I haven't been a triathlete for very long, but while doing my first triathlon in PD last year, I did learn quite a few things that I thought I should share.
Useful to own a race number belt
Potentially a life saver
It is also worth investing in some laces that are made of bungee cord-like material so you can yank on your shoes before run and simple pull and tighten your laces. Hassle free and there will be no worries of laces coming undone during the run. There are many brands out there now but I use Speed Laces and Lie Wei uses Lock Laces.
Update 10 Jul 2013: RunnersUnite now selling our very own Lock Laces at RM26 only. Contact us to get one today!
When exiting the swim, I start taking off my swim goggles and swim cap. Believe me, I've seen quite a number of folks exit on the bike with swim caps still on their heads. In our hot weather, it's not a good idea to have something made of silicon or rubber on the top of your head while you bike.
Tape your gels to the top tube
Although I own a tri top that has rear pockets with plenty of room for my gels and other nutrition, I normally tape my gels to my bike's top tube. This makes for much easier access than to reach back to my rear pocket for them. I also make sure I tape them in such a way that when I wish to have one all I need to do is rip it off and stick it into my mouth. Beware, if your gel is on the slightly watery end, it may end up squirting all over your top tube. I use Gu, so they stay pretty much in the packet until it's in my mouth. I save the rear pocket of my tri top for gels during my run.
Hydrate early in the bike
I try to eat and drink as much as I can in the first half of the bike. That's because I don't want to start my run with water swishing all around in my stomach. If I addressed my hydration and nutrition in the first half of the bike, then by the time I complete the bike, most of my hydration and nutrition would have been absorbed by body and I can start the run full of energy. This is not to say that I try to cram everything into the first half of the bike, but I just drink and eat more. Towards the end, I still hydrate by sipping on my drinks.
Water is your friend
I know a lot of runners turn triathlete have plenty of reservation about dousing themselves with water in fear of getting their running shoes wet but if you are starting your run at 9.30am, it might be really, really helpful to be dousing yourself with plenty of water to bring your core temperature down. When your body heats up, your legs slow down.
Put sunglasses on before helmet
I'm not a particularly fast triathlete so I start my run pretty late in the race. Thus I run with my sunglasses. I normally put on my sunglasses before putting on my bike helmet. There is a reason for this. During T2 (bike to run transition), I just want to get my helmet off, my running shoes on and off I go! If you put you sunglasses over your helmet, that would mean you would need take the sunglasses off, then the helmet and put the sunglasses back on again.
Put run stuff into a plastic bag
After the bike, you want to make it out of the T2 transition as soon as possible as every minute in a sprint or OD counts. It helps to put all your run stuff like cap, water and gels in a plastic bag so you grab them as you run out and slowly put them on or consume them as you run.
i learned something new today although i've been in the arena quite some times... we learn & learn new things as we go through every race.
ReplyDeletethanks for the tips!
Hi fyrul,
DeleteThanks a lot for the feedback! It's definitely nice to share what we all learn with others. What are the new things you learnt from this post? Do you have any useful tips to share yourself? We are most happy to add them to the list!
Regards,
Chin Chin