The dog days are barking. It doesn't matter to us.

Everyone is talking about what lousy shape most Americans are in these days. Both kids and adults are overweight, overmedicated, and over bored according to many observers. This is not necessarily new, but never pleasant to hear. Multisport is a very good way to avoid this situation and have fun doing it.

Two other observations: George Orwell observed 60 years ago that, "Sport is an unfailing cause of ill will." And, Richard Simmons recently explained to our Congress that he got way over brawny because he ate his schoolmates' lunches when they would not pick him to play on a team. Simmons would not have had this problem if triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon, or other multisport activities had been available. And, Orwell would not have observed people not playing nice. Huge differences exist between traditional ball-centric sports and our multisport world. Stick with me.

No worries, I'll not argue with the benefits of ball-centric team sports. Judge that for yourself. Unlike multisport, those teams usually have more people watching than in the action, focus is on the team and that's OK; good sportsmanship is too often mostly a slogan, and the objective is to beat the other team into submission. In some cases parents and other spectators take this obligation on themselves.

Multisport does not use slogans like "if you can believe it, you can do it." It is more like "you train, you gain." Nobody gets too excited about defeating anybody and frequently athletes take great delight in the success of others. Parents do not insult coaches, referees, athletes, or other spectators. Everybody is eager to move on to his or her next event. Now what does this have to do with Simmons or Orwell?

Easy. Triathletes/duathletes are usually a "Team of One" to plunder a recent Army slogan. It is an individual sport and you are your own team with your own "coaches and supporters" building unfailing good will. Family members or friends make up the team. Simmons could have "played duathlon or tri" and would never have had to be concerned about being picked for a team. His schoolmates could have eaten their own lunches while he ran, biked, and swam and watched his weight melt away and his fun meter peg on his own team.

I kicked this idea around and thought I would go see how kids dealt with multisport. We have some longstanding youth multisport challenges in the region that have established themselves and made significant contributions to our sport. We know what they are. It seemed more interesting to check out a newer event, so I headed out to Ken Racine's Splash, Mash, and Dash Youth Triathlon in Hagerstown on July 26.

Racine Multisport events are set as beginner friendly and still thrilling for the most experienced athlete. Ken's mission is to create an opportunity for youth and adult athletes to challenge themselves physically through endurance events that will inspire them to be better people. (How about that, Orwell and Simmons?)

I arrived at the race venue and used the opportunity to discuss the youth event and the next day's follow on sprint triathlon with Ken and his volunteers before the daily thunderstorm raced through. The triathlon was organized just like a mega budget event and early focus was on the transition area where the athletes were checking in bikes and checking out what their buddies were doing. Mostly they talked about the usual multisport things: the course, bikes, running without socks, water, and safety. All were smiling and eager to start. No spirits were dampened by the thunderstorm. In fact, kids were optimistic about going faster with the cooler air.

Just like older triathletes, the kids had a great variety of experience and equipment. All were exchanging tips and favorite stories. All were between seven and twelve years of age. All had strong, supportive family teams. All first timers were eager to get this one done, so they could tell their friends about it. I asked one three-year-old with her brother whether she was racing and her reply was kids-typical, "Not this time. I have two more years to train." (See what we mean?)

Just like any other event, some of the athletes had extensive experience inventories and had competed in more than a dozen events in different states. I discussed their experience with them and was convinced that they would be among the top finishers.

No mysteries. Experience and training matters. They came out of the 100-meter pool swim, zipped into the transition area to slip on shoes and helmets and were quickly gone for the two- mile bike. Blazing back on the bike, they made flying dismounts, racked their bikes, and sprinted out for the three- quarter-mile run around the park. Pure focus, determination, and fun. Family members in the transition area met newer triathletes and they too moved out well. All handled the three sports well and kept the tempo high. All finished smiling and happily wore their medals for photos. All were talking about their next race and how they could improve their (fill in the multisport blank). All were convinced that better equipment would help their performance (sounds familiar). All thanked their families and friends (their teams) for being there.

Forty-one girls raced in the event with 25 boys. (Those numbers are important.) Joey Pickens, 12 years old with excellent racing credentials, won the event in 17:17. Sadie Sanclemente, ten years old, who has competed in more than ten events, was second in 17:43. Brandon Racine, also ten years old, was third in 18:12.

Herb Spicer (51) set a new record winning the 300-meter swim, 11.5-mile bike, and 5K run Sprint Triathlon in 52:08 the following day. Megan Kneppen was first woman in 57:17. Drew Sanclemente (11) was the fourth woman in 1:07 and 37th overall! And, overall there were 127 women and 131 men finishers. Good times were both posted and had by all. Most of the triathletes will be moving on to other races and national championships. Drew, for example, is headed out to the USAT Youth National Championship in Colorado Springs, CO where she will be very competitive.

So if you want to have some more fun with your family and improve your fitness for life, get out and jump into one of the local youth triathlons or duathlons. Relay teams are welcomed. Don't worry about not being picked for a team (Simmons) and don't worry about others getting nasty (Orwell). Sure it is more fun if you train, but go out and have fun anyway. Listen to the kids and you will get better.

We are at mid-season for multisport now no matter when you are reading this and most of you are going long. How long depends on where you are in your training, commitment, and balancing act between work, family, and training. If you started with sprints, you are moving to international, and many on to 70.3s or the really long ones. We have it all. No worries, the finish line never moves.

Several have asked for suggestions, tips, even notions for training. So, one word for those going long: speed. Really. For the swim, get out and do some short, fast pool-based triathlons and stay ahead of the red line so you will know what that is like. For the bike, time trials are just the right intensity to measure fitness over distance. For the run, try repeat 5K road races over the weekend. If in doubt, go longer and faster. Then recover. We still have training time and no one wants to over train or get in the slow lane. Also, races are never "lonely." Finally, take a look at the bike (chain, tires, bars, pedals), run (shoes), and swim (goggles).

We've got Iron Girl, Annapolis, Savage, Ultras, and many other events well into November coming up. The dog days will stop barking and autumn is awesome.

I'll see you out there.