Changing clothes?

It depends on the race. In an Ironman (TM) branded race they do not allow anything in transition except your bicycle. The odd race will allow you to have your shoes clipped to the pedals but that is it. Everything you need for T1 and T2 is contained in marked bags.

You grab your T1 bag as you come out of the water and run into a change tent. Per ITU rules public nudity is forbidden, hence the change tent. You take out all your gear for the bike from the bag and then put all of your swim gear back into the bag.

In T2 it is the same. You drop your bike off (you rack it yourself or hand it off to a volunteer), grab your T2 bag then head to the change tent to remove your cycling gear and put on your running gear.

In longer events it is whatever you feel comfortable in. I have done races wearing my one piece tri suit and just used T1 and T2 to change the bare minimum (shoes and helmet, then running shoes and race belt). Other races with rain, or very hot weather I have done complete outfit changes dictated by whatever conditions the race throws at you. Everyone says triathlon is about 3 sports, but it is in fact 4. Getting better at transition is "free" speed. If you take 10 minutes at each transition that is 20 minutes longer in your race. Knock that down to 2-3 minutes and you save 15 minutes over the length of your race. Think about how hard it is to knock 15 minutes off your bike time, or your run time.

At the end of your race you retrieve your bike and your T1, T2 and morning clothes bag.

Independent races are different. I have never done a non branded 140.6 (I have done 8 Ironman races), but I have done plenty of non branded 70.3s. In those races that I have done it is like a typical short distance triathlon where all your gear for T1 and T2 is left in the transition area with your bike.

Hope this helps a bit.

Edited by DeVinci13 2017-06-29 12:07 PM

I don't think you'll see changing tents at halfs.
I've not seen one.
I've seen some folks head into a porta potty and come out looking a little different.
I've seen some folks make some minor to significant changes right there in transition.
The bulk of folks just wear whatever got wet.

140.6, I've no experience other than I know there are "changing tents"
From some reading, I have seen that some (many? most?) of the branded full races, you'd have to stop somewhere to at the very least pick up your helmet which is in a bag you dropped off prior to the race as virtually nothing besides your bike is allowed in. Whether that's in the changing tent or not, I don't know.

Now this is VERY good information. I have read several online guides and several things talked about having a change of clothes, but I guess I figured it was more for tears, and that kind of stuff. And if you don't know the correct word searches, even a Google search is not good if you don't know to ask if you should change clothes.

I know that my transition time is directly related to total time on the course, but knowing how to plan for reapplying creams, sunscreen, or even a new pair of socks before the run sounds like a good way to refresh your mind anyway. The day is intense and the lack of knowledge makes it even worse, but having a few glimmers of a mental break or refresh may be just what I need to get over the hump and do this!


Thanks again