Swimming

There are two main 50m indoor pools in Tokyo:  The Tokyo Metropolitan Gym and the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Pool. There's also a 50m outdoor pool at Shiba park (open during the Summer). We also train at a 50m sub-pool at the Tokyo Olympic Pool opposite Yoyogi park every Thursday night (the lanes are only open to teams and not individuals).

The Tokyo Metropolitan Gym is located in Sendagaya (sobu sen and oedo sen). There is a main 50m deep pool and a 25m shallow sub pool.

The Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Pool is located at Tatsumi (Yurakuchou sen). It's a bit out of the way but has a 50m deep pool, a diving pool and even the shallow sub pool is 50m long.

The rules at the pool at Shiba park (mita sen) are fairly relaxed - no need for a swim cap and you can even wear a wetsuit and they don't mind.

Cycling

There are several places in Tokyo for cycle training: Oifuto, the Tamagawa river, the Arakawa river and the Imperial Palace.

Oifuto is a cargo loading area for container ships near to Haneda airport. On a weekday the roads there are busy with large trucks but on any Sunday or national holiday it's a mecca for cyclists. You'll find numerous cycling and triathlon teams cycling in pelatons around a 9.5km loop. It's flat except for one bridge.

The Tamagawa river has a cycling path but it's pretty narrow and sometimes you're better cycling on the road beside the path.

The Arakawa river has a much better cycle path, but you still have barriers to get through at several places. How to get there: Head North along Meiji Doori (the road that goes all the way from Shibuya to Harajuku, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. About 3km past Ikebukuro station you reach O-ji station. Go under the tracks and immediately there's an intersection. Go straight and eventually the major road will become a minor road. Eventually you reach a T-Junction. Turn right there and you very soon reach the river.

On a Sunday or national holiday you can cycle around the Imperial Palace but the earlier the better since you're sharing the road with car traffic. It's a 5km loop and definitely not flat.

Running

There are numerous places to run in Tokyo. Some of the better known locations are Yoyogi park, the Tamagawa river, the Arakawa river and the Imperial Palace. For interval training there's a track near to Yoyogi park that's open to the public each Wednesday. See the link to Namban Rengo below for more information.

Races in Japan

There are numerous races around Japan from April through to October. There's a magazine called 'Triathlon Japan"  http://www.tjnet.jp/ that comes out around the 6th of each month, and the February or March issue includes a guide to all the races in Japan. The following races are ones that I've taken part in:

Useful Links

Namban Rengo Running Club: http://www.namban.org/

Westy Cycle Products (Triathlon shop/ Triathlon group): http://www.westy-cp.com/ (Let Hayama san know that you found Westy via my site).

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Any Comments or Suggestions: please send mail to stuart@stuartmcintosh.com