Ironman Japan in
Hokkaido 2014: Race Recap
When I went to Eagleman Half Ironman race, I met Ken Glah, a
triathlon legend, who runs a company that does tours to big ironman races. I
had mentioned that I was really looking forward to the ironman race in Japan,
and he had asked me to write him about the race. So, this is the motivation for
the Race Recap (had way too much fun to blog on the fly), which I share with
all of FTE, because I had a great experience and I will do this race again, but
I am not sure whether I will do it in 2015.
This is not required reading for homework, and it is a bit long-winded.
GETTING THERE:
I highly recommend that you buy tickets to get yourself to
the front of the bus so to speak and make sure that airline has the flat bed
seats. It is a 12-13 non-stop flight or
longer if you have a stop prior to arrival at either Narita or Haneda
airports. Many airlines like Finnair,
JAL, ANA, Delta, or Air Canada (all of which I use often) will not charge you
extra for your bike when you fly business class especially if you come with
limited luggage, as I just took one suitcase and my bike. However, this may change as of this writing
as they continue to offer less for more.
For normal folks for whom flying business class to Asia is a tough sell,
I would tell you that it is worth it. Save, save, save, find a rich friend, or
cash in all your frequent flier miles.
With those flat beds, I can sleep for 8 hours on a flight, snore happily
(do not sit next to me) and wake up with drool on my face (sit next to me and
take embarrassing pictures to post on Facebook).
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Once you land at Narita or Haneda, you need to decide
whether you go straight to the race or spend a few days in Tokyo to acclimate
to jet lag. I had no choice but to head straight up to Hokkaido, which is a 1.5-hour
flight north. I arrived on a Thursday,
and we raced Sunday. Jetlag was an interesting race day challenge for me. For those who are new to Tokyo, it may be
nice to spend 3 or 4 days in Tokyo but this is August, and it is typically
30-35C and incredibly humid making NYC sweltering summer days feel like fall.
There is nothing worse than a summer day in Tokyo. If you opt for Tokyo, there are easy buses
that take you to any hotel you choose, and what to do in Tokyo is a story for
another day.
I think if you need to recover from jetlag, go straight to
Hokkaido and acclimate there. It has a climate like Canada and Northern US so
typical August days are highs of 20-25C and lows of 15-18C with little
humidity—ideal race conditions.
Clearing customs is a breeze at Tokyo (you will never want
to go through JFK customs again when you experience the pristine, clean, and
efficient Narita customs and immigration).
I arrived too late for an easy connection to Hokkaido, so I took a nice
air-conditioned bus to Haneda directly from Narita (they leave every 10
minutes), and I took a flight from Haneda to Chitose airport in Sapporo.
At airports in Japan, food is awesome. And, they have all
these great coffees in cans.
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So, I loaded up with a great my favorite iced espresso and awesome
bento box for less than 10 bucks (you cannot get this quality at that price
anywhere in Gotham).
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Free Wi-Fi is very limited in Japan. Make sure you stay at places that offer it,
as it is far from standard, and make sure to get a one-month plan on your cell
phone that allows you to text friends’ phones, play with internet, or make
calls. Otherwise, it is a small fortune, and you need to turn off the data
roaming functions or you will have a huge bill.
At Sapporo airport, there is a car rental. You need to take
a shuttle bus, as the airport is huge. We rented a large van, as were two
couples, a kid, and 2 bikes. My wife and
I have international licenses, which you can easily get at any AAA (there is
one on second floor at Broadway and 62nd). Remember that the
Japanese drive on the wrong side of the road like the British and their
commonwealth cronies.
WHERE TO STAY:
I have a great friend Yoshihiro Takayama, who did the race
with me. He organized the places where we stayed in Hokkaido. I arrived Wednesday, and the first two nights
we stayed at Tsusuru Resort.
http://rusutsu.co.jp/
This is about 30km from the race, and it is in the
mountains. Nice views of Hokkaido, the
snow covered volcanic mountain, Yotei-san, and the rolling hills and farms.
Great buffet breakfast with lots of Japanese foods that I like and a western
option (Niko had a plate of sausages and pommes frittes). This is a Western style place so nice beds
(not futons on the floor). Lots of
racers with families were there, as there is an adjacent amusement park that my
13 yr. old loved. There is yoga and a
spa, which my wife enjoyed. And, many Australians and others enjoy Hokkaido’s
legendary powder (a best kept ski secret) so most hotel staff here spoke great
English. This is Lake Toya, site of the Ironman
Japan!
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The above is lawn golf, which is you play just like golf
with golf swing but shorter clubs and larger balls so it feels a bit like
croquet. Still wearing compression sock
for cursed left calf. They had leftie clubs for me. Joy!!
We spent one night in Niseko at a nice bed and breakfast. More
modest rooms in size (we had apartment style room at rusutsu with a second
floor so 2-story hotel room) but good, comfortable Western style beds and a
nice breakfast (Western style) so omelet, salad, yogurt, milk, and potato, all
of which are locally produced so quite good. This place had one of those massage
chairs, which was the best one that I had ever experienced. I am writing to the
owner to ask how I can acquire one.
http://www.e-niseko.com/
https://asp.hotel-story.ne.jp/ver3d/02200/index.html
And, we had registered for the hot-air balloon ride, but we
were rained out, which was the only disappointment of this leg of the trip.
Went to a really cool, hippy pizza joint at Niseko ski resort and felt like
Burlington, Vermont and we were joined by Aussies discussing how to get more
Chinese tourists to ski Japan.
We were able to register the day before the race on Saturday,
so this is a bit nicer and more flexible than many of the Ironman races I have
done in North America.
This is Toyako on registration day.
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Lake Toya or Toyako is absolutely beautiful. Pristine lake
with mountainous island centrally within the lake and encircled by
mountains.
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Here is a view of Yotei-san, which is snow-covered volcanic mountain like
Fuji-san.
The town is a resort town, which has seen better days, as
many of the hotels could use an overhaul, but the natural beauty trumps this,
and there is a Western style hotel that serves as race headquarters where you
finish on race day, and this is quite nice.
We opted to stay at a typical Japanese resort hotel where
the food quality is what matters. We had tatami rooms (so you sleep on the
floor on futons) and we had beautiful views of the lake. The rooms are not that
large by American standards, but we were comfortable as a family of three
including all of my triathlon gear.
Breakfast is a huge buffet with a great selection of Western
and Japanese food, and the dinners are the typical Ryokan (Japanese inn) style
of 15 courses, all seafood with a bit of steak and just fantastic. On the
morning of race day, hotel provided onegiri (rice balls) and fruit, and I had
my coffee in a can, so I was happy.
Here come the food pics from
Toyakanko:
Dinner with 12 courses! Watermelon dessert? (sigh) This is
served on low table above tatami mats where you sit on zebuton (cushions) on
chair that is essentially at same level as floor so for the tall this
challenging.
Lots of it is cooked in front of you for maximum freshness.
The wooden topped container is rice (gohan) with usually extra taste (we had
fish mixed with the rice).
All of these folks are families of athletes doing the race.
The man who is closest to my hands was from Osaka. All of the people are
wearing Yukata as they had gone to the onsen (hot baths). We went after dinner,
and it is custom to go all over the hotel in your pajamas, which I love.
We were about 1.5km from the start transition so we were
lazy and had my wife drop us off. My only negative commentary would be that on
the race day, dinner stops at 8pm so if you are having a bad race day and take
a long time to finish (over 13 hours) you could miss dinner, which is a shame.
I enjoyed a really great dinner after the race (and there are small chairs for
Gaijin Westerners like me which was a godsend as sitting on a tatami mat to eat
may not have been possible) and there was great crab and salmon. My poor friend though finished too late for
the dinner cut-off so he was given a voucher for a convenience store, but to be
honest, he had no desire to eat. My son
used this to buy C C Lemon (his favorite Japanese soda with the juice of 70
lemons). There was food at the end of the race, but I was just not in the mood
for any of it. I really wanted seafood, miso soup, and rice—foods easier on the
stomach. I was far too full of caffeinated goo. This place has a nice onsen, a
hot bath, which was ideal for the post-race relaxation.
Here is the website of where we stayed in Toyako. http://www.toyakanko.com/
If I go back here, there is a really nice luxury hotel high
on the mountain ridge with jaw-dropping views of the ocean to the south and
lake toyako to the north, and it is where they held the G-8 summit when Bush
was president. This hotel straddles the ridgeline, and it is just a tad
inconvenient meaning you must drive to race start, but this is where to stay if
you want Western style comfort and prices are not that outrageous
actually. We opted for the better food.
PRE-RACE DAY:
Saturday we picked up all the essentials—our racing numbers,
timers, and goodie bag. There was a good race briefing for about an hour in
English. It was only then that we were
told that Ironman Japan was voted last year’s most difficult ironman (i.e. the bike
course) by the professional triathletes who raced it. I wish that someone had
told me, but I am a Vermonter so hills I can handle but my mind was getting the
better of me. Bags hang by numbers with two different transition zones.
There is one tent for the swim to bike and a separate zone
for bike to run.
Ah! The swim exit.
SWIM:
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The swim course is a triangle in Lake Toyako that you
complete 1.5 times. There were 6 wave starts and open water starts. The lake is
really clear, and it is cold (similar to Mt Tremblant lake). Wetsuit legal. The lake is very deep and you can see a 100
feet below you and there can be big fish. It was advised that people swim the
day before to avoid panic on the day of the race as each year a certain number
really freak out and fail to finish. My Japanese Tri friend also said that most
Japanese train in open ocean water for the swim or a pool as there are few
lakes that one is able to swim in close proximity to Tokyo. Beaches are far
more available so that lack of ocean buoyancy and warmth really throw many of
the triathletes who are not habituated to colder lake swimming. I was really nervous about this race, as I
did not have my usual volume of long bike rides or running mileage and had a
real injury issue the last month. I
started the swim with no expectations, and I did not even bother with a race
watch or a computer device on my bike, as I wanted to go by feel.
For me, the swim had ideal conditions. No wind, cool lake
water, and I am used to swimming in Lake Champlain and sighting off mountains,
so I felt at home here. I opted for swimming steady, not a race pace, and doing
as straight a line as possible and seeding myself in the back. Here are several pictures of race start with
the swim. It was funny to hear Japanese
national anthem at the start like Oh Canada in Mt Tremblant.
This is the view of our swim from our lakeside Hotel as I
get ready to squeeze into wetsuit.
And now we start!
Time: 1:14:10. (6
minute transition—really need to work on that. Why I am so slow?) What I did
not know then was that in my age group of 160+, this put me in 33rd
position (I normally sit in the median of the bell curve).
This was a PR for me in the swim, and it was 6 minutes
faster than my prior 2 Ironman races in Mt Tremblant and Wisconsin. First, there is an obvious thank you to all
of FTE, especially the Viper Coach as I only swam on Mondays and Thursdays, and
I never would have pushed myself that hard on those days left to my own
devices, and I want to thank all the better swimmers who shared my lane with me
and tapped on my feet, which taught me not to panic, with time, when people are
gaining on me. Rather, I tried to stay with them and draft as they went past.
So, those kinds of drills, Viper Coach, were brilliant (domo arigato
gozaimashita!! super polite Japanese style thank you with honorifics and
respect).
BIKE:
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As you can see from the picture, there is a great deal of
climbing over long distances. Let's have a closer look at that bike course in the small print.
It had rained often leading up to race day, which was
overcast, and some folks experienced significant rain on portions of the bike
course. Roads were slick, and by the end of my ride, the sun was out, and the
winds really picked up. My bike was
slower than I normally race, but I purposefully took the long descents very
carefully to be safe. There were a few spectacular crashes that day, and I
still am dealing with issues related to my severe concussion from my very own
bike accident this past January so whenever I started to let it fly downhill,
that memory creped into my head. Wind was a factor only in the last 30km, and
my bike was wobbling a few times but it was no worse than Vermont winds on the
Lake Champlain islands.
This bike course was incredibly beautiful. There were
amazing, panoramic vistas of the lakes and mountains of Hokkaido, and there
were many beautiful valleys with rolling hills and farmland which were more
reminiscent of Vermont than Japan. The roads, although open to traffic, had
very little car traffic. This is a very rural part of Japan so not much in the
way of crowd support but it was nice when present. The sounds of “Ganbatte” and
“Faito”—Japlish for Fight were nice to hear.
And the bike starts and ends along the road encircling Lake Toya, and
this ride is incredibly beautiful, too. You felt a sense of serene joy and privilege to be
riding along Toyako.
Transition was chaos. Lots of mud, really deep and nasty mud
so running through the transition was not possible. Okay, but here, I ought to be running and not
walking to transition.
Time: 6:02:46 (long 5 min transition—I really, really need to work on this). Kalley?
Given the challenging bike course and slick conditions, I
was fine with that time, and I moved from 33rd to 12th
position (but I really was not aware of passing people in my age group but I was
only rarely passed once or twice and no penalties as is normal for me—a
reminder of Eagleman’s capricious and incompetent race course management).
RUN:
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Oh, he is waving now, but just you wait until the 35th
km. Too much heel strike there, Risto.
This is 25th km or so. Nice lake! Looking tired
but managing to smile for camera and kid.
The caveats: the
special needs bag area was not clearly delineated, and I never found it. I rely on miso soup to get me through the
marathon so I had to take a salt tablet from a table that made my stomach
unhappy for a few kilometers. It would
have been good for the volunteers to shout, “special needs”, but maybe there
was a language issue or a sign could have helped, or I may have zoned out and
not seen the person in front of my face screaming, “special needs” as second
half of race was a jetlag coma.
At the start of the run, you first run south for 1km along
lake before turning to head north and you do this again at the halfway point
and finish point. So, in total maybe only 3-4 km are along this part of the
lake, but it is not smoothly paved but a pebbly stone path that was not easy on
the feet or shoes. It is a quibble, I
know, but I was fed up by the time that I was finishing. And all the athletes complained. Faux
carpeting like they used to do on the Willis Ave Bridge for NYC Marathon in the
late 90s would have been great.
For me, the run is normally my strong suit, but I had an
injury four weeks prior. I owe much thanks to Drew Kalley’s advice to seek out
Fusion PT and an acupuncturist, Jill Charland. I had acupuncture as much as I
could squeeze in before my departure, and I did aggressive PT with electrical
stimulation, cold compression, and jogging on this cool anti-gravity treadmill
at 80-95% body weight. I was able to get about 12-15 weekly miles of running in
rehab, and I could do a 4-mile run on the Hudson River just prior to departure
without pain. I had very low
expectations for the run segment and assumed that I would walk a good portion
of it and dreaded the time that that would give me to figure out what went
wrong. The only issue that I had was my
jet lag, so after the first half was done, I felt good. My legs seemed okay
with no pain, and I was stunned. I did not expect this. I wanted to try to push
it harder, but the jetlag was kicking in, and I was nervous that if I went
“full throttle” on it, I would reinjure so I held it in.
Finishing and still smiling! No one around me so I can
pretend I finished first.
I hardly remember the last half of that run. I made up a few
songs to count the kilometers going by in my head but I think that I was
running semiconsciously.
Nutrition and hydration were not the issues. Every 2km there were tables with everything
that you needed.
Time: 3:41
That time for the marathon given the injury issue was much
better than I thought that I could do. I usually am 20 minutes faster when
completely healthy. And, in perspective, had I managed to get under 3:30 I
would have qualified for the Boston marathon, so not bad in the big picture. Overall time was 11:10 minutes, good enough
for 9th in my age group.
Cool Thing About This
Race: You get a YouTube video you
can upload that captures you at all the critical moments of the race: swim,
bike, and run transitions and the finishing chute. Outstanding IM Japan!!
DAY AFTER RACE (TIME
TO GET SPOILED!):
The day after the race, we went to a really fantastic place nearby on Lake Shikotsu, which is part of a national park about 20km from the race and just 40km from Sapporo. It is a place with onsen and great food, and we had a room with our own balcony overlooking lake and trees with our own private hot bath called rotemburo.
The day after the race, we went to a really fantastic place nearby on Lake Shikotsu, which is part of a national park about 20km from the race and just 40km from Sapporo. It is a place with onsen and great food, and we had a room with our own balcony overlooking lake and trees with our own private hot bath called rotemburo.
First, another great meal with best friends, and congrats to
Yoshihiro’s 2nd Ironman!
This is a rotemburo. It is a private hot bath. It hurts to
look at the rotemburo, as I want to return to it immediately.
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The rooms were a nice mix of modern and traditional
Japanese. The espresso machine got quite a workout.
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You can, as I did, spend an entire morning going from
rotemburo to chaise lounge to espresso maker in a continuous loop of joy. Here is the website, and it is definitely
worth a visit. The place where we stayed is called Mizu-no-uta, which
means the song of the water. http://www.mizunouta.com/
The following day we rented a canoe and paddled Lake
Shikotsu.
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Not a big fan of the swans, but so nice to see no lakeside
development. Many of the mountains are volcanic with steam rising from them
(hence hot spring hotel like this one we spotted on our drive back to Sapporo)….
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POST HOKKAIDO:
After that, my wife had to fly back to UN but my son and I headed down to Tokyo for another 5 days of fun and great food, visiting friends, eating like piggies, and enjoying what is our favorite city in the world. We stayed at our favorite place in Aoyama, Tokyu Stay Hotel, (25th floor view below), along Aoyama Dori, close to Omotesando and Yoyogi Koen and Shibuya.
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CONCLUSION ON RACE:
Ironman Japan delivers a great venue and value. It is the most beautiful course that I have experienced to date. The climate is typically ideal for this kind of race in August with temperatures 22-25C for highs and lows of 15-18C. The race venue is more enjoyable than either Ironman Lake Placid or Ironman Wisconsin. It is comparable but better than Mt Tremblant, another ironman race that I loved. Japan’s bike racecourse is superior to Tremblant for its beauty but more challenging, and Japan has a better course for the run. The swim course is good. Japan’s location makes it expensive but if visiting Japan is on your list of things to do, this is a great way to explore Japan and enjoy what you love doing (triathlon). I can give you all much more advice about where else to visit in Japan if you decide to combine this with a vacation in Japan. The food superiority alone makes this a race that I will do again. Although there is slightly better crowd support in North American races, that does not tip the scale away from IM Japan as my favorite race to date. The Japanese fans clap politely and sometimes you just need a good shout, and my face covered in salty sweat with frothy foam at the mouth likely terrified them.
Ironman Japan delivers a great venue and value. It is the most beautiful course that I have experienced to date. The climate is typically ideal for this kind of race in August with temperatures 22-25C for highs and lows of 15-18C. The race venue is more enjoyable than either Ironman Lake Placid or Ironman Wisconsin. It is comparable but better than Mt Tremblant, another ironman race that I loved. Japan’s bike racecourse is superior to Tremblant for its beauty but more challenging, and Japan has a better course for the run. The swim course is good. Japan’s location makes it expensive but if visiting Japan is on your list of things to do, this is a great way to explore Japan and enjoy what you love doing (triathlon). I can give you all much more advice about where else to visit in Japan if you decide to combine this with a vacation in Japan. The food superiority alone makes this a race that I will do again. Although there is slightly better crowd support in North American races, that does not tip the scale away from IM Japan as my favorite race to date. The Japanese fans clap politely and sometimes you just need a good shout, and my face covered in salty sweat with frothy foam at the mouth likely terrified them.
If any FTE’ers consider this race, I am happy to recommend
all kinds of things to you, and I may even race with you. Ken Glah, here is my
email if you want or need more specific information: sairaallapeikko@gmail.com
