Ironman gear

Tri shorts for swim, bike and run. A bit of padding to help with the bike, but nothing you can't easily swim or run in. It obviously helps if you train in them, to toughen up the ol' taint.

You will NOT want to run 13.1 miles in full on bike shorts. You will see alot of everything. You can certainly change into running shorts and a running shirt, but I would wear tri shorts and tri top for everything. Once you get used to them, they are just way better and will save you alot of time.

I wear a trisuit for the whole day, it's really not that bad. Just know that whatever you buy, you will need to train in. I have a custom kit, so all my suits are the same. I have a few for training, and a couple for racing. It's just one less thing for you to have to worry about in transition.

My feeling is if your not competing you want to be as comfortable as possible. I understand a tri outfit for the swim and Run but when I am on the bike for anything more than 30 miles I want to wear my bike shorts. If I ever get to a level where I need to worry about my transition time then I will reconsider this.

Reminds me of my first HIM - attended the meeting for all first HIMers. When someone asked a similar question, one guy answered "I'm planning on a speedo for the swim, bike shorts for the bike and running shorts for the run." Another person spoke up and said "where do you think you're changing?" a guy at my table said "It better not be next to me!"

I don't know of many changing tents at HIMs so get a good pair of tri shorts and start using them on the bike. I prefer wearing tri shorts on any rides than bike shorts....you just get use to them.

I've been reading around this week (so yeah I guess that isn't that an uncommon a topic). One thing a lot of people suggested is tri shorts for swim, toss on bike shorts over that for biking, and then just take off the bike shorts for running. This will reduce changing time and it seems a lot of people like this. I have a 80 mile bike mile and 6 mile run tomorrow, so that will be my trial run but I have one more long bike day before HIM to iron this out.. Hoping it works and isn't too uncomfortable since it seems like it's the best of all worlds /w a quick transition thrown in.

I dunno about bike shorts over tri shorts... Give it a try, but both are intended to be worn without anything underneath. There are usually changing tents at ironman events, so you might need to do one thing in the half (tri shorts all day, which is what I've done without issue. I've even run standalone half marathons in tri shorts) and something different (speedo, jammer, speed suit, or tri shorts for the swim, then tri shorts, bike shorts or bibs for the bike, then running shorts because you can change) in the full. But whatever you do, practice before race day and make sure you'll be comfortable.

OK results are in. I had jammers on underneath bike shorts (no tri shorts but will probably order this week and use that for this weekend's ride) and it worked out pretty good. I got in 76 miles in after 4 hours and then just ripped them off and went for my "45 min run" which ended up being a 55 minute mostly walk session. Pretty pissed about that since I just PR'ed in a marathon 3 weeks ago at 3:24 but I just can't get my legs to go after long ride days.

But anyway.... the combo does work, at least for me. Guess I'm learning the different between jammers and tri shorts and I should be running in tri shorts due to padding on the front stitching. Makes sense but I had no issues "down there" since I do what needs to be done before I go out.

Edit:
I did notice it was a little tighter around the legs when I did this but nothing horrible at all. Since it's two layers of cloths, I know it will be warmer doing this but I rode in ~70 degree weather so I didn't get a good heat test in. Comfort test passed and I'm not too worried about the heat on the bike. At least not until it gets over 90.

Edited by Blastman 2013-05-26 8:30 PM

A couple of people have mentioned but it may be lost - as far as I know there are not usually change tents at 70.3's. I haven't been to one that has (full distance, yes) - so whatever you plan if it involves a change make sure you know what will be available in transition. You can probably find out with an email to the race director.

It will take extra time to run to a porta potty to change ... and nudity (at least at North American races) is frowned upon.