Notes
Obihiro Forest Aquathon
1.5k swim / 12.7k run
Swim (25:55)
I was interested to see how this would pan-out, a 1500 pool swim with 60 others in an Olympic size pool. Any lane allocation/seeding system seemed to be quite random, so it was quite the free-for-all! The basic format was, swim down one lane, touch the wall, duck the lane rope, swim back up the lane next-door, repeat 30 times, easy!
I positioned myself at the front of my group of 11 other dudes in lucky lane ‘E’, and hammered the first 100 to stay out of trouble.
After about 250, I realised I was doing all the work, so slowed a little to let 3 guys past. Ended up tagging their feet for the next 800 or so. Varying ability levels meant it didn’t take long for guys to begin getting lapped, and found myself having to stand briefly when our pack swelled to 6 guys wide. No black eyes fortunately, but rough at times.
At about 1200 I was feeling good after taking it relatively easy drafting for so long, so pulled out to the side and motored past the 3 guys I’d been tailing. Seemed to pull away really quickly, although really didn’t feel like I had to swim super hard to open a gap. Noticed that I was actually really enjoying the last few laps, and cruised in to touch the wall for the last time.
Due to the constant touch wall, duck rope, push-off laps, and maybe a slowish pace of the pack I rafted behind, times were slow, and felt like I wasn’t pushing it at all. It was a race after all, so maybe next time I should give it a little more grunt. Still, exited the pool in 4th place overall.
Run (52:20)
Strange transition involved jumping out of the pool, running into the change rooms, grabbing shoes, race belt, shades etc., running to the foyer (i.e. genkan) of the pool complex, putting shoes on, then finally heading outside - the whole process took close to 90 seconds. The strangest thing is that official swim split when you came through the pool foyer - silly!
Out into the chilly air for 2 hot laps along rolling footpaths. Warmed up fast as the pace was on. Was passed quickly by one guy who was flying, even though my plan was to go as hard as possible for as long as I could sustain, I couldn’t stay with him.
Maintained 3:45/pace for the first km or so, but soon realised I wouldn’t make the finish at that speed, so dialed it back and was hovering around 4:05 - 4:15/km for the most part. Out near the far turnaround a steep hill dropped away for a few hundred meters, meaning you could blow out 3:30 for a while, before having to labor back up on jelly legs. Coped with this section ok though.
By mid-lap 2, I was hurting, and ready for the finish line. The last hill at the far turn-around was rough, as a couple of guys were closing in on me. Pressure from behind, but kept the head down, and managed to drive the legs to 3:50s for the last 2k.
Crossed the line without being caught, and averaged 4:07 for the run, which I was pretty happy with.
Overall (1:19:28)
Wasn’t sure what to expect going into this. Training hasn’t been going so well the past few weeks, and felt a couple of niggling injuries coming on. Ended up going into it thinking of it as a training day, and it paid off. Felt smooth through the swim, even though my time was slower than I expected, but a few factors contributed to this. Happy with my run, pain free except for a few nice blisters, and held a good pace. If training can improve, I’d like to be able to manage holding sub-4 minute kilometers for 10-12k.
Had a fun day, but Obihiro’s so far away, I’m not sure I’d commit to this again.
Next up, Sapporo Tri on June 12.