Thoughts from those who competed last year?

An amazing event. I did not compete, my wife did it.

This is a throw-back to the way things were years ago in the sport. Yet, it's still run with modern-day race and event management from the people at Life-Time Fitness.

People did this race for the challenge. The uniqueness of the distances, and the venue and the novelty of it all. Don't do this race if you are thinking it's going to be like all those other very popular long distance triathlons. If you go with those expectations, it will be a disappointment.

Bend itself was awesome. It's one of those really special places that if you love outdoor sports and recreation of any kind - its all there for you. I tend to rate places I visit by two things. 1) How many cars have roof-racks? 2) What's on those roof racks? In bend almost every car ad a roof-rack and they were carrying skis, snow boards, bikes, Kayaks, canoes etc . . I kid you not. Several people I know who were at the Leadman 250 last year, loved Bend so much, they have moved there! It's that kind of place!

. . . . .oh, and the beer is fantastic!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I am in Oregon! Wow, I didn't know about this. It appears to have a 5k swim. !!!!!
All I can find is race info for 2012. Do you have a link to this year's race?

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Can't wait...http://www.leadmantri.com/

Thanks for the feedback Steve. You giving it a shot this year?

Sweet. Looks like fun.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Thanks for the feedback Steve. You giving it a shot this year?

It's on a tentative schedule of races that my wife is planning on doing. It's a transitional year for her. She's been racing hard as a Pro/Elite now for 10 years and this year she has no real specific plans to race. But she would like to have another go at the Leadman 250. It's a strong cyclists course/race, she's a strong rider, but she had a bit of an off day last year, dealing with some food-poisoning and GI issues of some form all day. Hard to be able to ride for nearly 7 hours and barely keep any food down!

If she goes again, I will for sure go in support. This time I will be bringing my bike and hope to get in some riding of my own.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I'm in. Will be my fist tri with my son (due t-minus anytime now).

It's also the first time I've ever put all my efforts solely into one race. A true "A" race. I'm stoked for it.

I will do this. One year. Just not sure it is this year...

I did Pacific Crest long course for the first time last year (but unfortunately the bike course was cut down to Oly length due to snow)... So... I have registered again for Pacific Crest HIM again this June. Also... in Bend, I also love Pole Pedal Paddle in late May - the funniest event ever, which I also plan to do this year.

I haven't done an IM, (and that's on the schedule for 2014), but my issue with Leadman is that after all is said and done (all the training and a seven hour bike and a LONG day) there is no bragging rights for "I'm a Leadman"! Whereas my kids are in awe of their XC coach who's "an Ironman". Everyone knows what that means.

As a swimmer, reasonable cyclist, and NOT a runner, the weighting of the distances sounds ideal.

Maybe "Lead" this year, and "Iron" next year. I could be persuaded. I have a lot more running to do before I can tackle 26.2 and Leadman could give me a great end of year goal. ...And is a couple of weeks after our local "Aluminum Man".I might have just talked myself into this one.

I'm signed up - should be interesting. A very long day, for sure.

I'm coming from the Oregon coast - any other Oregon locals racing? I'd be down for some early-mid summer rides around Bend or Crater Lake (because I can't imagine many rides could be better prep than the Crater :)

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MS: Exercise Science
Your speed matters a lot, sometimes you need to be very fast, where sometimes you need to breakdown your speed.

I did it last year and it was absolutely wonderful (even though I totally fell apart due to back problems). There is nothing I can think of that I could possibly complain about. The long swim, long bike, short run format was nice. The swim was in crystal clear water - it was like swimming in a bottle of Evian. The bike course was brutal for a flatlander like me, but on good roads with beautiful scenery (it was my first time in Oregon). The last few miles into Bend were all downhill. Bend is a really cool town, and running it was a blast. The race was well run, and the swag was awesome.

It was an experience I won't forget any time soon. I will do it again, but with the way I plan ahead, it probably won't be until 2015. I am not a betting man, but I'm willing to bet you're going to have a great time. I hope you enjoy it!

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

Appreciate the feedback from those in the know and will see some of you in September. Now get out and ride, oh and do a lot more swimming too.

I just moved from flat florida last July to Portland. I got to ride the course last september, and it is truly an amazing ride around mt. bachelor!

I will be doing the race this year with my girlfriend. Going down from Portland.

Plan on making quite a few trips down before Ironman CdA to ride and then more over the end of summer before the race, if there are others that want to ride or town down with!?

Plus as Fleck said - the beer is awesome, so many micro brews to choose from!

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"Keep those feet moving!" Me

Ok, you all talked me into this. I AM IN! Not sure why I feel compelled to register sooooo early, but I kind of like the idea of mapping out my year so that I can finalize my training calendar. Here's to a warm up during the Pacific Crest long course, and to surviving the Bend Leadman 250 on Sept 21st!!!

Hey, buddha, any chance you can re-title this the "Official 2013 Leadman 250/125 in Bend" thread... it will be fun to stay in touch with each other's antics throughout the summer! P.S. I am in the Gorge, if any want to train with hills!

THIS^^ Coming from Tennessee, I had never seen anything like Bend before. Fun fact. 7 out of 10 cars with a roof racks were Subarus and the other 3 out of 10 were Xterras. The city was beautiful, the people were nice, and beer was plentiful. Cultus lake was breathtaking, litterally and figuratively. It was 58 degrees i think, but so clear you could see everything for 100s of feet it seemed. Again, coming from Tennessee, i had never seen anything like this. In our lakes you can't even see your hand because it's so murky. The bike is not 1, but 2 trips up Mt Bachlor. That was brutal!!! The run was amazing even despite the smoke from the nearby forest fires. I don't usually share my blog but here's my write up on Leadman.

It's definitely worth the trip. I haven't even attempted an Ironman yet but loved the format of the Epic.

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Wattie Ink Elite Team 2013/ Base Performance Ambassador 2011-Current

Just spitballing here... But... to get a under 11 hours (notwithstanding they don't alter the cut off to 12 hours again) for the small belt buckle...One would need to:

- Swim 5k (3.1 miles) in 1:24/100m for total swim = 1hr 10 min
- T1 = 6 mins
- Bike 223k (138.6miles) at 19mph average for a total bike = 7hr 18 mins
- T2 = 6 mins
- Run 22k (13.7 miles) at 10 min/mile pace = 2hr 17 mins (remember this event favors us non-runners)
= Total time 10 hr 56 mins.

Holy smokes. That's quite an exerted effort. It's good to have a goal...

TriSliceRS - Subject changed as requested. I think your spitballing here is pretty accurate. Although I am currently "training challenged" I fully expect to be able to hit those marks; although the swim may bite me if I can't get to a pool in the next few months.

ProMOP, Thanks for sharing your blog and congrats on gutting it out. Never quit.

Did my first "swim time trial test" of the year... And did 1hr 13min swim for 5k (in 25 meter pool). Still working on the running (building up very slowly)...

Word is that T2 and the run course will be different this year. I live here in Bend and loved the race, but welcome a change in the run course. Running through Tetherow was great and the River Trail up to that point was awesome, but things got a little unsafe near the end.

I heard a rumor the swim was a little 'short' last year.... hopefully they can get it back to the full 5k. I want to get my swim's worth, since that the only place I can put time into the average triathlete! Thanks for the update, Crafty. Any insight on what is the steepest pitch on the bike? i.e. will i need a 23, 25 or greater on the back? I'll have a practice run on Pacific Crest, but same question applies. I'd like to run a 11-23... Looks like maximum pitch is around 6%... Should be doable.

I biked 6:55 last year and at PCT I bike around 2:30-on average. I ran a 28 rear (39 front) and was maxed out the second time around. The Sparks Lake climb to Bachelor is a killer the second time around, harder than the 6% shows. I've been able to run a 25 in bike races that run up that stretch at the end of 70 miles and been fine.

I suspect it was short also. Jordan's swim time (53:xx) makes it look closer to 2.4 miles than 3.1 miles. If the swim was short, maybe they had a specific reason for it. It seemed like the Leadman 125 swim in Tempe was fairly close to 2.5k, maybe just 50m to 100m short at most.

Hi al! I just signed up yesterday for the 250. Gonna be tough to train for this over a summer in South Texas because it's hot and flat. Don't know how I'm going to pull off this distance but I will. I did my first-ever half distance in Galveston a couple of weeks ago and decided IM is just a little too commercial for me. Feels like this stuff should be about epic lonely journeys into the unknown, not multiple laps around a racetrack with people cheering as I blow snot rockets, you know? Thanks very much for this thread. It's what kicked me over the edge in the decision to do Leadman.

Question from a relative noob. I've only ever done events within driving distance. What's best way to get my bike there from Texas? Mail to a local bike shop or use the bike transport guys? This will be my one big deal of the year so spending a few bucks is acceptable.

Thanks!