My first Sprint Triathlon: getting to the start line

Why Tri?

It was 2016, we were living in Khalifa City in Abu Dhabi. I was working exclusively from home and my exercise regime was sporadic, to say the least. Completion of a triathlon had been on my bucket list for years. I finally signed up for a sprint triathlon called Tri Yas. It took place in February 2017 on the Formula One racing track, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

I wanted to be more consistent with my exercise and for me, the only way to do this is to have a goal in mind. I had always enjoyed swimming, cycling to work and running.

This was it! I was 46 years old with zero athletic talent and about to embark on my first triathlon. I would be swimming 750m in the sea, cycling 20k and running 5k. This may not sound like much, or it may sound insurmountable. In truth it was a bit of both.

However, I could never have imagined the journey the sport would take me. From bike rides in the desert, 10 kilometres of non-stop climbing on a bike, hikes in the arid mountains of the UAE, travels to Sweden for a race and runs in France, Canada, Azerbaijan and Iceland to name but a few. This first triathlon may not have transformed my life at the time but the journey the sport has taken me has had a greater impact than I could ever have conceived.

Back to Tri Yas. To complete this race, I needed two things, the right equipment and a training plan.

Equipment

There is no doubt that triathlon can be a very expensive sport. Bikes range from hundreds of pounds to 5 figures. Wetsuits cost hundreds of pounds. Not to mention bike shoes, trisuits, aero helmets, training plans, swim lessons and many other potential expenses. But it needn’t be prohibitively expensive.

What did I need for my first triathlon?

A bike!

I hadn’t ridden a bike since leaving London for Dubai in August 2014. However, I was gifted a hybrid bike for my birthday in August 2016. My previous experience of cycling had been for commuting to work and I was used to riding hybrid bikes. So, I got a cheap hybrid bike, about £400 new. I now use it to commute to work in London and would not race in it. It is heavy and cumbersome. However, it got me around my first three sprint triathlons.

If you are considering entering your first triathlon, you don’t need an expensive triathlon bike and you don’t even need a road bike, as I know from my use of a hybrid. In fact, I saw someone riding a Brompton in an Olympic triathlon (1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run) and have seen plenty of people using mountain bikes. Look out for second hand ones too. I completed a half ironman using a second-hand road bike and this is currently my only road bike so may have to get me around a full Ironman.

Bicycle helmet

This is a must. It has to comply with relevant rules (European Standard EN 1078 in Europe or the equivalent elsewhere). Again, you can spend huge amounts of money on an aero helmet. However, I bought one for a couple of hundred dirhams (about £40) from Adventure HQ. A similar quality helmet from Evans, Halfords etc would do the job.

Bike shoes

These are hard shoes that clip into special pedals option but, unless you’re already a keen cyclist, I would say it’s better to wait until you’re sure you want to continue in the sport. You would need special bike shoes (upwards of £50), cleats (£7 min) to attach to the shoe that then clip into special pedals (£35 min). Then you need to learn to ride again, as a fall is pretty much inevitable the first time you try to use clip in shoes. But that’s for another post.

Trainers

My only comment here is, get a run gait analysis. Running shops will carry this out, often for free if you purchase trainers from them. Even if you only train for one sprint triathlon, a well-fitted trainer will help avoid injury. I go to runners need – www.runnersneed.com.

Clothes to wear for the race and training

You can wear shorts/leggings for training and could wear swimming costume/trunks for the swim part of the race and then put your running kit on over the top. A couple of pointers here. My first triathlon was in a warm (well let’s be honest mostly incredibly hot) country and so wetsuits were not compulsory.  This meant I was able to swim all triathlon races (and outdoor swim sessions) without. If your first race is in the UK, Europe or any other colder clime, you are likely to need a wetsuit (more on that later).

Cycling distances in shorts or leggings may not be very comfortable either so cycling shorts/bibs will make your training more comfortable. I didn’t buy cycling bibs until after my first triathlon and trained in leggings. I had enough natural padding!

You may also want to consider buying a trisuit, to use for the whole race. This piece of kit has less padding than cycling shorts to make it easier to run in. I did purchase one of these and there are many trisuit manufacturers now so you can buy some reasonably priced suits for as little as £40. I had to pay more as there were less cheap options in the UAE at that time.

However, if you want to keep the costs down for your first race, after all you may hate it and never want to do another triathlon in your life, then you could use swim kit and running kit for the whole race. I would wear a sports bra under the swimsuit if you choose to do this to avoid a full change between the swim and the bike.

Swimming costume/trisuit, goggles and swim cap. Most races give you the swim cap, but you will need one to train in.

Wetsuit

You will almost certainly need a wetsuit for a race in the UK and also for some open water swim practice. A triathlon wetsuit is not the same as the ones used for surfing. Tri/swim wetsuits are thinner and designed, funnily enough, for swimming. You may be able to get a cheap suit for £40 to £50 or look out for a triathlete who is upgrading and buy second hand (same goes for the bike). Another option is to rent one for the race and for the week or two before to give you time to practice swimming in it.

Because of where I was living, I didn’t buy a wetsuit until a couple of years into my tri journey and only because I had registered for a half ironman race in Sweden (1.9k swim, 90k bike, 21k run). I spent a few hundred pounds on it but knew I would be using it until it fell apart. I’m still using it 4 years later and it has the patched rips to prove it!

Wetsuits come with sleeves or sleeveless, full length or short. Unless you will be training and racing in warmer water, you’ll probably want a full-length, long-sleeved suit. Make sure you try it on before renting/buying a whole skill in itself! The right size will take some time to get on and should feel like a second skin. You should be able to move easily in it though!

Nutrition

You’re unlikely to need any special nutrition for training and depending on your fitness and ability, nothing during the race. As a slower athlete, I used carb chews but at that stage I don’t remember using gels. This meant I needed some idea of whether the chew/gel would agree with me (eg give me no stomach issues). It may be worthwhile trying some different things on longer bike rides to make sure you get no stomach issues. However, I wouldn’t recommend spending much money on specialised nutrition at this stage. You could even take a banana or a couple of dates on the bike and that would get you through a sprint race.

You will need water!

Other kit needs

A small towel to dry your feet after the swim. Socks and water. Races usually give water out but check to make sure.

You will also want suncream and may want a visor for the run and sunglasses or cycling glasses if it’s sunny. Also useful to keep flies out of your eyes.

Training

A training plan

The great thing about entering a sprint triathlon is that the training need not take much time and a 12-week plan should be sufficient for most people. For that first race, I used a free 16-week plan which included 3 sessions of bike, run and swim each week. This may sound a lot, but the shortest run, swim and bike were 12 minutes, 12 minutes and 24 minutes the longest 39 minutes, 35 minutes and 70 minutes respectively. There are different ways of structuring this and 2 sessions per sport per week may be enough.

I remember feeling very proud of myself for training six days a week, even if some days this was for no more than 30 minutes. I was amazed the first time I cycled 20 km and loved the journey training for this event. The environment I trained was much different to training in the UK but that was part of the journey. I still find joy exploring during training, whether for a run or a bike ride. I would say this is one of the most important things about training. If you don’t enjoy, at least most, of the sessions, it will be very difficult to stay on track.

Long bike rides

My long rides in the UAE were usually around custom made cycle tracks. We were very lucky in that respect. I would drive out to the desert very early on a Friday morning, the first day of the UAE weekend and cycle around Al Wathba cycle track. This was an incredible space outside the city, literally in the desert with bike circuits of varying lengths (8, 16, 20, 24 and 30k), completely traffic free. This was a luxury I still miss nearly three years after returning back to the UK. Those bright, sunny mornings cycling with golden sand dunes surrounding me were glorious.

Brick sessions

The first brick sessions were not. As part of your training, you will need to complete a few of these. A session will usually be completed on long bike ride day where your ride will be immediately followed by a run. After all, you will be running off the bike in a triathlon, so this is supposed to get you ready for that. I can still recall my first brick.

After proudly completing a 16 or 20k bike ride, my longest to date. I felt great, I could conquer the world. The sun was shining, I was feeling strong, getting fitter and thought I had it all sussed. That is until I got off the bike and started to run. My legs barely moved. That first run off the bike was for 5 minutes, but I wasn’t sure I could keep my legs moving for 30 seconds. Each step felt like I was running through treacle while simultaneously having jelly legs. Very few runs, have felt quite as hard as that first 5-minute run off the bike.

But like most things the more often you do them, the easier they get. I won’t pretend that the first few minutes of the run after along bike rides becomes easy but they become easier and you really do get into a rhythm after a few minutes running.

With a training plan and the minimum equipment, you can make the start line to your first sprint triathlon. Give it a go. It may change your life too!