Thundergust Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Before the swim, I debated whether or not I should wear my wetsuit. I ended up wearing it, but wasn't completely sold on it. I probably picked up a little time but lost any advantage when I took the suit off.

When I dove to start swimming, I got water in my goggles that I had to take care of. I started on the inside, which meant that I got caught with all of the slower swimmers. I swam over a couple of people, but after the first buoy, I went very wide and was able to get around the crowd.

Position myself better and swim a little more frequently to get my speed back up a little more.

I had some difficulty getting my wetsuit off, but I managed to improve my transition time over the last time I did this race. The transition area is on a beach which makes it difficult when you're wet.

Get to the race earlier so I could get a spot on the cement.

This is not right. The course was not marked well in terms of the first turn. At the pre-race meeting, the race director said not to take the first turn and we were supposed to take the second right. I was following a group and I guess I ended up missing the turn (which was the first right). Someone said that we had missed it, so I decided to turn around and follow him. There were three of us that turned around. I had no idea if I was on the right course or not because I didn't see very many people. The last time I did this race, I was either passing or being passed and was never by myself at any point.

It turns out that we made it on the course and I ended up riding an extra 3.1 or so miles. I lost part of my bike computer when it was at mile 16 so I don't have any speed or distance past that time. I was baffled when I got back to transition and people were finished already and most of the bikes were already back. It didn't makes sense, but in talking to people afterward, it sounded like few people rode the right course and just did their own thing. I doubt that the everyone in front of me rode 16 miles before heading back into transition, especially given my 18 mph pace and that I was out of the water in the front half.

There was nothing I could have done differently, but the RD could have had someone standing at the first turn or a sign marking it rather than a faint yellow arrow. (It is only .2 miles from transition, surely someone could have been there for the lead cyclists. If they took the right course than everyone else would have followed.

Decent transition, just need to make sure I get my shoes tied tight enough.

Tie shoes better.

The run course wasn't marked that well either. I briefly went of course once. I felt great coming off of the bike, but I was having some allergy issues running in the woods. All in all, it was an okay run and I was glad to be done.

Run a little faster.

Walk around and drive home.


Poor markings on the bike course causing me to ride an extra 3 miles.


Lin-Mark usually puts on a great race, but this one looked like they threw it together. This was a great race the last time I did it, but they really missed the mark this time around. I would consider doing it again because it was a good race in the past, but it is frustrating when you know that your place is significantly lower than it should have been.