Time in transition is included in your overall race time.  Therefore, I try to get away with the bare minimum.  (BTW, I am still slow.)  For transitions, I lay out a towel and put all my stuff on it.  I do use a small towel to dry off my feet but then head out wet.  I have seen people with full towels, people brushing their hair, putting on lip gloss, the whole nine yards.  I go out wet because it takes less time. 

There is most definitely ettiquette ... get there early so you can find a good place to rack your bike.  Keep your stuff neat and within a reasonable range of your towel.  Neatness helps you more than it helps your fellow racers.  It is extremely competitive in my opinion.  There will inevitably be some person who wants to rack their bike in the 4" between your bike and someone else's.  The temptation to mess with their stuff is there but I rely on the karma of the universe to give them a flat or make their derailleur click the whole ride.

By and large, the tri community is very cool and very supportive.  If you have questions at your first race, ask someone.  Most of us are there to have a good time and aren't aiming for the top spot on the podium.  Looking forward to hearing about everyone's experiences!

Randomly, here's my race day prep list:

Jessica did a great job and explaining T1 and T2. Here is my extra 2 cents..   People normally don't dry off, at the very least you may want to dry your feet, or get the dirt/sand off of them before you put on your bike shoes/running shoes.  Like Jessica said, people do all sorts of stuff in T1 and T2.  The only really etiquette is to make the most of your space and don't be greedy and take to much space.  Not all transition area are set up the same....

1. Most are first come first serve.  You can set up where ever you want

2. You rack your bike on a certain rack.  For example people who have number in the range of 1-20 use this rack. 21-40 use this rack and so on. 

3. you rack your bike exactly where they tell you, the rack will have a sticker with your number on it.

They other thing people should do to create space, is to alternate the way the bike is facing on the rack, this will create more space for you and the other people to set our stuff.  This usually happens is the race director tells you where exactly to rack.

I have never used body oil... i am have to give it a try... I use cooking spray, works well for me... Or you can get body glide.  What ever you use you would put in on your calf ankle area, the wetsuit is hard to pull off in this area.  you can also put in on your wrist area so the wetsuit will come off easy.  If you don't have body glide i would get it.  I normally put in on the back of my neck cause sometimes the wetsuit will rub and create a rash.

The funny thing with wetsuits is they help a ton but do take some getting used to.  Try it out before a race .... I find them a little creepy myself but the helpfulness (and warmth) outweigh my other issues.  It's good to know what you're getting into. 

And, if you haven't shopped for one before, be prepared to sweat like a goat.  There's a lot of effort into getting these things on and off.

Erin very normal to feel guilty about missing a workout, but you can't beat yourself up over it.  This won't be the last workout you miss, you have a family, job, you may get sick, in other words you have a life outside of triathlon.  Missing one workout will not hurt you, maybe missing 4-5 in a row, you may feel it when you get back into it, but don't sweat missing one workout.

You could but rest day on the blog portion of the log, but i don't think you'll see it in the calendar view, like if you where sick or injured...

Not sure what happened to my response from last night.  Oh well. 

I like Google Pedometer for my route planning.  Also used mapmyrun.com some times because it uses Google ... and calculated my pace and so forth.  As I prefert to run outside than on a treadmill.   

I'm a Garmin fan ... been using the 305 for a little over a year.  Best investment in my training since I started.  I should try these mapping sites though ... my technology skills need to be expanded!