You could get a tri-suit and just wear that throughout - That will save you precious seconds in transition as you won't need to put anything on other than your shoes.

Al.

No..You will not be in a wetsuit..in a pool...or at least unless its less then 72 degrees..I wouldnt bother with a wet suit regardless for a sprint. You'll be struggling taking it off longer then your swim.
The main thing with tris is your set up. Get organized at your bike station. Make sure your bike is racked properly. You have your helmet, sunglasses, gloves and shoes ready to go. All your bottles are filled and your Garmin is on and ready. Also have a towel on the ground with your running shoes out and un tied and socks ready to go. Visor out and number is attached to a spy belt/number belt.

I had my first Tri yesterday and wondered about the same things you did - here's what I did & what I would do differently next time.
Indoor swim done in usual swim trunks.
Bike set up with number on it, compression top with number already pinned on, shorts and towel over the handlebars, shoes on the ground.
I spent 2 minutes in T1, mostly trying to get dry socks on over wet feet - I noticed a few people filling their socks with talcum powder - would definitely do that next time! I wasted a lot of time trying to get a compression top on over a wet body - next time I'd wear a thin lycra compression top during the swim as it will dry out pretty quick once your out on the bike! I'd also pin my number to a snap on belt rather than onto the shirt.
I use SPDs on the bike which meant in T2 I had to change shoes, which was another point where I could have saved some time - a few of the more serious athletes there had toe clips & straps rather than cleats and did the bike section in their running shoes.

Pace yourself, smile & enjoy the experience !!

I just completed my first sprint triathlon yesterday (Sunday 8/12). I'll tell you about it and if you have any other questions, just let me know. First, let me say that I'm not a swimmer- I can swim, but I rarely like being in the water. Second, my workout routine includes jogging around 2-3 miles twice a week, weights once a week, and biking once a week at a 12-14 mph pace. There's some variation to that because I have 2 toddlers; I do what I can when I can.

The sprint was 300 yards of open water swimming (at a local lake), followed by an 11 mile bike on concrete through the park, and finally a 3 mile jog over an asphalt trail and dirt/pebble trail. I'll note more about the transition after I describe each section.

I'm glad the swimming cam first because it stressed me out just thinking about it. I took 14 minutes to complete, which I know is very slow. I swam freestyle for probably 75 yards and swam the other portion on my back. I went back and forth between the two. There were lifegaurds with noodles to help people who needed to stop for a break, and people on boats to help anyone who needed to be brought back in. While I was awful, I didn't have to stop for help and I got it done!

We went into the transititon area get our bikes. That went very smooth for me. I put on my shirt with the number already pinned, put on my helmet and gloves and walked my bike out. You can't ride your bike out of transition. There is a marker/sign that says when you can get on. We returned to transition the way we left from the bike ride. I finished in about 50 minutes. I'm normally quicker, but I hadn't counted on being so winded from swimming.

I dropped my bike, refreshed with some water and was off jogging. I jogged the 3 miles at about 35 minutes. Again, not my normal pace because I was fatigued. I normally keep a 10.5-11 mph pace. But I sprinted at the end and finished with an overall time around 1 hr 45 min. That was where I had expected to be, but only because I had over-estimated the swim time in my head.

Transitions: I'm very organized so that helped a bunch! I had a backpack with water, gatorade, a hand towel, socks, shoes, helmet, bike gloves, shirt, and nike watch. No headphones were allowed. I made sure my numbers were pinned on the shirt and stuck on my hemet the night before. When I set up my transition area, I had everything out in 2 groups: bike and run. I made sure and drank fluids during transition, but I wish I had remembered my goo/gatorade chews for that added boost. The one thing I didn't think of was a small mat to lay all my things on.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm not an expert, but feel free to ask me anything I might have forgotten. I was very nervous to do this, but I'm glad I did.

~Lindsay

My first sprint was Sunday. My best advice to you is to relax, and pace yourself well. I knew going into this that I wasn't really proficient with my breathing on the front crawl, something about not exhaling all the way, making myself hypoxic and feeling like I couldn't breathe. So, I opted for breast stroke for the better part of 500 yards. It was slow going, but I passed quit a few people that would take 4 or 5 strokes, get tired and tread water. I just told myself that I had to keep going.

I was worried about the transition, even though I read everywhere to practice them, I never got to, but set everything out neatly and in order. Our bikes were all set up on racks. There are quite a few people that get real serious about these events and they have very expensive bikes which they shave every extra bit of weight off and would never consider a kick stand, so don't worry about that.

Biking is my strongest event, so I used up most of my energy doing that. I caught up and passed quite a few people from the 3rd and 2nd wave, so I felt good about that, even though most of them passed me on the run.

Last transition into running was the worst only for the fact that after hammering that hard on the bike segment, my legs felt like warm cheese. I forgot to take off my bike gloves, but decided that they would be helpful in wiping away sweat. I also made the mistake of cramming 3 shot blocks in my mouth at once. I figured if I put them in the pocket of my wet tri top, they would just get sticky everywhere. Crappy too because my husband took a bunch of pics of me at this point and I look like I'm playing Chubby Bunny, Ugh!

I ran really slow, but again, didn't stop. I set a goal of 2 hours and came in around 1:45. I hope you can learn something from this rant, but I also think it's fun to share our stories on here. Best of luck to you and I hope to hear all about it! Cheers.

My best advice? Don't over think it.

Wear what you want
Ride the bike you have
Run with the shoes you have.

Enjoy it, you only get one first triathlon, and it will be something you never forget.

Because there is already a lot of good advice here, I am just going to say, that when I finished my first triathlon (and beat my friends that I thought were fitter than me) I was so overwhelmed with emotions that I actually did it, that I just sat down and cried. With happiness of course. It was just that awesome and I am a little bit jealous that you only experience that "first time" emotion once. So good luck, and most of all enjoy.

I've just signed up for my first sprint triathlon.

I was just wondering what the atmosphere was like there? I'm doing it as a challenge - to see if I can get through to the finish. I'm not really concerned about my time.

Are there likely to be many people like me there? I don't think I'd feel comfortable if everyone is super-serious triathletes and I'm left looking like an unfit slob at the back....

8. Water bottle is on the bike already. No need to waste time in transition taking a drink. Do it on the bike ride. The run has water stations as well.



I love number 8. Hydration during transitions was drilled into my head last year, so I made sure to drink during both transitions. I will definitely do number 8 this year. My sprint tri in a year is coming up on Sept 30.

I have my first tri in 6 weeks (400m pool swim, 22k bike, 8k run), SO glad that I found this thread!

I'm stil undecided between tri suit or 2 piece (sports bra is a given). OH is a tri veteran and is trying to convince me I'll be fine, the transitions are worrying me a bit, as it going off route as I'm not very fast - are the routes usually signed/ stewards?

You will not wear a wetsuit for the bike and run, unless you want to, and I assure you... You don't :P In fact, it's very unlikely that you will even be allowed to wear a wetsuit for an indoor swim. I would plan on not wearing one. I just wear a tri-top and danskin tri-shorts that have a little bit of padding for the bike. No underwear. So scandalous!

VERY carefully read the rules and regulations. Is it a USAT sanctioned event? If so, USAT has their own very stringent rules you need to adhere to. Most people receive penalties during the bike. Make sure you know what the rules are regarding drafting and passing. If you don't have your helmet buckled and bar ends plugged, you will be disqualified. USAT takes these things very seriously.

Can you run the course before the event? This is the best way to familiarise yourself with the course. I highly recommend it! If you can't, at least know where the transition areas are. Have a checklist of items that you need for each transition. Know which way you come in, and which way you come out. Arrive early so you can scope out what you need, put together your transition area, and memorise where to go.

Most people consider the swim to be the most difficult leg of the race. The hardest part for a beginner is being with (sometimes) hundreds of other people kicking and thrashing and generally disregarding your presence. It's easy to become panicked, and panic leads to overexertion which can really cause you problems. Start slowly, focus on your breathing, and choose a pace you can maintain without a lot of effort. Don't try out any new tricks - If you're not a bilateral breather, breathe to one side. You'll be fine. No one really expects to win a triathlon by starting out at a grueling pace on the swim.

More than anything, TRUST IN YOUR TRAINING and have fun!!