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Blog - Ironman world championship

Why Takei Rikako Runs Triathlon’s at 56!

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This blog post is part 2 of our 6-part series on Takei Rikako’s journey to Kona and the Ironman World Championships!Take a moment to head over to our first blog post in this series that introduces her and the Ironman World Championships! Reading this post first will help you gain a little insight on Takei and the upcoming competition:Introduction to Takei Rikako

After learning a little more about Takie Rikako, we had SO many questions.Competing in the 55+ category at one of what world’s toughest competitions isn’t something every one sets out to do! We wanted to know things like, what drives Takei Rikako to compete in the world’s “Best of the Best” championship at age 56.Not only at her age but wanting to compete and be on the podium after 10 years!Here is what we asked..

What was the life event/situation that made you decide to run triathlons?

Takai:I started to train when I was 40 years old. I never felt it was too old to start anything! Here I am at 56 competing in the 55+ category after qualifying in Arizona!

I had to take some time off, but recently made the decision to start again and begin training.I love being out there.I think any training makes me positive and healthy and mentally, I just want to stay out there as long as I can!

Where you always athletic as a child?

Takei:I used to love doing Jazzercise! The cardio was fun. I basically love all sports, so anytime I have a chance, I participate. As a child, I used to love to roller skate!

What was your first Triathlon?

Takei:I competed in 2005 at Ironman Arizona. I won First Place in the 40-44 category!I was on the podium and qualified for the 2005 Ironman World Championship that year.At the Ironman World Championship 2005, I competed against some great athletes and came in #10 that year! I was also competing at that time in the 40-44 year old category.

What was your favorite triathlon?

Takei:One of my favorite triathlons was in Los Cabos in 2014.At that race, I came in 3rd place, that triathlon was a lot of fun for me!

What’s the biggest challenge for triathlons?

Takei:My biggest challenge is nutrition / eating.I hired nutritionists and really worked on it last year. I have to study more than nutrition. The biggest challenge is to get a better nutrition strategy and the challenge is I have a little fluctuation in what I can eat. It’s not like it used to be - almost 17 years ago what I was eating then is not what works for me now.Training is so stressful that it makes me so tired. So how to get over to deal with my current, the buddy system. So changing how to deal with my mission right now and just learning to deal with. That's my nutrition for my current body system.

Introduction: Takei Rikako – A 56 Year Old Triathlete!

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