Carson Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Is it just me, or did the pool length seem shorter than 25 yards?

Forgot my goggles coming out of T2, which really inhibited my speed. I also was confused by the instructions. Someone shouted "6 lengths and that's it." To me a length is one way, and 3 laps seemed short. I ended up doing 4 laps in the pool, which cost me time I'm sure.

Since we're going in reverse, I consider this my T2 time from bike to swim.

Since it was raining and the conditions were wet, didn't do my usual flying dismount. I thought that the guy ahead of me was gonna do it since he put his feet outside his shoes, but he didn't. I did the same thing as him.

It was rainy and wet PLUS the turns are really tight and the beginning had SPEED BUMPS, so this course was really dangerous. I kept my speed down a lot and tried to be as safe as possible when passing people, making sure to shout "ON YOUR LEFT!" until they heard it. Of course you have the usual dudes who just zip by you anyway without saying anything, and of course they don't have any regard for the safety of beginners, but what are you gonna do? Some people really want that podium spot even if it means being dangerous to others.

The course has a loop where you have to hit the pad 3 times. I did this, but many other people did not. Only about 2-3 guys passed me that I was aware of, yet the numbers show otherwise. I'm sure this affected my overall rank, but it's all good.

I would shout out words of encouragement as I passed people to let them know that they're doing great. I hope that no one took that as sarcasm because I was sincere. It was really good seeing lots of people give their all, and for many it's their first triathlon.

Nothing really. I had a great ride despite the conditions. Funny thing is I tackled the Palos Verdes Hills in the rain the week before. Good preparation. I felt comfortable in aero position, and the aero helmet helped a lot. Not only did it help with speed, but it kept my head warm and rain protected somewhat.

This is my transition from run to bike.

I should have put my bike near the transition exit since the ground was muddy. I'm still speedy at transitions, but would have made lugging the bike a lot faster.

This was pretty chaotic. We didn't start in waves. Everyone started running through a narrow path all at once. I had to pass a lot of people to get ahead, and mostly remained in the front with only a few people passing me.

The ground was wet, but it was nice and cool. I get hot and sweat a lot during races and training, so it was nice having the rain.

There was a kid that was doing really well in the beginning, but started to lose steam as I passed him. I encouraged him to keep going since he was almost done and he passed me! Hahaha.

Nothing much I guess. I still need to work on my running since it's definitely my weakest link. I'm hoping to put in the miles during the off season and one day get under 20 minutes for a 5K distance. Right now I'm a 24-25 minute 5k runner so I got a lot of work cut out for me.

I pretty much just chilled and talked to a few people, seeing how they did and such. I met a few first timers and let them know how awesome it was that they were doing a triathlon. I also talked to Robert at Triathlon Lab. It was cool that my store of choice made it out.


The rain was one of the things. The other is the overall regulation of the race. There's lots of things that the staff could have done better, but it's forgivable since it's the inaugural triathlon for Carson. Among the weird niggles:

- They should have explained parts of the course that require attention, like doing the loop part 3 times before continuing on the bike.
- They should have made sure that the front runners didn't end up running extra distance.
- They should have explained the swim course better.

Despite this I had LOTS of fun.


It's their first time, so many things are excusable. I just hope that they have another one next year, and that it's even better, more organized, and more people sign up. I live in Carson, so I like that there's activities like this to do. I'm gonna try and get some of my friends to enter it and help train them.