Hello all! Our last thread kind of petered out so I thought maybe by starting a new one we would attract some more folks and some more chat.

This thread is for anyone considering doing a triathlon, curious about triathlon, or planning to do triathlon, whether it's a sprint distance or an iron man. Please join us!

So while I'm at it, here's an update on my current status. I haven't officially signed up for anything yet but I'm planning on a July 17 sprint with an open-water swim (500m, 10mi, 5k), and an August 1 sprint (500m, 12.5mi, 5k).

I am also now the proud owner of triathlon shorts and a triathlon tankini top which I got on clearance sale. Whoo! Plus a CamelBak, also clearance. The only problem is that the tankini has a built-in bra, and my chest is too big to fit into any sort of built-in bra. I'm trying to decide if I should just wear my usual sports bra under it and let the built-in shelf sit halfway across my chest, or if I should just cut out the shelf bra and risk having the little fringe that I can't cut with scissors itch at me.

I'm still here. I have the Seattle rock and roll marathon (i'm running the half and dh is running the full) on June 26. dh and I are doing a loooooooong ride in July. so I'm looking for a oly in August. I haven't found one that fits the schedule yet, but I will. My training is kind of catch as catch can on everything , but my run plan right now. Swimming is suffering the most.I need to rectify that or switch to du's.........

How's everyone else?

as for new gear. I got clip-less peddles and bike shoes for my b day . I made it all of .86 miles before I fell over

Hi ladies... With the gaining of popularity of Tri lately I'm really surprised there aren't more of us! Anyway new thread is a good idea.

SGeranium - Clipless falling is a right of passage. We all do it! What type of clips do you have? I'm using the Look Keo ones. I've never used any others though so I don't really have anything to compare them to.

Paperclippy - Hm Maybe try it the first way before you cut it out and risk tearing it? I've worn sports bras under tri-stuff that had built ins before, but with my major weight loss I've also lost so much "up there" that I don't have to worry about these things as much. (Seriously it's sad... like 44DD to 34C) having it possibly cut across half-way might be uncomfortable though but with the extra compression of a 2nd one underneeth it might be enough so it won't cut across?

Things here are going well. 2 months until my first big HIM race. After this week I have a slow-week and then we start the crazy building of hours. I still haven't gotten to ride hills yet so I'm a bit nervous. I have to get some different gears on the back of my bike so I can spin up the hills better. Anyway so far my body has been handling the hours OK. I got a new wetsuit...

I bought one a size smaller then I should have (assuming I'd still lose weight) and I'm debating about exchanging it for the proper size.

Thanks for re-starting this thread. I'm one of the guilty ones who's been MIA.

I have my first tri, a sprint, two weeks from tomorrow, same distances as yours and also OWS. I'm using that as preparation for an Olympic-distance tri on June 26th (1500m, 30 mile, 10k). I'm terrified that I won't be able to run that long, but I'm not too worried about the swim and bike. I mean, I'll definitely be close to last, but my goals are 1) to finish, and 2) not to be so slow that they're picking up the cones behind me.

There are a few more races I'm signed up for over the summer, but not all of them are tris, and they're not nearly as important to me as this one is.

And throughout this tri training, I've realized I absolutely LOVE biking, so I invested in a good road bike about a month ago. And I've been out on it every day that the weather has allowed. I'm slightly addicted. If only that was the case with running, my life would be so much more pleasant.

paperclippy - As for the sports question, I will probably be having the same issue. My solution will probably be to use my own sports bra since there's no way tri clothes have enough support for my chest. I'm having a hard enough time finding anything that'll fit in the first place (triathletes are so SKINNY), so I've given up on looking for support in the boobs.

And to avoid itching/chafing from cutting out the shelf bra, you can always use either Vasoline or BodyGlide. They seem to be pretty good at preventing any sort of skin irritation.

That's about it for me. Good luck to everyone training out there!

Whoa, I totally didn't see everyone else's responses before I posted that!

SGeranium - I too just recently got clipless pedals and they are the devil! Well, they're amazing, but quite humbling

Idealmuse - You're crazy, in a good way of course. Glad to hear your training's going well, and I wish you the best of luck with the upcoming crazy workouts and hills. And I'm also very surprised that we seem to be the only ones. Maybe with the new thread we can get a few more people on board?

Hello folks! I've been pointed to this thread for answers. Hope you don't mind! I'm very curious about triathlons.

I'm discovering that a lot of people sign up first and then build toward it. I don't know how people are that brave!! LOL! I'm training first, THEN I'll sign up.

The other day I was doing laps in the pool and three of us converged in the same place and created quite a wave. The guy next to me and I both got it in the face and came up sputtering. While laughing together, I learned he was learning how to swim because he signed up for a triathlon!! He'd been watching me swim (a bad idea) to learn how to breath. I figured if he could just sign up and then learn how to swim, well then there is hope for me yet!

There has been an athlete living inside me a long time, but I have only just met her. I have a lot of questions about triathlons and hopefully being more informed will help with my nerves. It's sounds from the discussion above that you do go straight from the pool to the next event. I can't imagine running wet!! Yuck! And I'd be another for whom a shelf bra would NOT cut it. When in the schedule do they usually place the swimming and why couldn't they make it last?! Swimming last sounds divine!

Also if the swim is in a pool, is it necessary to know how to flip at the end of the lane? I do not.

Hi all,

I've done a few sprints over the last 3 or so years, but my goal is to get to an oly at some point. I am still pretty back-of-the-pack and hope more weight loss will help. Also hoping to get to a half-marathon in the next year...I am up to 15k running.

There must be something in the air...I just went clipless too. I've keeled over once. Good luck to everyone!

Eliana - Yeah you don't have to be a stellar swimmer. I hadn't swam since I was a kid when I decided to do Tris. I signed up for lessons but it was only 5 classes and I just swam on my own after a few times per week. And That which was enough to get me through my first few Tris. I guess I was swimming for about 4-5 months by then. There are all kinds of swimmers out there. I even saw people holding onto the ropes on the side of the breakwall. I say if you're interested go for it. In the shorter ones you can always walk parts of the run if need be too.

Tea - Olys are fun I enjoy them more then sprints. Something about a sprint is just over too quickly for me... but I'm weird like that. I'm pretty BOP too... maybe MOP in the bike in shorter races.

Augeremt - Getting excited about your Tri?


Things are OK here. In my training we tend to go in 4 week cycles. This is the end of a "build" and next week is a rest week, which is just really a week with lighter workouts. For the first time I think I'm looking forward to the rest. My legs are a bit shot especially after biking 60 on Sunday and the bike workout we had last night in my training group. We're getting to the point though where the workouts are going to start being a real stretch for my ability... so we'll see how the body holds up.

Also my weight is a bit up right now... I haven't been writting down what I eat this month that always gets me into trouble despite all the exercising I've been doing! Gr.

I'm surprised. I always thought anyone who did a marathon, biathlon, triathlon, etc were stellar athletes in every sense of the word. I thought everyone who entered did so to win. I think "olympics". I guess it's not that way.

I just love to swim. I have never been formally taught, but have been holding my head above water since I was four. I am very slow for that reason. I don't know proper technique. But I can swim forever and I breath very naturally as long as it's to the left. I'm just slow and I don't know how to flip.

Running and biking I feel like I can at least tackle. Form isn't AS important as it is in swimming. Important, yes, but it doesn't slow you down nearly as much as improper form slows you down in the pool.

Does anyone know how spin cycle class translates to the bike? I have no idea how many miles I could conceivably bike but I feel like I do quite well in Spin Cycle class.

Definitely not. I've done every Tri I've done so far in the obese category. I'm doing a half ironman (70.3miles) in 2 months and depending on the week right now I keep flipping between obese and overweight BMI.

Don't get me wrong the more ft and athletic you are the easier time of training you'll likely have, but it's not a requirement.

I even saw some girls in the 250-300 range at Danskin... they likely walked most of the run... but STILL how cool is that?

Lots of people do Tris just to enjoy doing them. Most people know that in a field of 2500 people or whatever they aren't likely to win right? Everyone has a different reason why they do it though.

Spinning is pretty good as far as biking. You'll want to gain some more outdoor experience, but spin class is usually good for building up leg muscles for the bike. I do lots of workouts on the bike trainer.

Geranium, I don't know if you're looking for a local olympic or you are planning to travel, but there is an oly here in Indianapolis on August 1 (I'm doing the sprint that's at the same time). Good luck on the marathon!

Muse, I'm surprised there aren't more people here too! Maybe people just don't look at the Exercise forum that much. I will go promote our thread on the maintainers forum, I know there are a couple triathletes or aspiring triathletes there. I tried on the tri top over my sports bra yesterday and it felt okay, although I didn't do anything active in it. I'll try the combination next time I go for a run or a ride and it's warm enough to not need long sleeves. Good luck with your HIM!!!

Au, good luck!!! Definitely come back and give us a race report after your sprint. How much did you spend on your bike? I'm vaguely considering getting a road bike to replace my hybrid but I am cheap.

Eliana, ! The one sprint I did that had a swim in the pool did not require flip turns (although you were allowed to if you wanted to). The standard triathlon format is that you put your bike, shoes, etc. in a "transition area" before the race starts. Then you start the race with the swim, get out of the pool/lake/whatever and run to the transition area. In the transition area you do whatever clothing change you need, put on your helmet, and get your bike. You run with your bike to the end of the transition area, then get on the bike and ride off on the bike course. After the bike, you end up back at the transition area, where you put your bike in a rack and take off running. So they are all one right after the other.

In any case there are people of all abilities in triathlons. You can look around and you might find one in your area that is specifically labeled as being good for beginners. The first one I did was a beginner's triathlon and had people doing breaststroke, backstroke, and even dog paddling their way through the swim! I would suggest trying to learn to breathe on both sides. I breathed only to the left last year until I took an adult swim class this winter, and since I learned to breathe on both sides I've been much faster. It is really hard at first but the more you do it the easier it gets, and now I feel weird if I only breathe on one side.

Tea! I'm a back of the packer too -- well, back of the back of the pack. I'm hoping to just be back of the pack this year instead of, you know, dead last.

So I was planning to do two tris this season, one on July 17 and one on August 1. But now I'm wondering if they will be too close together, and if I should do one in June and the one in August. The August one is for sure since it's the same one I did last year and I want to improve my time. If I sign up for the June one it is coming really soon, but I think I would be okay. On the other hand, I have more time to prepare for the July one, and two weeks between races should be little enough that I stay in shape while still being long enough to recover a little. What do you guys think?

Also, how do I know if I need a wetsuit? The June/July tri has an open water swim in a reservoir. I've swam in that reservoir with just a swimsuit in summer before with no problem, but I didn't go very far from shore.

Paperclippy: I think there's a bit of an intimidation factor because people think they have to be able to do all three events really well. That's sort of the fun of it...almost nobody does all three really well...you always have to be working on something. And re the wetsuit...I haven't done a tri that requires one yet, so I don't know. I've seen wetsuit-required races (it's colder here in Canuck land), but maybe there are some where it's optional?

Eliana: Nope, not even close to stellar here. I've been last in a couple of tris too. The thing that's good about them here is that if it's a pool swim, the start times are staggered so that if you are slow, you start first. Then even if you're last, you don't come in last. For a mass start swim, it's different...I haven't tried one of those yet. One book that really helped me was The Slow Fat Triathlete. Very funny and encouraging writer. She did her first tri at over 200 lbs. So did I...I was last by a very long shot...but now I can do that same tri and be somewhere in the front of the back of the pack, lol. You could do a try-a-tri, which lots of people start out with (including me)...half the distance of a sprint.

I'm playing with the idea of doing a super sprint (here that seems to be halfway between a sprint and an oly) at the end of May (1000m/26k/8k) which I have done before a couple of years ago...That is a very long swim for me...I was fourth from last then, but I could probably do a bit better now.

Ideal - If by excited, you mean utterly terrified, then yes. I've been having a few dreams about it lately, but I think it's just the unknown that's bugging me. It's been a while since I've been so much out of my element. I should be ok. I think.

clippy - "Advertising" in the general/maintainers forum is a great idea! Hopefully we can get more people chatting with us, and maybe convince some of them to take up tris. It's addicting.

As for the race report, I will definitely write one up. If I survive the race...haha!

And the bike, I spent about two months looking at various models, and also started out thinking cheap. First, I wasn't going to spend more than $600, then $800, then $1000, and the one I finally bought was $1250. Yeah, I know, so much money...

BUT, it's a pretty sweet just above entry-level bike that's been known to last people many many years. I like the fit of it (like a glove, I swear), and the components on it are really good and the shifting is super fast and smooth. The bike itself is ridiculously fast. I was passing people who looked much fitter and better outfitted than me within a week of buying the bike. And I didn't even have clipless pedals yet! Now I'm super speedy.

What I'm trying to get at (besides justifying to myself why I spent so much money on my first bike) is that investing in a well-fitting frame and good components is the way to go, since they'll last you a long time and upgrading them separately will cost more in the long-run.

I somewhat had to learn the lingo when bike shopping so I can be more specific about certain models, components, pros and cons, etc, if you'd like. Let me know.

If you can tolerate cold water then you don't need a wetsuit. The race director for my first race said the water temp is going to be about 62-63 F and last year a couple crazy folk swam without one. But that's a bit chilly for me. Wetsuits are allowed up to 78 F (or something like that) so it's your call if you think you'll need one. I figure if I'm comfortable in a suit, then I may as well reap the advantages of it.

Also, about your tris, the ones spaced two weeks apart should be alright in terms of your fitness. Like, even taking a break after the first one to rest, you should be fit for the second one. Depending how much you've been working out, you should be ok for the June one, too. Can you play it by ear and register a week out or something? Or does it sell out? You can always make the call last minute to see how prepared you're feeling.

Eliana - By no means do you have to be a stellar athlete...although the tri-, running-, and cycling-specific clothes are made for those kinds of people. I have yet to find a tri or cycling top that fits comfortably and doesn't make me look like a stuffed sausage.

Through posting on tri forums, I've found many people who got into tris obese, overweight, or completely out of shape, and got hooked, and now lead healthier (and skinnier) lives. I mean, I'm 210 lbs right now and 5'4", so I'm well in the obese category (BMI 35.5) and I have a tri in a little over a week.

I will most definitely be a back of the back of the packer, and I'm hoping my wave starts early enough so that they're not picking up the cones behind me, but finishing is my only goal right now. I know I'll be slow, and probably one of the biggest girls out there (I live in Colorado...everyone here is super-skinny...not fair!), but whatever. At least I'm out there racing, which can't be said for a lot of people.

Tea - I signed up for the Oly first and then for the sprint as part of a warm-up/build-up for the Oly. I think it'll be a good distance for me because, like Ideal said, it doesn't feel like it's over in a flash. But at the same time, it's not super long like a half-Ironman (although I want to try one of those next season...we'll see how that goes). So yeah, I hope my logic is correct!