Legions of area athletes can commiserate with Michael Boehmer, whose pursuits as a professional triathlete have been slowed by the demands of life, namely earning a living.

Over the past four years, Boehmer and his wife, Briana, have built Salus Inc., a Delafield business that develops wellness and fitness programs for companies and provides coaching and training. That meant more training and racing for others, less for themselves.

Michael took full advantage of an opportunity to get back on the line in April and scored a victory in the USA Triathlon’s 2012 Duathlon National Championship.

He was fifth overall, and first in the men’s 30-34 age group. He knocked out the 5K run, 35K bike segment and finishing 5K run in 1:26:54.

Patrick Parish, of Bloomington, Minn., was the top American finisher, in 1:23:06.

Boehmer had his sights set on that top spot, but came away satisfied with an age group win.

“I haven’t raced at this level of competition in quite some time,” he said. “I just haven’t been training very much, relative to what I used to.

“I’m hopeful that I can continue to train a little bit more and see what I can do later in the year.”

A University of Wisconsin – Madison graduate, and pro triathlete, Boehmer was the Triathlon Magazine athlete of the year in 2002.

Ramping up his training back to nine or 10 hours a week, he’s now targeting the USA Triathlon Olympic-Distance National Championship in Vermont.

Those races take place on Aug. 19.