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William Leiss

@wcleiss

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📍Miami, FL
Next Race: IM 70.3 Florida Dec 13
11x Ironman
2x IM AG Podium
2x Non Roll Down IMWC Qualifier
@tcufootball 08-11

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

I was hoping this day never came but here it is. For the first time ever I failed to finish a race. The Ironman medical team pulled me off the course at Mile 6 of the run at 70.3 Waco and did not let me continue.

I never had a chance today. The entire week was stressful with major bike mechnical issues that were not resolved after hitting a pothole last Sunday. I had to race on a damaged bike. But I woke up this morning once again with major GI distress.

3rd race out of 4 this year i had to battle severe GI issues from the gun. I puked several times on the bike. Everything that went down my throat came back out. I got a drafting penalty at the halfway point and hoped the 2 minute penalty would settle me down but it didnt

I had one good mile on the run and then everything unraveled. I threw up a couple more times. I was extremely thirsty but knew drinking anything was pointless since it would just come back up. At Mile 4 I was so dizzy that I stumbled and was so disoriented that i am guessing the medical staff was alerted at this point because they were ready for me at the Mile 6 aid station and they said I was done. No toughing this one out.

Disappointing especially because I came here to win my age group. Despite my issues I was gaining and worked my way to 7th place before being pulled.

I am going to hire a sports dietician. Tired of this happening as its clear im doing something wrong in the days leading up to the race. My training the last 8 weeks went so well. All for nothing.

#im703waco #ironman #ironmantri taken in Waco, Texas by @wcleiss

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15 days ago

First outdoor ride since Lake Placid. Was very humid and my nutrition experimenting backfired spectacularly but overall glad to be back riding outdoors 2 weeks from Waco

#ironman #ironmantri #im703waco taken in Florida Keys by @wcleiss

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a month ago

POV: Resuming real training this morning after a much needed break

Since I did my first Ironman in 2022, ive never taken a break. I always taken about 5 days off post race then jumped right back into a high volume and intense training build for my next race. Doing this for almost 4 years helped me accomplish great things and build a solid base of fitness

But this year I think it caught up to me. The accumalated fatigue over 4 years began to be an anchor. My progress stalled, infact I went backward, and my races were disappointing. Training harder or longer wasn't getting the job done. Plus I probably jumped back into training after my bike accident in January sooner than i should have

So after Lake Placid I decided to do something different - give myself time off. For the last 4 weeks I have taken it easy - low volume, no intensity. The goal was to shed that chronic fatigue and I think I have. Im ready to get back out there and salvage what is left of 2026.

#ironman #ironmantri #im703waco taken in The Falls by @wcleiss

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2 months ago

Really happy with my performance and effort at Ironman Lake Placid on a super tough course with 7500 feet of gain on the bike and 1200 feet on the run

I knew going into the race the times I would need to be in contention. After having the swim I wanted, I was able to execute my bike plan the first lap without trouble. But the first loop time of 2:48 was too slow. I decided to roll the dice and steal watts budgeted for downhill and flat segments and transfer them to the climbs. This worked and the 2nd loop was going much better until Mile 96 or so and my legs just stopped putting out the watts I needed.

This gamble didnt pay off and it meant starting the run with compromised legs. Most Ironmans my legs feel normal the first 12 miles or so but this run started ugly. But I didnt throw a pity party, I pushed forward and upped my effort throughout the run as fatigue accumulated.

It wasnt the time or result I wanted but im satisfied for two reasons. One is that I was in control the whole way. No stomach issues or overheating that plagued my last 2 races. And two is I progressively increased my effort on the run. Not much fade and no walking.

No regrets going for it on the bike. I had to do what I thought i had to do to contend. If I didnt, id be sitting here right now saying I regret not taking a risk and wondering what if

An end of a long season - 4 Ironmans in 10 months. While i didnt get a Kona slot I know i gave it my best and overcame 2 bad injuries. Time for some much needed time off and an actual off-season instead of jumping right into another build. No races until December.

#ironman #ironmantri #imlakeplacid #imlp taken in Lake Placid, New York by @wcleiss

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3 months ago

Thrilled to be back at Lake Placid for my 2nd crack at this iconic race. Got here early and the plan is to take it completely easy this week for a stress free, completely boring race week. I feel part of the problems my last 2 races were dealing with too much last minute stress (mostly in the form of emergency bike mechanical issues) which disrupted my sleep and recovery in the days before the race. If my legs feel like they did today riding the hardest part of the course, I think I will have a good day

#ironman #imlakeplacid #ironmantri #ironmanlakeplacid #imlp taken in Lake Placid, New York by @wcleiss

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3 months ago

Unfortunately IM 70.3 PA was a repeat of the horror I faced at Ironman TX

After a good warm non wetsuit swim, I got on the bike and immediately my core temperature shot up and stayed there. I averaged a core temp of 103.5 on the bike. My core temp at Ironman TX peaked at 102.7.

A total Chernobyl style core body temp meltdown. Round 2. Extreme nausea came with it and I couldn't push any watts. I averaged a power of 215 watts on the bike. This was 10 watts less than what I averaged at a 70.3 in 2024. Despite me holding 255 watts for 2 hours in a race sim ride two weeks before this race. It wasn't even hot. 60 degrees. I can easily handle the brutal Miami heat and humidity and keep my core temp down, but for some reason in races it unravels.

I figured since I underbiked so badly maybe I could have a good run. Nope. I puked 3 times, including all over a poor 10 year old aid station volunteer. Every time I tried to up the pace my body and stomach said no. I ran a 1:35 which is my all time worst run leg in a 70.3.

The doctors in the medical tent afterward buried me in bags of ice yet it took an hour to get my core temp under 101.

I have 5 weeks to figure this out before Lake Placid. If this were something chronic, it would have shown itself in training. My training went amazing. Looking at the commonalities between Texas and this race, Im guessing it is a combo of compounding race week stress (both races I had to scramble at the last minute to solve stressful bike mechanical issues) which causes me to not arrive on race morning fully recovered, and then I may be attempting to push race power too early in the ride after these warm water wetsuit swims, which leads to runaway overheating that I cant recover from once I hit the point of no return.

For Lake Placid, im going to show up to the race site early, ensure I face no race week stress, and will not push race power on the bike until im fully settled from the swim

I am better than this!

#ironman #im703happyvalley #ironmantri taken in Penn State University by @wcleiss

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4 months ago

Spent the last 2 months reverse engineering my Ironman Texas nutrition/hydration/sodium failure and really excited to test out my new nutrition strategies tomorrow at Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania. I signed up for this race to get some hilly course practice before Lake Placid in July but that is now secondary to dialing in my nutrition.

This is a tough course with a tough field. Im still going to give it my all but Lake Placid remains my A priority race so a successful day tomorrow will mean I found a nutrition strategy that works for me and I successfully rode the hills on this course without spiking my normalized power.

#im703happyvalley #Ironman #ironmantri taken in Bald Eagle State Park by @wcleiss

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4 months ago

I think the look on my face as I crossed the finish line says it all. This wasn't a fitness failure, pacing failure, fueling & hydration failure, or a heat acclimation failure. I came into this race more prepared and confident than ever.

I knew something was wrong after a swim that I wasn't satisfied with and I looked at my watch and saw a core body temperature reading of 102. During my training I did lots of intense heat training in Miami and not once did my core temperature ever reach 102 in these sessions. I figured maybe it was just temporary.

But instead my core temp rose to 102.5. I tried everything. Controlling my core body temp was a cornerstone of my training and nothing i did got my temp any lower.

I threw up 4 times and battled cramps. I could not sustain a power wattage on the bike that was even equal to what I pushed last year. At about Mile 50 I threw in the towel mentally and entered survival mode and spent the remainder of the bike in agony. But, I chose to keep going instead of quitting.

The run actually wasn't too bad the first 16 miles. My core temp was still 102.5 and I didnt even try to run anywhere near my planned pace. I ran 7:30/mile but eventually it was time to pay the piper from all the nutrition and hydration I expelled on the bike and I spent the final 10 miles battling extreme dizziness, light headedness and all over tingling. My legs actually felt great, my body was just shutting down. Usually its the other way around where my legs have nothing left even though my body is willing

I crossed at 9:50, a time a year ago I was thrilled to have. It shows how far my base fitness is that I can go 9:50 in these conditions.

Spent hours in the medical tent afterward. It was a bummer because it turns out i needed a 9:24 to get a Kona slot - a time that I know I easily could have achieved.

I had the largest contingent of friends and family that has come to support me at a race and for that I was grateful. It wasn't the coronation I was expecting but ill be back next year. Only Ironman Texas can make an agonizing 9 hours and 50 minutes somehow enjoyable.

#imtexas #Ironman #ironmantri #imtx #triathlon taken in The Woodlands, Texas by @wcleiss

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6 months ago

Nothing gets me as excited as coming to the Woodlands and seeing the Ironman Texas run course, my favorite run course at my favorite race. Super thankful to be here as i didnt think this would be possible after breaking my shoulder 10 weeks ago. Day 1 here was already great, getting in a nice (but sweaty) easy run on the course and being lucky enough to swim in the lane next to 3x Ironman 70.3 World Champion and Olympic Silver Medalist Taylor Knibb at Lifetime. Cant wait!

#Ironman #ironmantri #imtexas #ironmantx #ironmantexas taken in The Woodlands, Texas by @wcleiss

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6 months ago

This photo was taken in the exact spot I went down in the Everglades on January 31. When I was lying in the road waiting for a passing vehicle to see me the first thing that came to mind was Ironman Texas. If I could only do one race that would be it. But in the first week or so in the aftermath of my crash, I didnt think Ironman Texas was a possibility and even thought Lake Placid would be a stretch. I could barely move, was in a ton of pain and even basic tasks like getting up off the bed were a chore.

But over the past 8 weeks ive worked hard and am proud to announce I will be on the start line at Ironman Texas in 20 days plus 2 more Summer races.

I had 3 separate injuries to recover from - a broken shoulder, a rotator cuff tear and issues with my glute/hip. I want to thank @limitlessptmiami for giving me the process and confidence to get me back out there.

Biking came back first, but was awkward with bearing weight. Running came next, presenting challenges with center of gravity, arm swing, and load. Swimming came last. While I now can swim without pain, im still struggling to get a feel for the water. Swimming was where I was making the most progress pre injury, and im just trying to get back to where I was a year ago. But, im good enough to swim an Ironman swim.

While my swim will likely prevent me from Kona qualification contention at Texas, I fully expect to throw down a solid bike and run split to set myself up for another chance at Lake Placid, where hopefully my feel for the water comes back by then.

In the meantime, I am just happy and blessed to be back sooner than I expected

#ironman #ironmantri #imtexas #imlakeplacid #im703happyvalley taken in Everglades National Park by @wcleiss

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7 months ago

I originally planned on uploading a post today showing my 2026 Race Calendar. Instead I am posting about my injury I suffered 26 minutes in to my outdoor bike ride yesterday, where I made a stupid careless mistake which caused me to crash going 25mph and break my left scapula (shoulder blade) as well as suffer ligament and muscular damage in my left shoulder and left hip.

This unfortunate news means I am going to miss the Cowtown Marathon, Ironman 70.3 Little Elm and Ironman Texas at minimum. A real shame considering how IMTX is my absolute favorite race.

I am also signed up to return to Ironman Lake Placid on July 18, but that depends on how fast i can recover and properly execute a full Ironman build. After that I was not signed up for any races, with my calendar being open incase I did qualify for Ironman Hawaii.

What looked to be a promising 2026 has now gone off the rails. My training since Ironman Arizona over the last 2 months has been the best of my career. Breaking 2:50 at the Cowtown was a shoe in, and going 9:05 or better at Ironman Texas and contending for a Kona slot was a real possibility.

I am now faced with a long road to recovery and am worried about losing all of the fitness I have gained over the past 4 years. Ive spent the last 24 hours watching content from pro triathletes who recovered from injury setbacks. One of which is Kat Matthews, who has won Ironman Texas all 3 times I have done it. She got in a much worse accident than I did in fall 2022, and 6 months later went on to win Ironman Texas. This has given me hope that once I do get back into it, ill be able to still accomplish great things in 2hoped.

#Ironman #ironmantri #imtexas #ironmantriathlon
#triathlon taken in Miami, Florida by @wcleiss

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9 months ago

2025 Season Recap

My 3rd full season of triathlon racing. While my goal heading into 2025 was to earn a qualification for Ironman Kona, which I did not achieve, Id still say the season was a success. To be fair, they changed the qualification system not once but twice in 2025. And with this being the first time in 2 years men could qualify, we saw the best of the best turn out in the age group ranks and you needed to throw down pro level times to qualify. My buddy who got 3rd in our age group at Ironman Arizona with a time 31 minutes faster than mine did not qualify. Im not at that level yet, but will continue to work hard to get there.

Apart from that I had a lot to be proud of this year. I earned my first two Ironman event podiums, my best ever age group ranking and overall ranking, nearly the best run split at IM 70.3 Waco had I not ran off course for a quarter of a mile and set new overall 140.6 and 70.3 PRs as well as 140.6 PRs in every discipline

I trained high volume all year to pull off 3 full Ironmans and two 70.3s at a high level. 1,725 run miles, 405 bike hours and 478,000 swim yards. My bike has almost caught up to my run and I'll continue to try to figure it out swimming.

For 2026, my goals are not too different. I'll have 2 cracks at the Kona apple again, but I understand the realities better and realize it may require another cycle. Just keeping working hard, keep improving and ill get there eventually

#ironman #ironmantri #triathlon #imtexas #imwisconsin imarizona by @wcleiss

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10 months ago