3rd XTERRA Japan win not piece of cake for Mieko

Mieko Carey’s triumph in the 2011 XTERRA Japan will not be complete without her sharing the tough challenges she had to endure to win the race in Marunuma.

The hurdles started two days before the race when Carey went for a practice ride last Thursday and saw fluid seeping from her bike’s shock.

“I could not lock or unlock my shock. If it is always unlocked, it loses air. I went to a mechanic, but the guy told me he could not fix it so I have to replace it. I called a friend who came to Marunuma the next day and we went to a bike shop to buy a new shock. But the shop have to order from another company,” Carey said.

In the end, the CNMI triathlete decided to stay with her bike.

“I could not sleep at all because I am worried about my bike. I have no choice but trust my bike. If I had to run the whole bike course with my bike, that will be my fate for the day,” the 33-year-old athlete said.

With that settled, Carey shifted her focus to the first leg of the race—the 1.2-kilometer swim in the cold waters of a lake.

According to Carey, the water temperature was 20 degree Celsius and almost every swimmer wore a full wet suit. She eventually finished the first leg of the race third overall with a time of 16:26, about a minute behind eventual No. 1 finisher Condrad Stoltz (15:16) of South Africa and Great Britain’s Michael Hiscott (15:43)

After a smooth swim, Carey’s real test began in the 25-km bike race.

“I almost fell into a cliff at the first 4K and hit my handle bar hard. The handlebar bent to the right. I had to run to find bike tools. It was my fault I only brought a pump, but not tools,” Carey said.

In the middle of the race, she had to shout and asked fellow bikers for tools. Unfortunately, no one stopped and Carey decided to return to the transition area and fix her bike. She lost about 10 minutes in the race..

The misfortunes did not end there, as Carey also had her bike chains break twice. Then there was the tricky and slippery course.

“There were many trees and mud were all over. When I and Kevin (Carey) did this race last year, I told him the 25K bike is 20K bike and 5K run because you really have to carry your bike. There are times when you want to throw the bike and slide yourself because it is very steep down hill,” the Micronesian Games gold medalist said.

Despite these odds, Carey soldiered on and even forgot the problem with her bike’s shock.

“All those challenges (bar bend, chain off) made me forget about the shock. I just rode as fast as I can and went to transition 2. When I just started the run the announcer said first man, Conrad, will come back soon to finish. He is a monster,” said Carey, who submitted 1:50:43 in the bike leg against Stoltz’s 1:19:45.

With her bike problems now history, Carey had enough juice left for the 10K run.

“The run was awesome. You use a rope to climb to the cliff. I felt good after the bike race so I ran and enjoyed the moment. I pushed hard and I went to the finish line in 3:00:25. I could not make it under three hours, but I was just happy and had a big smile when I finished,” said Carey, who completed the last leg of the race in 53:16.

The CNMI bet is still in Japan and would like to thank her Saipan supporters for their messages.

“I was so surprised how many people gave me great words and I really thank them for their support,” said Carey, who also thanked Hornet Bike Shop, IT&E, Brabu, Bike Pro, Salomon, Suunto and Zoot. “I am excited to go back to Saipan and train for XTERRA World.”