timing chip and entered the beach.

The swim

Jona, Justin and I wandered around for a while, saying hello and good luck to the people we could recognise within the sea of black wetsuits and predominantly pink caps. I'm not really sure why some people get green or orange hats. Someone said it's if you've done the race a lot of times, but someone else said it's based on registration numbers.

We saw Yoshiko, a friend from my old ikebana class, brandishing a press pass and a camera at some point. She took a photo of the three of us in front of the water. Justin has since bought the print so I'll have to get a copy.

I headed past the 'fast swimmers' and 'mediocre swimmers' signs (seriously!) to have a quick warm-up swim in the designated practice area. In the end, it was more of a warm-up float. But I was pleased to find that the water was not only flat, it was also a good temperature.

I continued warming up with some light stretches on the beach. The longer the race, the shorter the warm-up. I read that the swim should serve as your warm-up in a long race like Strongman, so I didn't want to overdo it.

At some point we heard Sam - fellow ALT and volunteer announcer on the day - call out 'Go the J Team!' over the loud speaker. I got a good laugh out of that.

We spent some time deciding where to position ourselves for the swim start. I'm not a fast swimmer but I'm not the slowest either. I had thought I'd hold back for a minute after the start but stay relatively close to the course rope, a plan based on the advice I heard at Izena triathlon. The advice to faster swimmers there was to start away from the rope and cut across diagonally. This would apparently save them time overall because they wouldn't have to battle with slower swimmers by the ropes.

However Justin pointed out that the rope was firmly within the 'fast swimmers' zone, as marked by the signs. I changed my strategy. I would start about 25 metres out from the rope and swim diagonally across to the first turn. Swimmers would hopefully have thinned out after that first turn, so I would try to stick to the rope from that point (to make the course as short as possible).

I joined in the usual pre-race cheers, even though I didn't know what I was cheering for. Probably something along the lines of 'we'll fight to the end' or something.

I did some deep breathing and tried to get focused. I thought about the year of hard training, the early morning rides and the late night swims. I thought about all that effort, and the subsequent 28kg weight loss. I thought about the support from friends and family. I was so happy to start the race and finally reap the rewards of my hard work. I felt ready.

Suddenly, everyone started cheering. Former Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi had arrived by boat to start the race. I couldn't see him but it was still exciting. Stuart kind of loves him because he's so smooth.

I had time for a couple more deep breaths and then we were off!

The swim course might be best described as a rhombus. The course rope runs diagonally out from the shore for 600 metres. Then there's a right turn and people swim parallel to the shore for 1100 metres. At the 1700-metre buoy, there is another right turn and a 1300-metre diagonal swim back to the shore.

The first stretch was a shitfight, but it always is. And I was well-prepared after doing three group swims this year. I swam with one arm constantly in front of me until the other caught up, so I could avoid being kicked in the head. That technique worked out pretty well. I took a kick to the boobs early on and was slapped around my legs a bit, but it was nothing serious.

I also gave as good as I got! If someone slapped my feet, I ignored it the for the first one or two times. If it continued, I began kicking like a donkey to frighten them off!

The slight current was in our favour so it was an easy swim. After about 200 metres, I took my first look around me. Up until that point, I'd been focused on not getting hit and not drowning. Oh shit! That's a massive crab down there! Then a couple of seconds later, it dawned on me: oh double shit. It's not a crab; it's a bloody human! And if the human looks that small, I must be in really deep water.

Eek.

Yes, I had mistaken a safety diver for a crustacean thanks to my distant vantage point. Water that deep (maybe 4 metres?) would usually freak me right out but I was strangely calm about it on race day. I acknowledged that it was deep - certainly deep enough for scary creatures - then I just got on with the swim. I don't know what you'd call this. A coping mechanism? Prioritisation? Denial? Either way, I like it.

I had been swimming diagonally across the course to reach the rope for some time when I noticed the swimmers had thinned out a little. There weren't many people around me at all. That's right. Sighting! I should really check where the next buoy is. Hmm. I had overshot the turn by about 10 metres and had to spend a bit of time getting back on course.

From there it was pretty straightforward. There weren't many people around so I focused on picking up speed and getting to the 1700-metre point within the cut off. There were marked buoys every 100 metres. The first one I spotted was at 1300 metres so I knew I didn't have far to go. I tried checking my watch but it was a bit impossible while swimming and I didn't want to slow down until I'd reached 1700 metres.

I started repeating my positive affirmation for the swim in my head. Powerful and fast. Powerful and fast. It had a nice amount of syllables for my stroke-stroke-stroke-breathe rhythm. I read that affirmations sink into your subconscious whether you believe in them or not. And regardless of whether the chant improved my physical performance, it definitely reined in my focus. Which probably helps physical performance in the long run. So I think I'll keep doing it for races. Can't hurt.

Before long I was at the 1700 metre mark. And nobody was trying to stop me from continuing! I was still in the race! I doggy-paddled for a second to check my watch and was surprised to see a time of 33 minutes! That was definitely my fastest ever time for that distance. I quickly started doing the numbers in my head. I had 1 hr 17 min left until the swim cutoff time. There was no way I wouldn't finish. And I had done more than half the course in 33 minutes. Did that mean I could finish in under an hour? That would be unbelievable! That sounded like a really fast 3km swim, considering my goal was 1hr 20 min.

I stayed close to the course rope on the turn - no more overshooting the corners for me! But after a few minutes of battling with slower swimmers and even seeing a guy dragging himself forward using the rope, I decided to move further out into the course. I reasoned that if I swam off-course, then I'd at least be going toward the shore and not being swept out to sea.

I kept my head down and powered along. (Powerful and fast. Powerful and fast). And before I knew it, I was getting really close to the shore. I couldn't believe the swim would be finished so quickly!

Right toward the end, I paused for a second to open my wetsuit and let some water in. Apparently it's easier to get off with a bit of water in there. I swam until my hands could touch the sand and then stumbled through the sand to the shore.

Surprisingly, I didn't experience any of the usual dizziness. Despite going faster than usual, I had managed to keep my heart rate down because I was calm. And the swim didn't really take that long. In training, I often swam for 90 minutes straight.

I checked my watch: 1 hour and 1 minute! Definitely my fastest ever 3km swim and also my most comfortable long distance swim. I had a little chafing on the back of my neck, but I wasn't out of breath or tired at any point. I was thrilled with the time! But still realised how annoyingly close to a sub-1 hour swim it had been. Oh well.

I was so pumped! I had enjoyed the swim but also felt the usual relief that it was over - one down, two to go!

T1

I pulled my wetsuit down to my waist and jogged along the beach. There was lots of cheering for the crowd gathered along the beach. And before long I heard Sam and Jeff calling my name over the loud speakers. I scanned faces in the crowd but I couldn't spot Stuart there. I reached the timing tent after 30 seconds or so and scanned my timing chip once more.

From there I ran up to the large overhead showers, removed my wetsuit in record time and tried to wash all the salt water off myself and my trisuit. I'm sure I annoyed lots of people as I spent a good minute or two in the shower. Most other people had a quick splash and then made room for everyone else.

From there, I grabbed the wetsuit and jogged toward the transition bag area. I heard people shouting my name and looked up to find everyone gathered on a small hill by the path. There were 10 or 15 people there cheering me on and waving my banner in the air. Woohoo! I gave them a wave and kept moving.

I saw lots of my kids along the path too, so I high-fived them as I jogged by. At the transition bag area, I grabbed my things from the bag and then stuffed my wetsuit, swim cap and goggles in there. The bag would be delivered to the race finish. I ate a piece of orange and took some water from my Shimoji JHS students who were volunteering there. Then I jogged across to the bike area. I know that all the jogging wasn't saving me time but I was so pumped that it was impossible to just walk.

The ride

The first thing I noticed in the bike area was the sheer number of bikes still there. I was definitely not the slowest swimmer! Standing on my towel, I washed the sand and dirt from my feet with the PET bottle of water. Then I pulled on my socks, bike shoes, sunglasses and helmet. I stuffed my iPod into my (already full) bike bag. I ate the banana I'd left for myself, drank some more water and then I was set to go!

I ran the bike up to the mounting line and took the first of the days many many many pedal strokes.

The road out of the resort was lined with supporters. I was smiling and thanking then when I noticed Koizumi standing there too! He waved and shouted 'gambarre!' to me. Awesome! It's probably the only time in my life that there'll be a former prime minister cheering me on.

Out on the road for a minute or so, I glanced down at my bike computer.

Aargh! Why is it saying 70 when it usually says 25km/h. I'm not riding at 70km/h! It's broken. Great. I'll have to stop. Why me? Etc, etc.

Oh, hang on. It says 70rpm. So it's showing my cadence in big numbers and my average km/h in small numbers. This is exactly what I need!

So strange that I had never even seen that option on my bike computer, and I hadn't changed the settings before the race. Usually I look at my current speed in big numbers and my cadence or average km/h in small numbers, which is kind of hard on my short-sighted eyes. I must have accidentally pressed a button on the computer but I still half think that the bike changed it itself for optimum performance. Like Kit would have done.

The Strongman bike course is 155km - one and a half laps of the island. The first time I rode the full course in training, it took me just over seven hours of riding and almost two hours in rest breaks. The second time, I cut my riding time down to 6:30 but I still took a lot of breaks. On the third and final time, I rode the course in around six hours and took only two (longish) breaks.

My goal for race day was to finish the bike ride in 6:32. How did I arrive at this precise number? Well, first I decided on my target pace. I thought 25 km/h sounded reasonable. I had ridden the course with a faster average pace than that before, but I figured I had to account for being tired from the swim. I also wanted to save some energy for the run.

155km at 25 km/h + 2 x 10-minute rest breaks = 6 hours 32 minutes.

I kept my target speed in the back of my mind but focused mainly on my cadence during the ride. I knew that a cadence above 80 rpm would keep me on track for my goal time.

Settling in for the long ride, I decided not to listen to my iPod unless I was tired and needed to pick up the pace. Supporters lined the whole course so I wanted to hear their cheering for at least some of the way. In fact, all the cheering got me pretty worked up. There were entire schools, kindergartens, old people's homes and disabled people's homes out cheering by the road. I thought about all the people who were cheering for every single cyclist despite not knowing any of them. And that got me thinking about all the support from my friends, family and schools. And that just got me sobbing away on the bike! Yes, 10km into the ride and I was already an emotional wreck.

Aside from the crying and all, I felt good. I felt like the swim had really been a warm-up for the ride and not a big challenge in itself. Many people passed me, but I was also passing a few. And for the first 20km or so I was riding at the blistering speed (for me) of 29 km/h! I have never before maintained an average speed that high, so it was good for my confidence.

Around the back of Ikema island, the northern-most point of Miyako, I heard 'Girlfriend' by Avril Lavigne blasting. Cresting a hill, I found about 20 of the Ikema JHS kids doing a choreographed and well-rehearsed dance on the right side of the road. On the left was a teacher who was helping them to remember their moves. They were all so enthusiastic that it really pumped me up.

In the few quiet sections of the course, where there were no supporters or aid stations, I just looked around and tried to take everything in. The race really felt like a reward for the year of hard work - a much better reward than buying new clothes or having a nice dinner! I wanted to remember every little detail. I saw early morning fields full of herons and watched families working in their sugarcane fields. I also enjoyed reading (or trying to read) the hundreds of handmade or professionally printed signs for triathletes as I flew past them.

There is a long and slow hill about 1/4 of the way through the bike course. It's not terribly steep, just really long. It takes about five minutes to climb and I dread it every time. On race day though, it ended up being an unexpected highlight of the course. Supporters lined both sides of the road and someone had hooked up some massive speakers to their car. There was a Japanese pop song blaring at the time, but on my second lap I heard 'Take it Easy' by the Eagles. That really made me laugh as I was labouring up the hill after around seven hours of racing.

I spotted one of my teachers, Kiyo, among the crowed and shouted that I was on track for first place. Haha. Not quite.

About 10km later, I stopped at Higa Road Park for the first of two planned rest breaks. One of my schools was running the aid station there so there was a lot of cheering when I pulled up. I called Stuart with a quick update - I'm not dead, I haven't crashed, etc. Everyone had come to our place for coffee so I told him I would make my second stop at the aid station there instead of Ikema island as planned. I grabbed a couple of drink bottles (as I'd dangerously dropped one of mine on the road a bit earlier), ate some Powerbar and had a sneaky toilet break in the wonderfully spacious disabled toilet. I got the iPod out and played Girl Talk - some upbeat music to help me deal with the upcoming hills.

Back on the road, my average speed had dropped to around 27.5 km/h but I was still passing a few people. I especially enjoyed passing people with fancy bikes. And passing people on hills! I couldn't believe it when I managed to crawl past a few people on the steep hills in Bora and Ueno. I put it down to the home ground advantage; I knew where to speed up before the hills and where to just plod along.

I actually had a bit of assistance on the final real hill in the first lap - a killer steep one in Ueno. I spotted a guy from the Irabu Triathlon Club who I had met at an Irabu triathlon earlier this year and then again at the half-marathon in February. He jumped up and enthusiastically shouted my name, then gave my arse a good shove up the hill! Yuko later told me that he'd done the same for her. Haha. Methinks he was possibly just looking for a good excuse to grab some bums.

I had been anticipating arriving at Kurima bridge for the whole ride. I was partly dreading it because I always seem to run into bad luck there: I had two punctures and two broken spokes around Kurima bridge on four separate training rides. I was also excited because I teach at the school there every Friday and I knew my kids would be out cheering for me at the end of the bridge.

Approaching the top of the bridge, I spotted a cyclist pumping his tyre on the footpath. Oh shit, I thought. I'm glad that's not me. Then he called out my name and I realised it was Jona! I swore out loud that time but just kept on cycling since he was already fixing it.

Cyclists have to slow down for the hairpin turn at the end of the bridge so I had a good chance to see the kids and high-five them all. They were going mental! Koji, one of my third-grade students, waited at the other end of the bridge to snap a photo of me with his mobile phone when I passed. I thankfully made it across the bridge and back with no mechanical problems and before long I had passed the Tokyu hotel again. 100km down, 55km to go.

I called Stuart with one hand while steering the bike with the other (don't try this at home!) to warn him that I was on my way and that Jona was just behind me.

There is a big aid station in front of our danchi so all our neighbours (my students and their families) were out volunteering on the day. Jona's parents, many of the ALTs and some friends were also there with Stuart. That all added up to lots of cheering when I pulled over there for my second and final rest stop on the bike course.

First things first, I answered Doug and Linda's frantic questions about Jona. Everyone was shocked to see Justin, and then me, arrive before Jona because he is definitely the fastest among us. And Justin had yelled something about a crash as he rode past (we later found out he had crashed into the back of another bike at the danchi aid station). Jona's parents were probably thinking the worst, poor things! I reassured them that it only seemed to be a flat or punctured tyre and that he wouldn't be too far away. Leading Jona on the bike, albeit for 20 minutes or so, was definitely an unexpected turn of events!

Stuart tried to get me moving again as soon as I stopped. He was so worried that I wouldn't finish before 9pm. Technically, he was probably worried about dealing with my wrath if i didn't finish by 9pm. I reassured him that it was all going better than I had planned, with a fast swim time and an average bike speed of around 27 km/h. Then I took my time saying hi to everyone and chatting about the race up until that point. People were still in shock over my fast swim time and then seeing me arrive before Jona.

Jona pulled up a couple of minutes later and said he'd had not one, but TWO punctures on the Kurima Bridge. I guess he got all my bad luck that day. He grabbed some spare tubes from the bag his dad was carrying for him and then got straight back on the bike.

Teresa collected some water bottles and some much desired Coke from the aid station for me. I'd been asking for Coke at every aid station but I seemed destined not to get any. Either the volunteers didn't hear the request, or I was riding too fast to collect it, or I was accidentally given sports drink instead of Coke. Finally I had some!

I gulped it down, said my goodbyes and then got back on the road. The travelling cheer squad packed up and moved to the bike finish.

Down by the Hirara port I was thrilled to see a bright pink sign saying 'Go Janine!' on the course. I wondered for a second who had made it, until I saw Ikuyo - my teacher from Kurima - standing next to it. So nice of her! I gave her a wave as I passed by.

The rest of the final 55km passed by pretty uneventfully. I stayed in my aero bars for most of the time, just keeping my head down and trying to keep a decent pace. I kept the iPod off for a lot of the time and listened to the supporters. I enjoyed an Eisa (traditional Okinawan drumming) performance by some elementary students around the back of the Ikema - I guess the Avril Lavigne girls had been rotated out.

I had accepted a few bananas, a sandwich and an orange from aid stations earlier in the bike course but switched to gels towards the end. My thinking was that gel would be easier on my stomach for the run. I was also eating my salt tablets regularly and drinking plenty of water.

Eventually I saw the blessed, blessed turn-off for the final stretch back to the bike finish at the city gym. I called Stuart and warned him that I expected to be there within 15 minutes. Although I was still happy and not in any pain, I was pretty excited to be getting off the bike after so damn long. I stood up in the pedals a little on the last small hills, trying to remind my legs that they were about to run. Then I rolled on up to the bike finish.

My final bike time was about 5:48 I think. It's hard to know the exact riding time because the number on the race certificate - 6 hours and 23 minutes - includes the first and second transitions. But my transitions were around 10 minutes each and I had a couple of rest stops, so that sounds about right.

T2

'Janine Kelly-san! Okaerinasai (welcome back)!!!' screamed the announcers. And then a very enthusiastic 'Waido Jan-ni-n, Waido Ja-ni-n' routine that went on for a while.

One volunteer showed me the way to my bike while another grabbed my transition bag. They needn't have been so rushed about it because I really took my time in this transition. I had expected I'd take about five minutes but it was probably more than ten.

I chatted to Stuart for a while, put BodyGlide all over my feet (to avoid blisters) and my bum (what? I was scared of chafing!), changed socks, pulled on my shoes and hat, applied more sunscreen, stuffed everything back into my race bag and sucked down a gel. I scanned my timing chip on the way out and then took the first few wobbly steps of the marathon!

The run

Since the race, many people have told me that they can't imagine finishing the bike ride and still having the energy to do a marathon. I felt exactly the same way after each long training ride and moaned to Yuko and Jona about it very time. But surprisingly, I felt fine after the ride on race day. Not even really tired. A big part of that was the adrenaline I'm sure, but another part was that I didn't even think the word 'marathon' once on the day. Weird, but true. I just kept thinking of it as 'the run course'. For the first half of the run at least, I only thought as far forward as the next aid station (where I would be walking for two minutes). Ahh, the magical powers of DENIAL.

The P.E teacher from one of my schools, Toyomasa, finished his first Strongman last year. He is always positive and gave me lots of good advice throughout my training. He's the one who got me started on salt tablets. And he ended my discomfort in bike shoes when he recommended (a) buying a bigger pair of shoes because my feet would swell over long distances, and (b) adding some running insoles for a more comfortable ride.

I saw him cheering in a couple of spots on the bike course, and he was there again as I got started on the run. He handed me a Powergel and some amino tablets and wished me good luck. What a nice guy!

From the start of the run I stuck with my recently devised run / walk plan. I didn't exactly train that way but I knew there was no way I could run the whole race. I read up on run / walk marathon plans and it seems it's much better to have regular walk breaks from the very start of the race, before you are tired. This apparently stops you from getting so tired in the first place, limits damage to the muscles, allows you to flush out lactic acid from your legs more effectively, makes it easier to eat and drink, encourages better digestion of that food and drink, makes for a quicker recovery. And the list goes on.

I think it makes good sense. In previous races I would run until I was exhausted and then walk, but it's hard to get started again once you've reached that level of tiredness. For Strongman, I planned to take a two-minute walk break at each aid station and run the rest of the time. My goal pace was 7'15" / km for a goal time of 5:06.

Around five minutes into my run, a man ran by me in the opposite direction. There was an escort car with him. Oh god. I realised he was the first place runner about to finish his bloody race, just as I was getting started on the run. I didn't let myself think about it for too long - it was too depressing - but the suspicion was confirmed when fireworks were let off a few minutes later.

I was recording my run through the Nike+ chip in my iPod but I wasn't actually listening to any music. Thanks to that decision, I got to hear a massive student brass band playing the Rocky music as I approached a major intersection. Haha! There were at least 40 kids playing in the band and they were awesome! I started wondering what else was in their repertoire. Eye of the Tiger? Lose Yourself? The thought of these cute Japanese band dorks playing the tough Rocky music struck me as really hilarious. But maybe you had to be there. Either way, I bet it brought a smile to every runners' face that afternoon.

It soon became clear that many of the supporters on the run course had bought the newspaper the day before. It contained a lift-out section with all the athletes names and numbers, so lots of strangers were calling out 'Janine, gambarre! Janine, fighto!' I was running at an ok pace, but supporters still had plenty of time to look up my number in the paper and cheer for me by name. Often they were in pairs, and one person would report the race number to the person with the newspaper. Or sometimes a kid would even come scouting for runners and then race back to tell the grown-ups the numbers.

The first 7km or so was pretty non-eventful. I heard a rock band playing 'Come Together' as I passed, and another guitarist further along the Gusukube sen. He wasn't that great, to be honest. He just kept strumming the guitar randomly and singing 'Gambarre, waido. Gambarre, fighto'. But then he'd probably been at it since 11am or something so I had to give him some credit.

Remember Miho? My former teacher who so kindly sprinted to beat me by one second in the Waido half marathon? Well she turned up and ran with me for a couple of minutes. It was a nice gesture but all I could think was that she was stealing my thunder. Again! I wasn't very talkative so she wished me luck and dropped off again before long.

The first of my four schools on the run course had an aid station set up at about 7km. It was great to hear the kids going mental for me from hundreds of metres away - I've still got no idea how they spotted me from that far. I also got to see the sign that they'd made for me and Justin. I joked around a bit and asked them for some pizza rather than the cups of water. They were polite enough to laugh and pretend I was funny, so everyone was happy.

The run course was out and back so I saw all kinds of (fast) people I knew when they were returning back to town. I saw a bunch of the foreign athletes including the three Australians. There were also people I'd met at the pool and at different races, and my massage guy, Kobayashi. I saw lots of students and former students cheering with their families, and all the pool staff were there cheering too.

I passed my second and third schools, still feeling good. I got a lot of support from my kids and teachers there, as well as water and sometimes Coke. I was staying well away from sports drink because I blamed it for my dodgy stomach at the end of the Izena triathlon. I ate a Powergel every 5km or so.

The run / walk plan was going extremely well. I'd taken one unscheduled walk break at 15km when the next aid station just would not appear. Other than that, I was fairly disciplined about it. I checked my watch at each aid station and walked for exactly two minutes. I hadn't looked at my iPod but felt like I was keeping an ok pace. I focused on my breathing and on keeping a good rhythm and kind of got lost in the whole thing.

As I approached the aid station manned by my 4th school on the course, Fukumine, I was starting to tire a little. I kept up a good appearance though, speaking the Miyako dialect with the old men supporters and mucking around with the kids.

Like at the other schools, the kids were totally pumped to see me. They all wanted me to take their cup of water or their sponges, but there are only so many a girl needs! I shouted out 'ittekimasu' (I'll go and come back) and then got moving again. Albeit a bit more slowly.

I was jogging along at about 18 or 19km when I saw Jona coming toward me. I could hardly believe that I was so close behind him! We stopped for a quick chat and then he took off again. I was sad to realise that I would only be getting slower from that point and he would really open up the gap. I was getting a bit tired, but nothing too serious. Far, far worse than that, I felt the return of the all too familiar dodgy stomach.

I walked for about five minutes, hoping that my stomach would settle a bit. I used the break to give Stuart a quick call and assured him that I was still alive and well. I told him I was getting close to the turnaround point but I would be slowing down from now on.

And how did I call him? With the mobile phone I had stashed in my trisuit, of course! I am nothing if not realistic. I knew that I would have many dark and lonely minutes on that run. There would be ample opportunity to make phone calls if I needed encouragement or if I'd come into some trouble. It also wanted to warn Stuart when I was nearing the finish.

I think I was actually walking and chatting on the phone when Justin passed by about a kilometre after Jona. Any fear he had that I would pass him must have dissipated right then. 'Keep it up! Not far to go now', he said rather optimistically. No, not far to go. Just a bit longer than a half marathon. Hmm. My race-long sunny disposition began to cloud over a little.

I sometimes ran, sometimes walked for the next couple of kilometres until I reached the halfway mark at 5:12pm. It was so much earlier than I'd expected to be there! My brain switched to equation mode and I started thinking through all the possible times I could finish by if I maintained different paces. But really I knew I'd be slowing down so I didn't get too far ahead of myself.

I posed energetically for the halfway point photo and then ran straight to the nearest portable toilet. I'd managed to avoid the horrible toilets for much of the day but now I feared I'd be visiting a few of them on the run back to town.

Things slowed down a lot over the next 14km. My options were to walk or poo my pants. Guess which one I chose?

I ate a couple more Powergels, drank water and Coke, ran when I could. I still enjoyed the cheering from the students, teachers and strangers but I definitely replied with less enthusiasm.

I was just disappointed that the careful planning and all my practice with nutrition during training hadn't managed to prevent my stomach problems. My legs were fine! No muscle pain! No blisters! It seemed ridiculous that my whole body was fine at this point of the race except for my bloody stomach.

At a particularly low point, I fished out my mobile phone and re-read the email Perry had sent me earlier in the day:

Have a great race and enjoy every stroke in the sea, every pedal of the bike (even if the 2nd lap starts to hurt) and every step of the run (mainly because each one is a step closer to finishing). It's going to be an unforgettable day. I pity the fools that get in your way today. It's time for your hard work to pay off. Have a great, awesome day and rock your race!

It really summed up the way I wanted to remember the race. I tried it keep it in mind. It was certainly more inspiring than the email I received from another friend at about 25km into the run:

How'd ya go?

Piss off.

Back around Gusukube, one of my vice-principals had set up a mini aid station outside his house. He shouted out encouragement over his megaphone and ran over with a cup of water and a homemade onigiri for me. It was a really lovely gesture. But it was also the point where I realised that I really didn't want to eat anything. This was bad news for a run which uses up so many calories.

I stopped to access my special needs bag at the next stop. The sun would soon be setting so I figured I wouldn't need my hat or UV arm covers for much longer. I dumped those into the bag and also changed my sweaty socks for a fresh pair, ever keen to avoid blisters and chafing. I tried to decide on something to eat but nothing seemed appealing. In the end I ate a few Chip Star and then gave the rest to my students.

I had only run a few steps when I remembered that I had some pain killers in the bag. Nothing was really in pain but I figured it couldn't hurt. I trotted back to get my bag again and found the lady volunteers fishing through there!

Err, what are you doing?

This is rubbish right?

No. It's not rubbish. It has arm covers, a hat, some socks, lots of food. It's not rubbish.

Well, how about these snacks? Are they rubbish? We can deliver the bag back to the gym but you don't need the snacks right?

Ok fine. But you're not having them, bitch (internal voice only). The students can eat them.

I couldn't believe that they had swooped on my stuff like that! Surely these grown women should bring their own food if they know they are going to be volunteering all day. Aargh! I also became pretty certain that I would never see my hat or arm covers again. It was pretty annoying but I had better things to worry about.

Greg, Yuko and Chikage, people who I was well ahead of on the bike, all passed me at around this point. Nine-time finisher Chikage had previously told me that she always finishes at around 8:45pm, so I would be sure to finish if I passed her. Now she had passed me! She was confident that we would both finish though, and so was I to be honest. I never actually doubted during the race that I would finish before the 9pm deadline.

Despite this belief, parts of the final stages of the run were tough. It was dark. It was quiet. It was pretty lonely, apart from random conversations with other walkers. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I'd done in the past year to get to that point. And I cried lots.

With about 7km to go, I stopped to use the spacious and private Hot Spar toilet. And it's a western toilet! My hatred for portable toilets is only surpassed by my hatred for portable squat toilets. I spent a good bit of time there and sorted myself out. It was also good just to have a sit down and think. Seven kilometres was definitely a runnable distance. (Is runnable a word? Spell check says it is). I resolved to have a drink and some food at the aid station outside and then just sack up and run.

Stuart called as I was leaving Hot Spar, saying that Teresa had come running to find me. I was to look out for someone wearing blue shorts. This wouldn't be easy in the pitch black but I would certainly try.

I grabbed a drink and some salt at the aid station. It was only at about 32km that I realised I'd forgotten all about my salt tablets. That probably wasn't helping my condition. Anyway. A drink and some salt and then I was running again. Properly this time! I really felt my condition improve and I started passing a few people for the first time in ages.

Teresa found me at about 1.5km up the road. She was a ball of energy, obviously so excited for me. I was so relieved to see a familiar face and really know for the first time that I would be finishing soon.

'I'm going to finish this thing, right?' I asked her.

'Of course you're going too finish! You're so close now! You're doing so great! I'm SO PROUD OF YOU!'

And with that I started sobbing pretty hysterically.

Stuart called me again soon after meeting Teresa. He asked where I was and then said he would meet me in a minute. He said he was coming to run with me which I couldn't really comprehend. Stuart? Running? With me? I must have been slightly crazy as well as emotional because I briefly wondered if I should stop and wait for him to meet me.

Sure enough, Stuart arrived soon. Kim had driven him from the gym so that he could run with me and Teresa for a while. I think he just wanted to make sure I was alive and well. While it was great to have him there, I was really beyond talking at that point. I was only giving the briefest nods of recognition to the supporters, having long since dropped my enthusiastic replies. Stuart snapped a couple of photos of me, including one with the '1 hour to go' warning fireworks in the background.

'Make sure you get her there!' he instructed Teresa as we ran toward the airport and he parted ways to walk back to the race finish.

A few faces stood out among the supporters as we ran the final 5km or so. I saw Emi, a former teacher of mine, cheering with her husband and baby son. I saw some people from the bowling league including my former teammate. My friend Yasuko from the city office cheered me on and her two little girls ran with us for a while. And Ikuyo was stationed outside the department store with another teacher from Kurima.

We ran at a decent pace until we reached the final 'hill'. In reality, this is a street with only the slightest of inclines but it certainly felt like a hill at the time. I knew I would make it to the finish in time. I could already hear faint noise from the finish line. So I took some extra time to walk.

This was only partly because I didn't want to deal with the hill. Mainly, I wanted to calm down a little before reaching the final stretch. I had been crying a lot in the dark parts of the streets and I wanted to get to the finish line a bit more composed than that. We walked for a few minutes along the dark street and then I started to run again for the final time that day.

The final approach to the gym is amazing. I will never forget it.

Hundreds of supporters line the street and it is lit up with bright lanterns. People shout 'okaerinasai!' (welcome back) instead of 'gambarre' (keep trying). You can hear all the noise from the finish line including the announcers calling out athletes' names. I cried the whole way up that street, hardly believing that I was about to finish.

One of my Sunagawa JHS boys appeared at the entrance to the track and shouted the equivalent of 'come on Janine, we're all waiting for you!'

I giddily entered the track to run the last 300 metres of the course. A whole bunch of kids excitedly jogged after me with the banner they had made. I heard Amy announcing my name and dozens of friends, students and strangers shouting 'okaerinasai' and 'omedeto' (congratulations). People high-fived me and cheered for me. I felt like a rock star! I wouldn't have thought I could cry any more but then Miyuki stepped onto the track to give me a bunch of flowers and a hug. It was so sweet of her. And she was bawling, too.

I had a bunch of kids running with me and I started to feel bad for the athletes in front of and behind me who wouldn't get good finish photos thanks to our mob. I told some of the kids that we should slow down a little.

'No, it's ok. We can run fast!'

Yeah I know you can, you little shit. You haven't just done a Strongman! I briefly explained that we should slow down for the other athletes.

Then I just focused on that glorious finish line for a second. I saw Stuart and all our Miyako friends there cheering me on. I knew I was surrounded by kids who were so happy for me. I held up my arm and ran through the ribbon.

Total race time: 13 hours and 43 minutes.

A Strongman. At last!