Doing your first triathon

About a week okay I was a volunteer at a local Sprint Distance Triathlon. The event also included an Enticer race which was a 200m swim, 10km ride and 2km run. As you would expect this event had a lot of first timers in the field, which is exactly what this sort of race is for. Watching people do their first triathlon was a great experience, however, I also noticed a few things that people got wrong, some of which threatened to derail their race. Most of these mistakes were made by several people, which tells me they are a common problem. After the race I thought, some tips for people who are doing their first triathlon would be a good subject for a blog post, which is exactly what this is.

There are also a couple of things that this post isn't. This isn't a detailed guide on how to do a triathlon, how to train, what gear to use, what to eat etc. Those sorts of guides are easily available online. Even this blog has some information about gear in the gear guide section at the top of the page. This post will discuss gear briefly, but at a very high level. This post is aimed at people doing a fairly low key, short event as their first race. If you are planning for your first Ironman, then that is something else all together. I have to say though that in my opinion everybody's first triathlon should be a simple, short event, even if your end goal is an Ironman. Triathlon has lots of little tricks and quirks and the best place to find out about them is during a short little race that has nothing riding on it, rather than on a 14 hour epic which you have been training 9 months for.

So with that lets get on with it.

Tip number 1
Know the rules. I am not saying go out and memorise your triathlon federation's rule book, but be familiar with the basics. Here are some of the key ones:

• The top half of your body must be covered for the ride and the run. This is a mistake I saw several people make last weekend. You don't have to have a top for the swim, but you must put one on before you ride. If you don't have a top on you won't be allowed to start the ride. Race over. This is a very simple one that I saw disrupt a couple of races last weekend.
• Your helmet must be done up before you move your bike. This one doesn't need much explanation, you have to wear a helmet on the bike and putting it on before you get moving stops people doing it at the mount line which would just clog everything up. Safety is a factor too.
• After the ride your helmet must remain done up until you rack your bike. This is one I saw a lot last weekend. People jumping off the bike and unclipping their helmets. The reasons behind this rule are similar to the one above, except backwards.
• Don't get on your bike before you reach the mount line and don't ride it after the dismount line.  You can't just unrack your bike and jump on it. The mount/dismount lines mark the exit and entry of transition and you must wheel your bike to/from it. Not sure where the mount/dismount line is? Have a look before the race, it will be clearly marked.
• You must wear shoes on the run. To be honest I didn't see anyone make that mistake, but it is worth stating. 
• Last one is something that had never occurred to me but I saw it a couple of times. You can't wear a hat under your helmet on the ride. Now to be honest I am not sure if this is an actual rule or not but I saw the officials pull up several people for it. Best to leave the hats until the run.

There are lots and lots of other rules. Rules around littering, drafting, outside assistance... The list goes on. However, these rules probably won't become an issue until you start doing longer races and by that stage you will be more familiar with the sport. The take home is this, before your first race have a basic understanding of the rules.

Tip number 2
Know the course. Now I am not saying you need to go out and get to know every corner, every bump. One day, as you become increasingly obsessed with this sport you may want to do that, but not for your first race. No, what I mean is know if the bike is one lap or two. Know if the run is two laps or three. You don't want to be asking an official on the course these questions. They can easily get it wrong. Just because they are wearing a uniform doesn't mean they are familiar with this particular event. Don't put your race in their hands. Every race publishes race information, make sure you have had a read of it. 

Tip number 3
Attend and listen to the briefing. This goes hand in hand with the points above. The race director will often go through the major rules and will definitely describe the course at the briefing. If you haven't had a chance to do either of Tip 1 or 2 then you definitely want to attend the briefing. If you don't and you get something wrong on race day you only have one person to blame.

Tip number 4
Don't worry about your gear. Above I said I would talk briefly about gear and this is it. Whatever gear you have, it is fine. If you have a road bike great, a mountain bike wonderful. Don't have a schnazzy trisuit, who cares. The key is that you have bathers, goggles, a bike, a bike helmet, a T-shirt and running shoes. Anything beyond that is icing. Sure other stuff will help you get quicker, but there will be plenty of time for that later. For your first one, just go out there, have some fun and get to the other end.

Triathletes are notorious for being gear nuts. They are usually attracted by shiny things with big price tags. Don't fall into that trap for your first race. Once you are fully addicted to the sport, feel free, but for your first one keep it simple.

If you are dead set certain that you are going to be doing more races then there are a couple of things you can get which will make your race run just a bit smoother. These are a number belt and stretchy laces. I wouldn't be too bothered beyond that.

Tip number 5
Following on from the above point, don't be tempted to try new gear on race day. Just got a great price on some new goggles from a gear tent at the race, do some training in them first. Stick with your trusty ones that you know don't leak (assuming they are in good condition). By the time you get to your first race you should have used all your race gear in training at least a little. Stick with what you know works. By all means change gear and upgrade etc, but do it well before the race and make sure you have trained with it a little before race day.
 
Tip number 6
Tip 6 is have a think about your transition, perhaps even practice it a few times. This isn't so much to make it super quick, but just so you have given it a go and found out what will work and what won't. Transitions are funny things and you are unlikely to have done anything quite like it in everyday life. I mean why would you. Things that sound like good ideas when you plan your transition sometimes just don't work. I remember in an early race I did I pinned my race number to my top (I didn't have a number belt). It seemed so simple, I would just put the shirt on and get on my bike. However, the T-shirt was a tightish one and when I went to put it on the safety pins holding the number on all pinged off and flew everywhere. I then had to spend several minutes finding them so I could pin the number back on and get on with the race. It had seemed so simple in my mind.

The other reason to practice transition is so you become familiar with your gear under pressure. Watch any race and I guarantee at least one person will jump on their bike with their helmet backwards. Besides looking a bit silly, it simply isn't as safe. Whilst these mistakes are often simple, they are understandable. It is easy to make mistakes when you are trying to put on your shoes and your helmet as quickly as possible, while a bit our of breath and 100s of other people try and do the same thing around you.

Tip number 7
Going hand in hand with Tip 6 is this one, walk through transition a few times before your race. Triathlon is a sport that improves with familiarity. The race involves numerous tricky tasks done at speed. Whilst I wouldn't recommend becoming too obsessive with any of these tasks for your first race, one thing that will help is knowing your transition area. Where is your bike located? Where are you going to come in from the swim, exit on the bike, come in on the bike, exit on the run etc. Once you have racked your bike have a walk through transition a few times and become familiar with all these elements. It will make each of your transitions a little quicker, but more importantly it will make them less stressful.

Tip number 8
Remember, everyone does a first triathlon sometime. Like any new sport, triathlon can be a bit confronting when you first do one. There is lots of gear, the event can be a bit confusing, there can be a bit of jargon involved etc. But rest assured triathletes are typically nice people. They all remember what it is like to start and none of them are watching or judging you.


We all started sometime.

No T-shirt. Whoops