BRW Triathlon Series

[Minty]

Hi,

Anyone doing the BRW triathlon this year? I'm doing my first ever tri in Melbourne this Sunday (25 Feb).

Anyone have any tips?

- Minty

[crazycanuck]

Hey Minty,

I did the Perth BRW event last year & had fun..well except for having to swim in the Swan river.

It seemed to be well organized & would like to do it again. We're not doing it this year as rego's sold out rather quickly!!!

Good luck at the tri!

C

[jotjepoes]

I did my first Tri last year - VERY slowly. But for all it's worth here are a few tips:

1. Try and fit in an ocean swim if you haven't already done one. If you can't don't worry about it. There are 3 or 4 rubber dinghys around to come to your aid if you need it, so if you are like me last year, and your first ocean swim is actually the day of the tri, this is probably the safest time to do a first ocean swim. Don't panic, take it easy and you will be fine.

2. Try not to go first, let the strongest/ most experienced team member go first, that way you won't be swimming with a big wave of other swimmers.

3. Although gatorade is freely available before and after (at least it was last year), only water is available during the course, so make sure you bring some gatorade (or similar product) if you think you will need it.

4. If you aren't going first and don't really want/need to get there before the start of the race, try putting all your gear in the compound on the Saturday when you put your bike in the compound. That way you can sleep in a little rather than getting there before 7.00 am just to put in your shoes etc. It looks like Sat night will be dry.

Hope this helps! good luck!

[light_sabe_r]

Looks Like fun. I might go down and watch it that day and try and get a Diamantina social club team up for next year.

[Minty]

Thanks for the tips! I've been for a few ocean swims over the past months and am pretty confident, if slow, in open water. Actually, my first training swim was my first ever ocean swim and I thought it was the most disgusting experience of my life. I'm from inland originally, had only ever swim in fresh water before.

Have also been practicing my "transitions" between the swim and the bike, and I can't jump on the bike while running to save my life. For the ten seconds it will save, I'd rather pull over and climb on safely.

I bought elastic laces for my sneakers and they helped a lot. Only two days away now - I'm actually quite excited.

[midlife]

Tips are keep your eyes open!! BRW's are mayhem and full of inexperienced people, so you need to be careful, but it will be lots of fun.

Probably too late for lots of tips (like practising running off the bike) but if you wear a wetsuit, spray cooking oil on your ankles and wrists to get it off quickly. Put your googles strap UNDER your swim cap so they don't get knocked off. Put your helmet (with sunnies inside) on your bike and have a towel ready to wipe your feet on as you putting on your helmet (wiping kinda like a dog scratching... ) Take the time to wack on some short cycling socks - worth it for the run and remember, clothing does not go on easily over wet bathers!! All tips I learnt in my first tris about 10 years ago

Have fun and smile when you finish

[Minty]

Well - I did it. I was both harder and easier than I expected. I am so proud of myself that despite the pain of sunburn and a chaffed bum, I can't stop smiling. Yay for me!

Things I learned the hard way.

1 - there is more running in the swimming leg than there is swimming

2 - I'd rather give up the extra power of clipless pedals for the ease of running my bike down the chutes wearing normal runners. Running with cleats sucks. A lot. Toeclips next time.

3 - There is no such thing as too much vaseline when it comes to preventing salty tri pants from getting abrasive and chafey in the ride and run. My bum is rather red today.

4 - Running on soft, dry, sand is REALLY HARD. I really should have put most of my training into running so that I would be strong enough for all the running between transitions.

Happy surprises

1 - I had the best guys on my team. They each came in under 55 mins, and knew I was hoping for 70 - 80 mins but they cheered me on, congratulated me and basically made me feel really good about my efforts.

2 - I swim a little better than I thought. There was quite a bit of swell because the tide was coming in, and the was a lot of seaweed and other rubbish in the water from the previous day's rain. Despite this, I managed ok and drank less salt water than I expected. Inhaled a bit of it, but didn't drink so much.

3 - When it's all over the pain is just a memory. (Well, sort of).

4 - I can eat three sausage sandwiches and drink three stubbies in quick succession at 10am in the morning - a previously undiscovered talent.

5 - The team number written on my arm in texta did not come off in the shower, but I'm so proud of it that I'm glad it didn't.

So - that's how a 108kg, 33 year old does a triathlon. Yes, I'll do it again next year - but I'll be fitter and faster and a lot healthier. For me, it's a really good way to push me back into the running I did 30kg ago - and drink beer at 10 in the morning! Nothing beats that!

[midlife]

Well done Minty! Ah yes, the swim/run! Especially if the tide is out, but it is more tiring running and you can actually swim faster than run in even shallowish water, my rule of thumb was swim till your hands are hitting the sand, then stand up.

Practice getting your feet out of shoes while they still clipped into your pedals, and put your feet ontop of the shoes till you need to dismount then run in bare feet. Takes a lot of practice to do it to get them IN to the shoes, but worth it. But practice it somehwere where there are no cars!

Bodyglide is your friend, much better than vaseline, which with rubbing can actually heat up and add to the burn. You can buy it at outdoor shops or Rebel I think. comes in stickform for easy application.

Yeah and try not to make that your regular post race diet!!

I saw an aerial shot of the race - the transition was massive - wonder how many people couldn't find their bikes?!!

Oh and you can get the numbers off with a bit of baby oil and a loofa or sard soap, but who'd want to?

[Minty]

Thanks Midlife. The guys at the Brooks shoe marquee gave me a mini stick of bodyglide when I was molesting their shoe display after the event. Would have been useful about 90 mins BEFOREHAND - but always nice to get a freebee. My sunburn hurts more than anything else, and I'm amazed that my legs don't feel worse - just a bit stiff and tight.

I intially ran up the wrong side of my bike rack on the way into transition, but honestly I didn't care at that point. There was a killer headwind on the way back on the ride that made it hard - I stayed in the lowest three gears.

As for sausage sandwiches... I'm very anti-sausage in general, especially the type of "Coles bulk special - thin sausages" that end up on team BBQs. Somehow after a the triathlon they became ambrosia and were the best tasting food in the world. Mmm..........

[jotjepoes]

Hey Minty - funny to think you were out there too.

I did it again this year. I didn't improve much on my time as I what I improved on my bike leg, got taken away on changing from bike shoes to runners.

I didn't know that there was more running than swimming in the swim leg - I HATE running, it's my worst leg....

[Minty]

It felt like there was more running than swimming in the swim leg. I think it's about 500m down to the beach from the chutes, then a 400m swim then back to the bike transition. I was well and truly sick of running by the time I got to the run leg.

That's ok though, it has inspired me to get back into running the way I did about 30kg ago and that's a good thing.

I was in an IOOF team, we were the ones cooking the snags in the TriAlliance tent. Which company were you with?

[jotjepoes]

Unfortunately I can't really run (bad-arthritic knees - hence the cycling) the only time I have run in the last couple of years has been the BRW. But it really takes away from my times in the swim and especially bike rides.

Nonetheless, it was fun to do.

I did my first tri last year at the tender age of 40. Not bad for a 40 year old with bad-arthritic knees. Not sure if I'll do it again next year, but probably will get talked into it again.

[Jonah44]

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