The 500 swimmers all started at once, the battle is tremendous, especially when you turn at the corner buoys.
All the swimmers were concentrated in one spot. Several times I kicked and hit others and others hit and kicked me as we scrambled to overtake.

My heart rate went up to 86% of my HR max.

At some spots you had to walk due to too the shallow water at low tide. I drew deep breaths and took a short rest whilst catching up with the faster swimmers. That was a lucky time for poor swimmers like me. My heart rate went down to 82% or lower of the maximum.

I then swam just behind the faster swimmers where I saved the energy due to the water flow generated by their wake. For the last part of the swim to the finish goal, I dashed and my HR went up to 89% of the max.

The cycle part was a rectangular course going around 5 times totaling 62.7km.
I passed 150 people and went up to 208th position. This was my record.

The road was totally flat in altitude although in places it had a slightly rough surface.

I was able to speed up easily due to the many straights on the course. I had to be very careful because as many as 1000 bikers (including the shorter ‘B’ type race participants) were also speeding on the same track.

My heart rate was quite stable, 84%-86% for the first half and 81%-84% for the second half.

The first 5 km of the run started from Irago Port, climbed up to Irago Point and then went around and down to the Pacific Ocean. The ups and downs were tough but I enjoyed the ocean view and some shades of trees, it was not as exhausting as I had expected.

Then it went along the beach by the Pacific Ocean, 5km there and 5km back on the cycling road which was totally flat and straight. The heat of the atmosphere (over 30 degrees Celsius) and the strong sunshine with no shades increased my body temperature quickly.

I drank plenty of water and cooled down the burning parts of my body by getting wet frequently.

When I ran the first half, I maintained 85% of HR max but it went down to 82% or less on the return. When I got used to the heat, I started forgetting the toughness and managed to run with comfortable rhythm.

The last 5km was the same as the first part of run with the tough ups and downs around the point and back to the port.

I ran at a higher pitch with shorter strokes in the ups, and with longer strokes in the downs. My HR went over 90% of HR max.

I dashed and finished with the last of my energy at 93% HR."