The pelting rain, wind and cold convinced Melissa Landau to consider wearing her full body wetsuit on the bike portion of the Savageman Triathlon Saturday morning ! Presently in 4th place out of 161 athletes in her age group, Mrs. Landau was looking forward to swimming in the clear Deep Creek Lake, riding the challenging roads of Garrett County, and running on Deep Creek State Park trails. This Maryland Triathlon Series event supports the Melanoma Research Foundation, the voice for melanoma prevention, detection, care and cure.  The Landau Law Shop is a sponsor of the Virginia Triathlon Series.

When the Landaus arrived at Deep Creek Lake State Park for the late morning start (so that the fog can lift), Doug Landau made the decision to ditch his heart rate monitor, cyclometer, watch and large ring on the bike.

“In order to be safe on these steep, wet roads, I felt that holding back would enable me to have a safer race. As I am presently in 9th place in my category, I wanted to complete this very tough course the first time I competed in this MTS event. Also, this is a longer distance for me and I have a quartet of sprint competitions left this season, and I do enjoy the short, ‘red line’ type races most of all.”

Deep Creek Lake and the wind propeller topped Allegheny Mountains of western Maryland, provide a scenic venue. On Sunday the Set Up Event folks have a half-iron event that features a very tough bike course. These events are fun for the competitive Ironman racer to the leisurely back-of-the-pack or novice participant.

As Landau swam out to the starting buoy, he noticed a drone overhead filming the race ! Careful not to get off course and to keep a steady, but not “all out pace,” the Herndon injury Lawyer dashed through the first transition passing wetsuit clad racers right and left. Lawyer Landau then passed people throughout the hilly bike course until he returned to Deep Creek Lake State Park on State Park Road, when two bikers passed him as he tried extricating himself from his bike shoes with frozen fingers and feet ! It rained the entire time he pedaled through Swanton, Maryland, and soaked and cold, he rolled into the second transition. Try putting on shoes without feeling in your fingers or toes ! Landau had a slower than usual transition, and was careful on the rocky running course, so as not to fall, turn an ankle or face plant on the steep descents. Passing still more competitors, he was only passed by two much younger athletes.

Finishing over 20 minutes later than would have been expected on a flat, dry and hot Olympic Distance course, his 2:40:16 was good enough to win the age group by over 5 minutes, with one of the best bike and transition splits of the day ! While the longer race Sunday carries more weight in the standings, Landau hopes his performance under the adverse conditions will give him enough points to break the top 5 going into his last two Maryland and Virginia Triathlon Series races. For Official Results click here Still shivering after his warm down run, Landau left without waiting for the Awards ceremony or taking his place atop the podium as the best athlete in his category on the worst day for racing.