Newb question

[e.e.cummings]

So I am doing it, signing up for my first triathlon! So excited. I don't know what to expect in terms of the swimming portion. It will be in an indoor pool. How does that work, people line up, first come first serve for the laps? Also, you wear a normal swimsuit or a wetsuit in a pool? Totally green at this! Plus, how do you keep your bike safe while you are making your way through the other events?

[sfa]

The one indoor pool tri I did had us group ourselves by speed (I went with the slow group, naturally), then they had us start in the pool at ten second intervals. In the pool we'd go up one lane, down the next, up the next, and so on until we reached the end of the pool. It was, obviously, a short swim, but it kept people moving so there wasn't ever a long wait to get started. It got chaotic in the pool, though, when people tended to glom up going under the lane ropes. I don't know how they'd do it with a longer swim portion of the race. No wetsuits in pools--I just wore tri shorts and top, then because it was a bit chilly that day I threw another shirt on over my tri top for the rest of the race. I saw other people in regular swim suits, but I don't know what they wore for the rest of the race.

Race volunteers keep the bikes safe while you're off doing other things--the transition area is closed to anyone except racers so no one is going to really be motivated to damage or steal your stuff anyway, and the volunteers patrol the area. It felt weird walking away from an unlocked bike the first time, and I imagine that at some races security is an issue, but I've never heard of a problem.

Good luck!

Sarah

[e.e.cummings]

So you do not have to change out of your wet clothes to start running/cycling? So much I don't know. Do you have any recommendations for good brands of tri shorts, tops?

[sfa]

Nope, just remove the dirt from your feet, put on your shoes and helmet and start cycling! Tri shorts are designed with a very thin chamois that dries quickly, so you can wear them for the whole race. You're asking the wrong person for brand advice, though--I own one pair that I wore for both races last year. They seemed to work fine but I have no idea what brand they are. TE has a good variety of tri shorts, so if you have a brand of bike shorts you like already, see if they make triathlon clothing as well.

One thing I learned was that it's not worth it to try to dry yourself off too much. I'm paranoid about blisters, so in my first (pool) tri I dried my feet off carefully and tried to dry my body off as well to avoid getting too chilly, but that slowed me way down in transition. So for my second tri I tried to get smart and use baby powder on my feet (the normal trick is to have a dishpan or bucket of water and dip your feet in them to remove the gunk after the swim, but I always use baby powder to get rid of sand from my feet at the beach, so I thought it could work here too), which would remove the debris and keep my feet dry during the rest of the race. I shouldn't have bothered--as soon as I was on my bike the water from my shorts and top dripped down my legs and got my feet as wet as if I hadn't dried off at all, and again, powdering your feet takes longer than a quick dip in a water bucket or a squirt from a water bottle. In both cases, I was pretty dry by a couple of miles into the bike portion, so my attempts at keeping my feet dry weren't worth the effort!

[sgf726]

The indoor tri I did was similiar. They ask you to enter your estimated swim time when you register and then people are seeded based on there time with the faster swimmers going first. We started 15 sec apart.

I have the Pearl Izumi Tri Shorts and I really like them, I think my top is Sugio.
I just squirt some water on my feet to wash off and dirt then put on my bike shoes. I don't use socks for the bike and I don't really try to dry off. You will dry off fairly quickly.

If you can practive switching lanes by pushing off the wall and going under the lane markers. The one I did we started in the deep end so switched lanes in the deep end as well.

Sharon

[GLC1968]

I'm doing my first tri with a pool swim next month. I believe that for this one, we don't 'snake' through the pool lanes. We are all seeded by our reported swim times and we circle swim with three other swimmers in each lane until we get to 10 laps. There are a bunch of heats, too. Total swim is 500 yards and if we snaked through the lanes in this pool, we'd only be at 150 yards (6 lane, 25y pool).

I'm a little nervous about transitions, but I know for a fact that I won't be the only 'virgin' triathlete, so hopefully I won't stick out too much!

[Susan Otcenas]

We are all seeded by our reported swim times and we circle swim with three other swimmers in each lane until we get to 10 laps.

Exactly.

[e.e.cummings]

If the water is dripping into your shoes, do you wear your bike shoes? Or old shoes that you don't care about getting wet?

Is there a real sense of panic in the transitions? And how do you keep track of your stuff?

One thing I need to do, I guess, is time myself at swimming. Have not done that yet. I can swim across a pond, but I have never timed myself!

[Bike Chick]

I didn't have too big of an issue with wet, drippy feet. The transition area was probably 100 yards from the pool and they were pretty dry by the time I got to my bike. I set everything up in transition on a towel and wiped my feet off like you would a welcome mat while I put my helmet and bike gear on. The last thing on was my socks and bike shoes. By the time I was into my 5th mile of the bike ride, I was almost dry all over.

[HillSlugger]

If the water is dripping into your shoes, do you wear your bike shoes? Or old shoes that you don't care about getting wet?

Is there a real sense of panic in the transitions? And how do you keep track of your stuff?

One thing I need to do, I guess, is time myself at swimming. Have not done that yet. I can swim across a pond, but I have never timed myself!

No, I wouldn't say panic. However, many people are well organized and methodical while others are rather less so. Some take a very leisurely attitude while others are quick like a cat.

It can get a bit chaotic especially when people are poorly organized or clutzy.

Try to take the time to practice your transitions: set up your stuff outside the pool and have someone watch over it. Go swim, run outside all wet, get on your stuff to ride, go for a bit of a ride, come back and get ready to run, go for a short run.

Try to take as little as possible into the transition area and set the stuff out in the order you will use it.

[Tri Girl]

Yay, e.e.!!!
Congrats on taking the plunge. It's a great sport!!

[e.e.cummings]

I have been out of the game for almost two weeks - I had an infection which put me out of commission as far as training goes. I am only just now starting to get my energy and wondering if I should go ahead and do the tri anyway from a total newb point of view, to experience it. It's this coming Sunday. It has been so disappointing not be able to train. I don't have to train for the cycle part, I could do that in my sleep - the distance is less than one way commute to my work - but I am not the strongest runner and my stroke could use my work. I took a swim coach for an hour and she said that I was pretty good, I just needed to work on a few basic things to get even better. But I have not been able to practice. Anyone else go into a tri without lots of training?

[HillSlugger]

I have been out of the game for almost two weeks - I had an infection which put me out of commission as far as training goes. I am only just now starting to get my energy and wondering if I should go ahead and do the tri anyway from a total newb point of view, to experience it. It's this coming Sunday. It has been so disappointing not be able to train. I don't have to train for the cycle part, I could do that in my sleep - the distance is less than one way commute to my work - but I am not the strongest runner and my stroke could use my work. I took a swim coach for an hour and she said that I was pretty good, I just needed to work on a few basic things to get even better. But I have not been able to practice. Anyone else go into a tri without lots of training?

Lots of people do it every weekend; I'm too OCD to do that myself. What are your goals?

[e.e.cummings]

My goal for this tri is just to get through it and learn the drill. There are so many basic things about a tri that I am not familiar with because I have never done it that doing it without feeling a big pressure to go fast may be a good thing.

[HillSlugger]

My goal for this tri is just to get through it and learn the drill. There are so many basic things about a tri that I am not familiar with because I have never done it that doing it without feeling a big pressure to go fast may be a good thing.

So, as long as you won't be in danger during the swim, then go for it!