- Racing your first triathlon can be both an exciting
and daunting experience.
There can appear to be a never ending list of things
that you need to know about simply
to tour the start line and get yourself going.
And whether that is the case
or not you need to be so phased
that you aren't able to get yourself ready
to start your first triathlon.
So with that in mind,
today I'm going to be giving you five tips
that you might not necessarily have thought about
that can help you with your first triathlon
and tackle it with ease.
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Triathlon is a sport of three disciplines no less.
And with that comes a lot of equipment
that you can feel pressurized into while needing
to gather up just to be able to give a race ago.
And it can be all too easy to listen to the chat
of groups down at your local track
or folk in your local training group at the pool
talking about all the latest shiny bits of kit
that they've bought for themselves
and then feeling like you need to be able to do the same,
just to be able to race a triathlon.
However great the temptation is don't fall into this trap
just before you're entering your first triathlon
because with any bit of equipment or kit,
the key to being comfortable with it
is to use it regularly.
Now, I know this might sound very simple, but it is true.
So the last thing that you actually want to do to yourself
is change things up just before you're entering
that first triathlon
and start using something
that is entirely new or alien to you.
And there are a few culprits
that stand out in my mind
and key to those are bits of equipment and kit.
The first of those are trainers.
Now, it might sound like a really good idea
to get yourself some brand new trainers
for your first foray into racing a triathlon
because well nice new trainers will be comfy right?
Well,
maybe but only after you've bedded them in after a few uses.
Now,
I have seen with first hand experience many poor souls
with very bloody red shoes at the end of triathlon
and you do not want to end up in that position.
Secondly, is making sure
that your race kit fits you nice and adequately.
Now, there are a number of options out there
starting with a traditional tri suit.
Now this might be one that comes with full sleeves,
we see these quite popular these days
or one that just has no sleeves cut off at the shoulder.
You could then also have a two piece option
where you have a pair of shorts
and a separate tri top again
that could be sleeved or sleeveless.
Now with all of these options,
there is the potential for awkward chaffing
and rubbing if you're not sure of how they fit.
So it makes perfect sense to wear them in the pool first,
go out for a run,
even maybe try them for a bike too
just to the you know
that you're going to get new nasty surprises on race day.
For the vast majority of us
taking part in a triathlon means
that we are going to be in the open water environment
and by extension to that
that will mean that we need to wear a wetsuit in the water.
Unless of course you are lucky enough to live
in tropical conditions
and know that you're going to be swimming in nice warm
and balmy waters.
So I've got a couple quick tips here
for helping with both putting your wet suit on
and taking it off.
So this first tip,
which is actually an incredibly simple one,
but worth its weight in gold is
to pack a plastic bag along with your wetsuit.
Whenever you're going with it
and use that to help put your arms
and legs through the wetsuit when you're getting into it
because it can be really awkward
to get in through the tight ankles
and through the tight wrist spaces in the wetsuit.
So if you put the plastic bag over your hands
or over your feet too and then step into
or push through the wetsuit with that plastic bag.
It just makes things slide on far, far easier
and you're not going to risk the chances
of ruining your wetsuit by putting a hole
in the neoprene.
Now I learned this the hard way many years ago
by rushing to try and get a wet suit on
and just push my arm through
and before I knew it there was a great big hole
along one of the seams in the neoprene.
So that's a tip for helping get the wetsuit on
but there's also a good tip
for helping get your wetsuit off
and that's to use some baby oil,
maybe some petroleum jelly as well
or Vaseline is another name for it too.
Stop you getting some nasty chaffs and rubs
in all the places that
you're going to be using the wet suit in the water.
Now,
notably the neck is a really good place
that I always add some Vaseline or petroleum jelly.
You can use baby oil too
that just stops when you're breathing
getting a nasty rub on either side.
You're breathing tube.
Other good places to add some baby or Vaseline on
is around your wrist, around your ankles too
because that means when you come
to pulling the wet suit off in transition,
it helps the wetsuit just come off that bit easier too.
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Now, as I said at the beginning,
it is very easy to be daunted by an awful lot of the kit
associated with racing a triathlon.
On the top of that list is most certainly the bikes
that we can ride.
Walk through any transition area
and quite frankly the array of shiny carbon bling
on display can be well nothing short of overwhelming.
However, I am here to assure you
that you really don't need something like this simply
to build to take part in your first triathlon.
Now, we have said this countless times here on the channel
and although we are extremely lucky
to get access to really top end bikes ourselves.
If of course you've got one that's great,
but you definitely don't need one.
Essentially, all you need is a good safe bike
in working order with brakes that are fine, tires are fine.
And of course a bike that fits you.
And if that might be a mountain bike
or whether it be a commuter bike,
essentially, whatever you have at home in the garbage
or outside is going to be perfectly fine.
Essentially, nothing is off limits.
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Regardless of the length of triathlon
that you're embarking upon,
be that sprint distance travel
or a full distance Ironman.
One of the things that you mustn't overlook
or worse even forget is to keep yourself well fueled
and hydrated with a constant trickle
of calories coming in all the time.
For many doing their first triathlon
the thought of having to open
and negotiate using energy gels,
then of course eating the things
can seem well pretty awkward and cumbersome.
Then of course,
you've got to coincide that with the thought
of concentrating on racing itself too.
So many years ago,
I was given a really good useful nugget of information
from a racing buddy
which was to take those gels
and then empty them into a water bottle.
Because then you can dilute that down with some water
and all you have to do
to worry about getting your much needed calories
is sip regularly from your water bottle
as you would usually do anyway.
I would of course suggest having this water bottle
with your gel mix coinciding with
another water bottle,
say a regular water bottle just with water
or maybe some energy mix in there too.
And a final point to help with your nutrition on course
is to think about using some sort of timer
maybe on your watch,
you can set these to wherever you want,
I would suggest something like a 15 minute bleep
because that means that
with all the excitement of getting caught up with racing,
you're hopefully never going to
to forget to regularly take on board some hydration,
or of course eat as well
and that way you're going to regularly keep
that trickle of calories coming in.
Given you probably watched cycling on the TV
and seeing groups of big packs riding along
in close proximity to one another,
you could be forgiven for thinking
that this is what you're allowed to do in a triathlon too.
However, this isn't allowed
and this is referred to as drafting where
in effect you can get slipstream effect
from riding close behind the rider in front.
Now, in almost all forms of triathlon this is not allowed.
The only exception being in ITU racing where
athletes race over the Olympic distance
and they are all trying to get themselves
to the Olympic Games every four years.
Essentially, you have to think about every rider
out on a triathlon course as being in an imaginary box
and that box will be approximately two meters wide
and 10 meters in length
and no other rider is allowed to enter into that box.
So should you want to pass a triathlete who's
in front of you,
you need to be mindful not to get to close behind them
because that will be construed as drafting
and you'll be getting a penalty,
very frustrating one from the race referee.
And those penalties
are usually in the region of five minutes long.
And you have to stop on course,
at the next available penalty tent to take it.
Needless to say,
there are all sorts of things
that taking part in your first triathlon can
well flag up as being potentially unnerving
and a little bit worrisome.
But hopefully these tips
that I've just chatted through with you now can
help some way towards making
that first time racing process much simpler.
Now hopefully you've enjoyed this video.
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And talking about those other videos,
if you want to see one
that is tips for new triathletes.
Well you can find that here
and another on how many hours a week should I train
for a triathlon.
Well, that one is here.