Triathlons/biathlons/modern pentathlons

[SmallWhiteWine]

DD has her first triathlon next weekend. The swim is outside in a lake (brrrrrr). Any hints or tips most appreciated. I think I will buy her a proper wetsuit (have found one reduced to £90). Should she wear a rash vest and swimming costume underneath it? And then pull on cycling shorts for the bike and run?

Are elasticated laces really worth it? Will she be able to pull socks on over cold wet feet?? Presumably the point of the timing chip and the transitions is that this is not timed? Or does the getting changed time matter?

Argghhh. It's all a bit different this ;-) I don't want her to turn up and feel unprepared. The actual swimming, running and cycling is not a worry compad to the clothing/faff/how to cope on the day.....

Any advice really appreciated.

[maybenow]

how old is she?
My nephew did his first at 8 the other week, loved it :)

Transitions are timed, she should wear whatever she's going to run and cycle in under her wetsuit... a rash vest and lycra shorts is ideal.

for the cycle, i'm guessing she doesn't use the clipped type? so it probably is worth getting into socks if she's going to cycle and run in the same trainers.

p.s. you do know modern pentathlon is riding and shooting and stuff? not cycling and swimming...

[SmallWhiteWine]

Aha, thank you :-)

Yes, dd does fencing, shooting and riding too. It's the cycling that's a new one this week, which is not in modern pentathlon. She's only just playing with it all right now, which is fun for her. This will be the first outdoor timed swim too.

Bugger about the transisitions being timed though. They weren't at the biathlon she did, and I couldn't figure it out from the information.

Will have to practise with the socks and get some elastic laces! Thank you.

[maybenow]

oh, well i am not going to promise that transitions will be timed but they normally are in triathlon and biathlon.

modern pentathlon however is like heptathlon in that it's a series of individual events rather than one long event with one start and one finish (which triathlon is).

normally in a triathlon you get your swim time, tranistion 1 time, cycle time, transition 2 time and then run time and overall time. that way you can see where you're losing time against others and work on that discipline, transition is the fourth discipline.

you didn't say how old she is, that affects it i think. my nephew at 8 was the youngest allowed to participate in his tri. their parents were allowed at the breifing and helped them lay out their kit but not allowed in transitions.

[SmallWhiteWine]

Thank you, that would make sense now I think about it as the biathlon she did the other week was part of a modern pentathlon association event and so I guess they run it the same rather than a stand alone biathlon or triathlon event. They then add the shooting, and then fencing and lastly the jumping as the children get better.

She's nearly 10 by the way, and in the youngest 8-10 age class, so hopefully us parents will get a little guidance on the day. Scrutinising the photos from last summer's triathlon, most of the kids appear to have shortie wetsuits on and then rash vests and shorts for the run and swim. We have a shortie wetsuit, quite tight fitting now...., and she is going for a practise in it this afternoon. If she can swim in it, then I won't get a long sleeved and long legged one quite yet.

Looking at the list of competitors, the only other children from her school are the uber competitive ones (or rather, the ones with a uber competitive mothers!), so being able to ask online is invaluable

[maybenow]

good luck to her - i hope she enjoys it, that's the most important thing, especially for her first

[ShellingPeas]

Good luck to your DD!

I used to compete in triathlons for many years as an adult. I used to race in a swimming costume under the wetsuit and just wear this for the bike and run, but if your DD's not happy with this wear a pair of cycling shorts on top of the swimming costume under the wetsuit. Don't waste time getting changed between the swim and the bike except for whipping off the wettie.

I used to put my race number on a piece of elastic that would go around my waist - move it to the back for the cycle and in the front for the run. I'm not sure if you're still allowed to do this or not but if not then have a running vest or t-shirt that's thin enough to go under the wetsuit.

I'm assuming she'll be wearing trainers for both the cycle and the run. If she can get away without wearing socks then do so (saves time) but if not then use trainer socks turned half way inside out so that all she needs to do is poke her toes in and then flip up the back over her heel. Much easier than full sports socks. Velcro fastening trainers; elastic laces or laces and a toggle are much quicker than trying to tie them with cold fingers which in these weather conditions are more than likely.

Practice the transitions too - you can pick up valuable time if you transition quickly and don't fumble. Little things like the order of doing things - e.g. don't put on your cycle helmet before putting a running vest!

[pimmsgalore]

put vasaline on her bare arm and leg parts to a)keep her warm in the lake and b) aid with the wetsuit coming off it is tight

DCs did one a few years ago in the US (the minimum age was 5) They loved it, but it was warm so they wore swimsuit and rashvest

[harragirl]

Another tip - put loads of talc in the trainers and don't use socks. Use the elastic laces and 'open' trainers to widest extent so she can slip into them and pull laces tight. Make sure she knows exactly where her towel etc etc is in transition (my son spent 1 minute running up and down looking at 30 identical towels .... more stressful than it sounds!). The transitions are the trickiest bit - good idea to practise at home.

[hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman]

Talcum powder is your friend. Put it into her shoes when you set up transition and think about how you lay things on the ground. Helmet on before you move the bike, they used to give time penalties to anyone who moved their bike before their helmet was on. Race number on a belt is the easiest option, we used to pop DD's race number into an A4 plastic wallet to keep it dry as it was easier for marshals to read.

[DontEatTheVolesKids]

. marking place. I tried hard but failed to convince DC to do a Tri this year, next yr hopefully.
I always think that bike is the big deal. It's shocking to me what crud bikes I have seen people attempt to do Triathlons on.

[DontEatTheVolesKids]

at how enthusiastic she is. I'm sure that will take her far. :)

[SmallWhiteWine]

Wow, thank you so much

I have purchased elastic laces, and we will take talc and vaseline.... I just need it not to rain now as standing and watching in the rain would not be as good.

I will let you know how she does (even if she comes last ) but hopefully she will just enjoy the experience and have fun!

[SmallWhiteWine]

Thank you everyone Dd did sooooo well - and we had a great day supporting her.

I was allowed in to assist her in the transitions (and also helped lift bikes down for other small children!). It was hard work running between the different places to see, cheer, watch and we had to sprint ourselves to the finish to witness dd!! But all in all, a great time

We're not sure where dd came until the full results are posted, but think she was in the top 25% of her age group.

The most important thing was that she loved it (and is keen to do more....)

[hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman]

Well done to her!Triathlons are kind of addictive.

My DD has her first Tri for about 5 years next weekend. DD used to be quite good, she represented our region at the Nationals once or twice but a knee injury put her out. She has decided she wants to try again so is going to be competing at the same Triathlon she had to withdraw from in the run stage next weekend. It's her nemesis and I admire her for going back into it.

[Butkin]

Sounds great. DD (9) does Tetrathlon which is shooting, swimming, running and riding (you can do a Triathlon without the riding if necessary). Luckily they are done as individual events one after the other so no worries about transitions and the swimming is in a pool!

[SmallWhiteWine]

hellhasnofury Good luck to your DD!! How fabulous she has the guts to get back to it. I hope she has a fantastic time, and good for her to want to return! The best of luck

Butkin Sounds great. DD did a biathlon as part of building up to the Modern Pentathlon and will add shooting next, then fencing and riding (the main attraction is riding as she loves that). There was also a run-shoot-run event where the transitions did count, but other than that one, yes they were all individual with transitions not timed. TBH, DD just loves all these things ATM. I guess she can just play around, try lots of different events/competitions and see what she likes best... But I have bought her a new bike so a few more with bikes in them would be good

[UniS]

what distances are 8-10s swimming, cycling and running in Triathlon?

[Butkin]

Smallwhitewine, if she loves riding then presumably she is in the Pony Club. They all run Tetrathlons/Triathlons and if you get good there are regional and national competitions at all ages. You are not allowed to pistol shoot until you are 8 (they throw bean bags at targets if in the 7 and under class). DD has pistol shooting (with PC) on Thursday this week - it's one of her stronger events.

At DD's age she still does the jumping as a working hunter course but they all have to be able to dismount, slip a rail and remount by themselves. Once in 10+ the riding is a cross country course. She runs 800 metre cross country courses at the moment but they soon build up to much longer runs.

[hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman]

8 yr olds max swim is 50m (50-100m open water), max cycle on grass 800m, on tarmac 1.5k, max run 600m

9-10yr olds swim 150m (150-200m openwater), cycle 2k grass, 4k tarmac, run 1.2k.

[hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman]

Those are British Triathlon Association (BTA) distances.

[SmallWhiteWine]

Butkin Yes, dd is in the pony club, and she is looking forward to camp Not so much for me, I'll have to help wash and shave the very grubby pony!

Nobody in her pony club (huge hunt one) does pentathlons or anything else in a big way. Similarly, she swims competitively in a club, but hardly anybody there does anything other than just swimming.

I have no idea what she'll end up doing, but she's having fun now and I'll keep asking the experts on here for advice

[UniS]

DS will need to improve his swimming if he wants to do tri then...

[Butkin]

Smallwhite.. the PC Tetrathlons/Triathlons are all open classes so DD does them at the various local PCs which run them (Suffolk, Thurlow, Puckeridge for us). You'd be amazed by how popular they are. Ask your PC area rep for details of ones in your locality if your PC doesn't (unusually) have their own.

The swimming part is different to affiliated Triathlons as at PC they have to do a timed swim (90 seconds for her Under 9 age group) and they get points for how many metres in the pool they swim. DD does backstroke and her strength is stamina rather than speed so she is looking forward to stepping up to the next class when they swim for longer.