Add your tips for first time triathletes (Page 3)

If you are going to dump water over your melon to keep cool, don't get over zealous and fill your running shoes too...I had a really nice wet/squishy 10K run after doing that...

TOTALLY!!!!! The Ausin Marathon RAN OUT OF BEER LAST YEAR AND WELSHY GOT NADA!!!! The humanity of it was gut wrenching. I had to got to a convienence store and buy a my own. Talk about demoralizing. 

I didn't read the whole thread, so sorry if I'm redundant, but one piece of advice I'd give is to practice your recovery stroke, whatever that is. If you have to resort to say... the breast stroke, but all you've practiced is the crawl, you could have issues with cramps or fatigue (say if you had to do 1500 breast with very high waves, hyperventilation, cold etc....

Also, you have to work out your mind every bit as much as your pumpers... Your legs may tell you they hurt, but your mind is the "decider," to use a popularized term. Workout in difficult conditions: Cold, windy, hot, hungry, tired, bloated, BM challenged.

Do not wear cotton shirts on long runs.

Do not hesitate to drop the kids off at the pool whenever the need arises: Porta potty, convince store, Le frenchis fine bistro, whatever. Its too painful to deal with over 3, 7, 12 15 hours. Triathlets have no shame and further, no one is paying any attention to you or who comes out of the bushes, unless you've got a smoking a$$ in lycra; in that case they are not looking at your face.

Ok, I'm done.

Oh, one more: don't ever, ever be self conscious about being bigger than the hard bodies or slower than the studs/studets - they are to be admired, but you have every right to be there too and in fact your ordeal will in all likely hood be more difficult than theirs. Strut your stuff, revel in your accomplishments and don't ever let any one make you feel like youa're a second class citizen at triathlons.

Wait: snott rockets are all the rage. Let 'er blow! 

(half IM swim.jpg)

Great post Welshy.

It's very easy to be self-conscious, to forget about your pacing plan when people are passing you, or to get frustrated when the unexpected happens. I don't like the cliche', but if you are determined to expect the unexpected that will go a long way to making your race better. Know that something will happen. For me I guess a good example would be finishing an open water swim 60% slower than I expected. I failed to do any open water swims in the 8 months prior to my race. As a beginning swimmer, that was a mistake I paid for:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=39829

Two and a half months later, when I was prepared, things went better:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=47164&start=1

Come to think of it, here's another tip. Read all of the BT race reports associated with the races you are doing this season. You will get a lot of good information that way, and you can generally expect if you PM someone about their race they will be happy to answer questions (in my experience). Go to the forums page, click on "search forums",  type in the name of the race in the keywords, set the time period to "search all posts" and set the forum to searh as "race reports".

If these were mentioned I'm sorry - no time to read them all:

1.  Don't jump crossing the finish line - you will end up with a picture of youself looking like you are taking a dump.

2.  Transitions are free speed.  Get there early, walk the routes, try to get the best position, practice them in training.  I've beaten guys overall who beat me in the S, B and R  but I beat them in T1 and T2 by enough.

3.  90% of the people around you are just as nervous, feeling alone, excited as you are.  Say hi to someone and you might have just made a new friend. 

4.  DON'T DO YOUR FIRST RACE FOR TIME!  Do it for the experience.  Down the road you won't really care what the time was but you will remember how much you enjoyed it!  Soak it up.  As others have said, enjoy the moment.

5.  This is just a personal thing, but I like to get there as early as possible.  I'm used to getting up early anyway.  I like to watch others arrive, see how things are set up and how the people who run it handle things.  It adds to the experience.  All part of soaking it in.  Heck, I paid for it, why not enjoy it for a little longer?

6.  If other BT'ers are going to be there make the extra effort to meet there.  It's always great to meet people and it can take your mind off the pre-race jitters.  I've loved meeting the people I've met at races. 

7.  Be prepared for just how hard it is to actually run and drink a cup of liquid at the same time.  Try this with Gatorade and you'll be sticky for the rest of the day.  It's ok to walk a few steps if you have to get some liquids down.  From now on I'll carry a bottle to drink from and dump water on me at the aid stations (if it is ever warm and not raining when I race!).

Thank you all SO much for these great tips!  I just became a part of this great BT family and am training for the Disney Olympic in September.  I'll be doing a couple of 5Ks and sprint tri's along the way to prepare, and I've been pouring over the website trying to figure out exactly what I should be shopping for in terms of clothing and bike.  I can't afford to go too crazy with expensive equiptment since I'm just starting out, yet I don't want to shoot myself in the foot with gear that will be counter-productive.  Thanks again for all the advice!!

Thanks for all the posts on here!  Great thread!!!

My first tri is in 19 days (yikes) so I'm taking these all in.  After reading them I think I can actually contribute to this discussion.

- if possible, race in a 5k (or any other organized event) before your first tri.  Looking back it was a great way to see how events are set up, getting your chips, port-a-potty lines, water stations, etc.  Also shaking the fear of people passing you or being fast and speedy (who cares right?).  And most importantly learning that most of the people there are really friendly, offer advice, and are just as happy to have new people there to encourage.

At least for me, I now have a basic understanding of what to expect at these events after doing 4 different 5k's.

 That brings up a good point. Do you first season without buying all of the latest and greatest gear. I raced my first year on a mountain bike to make sure I was going to stick with it before I shelled out the cash for a bike. Rent a wetsuit if you can, same reason.

Did everybody catch this?  I was primed for a great race and wasn't ready for this.  My shoes and socks were soaked after a rogue storm.  My feet are screwed up enough, and blister easily.  Mentally this really screwed up my race.  Simple solution suggested above would have solved the problem.  I'd go bigger garbage bags for helmet shoes, socks, etc.

Hypothetically speaking, if you should happen to swim off course, slam head first into a swim platform (with two lifeguards standing on it who did nothing to help you) and give yourself a concussion, don't tell ANYONE about it and DON'T put it in your race report because you will never hear the end of it from your internet "friends".  From what I've heard.

Another tip:  If it is hot out and you are transporting your bike to the race inside of your car, don't fill up your tires until you get there.  If you end up leaving your bike in your parked car for any length of time the heat might pop your tires.  Top 'em off when you unload the bike.

Bring a first aid kit. Bandaids, hydrogen peroxide, antibiotic cream... tourniquet.

Cover any open cuts or scrapes before swimming in open water as best you can.

Know the rules of the course. For example it's okay to hug a buoy if you need a break. The buoys don't seem to mind, and odds are you'll be sharing a handhold with someone else.

If you are a novice/slow/weak swimmer, know that "staying out of the crowd" is only really possible in your own wave. The subsequent wave or waves will not go around you. Expect that you'll be in the crowd. Stay calm, keep swimming if you're swimming, or floating if you are floating. Know to some degree you will be accidentally hit, kicked, nudged, pulled under, groped  or otherwise handled in a familiar way. Just relax and wait for them to pass you. And then resume what you were doing. Know that if you still in the water 3 minutes later, it's going to happen again. Just remain calm. Keep knocking off a little bit of the course at a time, even if it means swimming buoy to buoy. If you are a novice swimmer, when you get out of the water you will have a sense of accomplishment that may even eclipse the feeling you get from crossing the finish line.