Swim. In most triathlons you’ll want to wear a wetsuit, and I’d recommend a full wetsuit rather than a sleeveless as you’re getting started. Why? Partly because the water is freezing! Trust me, unless you’re swimming somewhere around Florida or Mexico, the water is probably going to be cold. Generally the race website will give you recommendations. Unless they prohibit a wetsuit, I’d wear one, because even if the water isn’t freezing, your wetsuit is going to make you faster and safer. Faster because the buoyancy means your body sits higher in the water and reduces your overall drag, and safer because a wetsuit has the same buoyancy as a life jacket, which means if you get in trouble, all you have to do is turn over on your back and float and you’ll be fine.

Other than a wetsuit, you will be wearing a few other things. You’ll have a swim cap on, because every race makes you wear one so that you’re easier to spot, you can easily tell if you’re in the right wave if it’s a wave start, and plus you’d want to wear one anyway because it makes your goggles that much more secure, will help hold in your earplugs if you wear them (I like to), and will keep you slightly warmer. And of course it reduces the drag of your hair if you have a lot of it.

If the water is very cold, you may want to wear a neoprene swim cap under the race swim cap. This is a cap that generally snaps under your neck and is made of a thinner layer of wetsuit material. Since your head is where you lose most heat anyway, this will make a major difference when it comes to maintaining your body heat. I can’t tell you exactly which races you would want one of these at because I’ve only done a few races myself, but if the water is under 65 degrees you’ll want to start thinking about it. If it’s around 50 degrees (I’m looking at you, St. George Ironman) then definitely. For the record, I wouldn’t have worn one at my Oceanside half, but I might have worn one at the Boise half.

Free tip: Do NOT put sunscreen on your face for the swim, as it can cause your goggles to not seal to your face. I learned this the hard way.

Another free tip: Do NOT make your race day the first day you ever swim in a wetsuit, or in open water. Even if it’s just the day before, make sure to swim for 5-10 minutes in a wetsuit, in open water, just to get the experience. It’s quite different than swimming in a suit in a pool, and you may actually panic a little the first time. I did, and trust me, panicking on your own, without any pressure, is much better than panicking when you’re surrounded by 200 other people who are kicking you and swimming over you, while you’re stressed about your time and not being the last guy out of the water.

Now, if you’re a newbie to triathlon you might be wondering whether or not you wear anything under your wetsuit. The answer is that unless you want to get disqualified, embarrassed, and possibly arrested, the answer is an emphatic “YES!”

For everything. There are one or two pieces of clothing you are going to wear for the entire race, and that’s your “tri suit” or “racing kit” or whatever other names people have made up for the outfit. There are two types of tri suit; two piece or one piece, and there are pros and cons to each and I’m still not sure which I like best, although I am leaning towards the one-piece. The bottom line is that you need to be wearing one or the other. A two piece tri suit consists of spandex-like shorts with a pad in your seat area for the bike ride. The shirt is a tank top, and both the shirt and shorts almost always have some sleek pockets in them for storing your Gu and other nutritional needs. A one-piece just means there is no separate shirt or shorts, they’re all one piece, the one piece I have doesn’t have any pockets, by the way, which I assume is because the one I have is made for wearing on the swim without a wetsuit.

I wear the entire tri suit under my wetsuit on the swim, so that I don’t have to bother with putting the shirt on during the first transition (aka T1). Other people might not wear the shirt because they safety pin their race number to the shirt, and if you wear the paper race number in the water it will be destroyed by the time you get out. I get around this issue by wearing a race belt that the number is snapped onto. That means I wear my shirt in the water, and when I’m getting on my bike I simply snap my belt on around my waist. No messing around with safety pins, no needing to put my shirt on after the swim, and I can easily have the number behind me on the bike and then turn it around to the front for the run.

Something else you’ll be wearing for the entire race is your racing chip, by which they get your time. But you don’t need to worry about preparing for this, they give you the chip and the strap at the race. You’ll wear it around your ankle the entire time.

Oh, and you may be interested in wearing compression socks or compression sleeves during the entire race, including the swim…or not. I’ve never used them during a race, but I probably will start to on longer triathlons. Definitely no point in wearing them to your first triathlon, which I assume would be a sprint or maybe an olympic.

One other thing–I wear my Garmin during my races, but since I have the 305 which doesn’t do well in the water I only wear it on the bike and run, although I wear the heart rate monitor around my chest the entire time, since I don’t want to bother with putting it on during transition.

Bike. Tri suit, shoes, helmet, sunglasses, race number–this is what you’ll be wearing at a minimum on the bike. The optional items are socks, compression socks or sleeves, arm warmers, watch, and gloves.

I have never worn socks on any of my triathlons. As long as it’s not too cold, I train sockless to build up calluses. By not wearing socks that’s one more thing I don’t have to worry about and that doesn’t take time during transition. But as I mentioned, I am considering trying longer races with compression socks or calf sleeves on.

I’ve also never needed arm warmers, but if you do, rather than bringing some expensive arm warmers, just buy some cheap tube socks, cut off the toes, cut a hole for your thumb, and wear those on the bike. Once you get warmed up you can throw them away at an aid station, which of course you wouldn’t want to do with expensive arm warmers.

I also don’t wear gloves. Too much time to put on, unless you have problems with blisters, which you should be able to figure out during your training. I don’t have problems with blisters so there’s no point in my wearing them during training either, except that I do have gloves for cold weather biking.

Regarding sunglasses, yes, you may be able to get by with normal sunglasses from the grocery store. After all, some of those biking/running glasses cost $200. But you can get a decent pair of biking glasses for $20 if you don’t want to shell out a lot of money quite yet. Rudy Project, Oakley, and Smith are some of the better brands if you want to spend a few bucks. The main thing you want to verify is that they prevent wind from blowing in your eyes on the bike, since you don’t want to be getting tears on fast downhill runs. You should be able to work this out in your training. My issue is that I have long eyelashes that annoy me if they brush the lenses, so I had to do quite a bit of searching before I found some Smith glasses that sat far enough away from my eyes but still worked well in every other way.

Tip: Sunscreen! Especially the back of your neck, your lower back just above your waist if you wear a two-piece tri suit and being on the bike exposes an inch or two of your back, your shoulders and arms, and your legs–especially the tops of your thighs and the backs of your calves which are heavily exposed on the bike. Yes, even on a sprint distance triathlon you can get absolutely fried. Do NOT put sunscreen on before you’ve gotten your body marked with your race number, otherwise the number just rubs off. I think it’s best practice to put sunscreen on in transition after you’ve got your wetsuit off. At some races they are handing out sunscreen as you come out of the water, which is really nice. Otherwise have your own in transition and take a few seconds to put it on. Don’t worry about your time–this is your first triathlon and I hate to break it to you but you’re not going to win.

Run. Tri suit, sunglasses, race number, and shoes–that’s the minimum here. If you aren’t ready to run sockless, then get some good ankle socks that are made for running. NO NATURAL FIBERS! No cotton, no wool! You want thin, running-specific socks with the toe seam on the outside. Yes, if you’re going to wear these on the run you might as well wear them on the bike, or not–your choice.

You might also seriously consider a hat or visor. If you have a shaved head, and you haven’t spent time outside much lately, remember that a visor won’t keep the top of your head from getting sunburn. I prefer to wear a running hat that’s made to keep my head cool. It also blocks more light than sunglasses alone, meaning I’m squinting less, which not only prevents headaches, but also preserves precious calories on longer races. Plus on long, warmer races you can dump a cup of ice cubes in your hat and each aid station and run with that on your head to keep your body temperature down.

Well, there you go. Any questions?

Number 1 Tip: Never, NEVER, ever, EVER wear something new on race day! And to take that a step further, don’t wear the same stuff in a different way on race day. Whatever you wear and however you wear it, make sure you’ve done it at least a few times in your training before doing it on race day. This is not just about breaking in a new pair of shoes, it’s about discovering things such as the fact that when you ran in long running socks and running tights all winter, your shoes didn’t rub the back of your heel, but with only ankle running socks on, they do, and they rub a hole through your skin. Another lesson I learned by experience.

So what did I get?

Pearl Izumi PRO Softshell Jacket. Man, this thing just looks so good, I’m not even sure I’ll train in it, I might just wear it to fancy dinner parties. Normally $175, but I got it for just over $100.

Pearl Izumi Barrier Shoe Cover. I really, REALLY needed a pair of these this last winter. But I made do with what I had, and saved $24 off the full price.

Pearl Izumi Softshell Glove. I really needed these too. I’ve been using cheap gardening gloves in the winter. But again, patience paid off with an $18 discount.

Pearl Izumi LS Baselayer Shirt. I wasn’t patient enough to buy one of these. I got one at full price. But I liked it so much I got another one at $24 off.

The only thing that stinks now is that I have to wait six months to use any of it.

A tri suit or triathlon suit is an outfit made of thin polyester-like material (I’m actually wearing one right now, coincidentally, as I’m writing this just before going to do a workout). While a tri suit may provide some buoyancy and warmth, it’s very, very, minimal compared to a wet suit. The primary benefits of a tri suit are:

1. Hydrodynamics (if you’re swimming in a triathlon where you’re not wearing a wetsuit)

2. Aerodynamics on the bike and run (not a huge benefit on the run, but some potential benefit on the bike)

3. Comfort – When people say “tri-suit” they’re generally talking about a one-piece suit. This means you don’t have to deal with any chafing or rubbing around your waist, if that’s a problem for you with a normal tri jersey and pair of tri shorts.

4. They look pretty cool.

If you’re doing a non-wetsuit race, then yes, I’d say a tri suit is a must-have. If you’re going to have a wetsuit on (which you would definitely want to wear if they allow it–you would never opt for a tri suit in place of a wetsuit given the option), then you’ll wear your tri suit under your wetsuit, so it’s not going to do anything for you on the swim. Therefore, the primary benefit for a beginner triathlete would be comfort, but if you don’t suffer from discomfort when wearing normal two-piece triathlon clothing then a tri suit at this point is probably overkill.

One downside to a one-piece tri suit over two piece triathlon wear–it’s harder to go to the bathroom, and this is no small matter if you need to go in a hurry. For this reason you may see triathletes walking around the transition area with their tri suit unzipped and the top part hanging from their waist prior to the event starting.

A brick, in triathlon termage, is when you do two disciplines in your training, back to back. In other words, you ride your bike, then you jump off and do a run immediately afterward. That’s a brick. If you jump out of the swimming pool and onto your bike, then that would also be a brick workout. But most commonly, when someone says they are doing a brick they mean they’re going to do a bike-run combo workout.

Generally when you do a brick you want to transition as quickly as possible from your bike to your run, because that’s what you’re be doing in the real event, and we’re trying to simulate that. I bike out of my garage, and so I’ll leave my running shoes where I park my bike in the garage so that I can quickly take off my bike-specific gear, put my running shoes on, and be back outside running with minimal downtime. If you take 10 minutes to transition from your bike to your run then you’re missing out on the immensely pleasurable feeling of taking off running while your legs are still hurting and wobbly from the bike ride. I used to leave my running shoes outside so I could just dump my bike on the lawn and be off running real quick, but since getting my new carbon frame bike I don’t think I’ll be “dumping” my bike anywhere, especially not anywhere outside.

Why is it called a brick?

Shawn Hardy says it’s because your legs feel like bricks when you start running right after the bike workout. Rhonda Cohen says the same thing, so I think that means it’s a fact. Good enough fact checking for the New York Times, anyway, right?

It’s true, when you get off that bike and get to running, your legs will feel like lead, jelly, bricks, or whatever other metaphor you want to come up with. Suffice it to say they won’t feel like moving. But don’t worry, that feeling usually goes away after a minute or two of running, and then you’ll feel fine. Unless you overdid it on the bike, in which case it will just get worse and worse until you vomit, everything turns black, and you wake up with an IV in your arm and somebody telling you you’re out of the race. Ok, that probably won’t happen during your training. If this happens while you’re training then you’ll just lie on the side of the road until you wake up with somebody fiddling in your pockets looking for your wallet.

There are four standard distances when it comes to triathlons, and an Ironman is the name for the longest one. Here are all four and their distances:

Sprint Triathlon Distances. It’s called “sprint” because it’s short. It may not feel very short the first time you do one (I thought I was going to die during both the swim and the run–the bike was easy), but just wait until you do a half or full Ironman, then a sprint triathlon will feel like an easy workout.

Swim: 750 meters

Bike: approx. 15 miles (this tends to vary a lot due to course constraints so you’ll see both shorter and longer distances on the bike)

Run: 5K (3.25 miles)

Olympic Triathlon Distances. I don’t know why it’s called “Olympic”. There are no podiums, no fancy medals, no drug tests, etc.

Swim: 1500 meters

Bike: approx. 30 miles (again, it may vary depending on the course)

Run: 10K (6.5 miles)

Half-Ironman Triathlon Distances. They call it an “Ironman 70.3″ officially, but everyone other than the Ironman trademark holders call it a “half Ironman”.

Swim: 1.2 miles (where’d that metric system go?)

Bike: 56 miles (they get a bit more strict about the exact distance when it comes to the Ironman races)

Run: 13.1 miles (half marathon)

Ironman Triathlon Distances.

Swim: 2.4 miles

Bike: 112 miles

Run: 26.2 miles (full marathon)

Can you call yourself an Ironman if you’ve done an Ironman 70.3? Some people dance around this and wimp out by saying “Not in my book” as though “Hey, someone else may find that harmless, just don’t blame me if you get in trouble and look like a fool.” But I’m not a wimp, so I’m going to just say it–no, nobody calls themselves an Ironman if they’ve only done a half-Ironman. Sorry. But you can call yourself a half-Ironman all you want, which is what I do since that’s as far as I’ve gone so far.

Now where this can get a bit confusing is that there are official and unofficial “Ironman” races. Anybody can set up a triathlon with the Ironman distances, but that doesn’t mean they can call it an “Ironman” race, because the term Ironman is trademarked, copyrighted, internationally trademarked, stamped, and frequently infringed on, although I don’t know anybody who would do such a thing. At least nobody who would admit it.

When somebody sets up a race that is Ironman or half-Ironman distance, they won’t call it an Ironman race due to the trademark issue, but everyone will still refer to it as an Ironman race, like this:

“Hey, are you going to do the such and such Ironman?”

“Well, it’s not really an Ironman…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but it’s the same distances, and you don’t really expect me to say ‘Are you going to do the such and such triathlon that is similar to an Ironman in that it’s the same distances, it just isn’t officially called an Ironman race?’ do you?”

“Well, no, I guess not, that would be pretty inefficient to have to say all that…”

So are you an Ironman if you complete an Ironman-distance race that isn’t an official Ironman race? Rrr…that’s a tough one, I mean, not in my book, but who knows.

Even better than guilt is the motivation of accomplishment. I’m not really into long-term motivation by guilt because I think it leads to depression, which leads to inactivity, which leads to more guilt, and then you get caught in a negative cycle, especially if you couple Ben & Jerry’s with that inactivity. Accomplishment is the feeling you get when you look at that photo and realize you really do look a lot better than you did when that photo was taken. So take another photo, and put it next to the first photo. That way you know it’s not just in your head. Then keep on working to get looking even better than you do in the “after” photo.

That’s about where I’m at. I peaked out at 236 lbs and 33% body fat. I had no muscle after eight years of virtual inactivity. I haven’t had my body fat tested since, but I’m sure it’s dropped considerably while my weight has dropped to 215 lbs. I’ve still got a ways to go to get to my goal of 180 lbs, but I know I look a lot better than I did before I started all this. I don’t even need the photos because every time I meet someone I haven’t seen in three years the first thing they say is “Man! You’ve lost some serious weight!” The truth is that while I have lost weight, it’s what I’ve replaced the fat with that really has made the difference, but I just accept the compliment as is, and boy, there’s nothing like knowing that your accomplishment is so obvious to those around you to motivate you to keep on going.

Not that I never have. I shaved my whole body when I first got into triathlon. But the time it took combined with subsequent itchiness and evident risk of death has made me think the benefits are overrated. In fact, what are the benefits? A faster swim time if you’re doing a triathlon without a wetsuit? And just how many triathlons have you done without a wetsuit? I haven’t done any, although granted, I’ve only done three triathlons. But still, being in Utah I don’t think I’ll be doing any triathlons without a wetsuit anytime soon.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to be hairless just as much as the next guy. What do I get out of having hair on my arms, legs, armpits, face, etc.? I’ll keep the hair on my head, thank you very much, but as for the rest of it, I’m not particularly keen on remaining attached to it. I just don’t see shaving as providing any benefit worth the hassle. If you’ve got a different opinion let me know.

But with triathlons, I’ve been into them for almost two years now and I still feel so lost. I don’t know who the famous triathletes are, I don’t know the names of bike parts, I don’t know why a tri bike is better than a road bike or even if it really is, etc. But I’ve found a few things that make it easy to learn while not making you feel overwhelmed or stupid for asking dumb questions. Here are the simple steps:

1. Subscribe to the TriTalk podcast.

2. Subscribe to Inside Triathlon magazine, or another triathlon magazine if you prefer.

Actually, just do those two things. What will happen is that with the Tri-Talk podcast you’ll learn all about little training tips that will help you, and it doesn’t feel like heavy stuff. Sure, some of it is, but you can just tune that out and pick up whatever sounds interesting to you. Listen to a few episodes and you’ll start feeling like you’re already an expert on triathlon training and you can impress your triathlon friends at parties.

What the magazine gives you is a bigger picture of the entire sport. You’ll learn names, history of triathlon, places, races, tips, equipment, etc. And again, it doesn’t feel like opening a book and getting out the graph paper. Put the magazine on your coffee table, in the bathroom, in your car, or wherever you find yourself with a few minutes here and there. Pick it up every few days and read an article. Within a few months you’ll start feeling like you know something, and you’ll start becoming more comfortable with the whole sport.

It may sound a bit too easy, but it is that easy. Granted, you may still want to get out the books and get more scientific, but if you start off with the two steps above then digging into a triathlon book won’t seem all that daunting.

I’ve only listened to two podcasts so far, but I’m already hooked. I already learned that training at altitude here in Utah doesn’t do a darn thing for me, but that caffeine (which I refuse to use) would boost my results dramatically. I guess most of what I’ve learned so far are things that burst my bubbles, but hey, it’s all good.