24 Triathlons in 24 Weeks – Landau is BACK!
Doug Landau, finally uninjured and healthy in 2024 after a bout with the COVID N-1 variant last year, did 24 multi sport races in 24 weeks!
From April to October, Landau participated in 9 Kinetic Multisport sprint distance triathlons, 6 National Championship events, the East Coast Triathlon Festival in Richmond, and finished in second place at the State Championships for Connecticut, Maryland & Virginia for his age group. The USA Triathlon Federation sent him his record for the year and the itinerant trial lawyer was surprised to see what he had accomplished. Since all but one or 2 of the events he contested were USAT Sanctioned, they were listed out for end of year review.
Many clients and other lawyers ask Doug if he is ever going to race in an IronMan. Landau is completely uninterested in racing in any IronMan or half IronMan event. When asked why, he replies, “I like racing all out. In the IronMan races, people sit down and change clothes, eat & drink along the way, walk, and are not going ‘red line’ from gun to finish. I enjoy the short sharp racing in super sprint and sprint Triathlons. I also cannot imagine being out in the lava fields of Hawaii for several hours on my bicycle, when my wife is on the beach, and my friends are having a good time elsewhere. I have raced in ocean swims, 5ks, 10kms and even the aloha run 8 miler, on various Hawaiian islands, and an hour to 90 minutes of exercise is about all you really need. Plus, I think physiologically, events of 4, 8, 12 hours or more are not healthy. In addition, the training required for an IronMan or half Iron event would be like having a part-time or full-time job. It would take too much time away from family, friends, and other interests. By training a little bit every day, I am able to be competitive in sprint and super sprint races, without enormous wear and tear on my joints, ligaments, tendons, cardiovascular system, and other physiologic systems. PLUS, I am done and home by lunch time and have the rest of the day to do other things!”
In addition to racing primarily at the sprint distance, Landau went all out in several super sprint races, and took on the very hard Litchfield Hills Olympic distance event (which took nearly 3 hours!). Some of his former trainer training mates, who moved to Colorado, Hawaii and Florida, noted that 24 seems like a lot of races over a year, let alone in less than 6 months. However, Landau points out that he only has a few “A” races, those being the National Championships, USAT multisport festival, and the East Coast Triathlon Festival event in Richmond. All the other races were akin to quality workouts. Landau notes that the majority of his races are, “not events for which I would taper; arrive several days in advance; do much in the way of course reconnaissance; or consider critical to my season’s success. In fact, I did not expect to do as many races as it turns out that I completed. After such a lackluster 2023 season, where I was only able to do 2 triathlons, I was delighted to have been able to see so many friends, clients, and new venues this year.”
So what’s on offer for 2025? In addition to competing at a very high level in foot races all over the country, Landau intends to work on his speed and be more competitive in the State and National Championships races. ABRAMS LANDAU will again be a sponsor of the Kinetic Multisports Series of races from North Carolina to New Jersey, and lawyer Landau will compete and volunteer at a half dozen of the venues.
For now, he will return to Masters swim practices, ride his static bike indoors and compete in longer running races. After the Triathlon season ended in October, lawyer Landau ran road races from 1,500 to 10,000 meters, even winning both the 2 mile AND the 4 mile races in Arlington on Veterans Day, and winning his category over the weekends on either side! His multisport season will not likely resume until the Spring of 2025, though he will get some “warm weather training” while visiting family and traveling in Florida, South Africa and California this winter. As we have done in the past, we will share doug’s schedule so that he can visit with clients, counsel, witnesses and others where they are, as long as they do not mind that he is not rocking his pin stripe suit, but wearing his Kinetic Multisports, Team USA or other race kit!!!