Mieko finishes XTERRA Japan sans bike shoes

Bothered by the cool weather, Saipan’s veteran triathlete Mieko Carey was glad to report that she managed to finish without her shoes in the bike race, turning the competition to a dramatic conclusion for her XTERRA Japan odyssey last weekend.

“It was great and so much fun to see XTERRA friends there except [for the] weather and my shoes,” Carey wrote in an email.

She was uninjured but said she cried as delighted friends consoled her when she reached the finish line.

Still, Carey assessed that her recent experience in her native country will be a good preparation for her upcoming race in Maui, the venue for the annual XTERRA World Championships next month.

She said she is ready for Maui.

Carey thus wrote to tell her tale of her experience and that of her friend and four-time XTERRA Saipan champion Renata Bucher before, during, and after the race—funny but inspiring.

The Saipan-based triathlete said that after a five-hour delay of Bucher’s flight from Saipan, they were finally reunited and stayed in her father’s house in Izakaya.

She even recalled how her father loves to host a friend of her daughter’s and even asked Bucher to come back next year.

The next morning, the two arrived at the venue in Marunuma, which has an altitude of 1,500m. They immediately went into practice and acclimatized themselves with the weather and familiarize the course.

“I was careful with the bike because it was so muddy. Last year I fell into the lake. I watched how Renata rode the course.”

She said there were times that she had to carry the bike and walked and she said Bucher did too.

They even joked that they need 200 percent focus instead of 100 percent.

During the eve of the race, Carey said it rained so hard that every place was flooded and there were even warnings of landslides.

Because the lake was too cold, organizers decided to start the race at around 11am and the course had been changed due to the weather condition.

But despite of this, Carey said the swim was better for her this time compared to the previous year.

“I came out around fifth or seventh but I hardly breathed and felt different than usual from that kind of altitude,’ she recalled.

In the bike, the beginning was good for her with a new tire designed for muddy roads.

Then eight or 10 minutes into the bike race, her buddy Bucher passed her and she tried to catch up but she couldn’t.

“Still I felt good than last year. I was thinking all the time not to hurry. I needed concentration and made sure I was safe,” Carey said.

After about 30 minutes, she felt something was missing from her right foot.

“I thought I didn’t tighten my shoe soles enough. My shoes were broken,” she said.

So she thought about her upcoming Maui race and worried about how she can finish the race but then she remembered her friend Paul finishing the race before back on Saipan without sheet post.

She prayed not to get hurt. The bike course was too technical so she needed to walk many times and felt that her feet were starting to get sore. Some of the athletes were concerned about her condition.

As she took off her shoes and went for the run, several spectators photographed her ruined shoes.

Another surprise greeted Carey as the run course was altered.

“Usually we use rope but it was very dangerous because of the weather, though it was a good run. I tried to catch some people but already my body was tired and still very hard to breath. I was thinking it is great training for Maui.”

“I went to the finish line and I saw all of my friends were waiting for me, Renata, Sam Taro, Paul, and other Japanese XTERRA friends. I run to Taro and cried a lot. Taro just kept saying to me, ‘buy new shoes, buy new shoes.’”

After the fun and the unique experience she endured, she said a lot of triathletes wanted to join the 2009 XTERRA Saipan.

She also said that several bike shops and a clothing companies expressed interest in joining the Crown Jewel of the XTERRA Global Tour.