10 tips for beginner triathletes

10 Top Tips for Beginner Triathletes 1) Triathlon Specific Kit I have condensed a few specific items into this tip and they include tri-shorts or tri-suit, elastic laces, wetsuit lubricant, number belt and finally the famous rubber suit (a swimming specific wetsuit). These items are all specifically designed for multi discipline sports. They all allow you to perform in each discipline but transition from one sport to the next as easy and efficiently as possible.

2) Open Water Swim Training The open water swim is probably the most daunting part of the triathlon for many people and to not have experienced swimming in your wetsuit, in open water before race day is not at all recommended. There are many open water venues across the country and coaches available to offer in invaluable training and tips to help you.

3) Get a Coach / Training Program A coach or a training program can offer structure to your training and often allow you to prepare for your event much more effectively. You have probably heard of the saying “quality over quantity’ and as many of you will have busy lives with work and family commitments it is very important that every session is structured and helps you move forward in the pursuit of race fitness.

4) Brick Sessions These sessions are key to any triathlete’s training. A brick session is a session that combines multiple sports into one session. The most common version of a brick session is to bike and then run off the bike like you will experience in your event. If you haven’t experienced ‘jelly legs’ before race day, you will be sorry!

5) Nutrition It is important that you have a nutrition plan for race day. This plan should have been tried and tested in training and you should know what products you intend to use and when. It is also worth knowing what nutrition is available on the race course if you intend using it, this information will be in your race pack. But remember don’t risk trying anything on race day that you haven’t used before, the outcome could be messy!

6) Realistic Goals Sit down before race day and look at all the variables that may occur on your big day. Try to work out some realistic goals that you think (all going to plan) you will achieve. If these goals are completely un-realistic you are setting yourself for disappointment before you’ve even started.

7) Course Knowledge Always study your race information when it arrives to you in the post. Then aim to arrive to the race venue in plenty of time before your scheduled start time. Doing this will enable you to see the swim course, know the layout of the transition area, and give yourself plenty of time to prepare and organize yourself before the race.

8) Pre-race Bike Servicing Either at your local bike shop or at the race expo, it is always worth getting your bike checked over by a mechanic before you race. A mechanical failure is the worst way to see a DNF against your name in the results and this £10-£15 bike check can go a long way to helping prevent the worst happening.

9) Race Day Checklist You’ve trained hard, you are familiar with all your equipment and confident that it is will serve you well on the big day… and you forget it! A checklist will prevent you forgetting something that could ruin your big day. Start making your list now and add to it as race day approaches, then when your packing your kit bag the day before the event there is no chance you will forget anything.

10) Be Positive and Have Fun! Being positive and enjoying your day will make all the difference to your performance. No matter what your goals are for the event, whether it be to beat a colleague, win your age-group or just get to the finish, there is no reason why you should not enjoy ever second of the day you have trained long and hard for. Think positive thoughts, take knowledge in knowing that you have trained hard and you can do the distances… you will achieve!