Coming from someone who is currently overweight and very self-conscious at the moment; I know it's hard to just say "to heck with what others think." It's true, but it's hard to convince the mind of that. The mind is both a wonderful and quite terrible companion.

That said, I agree with all the others. Wear what YOU'LL feel comfy in. You can always pull a skirt over the tri shorts for the run portion (it's what I do- swim in tri shorts, bike in them, then pull the skirt over for the part that I'm the slowest at and the part most people will see me at).

A tankini and a skirt is fine. You do NOT have to go with the fancy clothing for your first race. It's all about having fun- no matter your speed. If you're not having fun why do it?

I see the winners at every race who finish at warp speed, but it doesn't look like they're having an ounce of fun. If I can't talk to the volunteers, thank the cops at the intersections, pet a dog on the run, then I simply don't want to do it. DFL or not, I want to have a good time. It's hard to not get caught up in body image in this sport, but just go do it and have fun in whatever you're riding and whatever you're wearing.

Oh, and take the time to change between your biking shoes and running shoes in transition (unless you don't have biking shoes and you're just going to wear your running shoes on the bike).

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