“I was tracking all of my results on Excel prior to knowing about Athlinks. Now I have a place that stores all of my results, that I can show to my coach, and that allows me to easily look at what others are doing in the sport.”
Progress is important to newbie triathlete Dave LeVeque. In a little over a year in the sport, with eight races to his credit, LeVeque’s drive has brought him measurable success—including a first-place finish and a new Olympic distance PR.
“One of my friends dared me to do a triathlon, and I was looking for a good reason to getback into shape,” says Chicago-based LeVeque. “I am a very competitive person, so I dove into the training. I also decided to become a vegetarian to further enhance my training. After finishing my first triathlon (the Transamerica Chicago Triathlon) in 2016, I qualified for nationals. This got me even more excited and I decided to pursue the sport even further, so I hired a coach. I then went and signed up for every Olympic triathlon I could find.”
His enthusiasm and dedication paid off. This year at the Transamerica Chicago Triathlon, LeVeque knocked more than 15 minutes off his previous time, winning the men’s 30-34 age division and clocking a 2:11:55 personal best. “I had told my coach that this was my ‘A’ race this year. I had six friends racing with me and I was really looking to place in the race,” says LeVeque. “It was extra special because this was the race where it all started for me. Each course is different, so it was a true test, seeing myself on the same course again.”
In addition to discovering triathlon, LeVeque discovered Athlinks as a way to catalog his results and track his progress. “I was tracking all of my results on Excel prior to knowing about Athlinks,” he says. “Now I have a place that stores all of my results, that I can show to my coach, and that allows me to easily look at what others are doing in the sport.”
LeVeque says he loves having all his results and personal statistics in one place—especially when it comes to the right-in-your-pocket convenience of the Athlinks app. “It just adds another level of simplicity, with being able to look at my phone and show my friends my results,” he says.
LeVeque, who came to triathlon with a swimming background—an area where many triathletes lack confidence—was initially challenged by the bike and the run, where his experience was limited. But he quickly gained skill in those disciplines as well, as evidenced by his recent victory and his qualification to compete in the 2018 Life Time Tri New York City Championship (a race-within-a-race at the New York City Triathlon) next summer.
“I am super excited to compete at that level,” says LeVeque, who also plans to tackle Ironman Texas in April 2018. “I like building on my speed and having each race be better than my last. Ultimately, I don’t feel I know what my best is yet. I am in pursuit of discovering the most I can get from myself.”
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