Thursday, February 5, 2015

Preparing For Your First Triathlon

Lately some people asked me how to prepare for their first triathlon. I am not an expert; but I thought I can share my own experience.

I participated in my first tri event in 2013. I signed up for Mini-tri in Cold Storage Singapore International Triathlon 2013. 200m Swim 10km Bike 2km Run.

 
As I had no prior open sea experience, I signed up for the Open Water Swim and Triathlon Practice Clinics by MetaSport. We were taught a little on open water comfort, exit and sighting, race pacing, pace and endurance skills. For Tri Practice Clinics, we did mini triathlon race repeats over short distances including transitions, coaching on multi discipline pacing and technique, including race preparation. These sessions were the best I could find to prepare me for the event. Of course, I googled and watched YouTube videos :)
 
If you are preparing for your first tri, these are some questions you will ask...
- What do I wear?
- What equipment do I need?
- How should I prepare for the race?
 
First of all, decide on the distances that you want to race in... Read more about How I Choose My Races in the earlier post.
 
Triathlon can be an expensive sports.... My advice would be not to invest heavily into this sports until you are ready to go further with it... For the first race, you can actually make do with a lot of "what you already have"...
 
What Do I Wear?
 
Wear something that can transit you from swim to cycle to run... My suggestion for ladies; wear your current swim wear. And if you have a cycling tights, you can wear it over your swim wear during the swim. After your swim, you can either cycling in your swim wear and tights or throw over your running tee and cycle. Make sure the running tee is dri-fit material so that it will not cling to your body.
 
 
A trisuit may not cheap... Do not jump into buying one if you are not going to wear it for a few races :)
 
As for the guys, you can just swim topless in your tights. Throw over a tee for bike and run... Simple :)
 
What Equipment Do I Need?
 
Swim:
- Goggles (Use existing goggles. Make sure it doesn't fog)
- Swimming Cap (You have to wear the one provided by the Organizer)
 
Bike
- Bike (If you are not ready to invest in a bike, you can always borrow from a friend or rent from a bike shop. Otherwise a budget friendly brand to consider would be Polygon or maybe Merida. Both give you a decent road bike without breaking your bank account too much. Visit Rodalink for Polygon and Hup Leong for Merida. Both are reliable bike shops. I have good experiences with both the shops. However, if you are ready to invest on something of a higher end, there are many options to suit every budget :))
- Helmet (This is a MUST. Again, the price ranges from below $50 to a few hundreds of dollars. You can also borrow or rent if you intend to borrow or rent a bike)
- Shoes (If you are not on cleats, then cycle in your running shoes. Otherwise use your current cycling shoes)
- Gloves (Optional. In fact it would be a waste of time to put them on during a race)
- Shades (Optional)
- Race belt (Optional. It's for displaying of your number bib during cycling and run. However, you can also pin the number bib directly unto your running tee. It's also not expensive if you decide to buy one)
 
Run
- Running Shoes (Use your current running shoes)
- Visor (Optional)
- Shades (Optional)
 
How Should I Prepare For The Race?
 
- Sign up for the clinics to prepare yourself. Especially the Open Water Swim and Transition Practice clinics.
 
Can I swim in other strokes; other than freestyle? Yes! Some breaststroke swimmers actually swim faster than the freestyle swimmers :) As there are no cut-off timings, work towards completing the course.
 
- Watch some useful YouTube videos on setting up your transition area. Search for "triathlon transition".
 
- Talk to someone that has done it before you.
 
- Go out and start moving :)
 
Have fun and Happy "tri"-ing!