he’s got a bloody big tat now

Oh no… 🙄

As an MTBer xterra might appeal

It does to me, that sounds cool.

T1 is fine, T2 was torture, like trying to run on someone else’s legs, someone who had never ran before 😯

NBIF, don’t worry in a few weeks DD will stop talking about bricking it in the swim and begin taking about bricking it in training for T2!!!!

Not being a triathlete but I would have thought in the interests of keeping costs down could you not just wear a pair of jammers under the wetsuit! Then just put a cycling top on for the other 2 sections, surely 20km on a bike wouldn’t be that bad with no padding, or would it?

You make a very good point giant_scum. Depending on budget over the next few weeks, I may just go for budgie smugglers underneath the wetsuit. I always wear padded shorts for a bike ride though so I do suffer if I ride without – not sure how badly this would impact my run (which is my best discipline of the three…and when I say “best”, I mean my best, not “best” by any other reasonable standard).

Here is how to sight:

http://www.feelforthewater.com/2011/06/how-to-sight-correctly-in-open-water.html

Essentially, lift head to crocodile eyes, drop head and turn to breathe at the side as normal. So you do it just before a breath. Head has to go higher than crocodile eyes if there is chop or people in the way.

There is a knack to it. When you get good at it, you can sight pretty much without slowing down in flat water.

It is easier to sight on high up things directly above wherever you’re headed to get a general direction, but as you’re getting closer to whatever you’re actually headed for, you do really need to sight on that.

Don’t follow people in front without sighting too, as they may be zigzagging idiots.

If you’re rubbish and not in a hurry, you can just breaststroke a stroke or two to sight, although breaststroke is harder in a suit.

Oh, and one random useless sighting tip from last night’s swim, if you’re swimming at night, and you put a light to mark where you left your clothes so you can see where to stop, don’t put it in flashing mode, as it will only be visible if you sight just as the flash goes, I was seeing my light only on about every 5th sight!

If you need padding you could always just get a cheap-ish pair of tri shorts and wear a cycling jersey over the top.

I’d say the main thing is not to do anything new – if you currently bike or run wearing socks, then take a little extra time in transition and put some socks on. Make sure you go for a bike and run in the kit you’re planning to race in (e.g. padded-ish shorts, budgie smugglers, whatever) to make sure there’s no unforeseen chafing… 😯

This is coming from someone who adjusted their saddle nose up about 5mm before my ride on Monday… and now has the worst saddle sores I’ve ever experienced. This morning’s run was not as pleasant as normal 🙁

i did my first sprint tri last year and loved it had to miss this years but will be back at it again next year
as for the suit i got mine new off ebay for £25 and did the job as it was a pool swim il check the make when i get home its not your usual brand just some chinese rip off but it worked lol
best advice i can offer is practice transitions and changing from ride to run as mentioned can feel wierd try skipping sideways to get everything moving in other directions and wake up your legs
wear socks on ride and run they help allot after being in the wet,stand on a towel while getting ready to rid most of the water

belts- i went for orca as it had a pouch for inhailers if needed and lots of gell loops was only aboyt £7
i ended up beating my aim of better than half the pack dont look to win as your first aim and get disheartend

most of all have fun 8)

Second Joe’s comments about crocodile eyes. This and timing your sighting (not the same time!) is key. You only have to get your eyes to the surface. Avoid lifting your whole head.

My worst tri memory was drafting following a bloke in budgies for a couple of miles in the bike leg of a half IM. From my aero position, my line of sight was………horrible to say the least!!!!

Can’t have been comfortable for him either?

dont look to win

Ok, I’ll just go for top three then. 😆

Holy smoke he got a tat!! HE might not think he’s done something wrong fact is he got DQ’d so I certainly wouldn’t head out and get a tatt done .. gosh that makes me cringe!

well i’m entered for Ironman Wales 2014 … eek scared face 😉

In my first tri I had to be pulled out of the swim, it was the first time I had swam in my wetsuit and I hadn’t worked any slack up to the shoulders, so I was fighting the wetsuit as I moved my arms forward, after 800m I was burnt out and couldn’t continue.

I also find the swim to bike transition much harder than the bike to run, which is where most advice seems to focus. The swim to bike really sends my heart rate rocketing and takes a long time to stabilise. So that’s something I am working on at the moment.

I’m a bit worried about the possibility of being pulled from the swim too MSP. 😐

Have you bought a bike that cost at least 5 billion pounds and can’t go round corners yet?

It’s not 5 billion pounds, just £8k 😀 but I saw this at the Saddleback dealer show last week:
FELT IA DA1
They’ve used the technology from racing yacht sail designs to create a positive forward force from airflow over the frame. Claimed drag equivalent of 300g overall!
They were quoting a speed on the flat of 57mph for their sponsored athletes in Hawaii last week.
Not sure about cornering at that speed on any bicycle:)
They’ve even created an area inside the frame for food and bits so that the airflow isn’t interrupted!
The cycling part of any triathlon, or ironman for that matter, would be over a hell of a lot quicker at 57mph:)

You just have to look at the first one as a learning experience, I did that one that I got pulled out of, then I did another olympic distance one where I had learned how to use a wetsuit 😳 then my next one was the Weisbaden half ironman which I managed to finish despite weighing 120kg*.

So just go out there and enjoy yourself.

*As hard as the day was the worst thing was seeing how fat I am in a trisuit in the official photographs(I didn’t buy them).

Oh and as far as the bike goes I still can’t get comfortable on tri bars, and still just use standard drop bars.

im looking at getting some tri bars myself but have to re route my cables to remove my sissy levers (have to do anyway and never really use them)
crc do basic bolt on token ones for about £30 so gonna give them a punt

just had a second baby deliverd so im not doing overly well with getting anything fitness orientated apart from some resistance training on the wii 😆

I’m not a fan on tri bars not that I’ve really tried them! probem is until I get my running quicker they are pointless. At the mo over an Olympic tri I can put 8-10 minutes into other girls and come out fastest in age group..then lose 2-3 mins a mile over 10k .. so pointless having tri bars until I get better 😉

just spent the entire land based part of the race passing people which always feels good

I work with a lad who started triathlons after being a national level swimmer. All he ever saw was people overtaking him, until he improved the other stuff

Good luck Deaddles !

no.1 daughter is planning on upping her swimming for a serious attempt at getting in the development squad. the recommendation is 9hrs a week! 3 is where she ll start..