Dressing for an early season tri

[HillSlugger]

I'm thinking about doing a triathlon in April. What do you do about dressing if the air temperature is too cool for a sleeveless tri suit and shorts? Can you wear something long sleeve under the wetsuit or do you deal with getting a jersey onto a wet torso?

[KSH]

Eh, since I know I'm not winning anything... I get DRESSED when it's cold.

I have been known to grab a full towel to dry off with out of the pool... go to T2... put on a hat, jacket, pants, and gloves. I don't play.

In fact, here are the pictues from that race... http://www.sonic-convergence.com/misc/karen/triathlon_southlake/

[teigyr]

I LOVE the pictures, especially the transition ones. You look downright comfy :D

If you wore longsleeves under the wetsuit, would the longsleeves be wet? The last tri I did was chilly. I wore my trisuit under my wetsuit and threw on a pullover for the bike portion. I took the pullover off for the run but by that point I was mostly dry. The idea of cool/cold breeze on my already cold body (and wet clothes) just sounded horrible. The pullover idea was last minute, it was DH's and I had been wearing it before the swim. It was in my transition area and it turned out to be very useful!

[Tri Girl]

Great pics, KSH. I'm with you on this one: I'm dressing to stay comfy. There's no way I'm bringing home 1st place, so I'm out there to feel comfortable and race well. I've kept a zip up jacket in T1 to pull on over the swim. Full zip means I can just put it on and don't have to mess with pulling something on over my head and then down my wet/sticky body. I've not worn pants, tho. If my upper body is warm, my legs will be OK.
I saw someone once wear knickers in the pool, tho. :confused:

[alpinerabbit]

Full zip jersey and wind vest was my take when the weather was like 15 °C in August. Went over my body in a jiffy.

[Kathyrides]

I have done a few tris when it has been in the 50s. I will put on a bike jacket in T1 and typically take it off in T2. Full zipper makes putting it on wet much easier.

Putting on something before you swim it will be wet and you'll be cold riding.

Practice putting on your jacket or whatever while wet. I figured out how to have it over my bike seat so it was the easiest to put on. Seriously riding when it is 50 in shorts and no sleeves dripping wet is insane. With my wind jacket I was comfortable.

[Urlea]

Thanks for asking this question! I am running into the same problem with my triathlon next weekend.

Unfortunately I woke up to about 6in. of snow this morning! :eek:

The ideal I had going into my first triathlon did not involve snow, but that may just be the case. Remnants of it anyway, hopefully most of it will melt by then.

I'm guessing the temps will be in the lower 50's. My plan is to throw on one of my LS running tops that has fold down "mittens" in T1. If that doesn't keep me warm enough I'll just have to bike harder. ;) The fold down mittens will save me a step in T2, I can just pull them over my hands during the run portion. I've debated about some sort of pants, not quite sure on that yet. They will get wet from my tri-suit bottoms. Is it still worth it?

My goal is just to finish so as long as I can do that given the weather and my fitness level I'll be pleased.

[rocknrollgirl]

When we raced in Tahoe in September, the air temp was 32 degrees, the water 57 degrees and it snowed.

It made for an interesting T-1. My hands would not work, totally frozen.

In T-1, I put on a lightweight long sleeved jersey and full finger biking gloves with my trisuit. The bike took almost 3 hours, so by the time I went in to T-2 I was able to take off the gloves. The jersey came off half way through the run.

It was not damp weather, so that made the cold a bit easier to deal with.

[tabbs]

This is great info - I have a super sprint on Saturday and its going to be be cold and raining!!!!

[HillSlugger]

For my tri (April 20) it ended up raining, temps in the 60's, and water temp of about 63. I ended up doing the ride and run in a sleeveless tri top and wasn't too cold (nor too warm). Lots of people wore a jacket or jersey for the bike, less for the run.