First Mini Triathlon

First of all, welcome! Congrats on signing up for your first tri. As for your questions:

1. No, you don't have to wear a wetsuit--you don't ever HAVE to wear one. They're legal if the water temps <78 degrees, and they help most people to faster, so, if you have one, you should wear it, unless you're a very strong swimmer. If you don't have one or don't choose to wear it, that's fine. Lots of people don't wear wetsuits in shorter races.

2. No--no ipod, headphones, Oakley Thumps, or anything like that. Because it's a) dangerous and b) illegal and you can be DQ'd.


Also (and this is just semantics), but some people take exception to short races being called "Mini" tri's. A Tri is a tri. There are all different distances, but any race where you run, bike and swim is a triathlon, and some would say that to call it a "mini" tri kind of diminishes the acheivement of completing it

Good luck!

i agree with you 100% jmk.... i just recently did my first tri, it was 400m swim , 15k bike, and 5k run.. even thought it might not have seemd like much.. i almost passed out at the end.. it was tough.. and thats what i liked about it

Welcome to the world of Triathlons! My first tri was Olympic distance. For me that was challenging without being overwhelming. My second tri was an indoor tri at the YMCA where it was 15 minutes in each sport the one that went the farthest in the alotted time was the winner. Crazy stuff I won my age group (40-49). My third a tri was Kansas Ironman 70.3 with a finish of 5hrs 58 mins. Whatever you want to challenge yourself is out there. Really a tri is a tri. Enjoy! All three sports strung together for one race will keep you busy and your training fresh. Again welcome.