IRONMAN: Bellevue coach Lee Booze goes from volunteer to competitor

Lee Booze spent the inaugural Sandusky Ironman 70.3 as a volunteer at a water station last summer. It didn't take him long to realize he'd much rather be in the race. "I definitely had that FOMO (fear of missing out) feeling, like, aw man, I'd rather be racing," Booze said. "Right then and there during the race, I decided I'm racing this year if it comes back." Booze, a social studies teacher at Bellevue High School who coaches girls track and cross country, is an experienced triathlete. And on Sunday, he'll get the chance to partake in a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and half marathon run through the area he's lived in most of his life. "It's a great way to balance out healthy exercise without overdoing one thing," Booze said. "I've always been active, and as I get older, you've got to kind of be careful. And the camaraderie, it's a very positive environment. You can kind of be as competitive as you want to be." Booze, 54, graduated from Margaretta in 1987 and the University of Findlay in 1991. He was a swimmer in both high school and college, mostly the breaststroke for the Polar Bears before being a distance freestyler for the Oilers. That makes him a bit different than many triathletes, who often view the swim as something just to tolerate. Booze enjoys the swim, especially in an open-water setting. "I get excited," he said. "I love open-water swimming. I'm probably the weirdo of most triathletes." Most of Booze's triathlon experience is at the sprint distance (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run), although he has completed a few of the half Ironman variety — none in the past five years, though. He couldn't pass up the opportunity close to home. "To have something this big and exciting as Ironman literally in your backyard for a person who does this stuff is really cool," Booze said. Since deciding about a year ago that he wanted to do this event, Booze has used his coach's mind to ensure a solid training routine. It was a bit tougher during the fall and spring seasons when he was busy coaching, but of late he's gotten out on a number of 50-mile bike rides in addition to swims of up to 3000 meters. Booze also runs 20 to 25 miles a week, appreciating the diversity in the training. "Getting older, I find dividing up my training keeps me more injury free," Booze said. "I'm not pounding my legs so much as I did when I was younger." Some of Booze's training during the spring came with his athletes, whom he still joins on distance runs occasionally. It's in part from the runners he has coached at Bellevue since 2007 that Booze finds motivation. "The kids inspire me," he said. "They work so hard in their sports seasons. It makes me want to stay active as a coach. I thoroughly enjoy competing, but my own athletes inspire me to want to stay in shape and stay active, too." At this point in the game, Booze is feeling the nerves a bit. He's waited a year to get out into the course, and now he just wants to get going. "It's really more nervy just waiting for Sunday," Booze said. "It's like come on, it's race week, let's just go. I really just want to go now." Booze's wife, Rebecca, teaches English at Bellevue and will again volunteer. This year, she's helping with pre-race logistics so she can just be a fan on race day. Booze remarked multiple times recently that he can't keep up with his high school athletes during workouts anymore, although he's evidently still capable of handling this difficult triathlon task. He's especially looking forward to the bike course, which winds within a mile of his house. And all 70.3 miles will be familiar in some way for the local. "A lot of the roads that the race course is on are roads I ride every day," Booze said. "... It's pretty familiar territory." Booze, like any good coach, has set goals for himself, although the main aspiration is to finish. Crossing the line on Columbus Avenue will mark another race success for the long-time coach. "Just to do it in the backyard with all the local people, it's really just to enjoy it rather than be a high placer," Booze said.