First triathlon in May 2014 - any tips?

[spicegirl13]

I've just signed up for my first triathlon in May, it's the super sprint distance, 200m swim, 23km bike & 2.5km run. I'm currently 13st 12lbs & a size 16 but am determined to get my fitness back (DD2 is now 9 months, so no more excuses!)

Anybody on here do triathlons? Any training tips or on the day tips?

I've started jogging & can do the 2.5km in 20 minutes. I need to get a bike next!

Thank you

think about the fourth discipline transition - the time between swim and bike and the time between bike and run.

getting elastic lock cap laces for trainers so they are quicker to pull on
using talc on a towel to put your feet onto after the swim and then straight into the trainers (if you are not wearing cleat cycling shoes)
what you are wearing for the swim and what you will be wearing for the cycle and run - tri suit or tri suit and t shirt will you need padding in your bottom for the bike?

Practise transition so you know how to lay out your kit when you start, etc

what sort of bike are you thinking about getting?

Thank you spicegirl for starting this thread - I too am thinking about a sprint tri next Spring and will be reading with interest .

I did my first quad last month and loved it. A quad is a tri with kayaking - I'm a paddler primarily and run a bit. The other disciplines were pretty new.

Is it a pool swim or an open water swim? If you can, try and swim in the approrpiate environment before the race so its not a surprise. Our local tri club does open water swim sessions though the summer so you know how swuelchy the river is under foot, what it's like to swim in cold and moving water etc...

If you're buying a new bike go talk to the local bike shop. If you're buying second hand then talk to lots of folk who know what they're talking about. I bought a ladies road bike off ebay (rather than use my dh's mtb). It was pretty old and had gears on the frame. I'm not confident enough to take my hands off the handlebars to signal so changing gear without hitting the verge on the other side of the road was not possible. In the end I borrowed a friend's bike, a giant, which was gorgeous but she used it to commute during the week so I had access to it for one weekend and one week when she was on holiday.

One good thing to practice is the bike to run transition - not just being able to get off the bike and rack it but actually running - I felt like a chicken whan I ran immediately after cycling. It felt slow compared to cycling speed but actually the quad was the quickest 5k I've done this year. I did lots of brick sessions where I did a short bike ride followed by a shortish run.

Check your technique too. I knocked about 30 secs off my 100m swim time by checking youtube videos for efficient technique. Mind you, I forgot most of it when the race started and only remembered 20m before the end...

I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. Apparently I grinned from ear to ear the whole time. I was second last in the quad - slowest bike time and I'm looking forward to next year's. I'm buying a bike in the spring and will commute to work at least once or twice a week (8 miles each way), training hard over the winter for paddling and I'm keeping trail running with mates.

Let us know how you get on!

Wow dude that sounds AMAZING! Such an inspiring post! Thank you.

I think your first one is just about getting through it without any major mishaps- I had my wetsuit on back to front when I pulled it up at start of my second tri - cue mad panic!! Then my friend and still had our bikes locked together 20 mins before the start of another one (they had been padlocked together in the back of the car overnight....) not sure this kind of thing has ever happened to the Brownlee brothers.
I'd echo other posters- practice bike to run sessions, get in open water for short practice next year and stay at the back and side of the pack if it's a mass start, don't panic in the swim, breathe easily to start with and try to imagine you are just in your local pool (bit hard with loads of arms and legs thrashing away) put your bike helmet on your seat or handlebars so you have to put it on before you get on the bike or you might get penalised.
You'll be fine and feel awesome afterwards

Thanks everyone, lots of inspiring stuff!

It's a pool swim, so no problem with open water (the thought of doing that scares me a bit!)

No idea about bikes yet, my husband did his first tri last month (hence my inspiration) & one of his mates is quite into road bikes so I'll ask them to come with me to choose a bike.

I'm not sure what to wear either. I'm a 36E so can't go without a sports bra for the run, so do I wear one under my swimming costume then put on a top & shorts/leggings for the bike & run? Do tri suits have much support in them? Or should I wear a sports bra under a tri suit then chuck on a top for the bike & run?

Some great tips about the transition, will definitely need to practise that.

Doing a cross country 3k run tomorrow morning, first time I've ever done anything like it, eek!

I've never done a pool one but I'm well endowed n normally wear a sports bra, tri suit then wet suit for swim so I would look at wearing a tri suit n bra for whole thing - don't worry- you get used to running around in tight Lycra suits . My work colleague said that the tightness of the 'gear' you wear in a tri is the motivating factor for the training I wore a t shirt over top tho for my first couple. Don't worry about that yet tho.

Get a decent bike, get measured and fitted for it at the shop to avoid back ache etc practice with your clip-on pedals on quiet roads preferably without male advice n hassling as I've had a couple of female friends scared off road cycling by twattish blokes 'encouraging' them.
Good luck in your cross country run!

Tri suits look fab. I didn't have one. I wore cycling shorts (unpadded), sports bra, rash vest for the swim and the paddle, whipped my rashie off for the ride and put on one with my number attached. I learned later that lots of people have a belt with numbers secured to it which seems very sensible.

I think even with a pool swim you'd be fine with lycra running shorts and a lightweight, fitted technial tshirt. You dry pretty quickly on a bike!

Very exciting - well done for signing up for this! Triathlons are so much fun and super sprint is a great way to start off.

You've have some great tips already. I would second wearing sports bra and tri suit for the whole thing. Put on a T-shirt if you think you need it but most people probably wouldn't.

One thing to make sure you practice is a cycle followed immediately by a run, as you will be doing on the day. It's a very strange feeling going straight from one discipline to the next - my legs feel very heavy and it's hard going if I haven't done enough training!

Some triathlon shops do bulk starter packages which might be worth a look - basic road bike, pedals, shoes, helmet, wetsuit (you might need this in the future if you get hooked!) and trisuit.

Best of luck and enjoy it!

I took up triathlon this year and did my first of three in June, so you should have plenty of time for training. I started with the c25k program in January so if you are already running 3k you should be fine.

I second what others have said about practicing transition - not so much because of the kit change but getting your body used to changing movements quickly.

I have quite a big bust and so wear a tri suit with a sports bra under for all the disciplines.

I found it a real confidence boost to train at longer distances than you will be competing at. My main sport is cycling so I know that I can work really hard at the bike for 20k because I can work hard for twice that. Swimming is my second strongest discipline so I found it quite easy to push the training so that i was regularly swimming twice the distance that I would be competing at.

It is important to make sure that you don't overtrain. I tried to train 6 days a week (including my commutes to work) but made sure that I had one proper day's rest. I found it useful to use a good recovery supplement, which really helped stop the continual achy-ness from lots of training.

Finally- enjoy it and don't be intimidated. The events that I have done have had competitors wearing GB suits with high tech carbon TT bikes, to people for whom completing the event is obviously a massive achievement, doing the bike phase on a basic commuter or mountain bike. Everyone is just as welcome and given just as much encouragement.

So the cross country run was a success, hard going on the big hills but I did it (with a bit of walking!) Going to ramp up my running to 5K now as my next motivator.

Glad to know I won't be the only one with a sports bra on in the pool then!

I think I could get quite addicted to this!