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It’s a rite of aerobic initiation. It can be terrifying, exhilarating, exhausting, mind-boggling, and the beginning of a great love affair. Your first triathlon. You’ll come to realize tri is unlike any other sport on the planet. Not only are you doing three different sports consecutively, but you are competing with both men and women of all ages and abilities, you are probably swimming long distance in open water for the first time, and you never change clothes as fast as when you make that transition from one event to the next.
I have been there, waiting anxiously for the triathlon to begin. My big worry during that first race was the swim, a two-miler in cold and choppy Lake Folsom. This was in an era before wetsuits were allowed. One other thing: I had never swum more than one mile, and that occurred in a pool with lane lines and the cement security of walls every 25 yards. Here’s what you can expect in your first race:
Don’t buy a new bike for your first triathlon. It’s tempting to splurge and purchase a $2,000 triathlon bike, with aero bar and steep frame geometry, because you feel that without it you won’t do well. But I have done many triathlons on a mountain bike. By installing narrow road tires called slicks, a mountain
bike is just fine for races under 25 miles. You might lose 2 to 3 mph. But the goal of your first race is to finish and have fun. At all-women races such as the Danskin Triathlon, I’d say at least 30 percent of competitors show up on mountain bikes. Use what you feel comfortable with. If you have never used an aero bar before, your first race isn’t the
best place to start.
Buy a wetsuit. I recommend this for people nervous about open-water swimming. A good wetsuit for triathlons (not a surfing one) might set you back $200, but it provides buoyancy so you won’t sink, and ride higher in the water, which is important for proper stroke placement and arm recovery. A suit also offers insulation against the cold. By all means, try your wetsuit in a pool or lake before your first race. It takes some getting used to, though the feeling is not unlike using a swim buoy between your legs. One caution: Don’t buy a wetsuit that’s too tight because it might constrict your breathing.
Prepare mentally to avoid panicking. Yes, you need to visualize that you might suffer a wave of nerves at the start of the swim. I have seen it happen at the start of the Hawaii Ironman, when several competitors barely made it past the beach before swimming back to shore. Swimming with a mad rush of hundreds of bodies can be unnerving. Even worse is getting kicked or poked in the head by an errant foot or hand. It’s usually not intentional. The immediate reaction is to kick back, especially if the other swimmer is trying to swim over you, but this is one time to literally turn the other cheek. Try to regroup and perhaps tread water for a few seconds to regain your composure. It’s important not to panic and have your heart and breathing escalate into the red zone, from which it’s difficult to recover. So, before you take the plunge, ask yourself,
“I might get bumped into and knocked about during the swim, and if that happens, what will I do?“ This will prepare yourself for that occurrence.
Words to live by for the open-water swim. I sometimes carry an extra pair of goggles in my swimsuit or under the sleeve of my wetsuit in case the goggles leak or get knocked off. Put a non-petroleum-based jelly under your arms and behind your neck to keep the wetsuit from chafing. (Petroleum-based products can damage the suit.) This will also help you take the wetsuit off. (Speaking of which, practice removing your wetsuit while on land—it’s not as easy as it looks, especially after a long swim). Seed yourself with swimmers of your own ability; it’s no fun being swum over, or swimming over someone. If the water is cold, wear two swim caps to keep your head warm, since most heat loss is from your head. Learn the front crawl! This is not to say that you can’t do a half-mile swim using the breaststroke. But when I began training for the
Hawaii Ironman, that’s the only stroke I knew how to do, and it’s an inefficient, slow stroke for long-distance swimming.
Make sure your bike is working well. Your tires should be properly inflated, your gears shifting well, and brakes functioning. I know of many triathletes who can’t fix a flat tire. If you have a flat before the race, you can always find someone to help you fix it. But in the middle of the race, you might be out of luck unless a support van happens by. I had a friend who once won her age group in the Hawaii Ironman, but one year she had a flat on the hot lava fields of the Big Island and didn’t know how to fix it. She had to wait 20 minutes before a mechanic’s van came to her assistance. Recommendation: Go to a bike shop and ask
them to show you how to fix a flat. Practice flat-repair repeatedly.
Drinking on the bike. This is the best place to stay hydrated. Swimming will make you lose a lot of fluids; you might not think so at first, but it can lead to dehydration if you aren’t careful. Keep two water bottles on your bike, one filled with water, the other filled with a carbohydrate-replacement drink. Alternate drinking from both. Before you run out, grab a replacement water bottle at aid stations. Plus, drinking on the run is sometimes difficult, so it’s wiser to be able to start the run plenty hydrated. You might scoff at the idea of slowing down at an aid station during the bike segment to replenish yourself, but losing a few seconds is worth not bonking during the run.
Always be courteous to race volunteers. Triathlon is a participatory sport, and too often racers forget that the volunteers handing out food and water or giving course directions are just that—volunteers. They aren’t being paid. Usually, they are out there in the hot sun. A gracious “thank you" rather than “Hurry up! Where’s my water?” will make their job much more enjoyable. Unfortunately, I have seen plenty of tempers flare when volunteers were slow handing out cups of Gatorade or sponges in some races, and these triathletes were not just the pros but mid-packers. Triathlon might be a spectacle to watch, but it is not a spectator sport. Good manners on the racecourse are as important as how you finish.
You might have to walk during the run. It’s not the easiest thing to begin running after your legs are tired and filled with lactic acid from riding. While walking part of the course should be avoided if you can, the goal here is to finish, not drop out. I remember one year at the Hawaii Ironman when a pro contender from Finland came off the bike in the top 10, but later bombed during the run. Instead of quitting and geting a DNF (Did Not Finish), he walked the majority of the marathon even though it took him almost five hours. Imagine what it must have felt like, walking along and watching nearly 1,000 other triathletes pass him. It took courage to do what he did. The moral: You are doing this race for yourself. Don’t get discouraged if you go slower
than expected. Or when other triathletes are passing you.
Try to strike up conversations during the running segment. It will make the time go by. Ask other triathletes how they got interested in the sport or what kind of job they have. I have used this technique in many races when I felt tired and needed a diversion.
Reward yourself after finishing with a big lunch or dinner. Sit proudly in that restaurant of your choosing with your race-number-inked limbs exposed for all to see. It is okay to be stared upon or pointed at. After all, you just did your first
triathlon.
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