'Back into the thick of things'
Apologies everyone for the delayed update. After the debacle of the last Ironman 70.3 with a disappointing DNF, I decided it was time to pull the plug for a while and take some time off to recharge the batteries.
Happy to report after a month off and a trip back home to visit everyone, I'm back at it in the States with renewed enthusiasm, building up the miles at the base in Boulder.
I have a nice little schedule planned for the next 10 weeks that see's me taking in races at:
Ironman 70.3 Muskoka (Canada) Sept 14
Ironman 70.3 Cancun (Mexico) Sept 21
Ironman 70.3 Longhorn (Texas) Oct 5
Ironman 70.3 World Championships (Clearwater) Nov 8
Another reason for taking the extended mid-season break is because I am eying a debut Ironman at the end of the year. Which one I'm yet to settle on, so stay tuned in the coming weeks for that announcement.
Until then.
Cheers,
Leon
Bad day at the Office
Not much to report unfortunately from today's race at Rhode Island Ironman 70.3.
Due to this weekend's huge calendar of events, including LifeTime Fitness Tri, and 3 other Ironman's in Europe, I thought it was a great opportunity to hit a 'softer' race for a hitout. However I think completing 3 Ironman 70.3 events in June finally took their toll and left me with little zapp before this one even began.
The logistics of the race in Rhode Island are like none I've seen before. The swim and T1 were located around 75km from T2 and the finish line, and considering a compulsory bike check-in the day before Sunday's race, makes for a lot of hassle and mucking around.
The race:
I did manage a pretty reasonable swim and by the completion of 2km in the choppy ocean was only 60 secs off the pace of leader Tim O'Donnell and well placed with the real danger men Richie Cunningham in tow and Oscar Galindez a further minute behind us.
During the first Mile I already knew I was in for a rough day out as the gas tank seemed to be blinking on empty. I did manage to round everyone up and by Mile 20 had hit the lead. I kept this up, swapping the lead with Paul Ambrose for the next 10 miles until Galindez caught us and tucked in for a while to catch his breath, and Cunningham was hanging tough on the back also. When Galindez decided it was time to clear out around Mile 35, I stepped on the pedal but had nothing - the tank was completely empty! I could tell Cunningham was also struggling and tried to hang on to him, however I couldn't even manage to do this, and knew I'd completely blown.
For the final 15 miles I had to soft pedal back to downtown Providence where T2 and finish were located. I thought there was no point in digging a deeper hole for myself by knocking out a half marathon so decided to call it a day - very begrudgingly.
I guess your limit's are supposed to be pushed so you can find your boundaries, and today I realised mine - 3 half Ironman's in a month is quite enough and then take a break to recharge.
Thanks again everyone for the great support. After a small break for the remainder of July, taking in New York City, some of Canada and then Vegas with Merridee before heading back to Australia, I'll fire up again in August.
Cheers
Leon
TEXAS GOLD STRIKE
G’day Folks,
Well, finally, I got there after paying my so called ‘dues’. Today I finally took my first top step on the podium in a significant Triathlon in the US at the Buffalo Springs Ironman 70.3 event, held in Lubbock, Texas. My previous victory on foreign soil was the World Duathlon Championship in Canada back in 2006, so I was super hungry to get back in the winners circle after several other minor placings at Ironman 70.3 events recently.
This win continues a stellar start to 2008, with other victories including Geelong 70.3 and the Aussie LD Champs, and goes a long way to helping me achieve the goal of becoming a more consistent top level athlete whenever I toe the start line at any event anywhere in the world.
The pre-race hype had Paul Amey as the odds on favourite after 2 recent blistering wins at Ironman 70.3 events, and I guess rightly so. However my training mates that made the trip from Boulder with me, Gav Scott, Steve Hackett and Paul Matthews were confident we could give Amey a real run for his money after putting together some great work at the base over the past couple of weeks.
The week leading into the race saw temperatures most days hovering in the mid thirties (celsius) and had me reaching for a drink just thinking about the idea of competing in a half in those kind of conditions. However as race day dawned we encountered completely different conditions with light rain falling and gusting winds which kept temperatures in the low twenties, much to everyone’s relief.
Controversy surrounded the swim leg as the shape of Buffalo Springs lake lends itself to some shifty wading for the first couple of hundred metres, thus record swim times for a 1.9km leg. For example, my swim here was about 5-6 minutes faster than the 1.9km swim leg at the Ironman 70.3 Kansas event only a few weeks back. I’ve been working hard on my swimming however this kind of improvement would be a miracle!
American ITU racer Tim O’donnell led the field from the water, switching to compete in some 70.3 races after missing selection for the US Olympic team. I climbed out my usual 2 minutes down but only 1 minute behind Hackett and Matthews and had race favourite Amey in sight at only 30 seconds.
I was able to round up all but O’Donnell 20 miles into the bike, which is when light rain began to fall and made cycling on these farm to market roads a little sketchy, like riding on an ice rink. O’Donnell continued to dictate terms and rode a great race to marginally increase his lead by an extra 30 seconds – pushing his lead out to 2:30 by T2. Gav Scott hung tough and had a great ride to enter transition just behind me with Hackett also.
To be honest, not having raced O’Donnell before lead me to have absolutely no idea how he was going to run but kept in the back of my mind that being an ITU drafting racer, he may be a little short on miles in the legs coming to the back end of a half Ironman. To my dismay, I think he had actually increased his lead out to 3 minutes by the half way turnaround point at Buffalo’s own mini ‘energy lab’, and at that stage I was almost resigned to running for 2nd place. About 10 miles in the age groupers started to filter past in the opposite direction, and I was getting reports from them that O’Donnell was starting to look a little weary. That’s one of the things I love about racing in America – that the age groupers, whilst ensconced in their own battles, always have the energy to encourage the Pro’s racing out front.
Anyhow, this gave me that extra little push I needed to throw in some surges, and through mile 11 and 12 I must have pulled back more than a minute per mile and before you knew it I hit the lead with around a mile to run. And as they say, ‘the rest is history’!
O’Donnell staggered in for 2nd, with Aussie Matthews in 3rd, Gav Scott in 4th and Hackett rounding out the money winners in 6th place.
The Aussies have a great history at this race, with Belly winning it 2 years ago, and Chris Leigh last year, so it’s great to keep the trophy in local hands.
A BIG Thanks for the continued great support from my girl Merridee, Mum, Dad and the rest of my family, friends and sponsors. Without the encouragement to keep chasing the dream, I think I would have been an unsatisfied pencil pusher right about now.
Next up for me will be the inaugural Rhode Island Ironman 70.3 event in 2 weeks time, which I have switched on my program from the originally planned Life Time Fitness Triathlon. I made the change because I think I have found my niche with these half Ironman distance events and feel I’m a contender for the pointy end of the field every time I race.
Cheers
Leon
'Ironman 70.3 Kansas - 3rd Place
HOT - that's the first word that comes into my mind when reliving the days action at Ironman 70.3 Kansas yesterday.
As it turned out the race was one of attrition, with temperatures soaring up into the 30's with high humidity also, making conditions very oppressive.
The town of Lawrence, Kansas was better known for its Championship winning NCAA College Basketball team, but Sunday was the first time the town had ventured into holding an Ironman 70.3 event at the nearby Clinton Lake reservior. It attracted a very strong field for it's inuagural event, ready to take on the fresh water lake swim, rolling hills and strong winds (Kansas is known for it's tornado's) through rural farmland on the bike and hot and steamy flat looped run.
Living in Colorado, which borders Kansas, gave me the opportunity to drive to this event and avoid the airport circus, however 5 hours into the 9 hour drive I was having second thoughts and a short 1hr plane trip suddenly became more attractive. Driving across the plains in middle America offers the occasional food/petrol stops amongst paddock upon paddock upon paddock. A rather uninteresting journey. Worse still, we had to make this return drive after the races conclusion - it actually ended up being harder than the half ironman itself!
Getting back to the race - We had some great pre-race entertainment lined up with a few NAVY SEALS parachuting in to the start line before things kicked off, and one of the parachuters was actually racing so he stripped down from his jump suit to reveal his race suit and then took his position on the start line - talk about a cool warmup for your race!
I had a swimsuit malfunction before the race had even kicked off with a broken zipper so had to settle for a swimming in my endurance race shorts. As it turned out I had a rather poor swim, exiting the water some 2 minutes down on the leaders. If I was going to have a good end result I had my work cut out for me this day.
The bike course was interesting in that you made your way out of the park aorund 5 miles where you came to a 4 way intersection, known to locals as the Ironcross. You had to cycle around 15 miles out and back on each of the 3 other sections of this 4 way intersection, so it gave you a great idea where all your competitors were. I was cycling as hard as I possibly could but for the first half didn't seems to be making any inroads on the 6 or so guys hovering around 2 minutes in front. It was so hot and steamy I was a little worried about later ramifications to the amount of sweating I was encountering. Then all of a sudden around 70km guys just starting popping. I caught and passed Paul Mathews, Simon Lessing, TJ Tollakson at various points and drew level with Craig Alexander with a few miles remaining, leaving only Paul Ambrose and Terrenzo Bozzone out front coming off the bike to run. Fastest bike-split for the day was some consolation for hanging tough I guess.
Crowie quickly put a gap on me at the beginning of the run as we passed Ambrose early, so this left me in 3rd spot. The positions remained the same throughout the run, it turning into a real race of attrition. Terrenzo was out front and firing his way to a blistering run leg, widening the gap out to around 4 minutes at race end. Crowie was dangling about 30-60 seconds in front of me but I had nothing left in the tank and was just hanging on for survival, crossing the line in 3rd place for my first podium since I arrived in the US this season.
Just to spice things up for the agegroupers, a Wild storm blew in around 3/4 the way through their race, and it was so severe (as I'm told most storms in middle America are) that the race for them had to be stopped and everyone had to take shelter before you were blown away with the wind! Crazy!!
Next stop for me will be the Buffalo Springs 70.3 in Texas in 2 weeks time.
Cheers
Leon
Boise Ironman 70.3 - 4th Place
Hi Guys.
Boise, Idaho, was the newest addition to the Ironman 70.3 Series with their inaugural edition taking place this past weekend and they put on a fantastic show for their first up go.
The logistics of this one where a little difficult which saw the need for 2 different transition area's having to be implemented - the first at the Lucky Peak Reservoir and the bike to run transition taking place downtown some 30km away from the swim.
For the last few weeks the water temp in Lucky Peak had been a major concern with a heavy winter of snow melting and runnin off straight into the reservoir, keeping the race day temperature to around a bone chilling 12-13 degrees celsius! Alas a meager 15 second warmup from the shore to the deep water start line was enough on this day.
The cold water must have worked wonders for me as I had one of my best swims of the short season to date, climing from the icebox in around 8th place and only 45 secs from the front of the race, led out by Kiwi Terrenzo Bozzone. My swimming always has and always will be a work in progress, however I'm slowly but surely improving with every season.
With every part of my body numb I raced through transition and knowing I was in front of bike powerhouse Chris Lieto, I was confident of heading up the field before too long. Around 30km in, Lieto, Bozzone and myself had broken from the chasers which numbered around 10 and I was excited to be in this position so early for me duking it out at the pointy end. That was until Lieto decided enough was enough and took charge around 40km, putting the hammer down and clearing out. I continued trading 2nd & 3rd places with Bozzone until we completed the 90km bike and raced into T2 some 5mins down on Lieto.
I was a little concerned at my lack of run miles in the legs after going down for a week with a ches cold a fortnight back in Boulder, and this showed early on as Bozzone dropped me from the get go and I struggled to find a nice rhythm. Even though the conditions were cool and overcast, the shady 2 lap run along the beautiful Boise river were all not enough to keep me from running out of gas and I was eventually run down for 3rd spot by friend and training partner Joe Gambles at kilometre 18. Joe had an awesome race and thoroughly deserved his podium spot after giving me a 90 secs head start at the beginning of the run. Bozzone also had a blistering run and ended up catching Lieto and taking the victory.
Thanks again to the fantastic support of family, friends and sponsors.
I'm already looking forward to my next hitout in fortnight at the Kansas Ironman 70.3.
Until then - I wish everyone well.
LG
US '08 Summer Season Kickoff
Hi Everyone,
I'm finally back into the thick of the action here in the United States' 2008 Triathlon season, opening my racing account this past weekend at one of America's, and the World's for that matter, most iconic Triathlon - the Wildflower Half Ironman.
The day started out with a near disaster, realising only 30mins prior to the race start that I had snapped a gear cable, and was almost resigned to the fact I may have had to complete the bike segment in my small front chainring - as the severity of the hills would not allow me to keep it in just my big one (as with a snapped derailer cable you are not able to interchange between the two chainrings). Alas a frenzied search for a mechanic had the problem rectified with 10 mins to spare!
To the race - a solid swim had me exiting the water somewhere mixed up in the 2nd pack, however I was surrounded by some of the sports power bikers in Chris Lieto and David Thompson, so getting back near the front of the field was not much of a concern. The first 5 miles (8km) of this bike course is probably the hardest I've encountered in any race, anywhere in the world, and I was sitting comfortably ready to pounce until at this point until disaster no.2 struck - I received a 2 minute stand-down penalty for not staggering, a ludicrous call as the next rider in front of me was 150-200m up the road! From here I watched in pain as the race virtually rode out of sight and the chances of being a factor in the outcome of the race where basically gone up in smoke.
I completed the remaining 80km of the bike with the goal of just maintaining a top 10 result and copping this one on the chin. Once onto the run, I ran very conservatively for the half marathon and finished in 8th place overall, quite dissapointed with end result, knowing within myself I was definately within the top 5 for the field that assembled if it wasn't for the silly mistakes on my part, and a little bad luck. Chris McCormack was the eventual winner, claiming his 4th Wildflower title in defeating Eneko Llanos of Spain, with Chris Lieto rounding out the top 3.
For another take on the race, you can find a story at InsideTri here
Until my next hitout at Ironman Boise 70.3 on June 1, I'll be heading to Boulder, Co. for a big block of training.
Cheers,
Leon
XTERRA Australia - 2nd Place
April 2008
Xterra racing returned to Australia this weekend for the first time in 6 years and Daylesford, Victoria, provided a fantastic location for the 300 odd brave enough to kick off in the 15 degree waters! A very competitive field assembled, including Xterra Full time specialist Andy Noble, fresh off wins in the opening rounds in the Micronesia islands, Chris Legh, a multiple top 10 Maui WC racer, and a host of other solid local performers including Josh Rix, Jamie Rhodes, Sammy Hume and Jarod Kohlar to keep things honest.
This was my first introduction to Xterra racing and I would have been happy just to finish with all my limbs still in one piece and no broken bones. After being kindly lent a mountain bike for 2 weeks by Anthony M from CBD, I wasn't expecting too much in the way of my performance. I have a great set of lungs but absolutely no 'off-road' bike skills whatsoever!
To the race - I had a great swim, climbing from the freezing waters in 4th place, 50 secs from the 3 front runners. I rounded these guys up about halfway through the 30km bike, however was blinded by the dirt Chris Legh dished up as he sped past and off into the distance. By the end of the bike Chris had a handy 1:30 lead, but I just was just ecstatic to get through unscathed.Â
I jumped off 3rd, but quickly moved into 2nd and opened a commanding gap back to the likes of Sammy Hume, Jarod Kohlar, Ben Allen, Andy Noble and Matt McDonough chasing behind. Chris was still powering out in front although I never gave up hope, as anything can happen on these unpredictable terrains. Â
Eventually I ran in Runner Up by a few minutes to Legh, but as explained was ecstatic to get through in one piece, have a great hitout and a bit of fun with less pressure than a normal 'on-road' Triathlon all at the same time.
I'll now consider lining up at the Xterra World Champs in Maui later this year in October, however with a long and hectic schedule in the States this year I'll have to wait and see how the body is holding up closer to the event. If you'd like to check out the results you can find them at www.supersprint.com.au.
Inside Triathlon Magazine has compiled a race cap and a few pics here.
Thanks again to all my great sponsors for your assistance, especially Antho from CBD lending me the dirt bike at such short notice, and Aidan at 2XU for the wetsuit skull cap keeping me from swimming with an ice-cream headache!
I will be revamping the website in the upcoming weeks and it will also include my upcoming US racing schedule, as well as revealing a few more sponsors that will be instrumental in helping me to take the next step with my Triathlon career.
Cheers
Leon
New Australian Long Distance Triathlon Champion
February 2008
The Australian Long Distance Triathlon Championships were held in Huskisson, NSW today.
World ranked Ironman No.2 Craig 'Crowie' Alexander was the raging favourite to take out his 6th Aussie LD Title in a row, however I was quietly confident of giving things a shake after my Geelong Ironman 70.3 victory a few weeks back.
The signs were good after a great swim for me, exiting the 2km swim in Jervis Bay with the main player's only 45 secs behind superfish Steven Hackett. Unfortunately for Steve he encountered a punctured tyre only 5km into the 83km bike leg and was forced to withdraw. Bad luck also struck race favourite Alexander around the same time as his day ended early with his seat post breaking making it impossible to continue riding.
Alas I found myself at the front 5km in and decided it was time to split from the remaining guys, powering away on the smooth Cervelo P3, building an insurmountable 7min lead by the end of the cycle. With the knowledge the fleet footed Alexander was not in pursuit I decided to conserve the legs for another day, and ran out the 20km run leg at a nice steady pace, closing for a 9 minute victory from up and coming Port Mac youngster, Tim Berkel.
I can now add 'National Champion' to the 'World Champion (Duathlon 2006)' belt and continue's a nice run of form and great start to 2008.
Thanks again to everyone for the fantastic support.
Geelong 70.3 Victory to kick off a huge 2008
January 2008
Hi Everyone,
The Triathlon racing season in Australia is in full swing and I've finally been able to get back on the track after a frustrating few months. The racing last weekend was Australia's Ironman 70.3 event in Geelong, the inaugural edition and it turned out to be a spectacular success.
On a personal note, it was a dream day for me, taking out my first Ironman 70.3 Win after a few year's trying with a couple of near misses at these half ironman events, and it's been a while between drinks from my last significant win, the 2006 World Duathlon Title.
And to my bemusement I won the event very underdone, rating my fitness level at about 70%, and carrying quite a few extra kilo's (and pounds for the American's) from the festive season still. Maybe this was the key to my victory, as I had very little expectation or pressure to be near the pointy end of the field with the like's of Chris Legh, Luke Bell and Mitch Anderson toeing the start line.
To cut a long story short, I swam quite well exiting the water 1 minute in arrears of the leader's Bell, MacKenzie, Mathews etc and then chased hard until I took the lead 30km into the bike. I then quickly opened a gap to a chasing pack of 5. This continued to build out to about 2:30mins until the uber biker Mitch Anderson came roaring back into contention, 1:30min down on me by T2. I was able to maintain this gap throughout the 3 lap hilly challenging run to take the win by 90 secs from a much improved running leg of Anderson.
I look forward to working with all of my existing and new sponsor's going forward for a big 2008, hopefully a few more victories to add to the belt. Thank's for being part of the journey. If you'd like more info please check the race reports or results at www.ironmanlive.com. You can also view a post-race interview with America's biggest online Triathlon website Inside Tri.
Wishing everyone a great 2008 season. I'm hoping to have my schedule up shortly for all to view.
Leon