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Hello ladies, I'm in dire need of some good advice.
I'm 100 days away from my first triathlon (only sprint distance, but still... a race is a race, right, and we all have to start somewhere). I have never raced in any sports before, so I need to hear from those who have done it before me. What do you wear during a race? From top to toe, during swim, cycle and run - what do I need?
Thanks :)
I've never done a triathlon, but I know from talking to friends that the weather and water temperature will have a bearing on what you want to wear. Do you have any idea what to expect in that regard?
Well, for sprint races, I wear the same thing for the whole race - a one piece tri suit something like this: http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodLG_1058290.html . Swim in it, bike in it, run in it - makes for faster transition times.
If it's an open water swim, I wear a wetsuit over the tri suit and then take the wetsuit off before getting on the bike. My tri suit does not have any support in it, so I also wear a thin, wicking, sports bra under it. No shoes for the swim, bike shoes and socks for the bike and running shoes and socks for the run. I also put a hat on for the run because after swimming, then biking in a helmet, my hair is wild and drives me insane.
For my first tri - I wore a sports bra (black - so it wasn't see through when wet) and tri capri's for the swim and then I threw on a tank top over it for the bike and the run. I wasn't yet ready to spend the money on fancy gear if I didn't think I would like it, so the tri capri's were my minimal investment. You don't want to wear bike shorts in the pool because the chamois will get too full of water, so investing in a pair of tri shorts is kind of the minimum you'd need to do. I've also seen people who swim in a swim suit and then pull shorts on for the bike/run but I can't imagine the kind of chaffing that would cause me!
I did my one and only sprint tri wearing:
-"sports bikini" bottoms, ie. lowcut, wide crotch, didn't ride up or move around
-"tri" top, basically a compressive swim bra/top, but since it had a big 3 on it I figure it was actually a tri top :-P
- thin running shorts, no padding
plus
- a wetsuit over everything, swim cap and goggles for the swim. Actually I had 2 swim caps because somebody told me that was a good idea to keep my goggles from being kicked off. Bad idea it turned out, gave me a headache.
- helmet and bike shoes, no socks, for the bike
- running shoes with instant laces, no socks, for the run
Not super-comfy, but I'd tested it in advance and knew that it wouldn't chafe for such short distances.
The wetsuit was my only investment, I had the rest.
I can pm you a photo if you'd like to see what I mean.
Thanks for the tips. I'm a bit worried about chaffing, I get it from almost anything (right now I have a what looks like a branding mark between my breasts from my HRM), so I'm a bit worried about pulling on shorts or something over my wet bathing suit. In two weeks I will do a test run at the gym and see how bad it gets when pulling bike shorts over my wet swimsuit. I already figured that the chamois of a pair of regular bike shorts would work as a sponge, a pair of tri-shorts/capris sounds like a good investment. I'm not sure if I'll like it, so buying a suit might be a bit much for a first timer :)
What are the benefits of cycling and running without socks (besides saving time in the transition zone)? I suppose light weight running shoes are the better option as it's such a short distance...
Pictures would be nice :) I'm really interested in your experiences, Iph, as you are (probably) racing under similar conditions as I will be in :)
I'll post you a couple of photos, they're from the oslo tri two years ago :-)
I wore my base layer the whole way because pulling clothes on when you're wet is a huge PITA. And takes a lot of time. Same reason for not using socks. Luckily the weather was warm enough on the day that I didn't need anything more than a bra top, otherwise I would have pulled on a (loosefitting) bike jersey with a full zip. I brought both a longsleeved and a shortsleeved jersey to the event, in case, but I'd already tested and found out that at 18 C or whatever I could manage to stay just warm enough without a jersey.
If I were doing a longer distance I probably would have had to change more or have real tri shorts. I saw people doing the full distance stripping down and changing in the transition zone.
I also saw one woman doing the entire thing in a swimsuit. Ouch.
My one and only tri was in hot weather, I just did it in sports bra and cycling shorts. I didn't want to invest in new clothes for a sport I wasn't sure I'd like.
I chose shorts with a chamois that took up a minimal amount of water and that didn't sag too much when wet ... I picked a couple of likely pairs out of the shorts I already owned and wore them into the shower to see how they'd do soaking wet. :D They were completely fine. I put on a goodly amount of shea butter to begin with.
I wore socks for the run but not the bike. By that time my feet were a little bit drier. It cost me some time in T2 but I blister easily too and I wasn't even going to attempt to run without socks.
I tried to wear bike gloves for safety, but I wound up dropping one in T1 and I didn't go back for it, so I did the bike and the run in one glove. :p
As far as the HR strap sawing through your sternum, a lot of people have that issue with the new style straps that have the sharp plastic between your body and the conductive fabric. Why in the world do they do that?? You can put a piece of tape or a bandaid over the bottom of the strap, wrapping around the bottom half of the strap below the module. Search on DCRainmaker's site for an illustration, I don't have the link right now. I'm still experimenting with different kinds of tape, but for a tri you'd probably want duct tape, I doubt anything else would stay on after the swim.
Also, I stuck together two of those velcro cable organizer ties as an anklet. Way more comfortable than whatever they gave us to put the chip on our ankle, no chafing whatever, and everyone probably has a few of them lying around the house.
If it's cold, throwing on a wind breaking jacket of some type in T1 actually helps. This past weekend I did a sprint tri in my trisuit. It was only about 45F or so (I think) when we left the pool (and cloudy), so I tossed a somewhat over-sized cycling rain jacket on over my trisuit for the bike. It was wet, but it blocked enough wind that my teeth weren't chattering. Once I dried, I was fine, so I left it in T2 for the run. I would have preferred something more cozy, but this was easy to pull on over a wet body and suit.
If you want to wear socks, a helpful tip is to put them on your feet before the race and then roll them off starting at your ankle and working over your heel. When you are done, you are left with just the toes surrounded by rolled up sock kind of like a little cap. This makes them super easy to put on, even with wet feet. Just put your toes in and roll the rest over your feet like a condom. ;) Works like a charm!
Thanks for great tips, ladies!