So you wanna be a triathlete?

Recently I was looking through some old emails and I found this one I sent to an aspiring triathlete about a year ago, so I thought I'd share it. If anyone who reads my blog was thinking about taking up tris, check this out for the ABSOLUTE BASICS of triathlon. Experienced triathletes, I'd be interested to know if you think I missed anything!

So here's the first thing: gear. You can go for broke on this stuff, but stick to the basics until you have decided whether you even like triathlon. I tell you this now because I was always trying to keep the cost down but you can really spend a lot- store clerks seem to see dollar signs when you tell them you are a triathlete. Honestly, you can even get by for your first race without buying any of this stuff and riding a mountain bike that you borrow from a friend, but if you are serious about getting into the triathlete world, these are the absolute basics that you need.

GEAR

For training: 

Swim:

-Goggles and a cap (you need to practice with a cap, because you have to wear one in every race)- I have my favorite kinds, but so does everyone, so just buy some that work for you

-Swimsuit obviously

-Optional: pull buoy, fins, paddles, kickboard (sometimes pools will have these, and I honestly don't think you need to buy them yet, but they are good tools)

Ride:  (here's where you can spend a pretty penny)

-The Bike itself: GO TO A BIKE STORE AND GET FITTED. Seriously. You will be really glad you did. You can even get a used frame if you want, but make sure you are getting the right size and general fit.  The biggest purchase you will make in your tri career will be the bike. Don't buy a tri bike yet (those are the ones with the gears in the aerobars). That's a huge investment, so just go for a road bike for now. I had the hardest time with this part because a lot of bike stores are hard to navigate if you don't know a lot about bikes.  If you have more questions about buying a bike, let me know and I can walk you through my limited knowledge. Basically it depends on your price range. I spent $1300 on just the bike itself and that is on the total low end (aluminum frame, components, etc)- some people buy $5000 bikes and beyond. Yeah.

-Pedals (these come separately, and you have them put on the bike)

-Helmet

-Gloves (not 100% necessary but nice for long rides) 

-Sunglasses (very necessary- keeps bugs etc from hitting your eyes)

-Bike shoes and cleats (you have to add cleats that match your pedals so you can clip in)

-Patch kit

-Extra tubes and C02 cartridges (for when you get a flat)

-Bike pump

-Bike shorts  (yes these are necessary. The saddle is very unforgiving over long distances.)

-Lube/rag/chain degreaser

-Optional: Buy a new saddle (that's the cyclist term for bike seat) that fits you better (I did, and it was a great investment). Also, at most places you can pay extra to get a real "bike fit," or it might even be included with your purchase of a bike. It makes a huge difference if they adjust it correctly to you; I was getting such a huge neck/shoulder problem from an improper fit last year that my arm went numb on 40+ mile rides. Yeah, not good. 
-Also Optional: Bike computer. These can be anywhere from 20 bucks to hundreds of dollars, but they are very useful. I used one last year that just told me my instantaneous speed, average speed, cadence and miles covered, and that was all I needed. Some people get the fancy schmancy ones with power output, but that's more bang than I needed for my buck. It's usually installed on your handlebars so that you can see it while you are riding.

Run:

-You probably have this covered since you're doing a marathon, but basics: 

-Running shoes (duh)

-Watch

ALSO OPTIONAL: GPS watch for running made a huge difference in my marathon and tri training. These are pretty expensive, but they give you instantaneous pace and overall pace, as well as time per mile etc. One of my favorite things ever. I have a Garmin 310- I can talk more about those if you want. The Garmin 910 is the new Big Deal in the triathlete world because it's waterproof so you can wear it all three legs (do I have stars in my eyes? Maybe.) {**UPDATE: I ended up getting a Fenix 2, another post to come on that}

The Race: 

(Again, you can spend a pretty penny on a lot of extra stuff, but I wouldn't do that until you know you want to keep going)

-Two towels for your transition area: one to put down, one to use to dry off after the swim

-Nutrition (extremely important for long distance races- olympic and above): such as gatorade, chomps/gels, even clif bars. Different people like different things, so it's best to try out different kinds of nutrition while you are training to see how your body handles them.

-Wetsuit- DON'T buy one yet. Just rent one for your first race. You can often buy one at a discount later. Also a lot of races in the summer are so warm that you don't need one.

-Sunblock 

-Proglide or vaseline to prevent chafing

-Tri suit or separates- basically, you wear this under your wetsuit and for the rest of the race (yes, it is wet at first when you get out of the water and onto the bike, but it dries quickly). Usually tri shorts are a sort of hybrid of running shorts and biking shorts- i.e., they have some padding but not so much that you feel like you are running with a huge pad in there after you bike. The top is like a sleeveless bike top.

-Optional: transition bag (just a special bag that is made to hold your helmet and wetsuit in a special spot, etc. Not completely necessary the first time, but cool to have. I bought a practically-brand-new one off a fellow triathlete for 20 bucks).

Related note: Setting up your transition area is a practiced art that is particular to each person, but it's really fun when you get the hang of it. I can tell you more about that if you want. But you probably don't care that much about your transition time for your first race so I wouldn't sweat it too much.

TRAINING

Whew. That was a lot of information already. Sorry about that, I hope it isn't overwhelming you. Feel free to stop reading at any point (ha). Now on to training. 

There are many, many training schedules out there. For my first tri, I just found an Olympic distance training program for free online, and I was totally fine (I think I even won my division...), and after that I joined a training program to get to my first Half Ironman distance. OH, that's another thing- join a triathlon club if you can!! I had so much fun with my tri club in DC, and you learn so much from the other triathletes as well as how/when/what to train. Usually big clubs are only about fifty bucks for a year membership, and it's definitely worth it.

Anyway, here is a very very basic training program that is similar to the one I used when I first started: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=29

Notice that you can click on "Swim Focused" or "Run focused" or 2x (or 3x) balanced. Basically, that means that if you feel you are worst at the swim, or bike, or run, you can do a program that focuses on that discipline. 2x or 3x balanced means that you do each sport the same number of times per week, either 2 or 3 workouts.  These are pretty basic because they just tell you the number of minutes you should spend in each discipline. You heard me right- they train by number of minutes, not by distance. That was the weirdest part for me at first, coming from being a runner. So the point is to build your endurance to a certain amount of time before working on speed.

There is a lot more you can do within workouts once you feel pretty solid: fartlek runs, track workouts, intervals on the bike, swimming training sets. I can tell you about those as well if you would like, but I don't want to get into too much detail here in case you really don't care about that yet. But if you do join a tri club, you can often do workouts with them and they have specific days each week where they work out at the pool together, do a long ride, or meet at the track. That's how you get your speed. 

Also I would supplement these workouts with strength training or yoga at least once or twice a week to keep up muscle mass.

Some more basics for training in each discipline:

Swimming: If you can, try to join a group or masters' team to swim with- or swim with a tri club. Especially if you are a newbie, your form could probably use a trained eye. Technique is the most important thing in swimming, and without it your times suffer a lot (it's not just about getting in and putting in a lot of time, like running). I was a swim coach for our tri club in DC because I was a competitive swimmer, and many triathletes are not very good at swimming just because they started out as runners or cyclists. Additionally, it's way better to swim with other people. I joined a masters swim team when I got back to Denver, and I love it- other people push you a lot more. If you feel like you are too new to swimming to join a team yet, you can try just practicing by yourself for a while, but go to the pool with a workout (don't just go swim straight for 45 mins). You won't mprove that way. I can send you some workouts if you would like.

Riding: For the shorter workouts during the week, it's usually better to try and mix it up so that you aren't always in Zone 2 or below (that means that you are just riding aerobically). Do some hills, or go to a flat area that you can do some sprints (like 8 mins fast, 4 mins recovery, etc). Or you can do a spin class, that's good too. For long rides on the weekend, it's just long and strong.

Running: Same idea here: you can just do the short workouts as a straight run, or you can do a track workout or intervals on the treadmill (like half mile steady pace, then 1 min fast, repeat). Long runs on the weekend are at an "easier" pace, just comfortable enough that you can carry on a conversation without breathing heavily (like the long runs for marathon training).

....Ok, that's the basics that I can think of. I'm sorry that I was so verbose, and if you already knew some of this stuff I apologize. There is obviously tons more I could tell you (Zone training, etc.) but it's not really relevant at this point. This is the basic stuff I wish someone would have outlined for me when I first started, so I am more than willing to pass on my "wisdom."  If you have any questions whatsoever about what I wrote, or anything else (including Marathon training, oy!) let me know. Obviously, I am extremely enthusiastic about tris so I am truly happy to help.

Yay newbie triathlete!

Amanda