The weekend of May 19 and 20, I traveled to the Washington, DC area to participate in the 26th annual Columbia Triathlon -- along with 1800 of my closest tri friends! This is one of the most well-known and popular Olympic Distance triathlons in the U.S. The course is extremely challenging, and the race draws a deep and competitive field of triathletes from up and down the East Coast and across the country.
Longtime followers of my triathlon exploits will also know that this race has been the scene of some very tough times for me. Indeed, of all the triathlons I have done, there have only been two times I have failed to complete the race, both at Columbia. A few years back, a flat tire took me out before I could even really get started on the bike. Then there was the year I had to pull out due to hypothermia brought on by wind, rain and temps in the 40s!
This year added another chapter to my book of horrors from this race. The weather was cool and rainy at the start. After a very solid swim (out of the water in second place in my age group), disaster struck on the bike. About 4 miles in, I entered a roundabout and, although I slowed down, it was not enough to stop the wheels of my bike from skidding out from under me. Next thing I knew, I was on the pavement sliding across the road. Fortunately, neither bike nor rider were seriously hurt, and after regrouping and checking all equipment, I got back on the bike and forged on.
Although the crash took some of the wind out of my sails, and my bike time certainly was not what I wanted, I managed to put together a solid run, and wound up 4th in my age group (out of about 175) and somewhere around 70th overall. I also have a nice souveneir in the form of an impressive strawberry and bruise on my left hip. Race results are here if your interested in the details, and race pictures of me along the course can be found here.
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