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- This first one goes for race morning,
it can be a little bit stressful with athletes rushing
around trying to sort our their own kit,
doing their warm up, course recce,
whatever other last minute things,
and it is tempting to use your transition space, and more,
to keep yourself calm and do your own organisation,
but it's a sure way to upset your neighbours in transition.
So I'd recommend doing all of your packing
and your organising, back at home or in your hotel room.
And it's a sure way to make your life,
and your neighbours lives much easier.
- Right this one might need a little bit of explanation
because lubrication is your friend,
especially when it comes to the swim.
For two reasons, so first up,
you don't want to get any rubs,
especially around your neck if you're wearing
a swimskin or a wetsuit.
But secondly so you can help get it off that much more
easily when you get into T1.
So lubricating your wrists, and your ankles,
will just help it slide off, and also the added bonus,
if anyone does try to grab hold of your ankles in the swim,
well they're going to be a little bit more slippery.
While sticking with the swim, this leads me on to
the next one, triathlon is a non-contact sport
although that said, contact's often unavoidable
in the swim and it's not against the race rules,
although do respect your fellow competitors,
so please no dunking, ankle grabbing or intentional hitting.
And I know sometimes it does feel like someone else
has done it to you on purpose,
but nine times out of 10 they probably just got
their hands and arms in the wrong place at the wrong time.
So try and just focus, purely, on your own race.
Having a great looking race bike, with a slam stem,
forward position saddle, aero hydration,
certainly looks great, and it's great for
aerodynamics only if you can ride and hold that position.
There's no point in having a wonderful looking setup
in a position that you can't hold, you're not comfortable in
and can't put the power out.
So make sure you get the perfect balance
between aerodynamics and a position that you can maintain.
The same goes for your kit and any extras on your bike,
having an aero helmet when you're going to be riding with
your head up high for example, defeats the object.
And the same goes for a disc wheel.
If you're riding somewhere really windy,
you've got the aerodynamic benefits of a disc wheel
but you're going to be spending most of your time
on base bars or on your breaks,
then it kind of cancelled it out.
This is a bold one, and who am I to tell you what you
can and can't wear, but in my opinion,
if you care to hear it,
white tri suits are best left to the pros.
The fact that the formal world champion Jan Frodeno
can wear one with style doesn't mean that if we put on
a white tri suit we're going to have the same style
and the same performance as him.
And as much as I do love white, once it's been worn
for several hours, and it's wet, it might not look
quite as good as you'd first imagined.
There are clear drafting rules for all non-drafting events.
And distances can be anything from seven to 20 metres
depending on what event you're doing.
There's also a set time for the time you're allowed
to overtake someone and the time that you have to drop back
if you've being overtaken.
So if you are the person doing the overtaking,
make sure you maintain the same power and speed
that you were doing beforehand,
don't suddenly ease up, take a drink, back off,
because the person behind you is probably going to
have to break and then loose all of their momentum.
Littering is against the rules in pretty much any triathlon,
but most of them try and help you out
with a drop litter zone
and this normally coincides with a drink and refuel station
both for the bike and the run.
If you do intend to grab a bottle of water
or a cup on the run
then just check behind you first,
you don't want to be cutting up a fellow athlete.
And the same goes for when you want to discard of your
rubbish, when you're aiming for the bin with
that sticky gel packet, just make sure there's not
a fellow athlete in between you and the bin,
and especially for water bottles on the bike.
Because you don't want to be throwing
a bottle in between another rider's spokes.
Heading out of T1 or into T2 can get a little manic,
especially in the bigger races,
and it's actually where probably most of the tumbles
on the bike course happen,
around that mount and dismount line.
So if you know that you're someone who maybe has
a little wobble when you're getting on the bike,
just keep to one side and be aware of those around you.
The same goes for the dismount,
if you don't do a flying dismount,
keep to one side so you're not going to cause
a potential domino effect of suddenly stopping
with lots of people behind you.
You are in a race, and yes, I get that.
I'm competitive too,
but so are all of your other competitors.
And when it gets to the feed stations, especially later on,
in a race, it can get a little crowded and a bit hectic,
so make sure you respect those around you.
And if it's for example a hot race,
they're running low on sponges or ice,
or they've only got three cups of water left,
say you're running in a group of three, just take the one
and make sure you leave some for somebody else.
The same goes for respect when it comes to queues.
I admit I am British and we do love to queue,
but if there's a bathroom queue, before your race, during,
or even after, I'm sure everyone else is going to be
just as desperate as you, so wait your turn.
Right I'm aware that some of you
aren't going to agree with me on this one
but I personally feel it's quite important.
If you're doing a race, you quite often have your name
on your race number, so that you're likely to get
some of the other supporters giving you a bit of a cheer.
- Yay, go on, go Heather, good work!
- [Man] Go Heather!
- Now I know sometimes you can be so in the zone,
or hurting so much, that you're not even going to notice it
but if you do, just a little nod or a smile,
is a nice gesture, as a thank you
to the crowds supporting you.
I personally try and give a wave when it's early on
in the race, and admittedly towards the end
it does often end up being just a smile.
But I get quite a lot of energy back from engaging
with the crowd and if you haven't tried it already,
I'd recommend giving it go in your next race.
These rules might not be found in a book
but they are equally important if you want to enjoy
your next race and ensure that your fellow competitors
have a great experience too.
If there are any rules that you've thought about
that I've actually missed off,
let me know in the comments section below,
I'd love to hear from you.
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And if you want to see a video on how to plan and prepare
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And if you want to see nine triathlon mistakes
to avoid, we've done a video on that just here.