Triatló a Ishigaki!!!

Satisfacció absoluta. Per fi el gran dia va arribar! Diumenge 22 d'abril, la data que tenia ben marcada al calendari des de feia mesos es va fer realitat, el dia de la famosa triatló d'Ishigaki! Quin lloc millor per estrenar-se en les triatlons que una illa tropical del Japó? :) Un altre petit somni fet realitat i aquest cop per partida doble, viatge a Okinawa, tresor poc conegut del sud del Japó i participació en una triatló olímpica!!

Expedició Ishigaki amb la Ceci, la Charlotte i la Delfina vingudes directament de Suïssa. Després de mesos d'entrenament ja no hi havia excuses. Una última nit amb poques hores de son i a les 05:00 (!!!) tots de peu, un bon esmorzar, repassar que portàvem tot el material a sobre, bicis en mà i sense dir massa cosa ens vàrem dirigir a la sortida. Era la primera triatló olímpica pels 3 i la tensió/nervis es notaven a flor de pell. A l'àrea de sortida l'activitat era frenètica, 1500 participants preparant el material en la seva respectiva zona de transició però en un ambient molt distès i sobretot molt japonès. Després d'ordenar tot el material i posar-nos el vestit de neoprè vàrem fer cap al port per a la prova de natació i allà sense temps per donar-hi gaires voltes ja em vaig trobar a la línia de sortida. Ordenats en grups de 140 persones, els participants anaven saltant a l'aigua per fer els 1500m inicials en un circuit de dues voltes. 

Aaiii la natació, déu ni dó...tothom ens havia dit que la primera vegada era dura però realment em va sorprendre, la gent et passa literalment per sobre, cops, cosses, un estrès total!...els primers 200m estava bloquejat, no m'entrava aire als pulmons, no sé ni com vaig poder avançar, Em vaig intentar asserenar i poc a poc vaig començar a trobar una mica de ritme però llavors em van fotre una cosa a la cara que em van treure ulleres i gorro de cop, de postres més tard vaig perdre la orientació i em vaig desviar un bon tros, tot això sumat al fet que la meva tècnica deixa bastant que desitjar vaig acabar la prova amb un temps bastant fluix (37`)...però bé l'impotant és que la vaig fer i d'allà tot corrent cap la zona de transició per agafar la bici, treu-me el vestit i sortir pitant a fer els 40km. La bici un altra història, un circuit al voltant de la illa vorejant el mar i amb algunes pujades i sobretot baixades molt divertides. La sort de començar dels últims va fer que em passés gairebé tot el recorregut avançant gent cosa que mentalment ajuda. La veritat és que em vaig trobar molt bé sobre la bici, gaudint del recorregut de principi a fi i tot i que no feia molt bon temps (va caure una mica de pluja) encara hi va haver prou gent animant-nos al llarg de la prova, sobretot iaietes que ens anaven animant sense parar a crits de "gambatte!" "gambarimasu" "tanoshinde kudasai!", molt didstret tot plegat, em va passar volant i vaig fer un temps prou acceptable, 1h25`. De tornada a la zona de transició, canvi de calçat i a correr falta gent! bé correr és un dir perquè els primers dos km vas a pas de tortuga, les cames no et responen i va costar prou agafar el ritme, el circuit al voltant del poble d'Ishigaki bastant pla i això va ajudar a agafar-li l'aire mica en mica, als 5km, la meitat de la prova em trobava em força i bon ritme, va ajudar tota la gent que hi havia als carrers, gent tocant la tradicional guitarra dÒkinawa (un instrument semblant a un banjo), fins i tot un grup de noies ballant dances locals...gran motivació :) ara partir del vuitè km però la cosa ja va ser més dura, les cames van començar a pesar de veritat i la sensació de que en un moment o altre queia una rampa anava en augment...així doncs  amb una mica de patiment vaig encarar l'últim km però quan vaig arribar al port amb un ambientassu de nassos et trobes corrent per inercia, sense pensar en res més i per fi després de 48` vaig arribar a meta i bufff...satisfacció absoluta, després de tot aquest temps entrenant-se, aconseguir acabar-la, gaudint-ne i fer un temps lluny de les meves expectatives (per sota les 3 hores), una sensació espectacular!!! Molt recomenable, em sembla que he trobat una nova afició :)


           

Absolute satisfaction. At last the big day came! Sunday, April 22nd, the date I had well underlined in my calendar came true. The date I was waiting since months ago, the day of the famous triathlon in Ishigaki! Where else better than a triathlon in a tropical island of Japan? :) Another little dream that came true, and this time double, first a trip to Okinawa islands, a treasure not so well known in the southern part of Japan and my first participation to an Olympic triathlon!

Ishigaki expedition with Ceci, Charlotte and Delfina who came directly from Switzerland. After months of training there were no more excuses. A last night with few hours of sleep and at 05am (!!!) we were all wake up, a good breakfast, last check of our material, we took our bikes and without saying much we headed towards the starting point. It was the first olympic triathlon for all of us and were a bit nervous/tense. At the main area the activity was already lively, 1500 people preparing and arranging their stuff, but all in a quiet atmosphere and very very japanese. After arranging the material and got into our wetsuits we moved to the ports where the swimming race took place. Once there without much time to think on it, I was already waiting in the front line to get into the water, so exciting! Organized in waves of 140 people the participants were jumping in the sea smoothly to do the course of 1500m in a track of two laps. 

The swimming part will always remind in my memory, everyone had told us that the very first time was tough but the reality was even worse, people directly try to pass above you, kicking, pushing, a complete stress!! in the first 200m I was completely blocked, I couldn't even breath, it was like I was in a stress of adrenaline and panic rush.  There I tried to keep myself calm and little by little I start to gent into the swim but then when I had got my pace suddenly someone kicked me straight in my face and I lost the goggles and cap at once! Moreover later I got disoriented and lost my track wasting more time, all together with the fact that my technique is not that skilled resulting that I finished it with not that good time (37`)…but at least I finished which was the most important!! Once outside the water, running straight to the transition area, took off the wetsuit and got into the bike to start the 40km. The bike race was another story, much much better, I really enjoyed it, a track all over the island with some parts along the shore, some others more inside into the wild, it had up and downs, all very funny. The good thing of starting from the back is that I spent most of my time overpassing people and this helps to keep you motivated J. Overall I felt very comfortable in the bike, with a good pace and enjoying the race from the beginning till the end. In addition despite the weather wasn´t very good (with some rain), there was quite a lot of people all over the course, particularly lovely grannies that cheered us up with  "gambatte!" "gambarimasu" or "tanoshinde kudasai!", so finally I ended up with a quite acceptable time, 1h25`.  Then back to the transition area, to change shoes and straight to do the running course! Well, more than running the first two km were like trying to move in a rather unsophisticated way, my legs were very heavy and didn`t respond much to my will to run. The 10km track was all over Ishigaki city and was quite flat which help me to improve my pace little by little, so at 5km, I found myself running quite fresh and with strength, it helped as well all these people over the city that cheered us up, some with the traditional Okinawan guitar playing songs or even a group of girls dancing local tropical dances J.  Now I see I was too optimistic, from the 8<sup>th</sup> km the situation changed, my legs were heavier and had the feeling I was about to get some muscle pain at any moment so the way to the finish line was an eternity. However when I reached the port, there was such a good atmosphere that you find yourself just running without thinking on anything else, and at the end when I crossed the finish line after 48`…well absolute satisfaction! After all this time training, being able to finish, enjoying and doing a time (below 3 hours) beyond my expectations…feels sooo good!! Strongly recommended experience for everyone, I think I found a new hobby :)!.