- What are the first 10 things
that you need to buy as a triathlete?
If you're gonna be putting in a lot of training,
a lot of time in the saddle, you wanna make sure...
Now, I'll give ya a bonus tip ...
(yawns)
Trainiacs, zwift can push ya.
If you wanna follow along, name is T
and then the last name is Riathalon Teran,
See what I did there?
Sneaky.
So today we're gonna talk about ...
Let's say, assuming you've done your first race
maybe your second race or you're coming into the sport
and you're like that's it, I'm committed, let's do this.
In those first couple of races, you're just kinda slamming
whatever gear you absolutely, minimally need together.
But today we're gonna talk about if you're committed,
what are the first ten things that you need to buy
as a triathlete.
But first, an entire day of work.
Okay, so we gotta fast-forward
to those ten things right now.
Alright trainiacs, lets go swim, bike, run
with the ten things that new triathletes need.
Number one, you need yourself a Speedo.
I mean, you're not all gonna look as damn fine as I do
in my peppatogs, but you can try.
Now, get yourself a Speedo, if you're feeling daring
or a set of jammers that go longer down
and then build your way into the Speedo.
Awesomeness doesn't have to happen in one day.
Next thing you need if you're committed to the sport
is a wetsuit.
Now I recommend getting yourself a cheap wetsuit.
Maybe in your first race, you rent a wetsuit,
but certainly by the second race,
if you're gonna do this sport, it doesn't make any sense
to be renting a wetsuit.
Because it costs anywhere in between
about $50 and $100 per time that you rent a wetsuit,
plus you're in somebody else's pee, I guarantee it.
And you can go and get yourself some wetsuits
that are really good, gonna last a long time,
for about $200.
And in a worst-case scenario,
if you don't end up sticking with the sport,
you can sell those $200 wetsuits for probably $100 to $130.
And then you're paying even less than if you had rented.
I really dug this wetsuit when I was in Austin.
Fast, personal best, everything was nice and buoyant.
Big fan Ter.
Now the last thing that you need on the swim front
is something that I carry around with me all the time,
in my backpack because you never know
when you're gonna be out and about traveling
and you need to get yourself a pair of goggles.
Now these ones specifically are mirrored goggles.
And I recommend having mirrored goggles as your first
and only set of goggles
because they work in open water and they can work in a pool.
If you're to get yourself a pair of pool goggles
that aren't mirrored,
when you get out into open water,
there's gonna be a ton of glare on that water
and you're not gonna be able to see.
So mirrored goggles will be a little bit more versatile.
Alright, on to the bike.
Assuming that your first triathlon bike
is typically gonna be a road bike
that you're adapting for triathlon,
the first thing that you should be getting on that bike
is a set of arrow bars.
Now I have an actual dedicated road bike,
but the arrow bars that you get for a road bike,
they clip on here so that you can get down
into that arrow position
because somewhere around 80 to 85% of the drag
that we experience as triathletes, road cyclists,
mountain bikers,
that drag is coming from our body, not the bike.
So the more narrow and aerodynamic you can make
your frontal profile, the better you're gonna be.
Now in addition to that, the next thing that you should get
on the bike, relates to that arrow position.
Is a proper bike fit.
So it's less about getting something and
it's about getting a service.
If you're gonna be putting in a lot of training,
a lot of time in the saddle,
you wanna make sure that your bike is set up properly
for your body structure.
If you're too aggressive, if you're trying to be too low,
if you're trying to be too aerodynamic,
if you have a bike that isn't sized properly
and you're stretching too much,
or you're crunched too much,
or maybe you have one imbalance on a leg
that isn't matched on the other leg
and that's not reflected in the insoles
that you've got in your shoes.
There are any one of a number of things
that can be fixed in a bike fit
to adapt to your body and make sure that you're putting
as much power into the pedals and less power
into just keeping your body together.
This is gonna make sure that you avoid
as much injury as possible.
And that you've got durability in your bike training,
so that all you have to worry about is putting in the work.
Now the next thing you should be looking at getting
as a serious triathlete, is a bike trainer.
More than 50% of the typical race is taken up
by the bike.
The bike is the only sport of the three that we do,
that is basically a straight correlation of time spent
on the bike, makes you faster in the race.
And the thing about the trainer, is that,
it's going to make sure that
whether it's rainy or snowy or sleety or constructiony
or busy or hard to get to a safe place,
that you can go on an actual bike ride
that isn't start and stop.
Bike trainer is going to be the key to consistency
and purposeful workouts on the bike.
Alright, the next two things that I think
that you should get are some triathlon shorts
and a cycling jersey.
Now speaking about triathlon shorts,
as opposed to cycling shorts,
the chamois in the tri shorts is gonna be a lot smaller
so that means that you can do a race in it.
But you're still gonna have a chamois,
so you can still do cycling workouts,
you can go out riding outside, inside
and you're gonna have some padding there.
But then when you get to a race,
you're not gonna have this big chamois
that turns into diaper butt during a race.
If you were to get cycling shorts instead,
you're gonna have diaper butt in a race.
So you could use them for cycling, but not a triathlon.
Which I why I recommend, if you're keeping it minimal
and just getting into the sport,
picking away at certain things
and getting the least that you need, tri-shorts.
In the same token, a cycling jersey will work fairly well
in a race.
It's not necessarily going to bunch up,
as long as you get one that fits nice and tight.
But it's gonna be fairly aerodynamic on the bike,
it's gonna fit under a wetsuit,
you can run in it and it's not gonna be the worst.
But if you get the triathlon top,
it's gonna be less enjoyable to go out
and do those cycling workouts outside
because your shoulders are exposed
and you're gonna be developing, likely,
a fair bit of sunburn.
So I recommend, for starters, cycling jersey and tri-shorts.
Oh, and by the way if you wanna look excellent
in these trainiac tri-shorts and cycling jersey,
triathlontaren.com, underneath gear
there's a link to where you can get all this stuff.
It's awesome.
Running.
So now running fortunately gives us a little bit of a break
on the gear side of things.
It's not nearly as intense as biking or swimming.
We don't need as much.
All you really need for your running gear that's critical
is a good set of running shoes.
These are the On Running Clouds, I like On Running
but I also have used Hokas, I've used Skechers,
I've used Newtons.
Basically, find a type of runner
whether it's neutral or stability or low drop
or zero drop or no drop or built up and cushy or minimal.
Figure out what types of runners work for you
by trying a few.
And they only last about two or three hundred miles,
so if you're training a lot, you should be able to try
quite a few over the course of a season.
Work with your local running shop and get a recommendation
on what should work for your body structure.
And then go with that.
But don't be goin' with like the Zellers and Sears cheapo
shoes that you used in your first couple of races.
You need to take care of your feet.
And you need to take care of your body
by having proper structure and a good amount of cushioning.
On that note, last thing you need
is a whole bunch of injury-prevention gear.
What you need, is different than what I need.
Basically, just start thinking along the lines
of being conscious of injury prevention.
So whether it's something for your feet,
something for your legs,
something for your foot stability health,
something for foot blood flow.
I got a lot of foot problems right now,
so we got a lot of foot injury stuff.
Just be conscious of taking care of your body
with maintenance and injury prevention,
before it gets too serious.
Now I'll give ya a bonus tip, enter a race, yeah.
Spend some money and before you even really know
what your goals are,
try to always have a race or a big goal that scares you
just a little bit, to train for.
I find that without a goal, without something
that I'm training for, I'm just kind of going through
the motions of training.
And it's really hard to motivate myself to get up every day.
To go really hard in the workout.
And if you've got a goal that you're a little bit scared of,
that goal and that little bit of fear,
is gonna motivate you to train a little bit harder,
a little bit more regularly,
because you're gonna be scared that if you don't,
you might have a tough day.
So, I recommend, in addition to all of the stuff,
making sure that you're constantly looking forward
to what's next, and how you can improve.
If you're interested in any of the gear that I've got,
go to kit.com/triathlonteran
has much of the gear that I use regularly
and feel confident enough to say
that it is something that I use regularly.
So check that out and this should get you going.
Later trainiacs.