Columbia Triathlon Report

Seems like the rain is following me everywhere I go this year. I suffered through another wet and soggy one today at the Columbia Triathlon in Columbia, MD today. One of the great things about this race though is the fact that I grew up in near by Catonsville, and know the lay of the land.

"Well, at least you're not in Arbutus"

Unfortunately, that was not much help today. After a mediocre swim and poor bike, I was to far back to have any impact on the race when it came to the run. I decided to back off a bit on the run to avoid unnecessary wear and tear on the hilly and technical run course. At Knoxville two weeks ago, I ran lights out (which is a little depressing when I saw my split) and my calves were so sore it took the whole week to feel remotely recovered. I still have some slight nagging pains in my left calf, so pushing hard when I was well out of the money would have been foolish.

Looking forward, I am excited to announce that I will be working with Coach Brooks Doughtie of All Out Multisport based in Raleigh. Brooks has built a great group of athletes, specifically youth, junior, and elite squads targeting draft legal as well as non-draft legal formats. Clubs like these are the future of the sport in the US, developing younger athletes for the highly competitive international junior and senior elite ranks.

I have been primarily self coached over the past several years with varied success. Being objective with yourself can be a tricky thing. I have found that I am pretty good with reading my body (its a quick read, short chapters make you feel smart), but inevitably find myself making poor decisions that stifle growth. It is my assertion that the past two performances are symptomatic of these poor decisions. The fitness is sufficient, but a few missteps have lead to sub-par results.