Leon Griffin

Nickname: Griffo, Mudguts

Coach/Tri Club: Melbourne Tri Club

Hometown: Bendigo – 2hr drive north of Melbourne

Current Town of Residence: Melbourne, VIC or Boulder in USA

Height: 174cm (5’9 in the old)

Sponsors: I’ve worked really hard this summer to attract a fantastic stable of partners that I’m hoping can help me achieve some nice results. They include Orbea, Shimano, PRO, 2XU, CBD Cycles, Powerbar USA, Retul bikefit systems, Rudy Project, Continental, Brooks, Fizik, Fuelbelt, CompuTrainer, CD-WOW.com

Training Sessions Per Week: No two weeks are the same because it depends on so many factors such as racing, injuries, fatigue etc.. so I take a pretty flexible approach…i.e I train how I feel and don’t stick to a strict schedule.
That said, I like to knock out around 4-5 swims (all during weekdays if possible because I hate swimming on weekends), 4-5 bikes (at least 1-2 of those 120-150km and maybe 1 hard one a couple of easy ones), and 4-5 runs (1 long around 90mins, a few 50-60min runs, a run which is a brick workout i.e run off the bike for 40mins and an easy 30min recovery run day after a long one). It’s a very basic approach because I tend to get injured quite easily when I throw in much quality.

Years in Triathlon: 10 or so. About 4-5 of those as a Pro

Favourite Discipline: Bike and Run. I love the training for these because they let you see so much of the world you otherwise wouldn’t if you played a sport that was confined to an arena.

Sporting Idols: Too many to single any out. I love all sports, and particularly anyone who rises above when they were the underdog.

Favourite Food: Crumpets with Peanut butter, Fish and Chips, Pizza, Hamburgers and chicken snitzel burgers….all the healthy stuff!

Favourite Band: Coldplay. I only saw them live for the first time this year when my girlfriend bought me a ticket for christmas.

Favourite Movie: No particular one but I saw Angels & Demons the other day at the drive in..yes, they still have them in Melbourne!

Non-sporting Qualifications: (ie degree’s etc?) I have a degree in Banking & Finance from Monash University which I’d love to use one day…time is ticking though and I’m told 10 years after graduating it becomes obsolete! So we’ll see if that was a waste of money!!

Sporting Achievements to date: I have a couple. I won the World Duathlon title in 06 and haven’t done another duathlon since! A few Ironman 70.3 wins here and there (Geelong and Buffalo Springs last year), and Aussie LD title last year also. Hopefully more to come though.

Any Advice to Age Groupers: I think Age groupers do an amazing job finding the time to even train enough to complete triathlon’s, let alone doing them, especially Ironman events. And even more respect for those with a family and kids.
I actually think Professional’s can learn more from them than vice versa, because their time management skills are unbelievable.
I would advise them to keep things pretty simple as there is no magic formula. If you can keep a consistent training schedule up across all three legs (3 swims / 3 rides / 3-4 runs) you’ll do great. And relax a little because you’ll enjoy it more…I get so many crazy questions from Age groupers that I think they’re more stressed about their performance than I am.

Upcoming Race Schedule: Despite my lack of racing shape, I’m about to dive into a pretty hectic schedule of events. I’m in the US for about 3 months, and I’ll knock out around 8 races in that time. I’m already behind the 8 ball with a few months down injured, so I plan to ease my way into racing over the coming months at events like Rev3Tri (half ironman), Kansas Ironman 70.3, Buffalo Springs 70.3 all in June, Boulder Peak (Olympic) and Vineman Ironman 70.3 in July, Steelhead Ironman 70.3, Boulder LD, and Timberman 70.3 in August and then evaluate where I’m at before coming up with a plan of attack for the World LD Champs in Perth in October.

website: LeonGriffin.com