We biked to an area 10km away, did three laps there and returned. It was a gentle up hill course. It was easy to bike from the inner city to the airport, since there were a couple lanes on both sides. On the other hand, there was only one narrow lane once we passed the airport and turned to the left to head to the half point. I was afraid of cheering children who were along the course and tried to run into the street to get the athletes’ bike bottles. During first lap, my body felt light, but there was not much strength. My pulse did not increase very much, and I could not speed up. I was irritated at myself for not being able to exert more strength. I was frustrated. Even though I gradually gained more power as I finished more laps, I felt that I was not as vigorous as usual. To my surprise, the distance between the athlete behind and myself stayed the same. However, the distance between the athlete in front and myself was widening. I took 4th place in the bike race.

Then we had to run around the flat course four times. Our course was fenced off from the streets, but the road was narrow, and I felt a little stressed when I had to go past other athletes or when I had to get water at the water stations. During the bike race, it was cool for Langkawi. However, during the run, I was very sure that it was cooler than previous years. As a result, many athletes were running faster than usual. Since we had to run around the same course, like always, I was able to confirm the distance between other athletes and myself. I was already seven to eight km behind from the leading female athlete. Looking back, I biked slowly again this year, which should be improved next time. Second athlete seemed to be doing well. Even though third athlete in front of me was not picking up her pace, there was already a fifteen minutes lead at the time of run start, and it seemed that I was barely able to catch up with her.
However, I began closing in on the third athlete while on my third lap. I felt confident that I COULD pass her. With five kilometers to go, I finally passed her and pulled away from her and finished in third place.

Even though it has been a while since the last race, local race officials and other athletes remembered me, and talked to me whenever they spotted me. I felt really good about our friendship, and I also felt that this refreshing race was a gift from God. I was very grateful for my friends in Langkawi. I wanted to do well not only for myself but also for them, and .I was able to win third place.

Even though I previously said that it was cooler during the race that year, it was still hot in Langwaki. I am always thankful for the volunteers who worked continuously in the heat. I am also thankful for the people who cheered on the streets and for the support from my friends, family, and parents in Japan. Two people were supposed to be selected to go to Ironman Hawaii, and since the top athlete already had the right to go there, I was very lucky to be selected as one of the two people. Since I was so close to getting the spot but I could not in 2007, I want to run even harder to make up for the 2007 race. However, there is still a gap between the top two athletes and myself. Belinda, who won this race, can be ranked high in the Ironman Hawaii. Tomorrow I go back to practice again to be able to race more on a global level. This is the path I should follow: It is a gift from God.

March 2008, Yasuko