Triathlon Season Ends “On A Roll” at Hermosa California “Day at the Beach”
Once again making the podium at the Hermosa Beach Sprint Triathlon , Herndon Virginia lawyer Doug Landau finished his 2014 triathlon season on the West Coast. Besting over 750 other athletes, lawyer Landau had a rough start. In short, the waves that the Southern California surfers enjoy got the best of the Triathlon Trial Lawyer. He noted that there were lifeguards on jet skis and surfboards fishing out swimmers and bringing them to shore, as they had signaled that they were out of the race. As he was in the 6th wave,
Landau watched seasoned SoCal triathletes jump over and through the waves on the way out to the first swim buoy, and then “body surf” back to the shore after the 400 yard swim, Landau thought he could do the same. Instead, he was stood up like a lineman stymied by a larger blocker, buffeted by the waves and lost valuable time getting out to smooth water. Once able to get into a rhythm, Landau picked off a few swimmers, and then turned to head to the beach. Remembering the pummeling he endured at Bethany Beach, Landau kept looking behind him for big waves to avoid a repeat performance ! Nonetheless, 50 yards from shore, Landau was rolled so hard, he lost his goggles and swim cap, was scraped against the Ocean floor, and wound up fighting for air and fighting a losing battle against the undertow !
A LA County Lifeguard on a jet ski came over to the struggling lawyer, who waived him off and survived several more waves that “rolled” him, and then hit the beach. Before the race Landau had determined to break an hour and to have the fastest transitions. So, despite the sand in his ears and salt water down his gullet, he took off on the long run to the bike racks. Passing faster swimmers, Landau had to contend with a very crowded transition area and then do 3 laps on narrow, packed roads to complete the 10 mile bike course. Passing athletes the entire time on a borrowed bike, the Herndon Reston area lawyer averaged about 25 miles per hour and had another fast transition.
Landau took off along the beach road with several hundred triathletes already on the 3 mile out-and-back course. Passing runners the entire time, he averaged 6:48/mile and finished comfortably in 3rd in the age group. He missed second by only 5 seconds and first by less than 30 seconds more. The top 5 in each division received awards, and Landau broke up an all SoCal locals sweep of the Age Group. In fact lawyerLandau was the best finisher from Virginia and his time of 56:17 would have won the age groups above and below ! Finishing in the top 20, he enjoyed the excellent race logistics, friendly volunteers and post-race festivities at the Day at the Beach Triathlon at Hermosa Beach. Click here for results
Landau expects to relax the rest of the week on the “Left Coast,” enjoy visiting family and plot a winning 2015 multiSport competition season. Stay tuned !