tri weather doesn’t get any better than this, IMHO: 65F, 100% overcast, near calm.
firstly: Smallwood State Park, on the middle Potomac River near the Indian Head Naval Weapons center in central-western MD is a GORGEOUS venue!! can’t wait for Son Of Spud on the same course in August…despite the weather that’s likely to come with it.
Regional tristud (and RATS member I think?) Dave Glover takes the overall mens title going away, and NAS Patuxent River triqueen Katy Baldwin left all the other women behind. How she manages to train for performances like these while completing the Naval Test Pilot School requirements is beyond me.
I managed to knock 7min off my OD PR in conditions and on a course that suited me perfectly and finished 6th OA in 2:13:xx. Somewhat soft field what with Eagleman going on over in Cambridge today, I’ll admit. Suspect tide and/or current were playing havoc with swim times, as RD Brad Jaeger insists he GPS’s swim courses these days and yet I was 3min slower than at Columbia last week. He claimed a slightly short bike course on the pre-race maps but my 'puter was spot-on @40k. (side note…I suspect there’s almost the same total elevation change on this bike course as Columbia’s, but it’s more gentle and evenly distributed). Similarly, run was claimed to be about 1/4mi short…and my split says he’s probably right on that one.
Figure the swim and run deltas are a wash and I’ll call it a legit OD for PR purposes. Thanks go to:
-My wife and kids, for letting me leave at 0-dark-30 for so many training and racing days.
-My Coach, Mike Plumb…www.tripower.org. he’s got the goods, baby.
-My LBS sponsor Sea Dive and Cycle in Solomons MD, for helping keep the race costs down…as long as I keep doing well anyway 
-RD Brad Jaeger. We don’t need no stinking USAT sanctions…
Carl (USAT member for 2004 anyway)