Heather Fell: With three disciplines to worry about, triathlon does involve a fairly large
amount of equipment and kit, and this can become expensive. That's before you add in
things such as coaching costs, or gym membership, travel to races, race entries themselves,
the list does go on. However, triathlon can be accessible and affordable when you just
spend a little bit of time thinking about it and planning. Today, we're going to be
helping you tackle triathlon on a budget. [music]
Heather: Perhaps one of the biggest attractions of triathlon is the lure of the huge event
put on by brands such as Ironman and the Challenge Family. Here, you get the chance to race alongside
hundreds, quite often thousands of like-minded individuals. You've got the expert, you've
got music, you've got an announcer, you've got, obviously, a large factor, the huge crowds
and the support that comes with that, as well as just the excitement of being alongside
so many others. On top of that, quite a lot of events will have the pros racing alongside
the age groupers. There's not many sports where you get to compete on the exact same
course as the pros are, normally on the same day.
However, all of this does come with a downside, it is a rather hefty price tag when it comes
to the entry fee. It goes without saying that finding a cheaper alternative should come
pretty high up on your priority list when you're doing triathlon on a budget. For this,
it's a good idea to stay local and check out your local tri-club as the first option. They'll
usually have an event of some sort quite often, more than one event when it comes to the summer
season. If maybe they don't have an event that takes your fancy, or it's not the right
distance you've been training for, we'll still speak to them and find out from the other
club networks because I reckon you'll be able to find an event that suits you, not very
far from home. As a result, the entry is most likely to be far cheaper when it's being put
on by clubs themselves. [music]
Heather: This point follows on from our previous. If you have managed to find a race that's
local, you're going to be dramatically decreasing any travel costs. Admittedly, you don't want
to compromise the event that you have trained for or you've got your mind set on, but if
there's a 70.3 10 miles away or one that's the other side of the country, you know which
one it makes sense to do. If it is involving a little bit of travel, that's when clubs
come in handy as you're quite likely to find somebody from your club or the club next door
who are traveling to the same event, and why not share the travel costs.
[music] Heather: I've talked quite a lot about triathlon
clubs. I haven't yet mentioned the main reason for joining a club. On top of the community
and the social aspect, it is the coaching. Once you've joined up, you'll usually get
sessions included in that. The most significant one being the swim because there will be allocated
swim times when you'll have a lane in your group hopefully swimming alongside swimmers
at a similar pace. You'll get coaching tips from the coach as well as having the opportunity
to learn from others. As well as that, a lot of clubs will offer turbo sessions during
the week. There might be core workouts or strength training, whether that's online or
in reality. Then over the weekends, there's quite often a longer run or a group club ride,
all of which can really help you develop as an athlete without needing to pay any sort
of on-top coaching fees. If you compare that to the price of having a one-on-one coach,
or a set training program, you'll be saving a lot of money, as well as just learning naturally
from all the others that you're training with. [music]
Heather: We've covered race, entry, travel, and coaching. What about equipment? That's
probably the most expensive area in triathlon, but you don't need to fork out on top-level
kit straight away, or sometimes, even part of the kit. I'm not a rep for triathlon clubs.
It does sound like it, but I'm going to go back to the triathlon club for this one because
you will soon find, if you start discussing with them, that there'll be lots of people
who've maybe got an extra piece of kit that they're not using at the moment, or they want
to sell something or they want to lend something to you. It's amazing how many people want
to just help new triathletes, so go along to a club, start chatting and finding out
what's available for you on a budget. If you don't find anything through there, then you
can obviously search online. The secondhand market in triathlon is rather good because,
especially when it comes to race kit, it doesn't get worn that often. Also, wetsuits, for example,
are available to rent, quite often by the event itself or you might find that some brands
are lending out trial suits. Just do a little bit of investigating and you can soon find
ways to save money on your equipment. Once you get addicted to the sport, if you're not
so already, you can start to invest as you go along.
[music] Heather: I've covered all of the main issues
in the larger spending areas, but nutrition can end up adding up quite a lot, especially
if you're going for that specialist sports nutrition. However, you don't need to necessarily
use this, especially all the time. Start to experiment, speak to other people, try a few
things, but don't go splashing out on a whole load of sports nutrition before you've actually
tried just normal food, especially when it comes to fueling your training.
[music] Heather: We know whatever type of race you're
doing in triathlon, nutrition becomes key. As it becomes longer, then it's even harder
for your stomach to digest. That's actually when whole foods might benefit you. Just experiment
with things like bananas, nuts, fruit, even cereal bars off the supermarket shelf will
give you a lot of the nutrition benefits that a specialist bar costing double the amount
would give you. I would suggest going out there and trying, but whatever you do make
sure you try it before race day, and speaking of which, it's a good idea to try and find
out what's available on race days. A lot of events will give free nutrition during the
bike and the run, and that's a great way to save money, however, you need to make sure
that you like the taste and your stomach is happy with it. There's no point in saving
a little bit of money there but not being able to complete your event because you've
got stomach cramps. [music]
Heather: The triathlon industry is full of new and ever-developing, sparkly, wonderful-looking
pieces of equipment, most of them designed to help you go faster for free. Not for free
because they are quite expensive, such as wheels, helmets, wetsuits, all of that. You
can worry about that later on when maybe you've saved up and you've spent more time training
and racing. There's lots of cheaper alternatives, so it can save you probably a more significant
amount of time, especially if you're new to the sport. Look at transitions for example.
If you've got some elastic laces, which just cost a few pounds or dollars, that can save
you a considerable amount of time with getting your shoes on and also comfort when you're
out on the run. You can get yourself a brightly colored towel and lay it down in transition
so you can find your bike more easily. When you start to think about it, there's quite
a few ways of saving time without having to spend hundreds of dollars on a new wheelset
for example. [music]
Heather: I am, by no means, saying that triathlon is a cheap sport. There is a lot of kit involved
and a lot of training, which is going to involve time as well, but, hopefully, from this, it's
opened up your mind to ways in which you can save money. If you're struggling to do triathlon
because of its limitation in the cost, this might have changed your mind slightly and
got you just thinking outside of the box. If you guys have got any great ideas on how
to do triathlon on a budget or something that you've done in the past, please share because
I'm sure there's a lot of our viewers who would love to learn from you guys. Do that
in the comments section below. Hopefully, you've enjoyed it. Give us a like. Remember,
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