Leon's World's Fastest Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

The bigger wave start made for a pretty combative start. It was pretty ugly for about 250 yards and then I was able to get enough space. Going into the swim, I put myself up toward the front to avoid swimming through my own wave.

Once I was able to get my rythmn down, it was a pretty good swim. Just the occasional bump here and there. Getting through the waves in front of me wasn't too bad. People were spread out pretty well. When we made the last turn, we were coming back into the sun and the sighting was really difficult. After looking around a bit, I was able to sight off a windmill to make it back in.

At one point coming in, A guy swam in front of me doing the backstroke going in completely the wrong direction. It was so bad, I grabbed his leg, stopped him, and told him to swim to the left of the windmill.

Masters swim class has paid off big time. I went from 30 minutes in this race last year to 25 minutes this year. My time was also over a minute faster than May's race.

The first 200 yards were very tuff. Tons of hitting, bumping, grabbing, and pushing. Heck, I was probably giving as much as receiving. There were quite a few stronger swimmers that started behind me. Next time, I may start a couple rows further back from the front.

I still have a lot of work to do on drafting. I found one person to follow about a third of the way in. While he was faster. . . he couldn't swim straight to save his life so I gave up on following him. I wasn't able to find any feet after that worth following.

I continue to give up a minute in T1. I need to work on taking off my wetsuit quicker. I do fine with the rest of transition, its just the darn wetsuit.

The last two races I sat down to take it off. I don't do this when I practice in OW and I seem to get it off quicker. Next race, I'll take it off standing and see how that goes.

My strategy for this race was the exact opposite of my last race in May. The race in May had a very challenging run. I made a conscious decision to hold back some on the bike.

For this race, the run is absolutely pancake flat. So I decided to put a harder effort into the bike. My 20mph average doesn't really speak to my effort. With the multiple 180's slowing that average down, I was riding at about 21-22mph for most of the flats. With the wind at my back on the highway, I was pushing 26, and I was managing to hold 19mph into the wind.



I had a plan, and I nailed it. I couldn't have put in a harder effort and maintained any run form. I kept thinking to myself. . . could I hold this pace for 25 miles? . . as long as I answered maybe, I knew I was right where I wanted to be.

I did great in T2, the time doesn't do it justice. I came into transition behind 4 riders who all dismounted and slowly moved into transition.

I rode on top my shoes, and my dismount was much better. I have had a tendancy to jump off while still going to fast. I didn't make that mistake today. Once I got to my rack, I put the bike away, put on my shoes quickly (elastic laces), grabbed my belt, visor, and ran for the exit.

Nothing.

I went as hard as I thought I could maintain for 10k. For the most part, I tried to hold to a 7 min. mile pace. I paced off a guy at 6:45's for a mile or so, but had to pull back for fear of blowing up. By the turnaround, I knew I was heading for a really good time overall and knew that all I needed to do was avoid any stupid blow ups, so I pulled back a little on mile 3 and 4. Once I hit mile 5, I started to push it again trying to catch a few more people before the end.

Again, just like the bike, I executed the run course as planned. I could have probably gone a minute and a half faster, but I surely gained more time than that on the bike course. I wanted to go out at 7 minute miles, and I ended up averaging 7:03/mi. Could not have asked for better.

I sat down before I fell down. After that, I walked around a bit with the kids, eating some watermelon and oranges.


I beat my previous best by three minutes set back in May. My swim times and run times have come down a ton since last year. I've got a lot of biking planned for June leading into Muncie 70.3. If I can maintain my swim and run, and increase my bike fitness, then I'm looking great to finish my first 70.3.

As to why I rated the race a three:

1. The cost is above average.
2. There are WAY TOO MANY FLATS! I flatted last year as did many others. This year it seemed even worse. I avoided a flat this year, but many other riders were not as lucky. I hate to see a rider having to walk in his bike because of a flat. Granted, they should fix their flats and keep moving. . . but it really does ruin your race.