Competitions
I will try to guide you through the entire competition process, from signing up to going home.
Basic competition structure
Triathlons run in the order: Swim – Transition 1 (T1) – Bike -
Transition 2 (T2) - Run.
The first time, a competition seems confusing, but you will
be a pro already by the second time around. If possible, it is a good idea to
watch a live competition before you enter yourself. Everything will explain
itself when you see the action.
The first you should look for is distance, I strongly recommend starting with a sprint triathlon; 750m (0.47 mile) swim, 20 km (12 mile) bike
ride, and 5km (3,1 mile) run.
For non-championship competitions, which are most,
distances can vary a little for practical reasons. Often the swim leg is a
little shorter than required, I have seen sanctioned races with as little as 250m swim. Sometimes the bike leg is a little longer, but usually distances are
in the ballpark of recommended length. For championships, distances will be
exact.
Competition groups
There are many ways to subdivide the athletes, gender, age,
skill, weight, ambition. The bigger the competition, usually the more
subdivisions are available. Not all distances and class divisions are offered
at all competitions.
I assume you are an older, beginner triathlete, so I
recommend you find your age group. Age groups are offered in 5-year increments, for example 40-44, 45-49, 50-54 etc. Find the age
group that corresponds you your age. Elite is not to be considered if you are a beginner.
Another option is to go for a weight class.
Clydesdale class is for males weighing at least 200 pounds
and Athenas for women weighing at least 150 pounds. (Variations on these rules occur). If you take this
option, you will have to compete against athletes of all ages, including younger ones.
Find a competition
The USA Triathlon organization oversees sanctioned triathlon
events, including championships. USA Triathlon in turn belongs to the
International Triathlon Union (ITU) that sets all rules and are responsible for
international events. A list of competitions can be found on the USA Triathlon website:
https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Triathlon
When you have found a suitable competition, follow the instructions,
and sign up. Costs are usually around $120 for a sprint competition, but I have seen variations from $80 to $350, depending on many things.
There are also competitions of a smaller, local character that are not sanctioned by USA Triathlon. Usually they are advertised on ACTIVE or in local media.
The Ironman Triathlons belong in a separate organization and brand organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC).
License
You will need a competition license and usually the sign-up
form will guide you how to get one. If you are unsure if you will stay with triathlon, buy a 1-day
license for your specific competition. The regular athlete will buy a 1-year
license. Cost year 2020 is $15 for a day license and $50 for a year.
A few days before the competition
Make sure to rest or only gently exercise the last two to three days before
competition and eat some extra carbohydrates (nothing extreme). It is not the
time to try new food. Stretching is beneficial.
Competition package
You pick up a competition package ahead of time
(usually at least a day). In there, you will find numbers to mark your bicycle,
bike helmet and yourself. Sometimes, there will also be a colored swim cap. An information
sheet in the package will tell you where to put the numbers, and where you and
your gear must be at what time. Pay close attention to the instructions.
Morning of competition
Eat your regular breakfast no later than 2.5 hours before
start. You may take a few sips of a nutritional drink, or other drink, closer to start, but the tolerance for food is individual so be careful. For a
sprint triathlon, you do not need to nourish during the race, only hydrate.
Check the wetsuit status, it should be announced somewhere.
Set up transition
Rack your labelled bicycle on a
designated spot in the transition area. Your bike should be opposite in
direction to bikes on your left and right. Place the front end of your bike seat
over the bar.
Leave bike helmet, bike shoes, number belt, drinks bottles (on
bike) and whatever else you need (socks?, glasses?) in your small designated
transition area below the bike. The transition area is normally
out of bounds for non-competitors so your stuff is safe.
Usually, transition 1 and 2 are in the same place, so you
will also leave your running shoes in the transition area. If transition
2 is somewhere else, you leave your running shoes (and what else you need for
the run) in transition 2. If it rains, you can have your gear in a small
plastic box (bring yourself), but you are not allowed to encroach on other people’s
spaces.
When you have all the gear needed for the bike and run legs
laid out in the easiest to grab way, you leave the transition area with your swim
cap and swim goggles and if applicable: wet suit.
The transition area will close during the competition before first start, so please make sure you have everything you need laid out.
If you have a friend with you, you can keep extra
gear, clothing and drink until the last moment, but if not, when you leave the transition area, you are in your swim outfit and
nothing else. Some competitions have bag
check, where you can leave extra stuff outside the transition area, but if
there is no bag check, you have to leave your car keys in transition.
From now on, the competition will explain itself as it
unfolds.
Swim leg
Depending on the water temperature, you may wear a wetsuit, following the rules for age groupers:
- Wetsuit is optional without penalty in water temperatures up to, and including, 78 degrees Fahrenheit (25.6 degrees Celsius).
- Wetsuit is optional but the participants using wetsuit will not be eligible for awards in water temperatures between 78F up to, but not including 84F (25.6 C - 28.9 C).
- Wetsuit is prohibited at water temperatures 84F (28.9C) and above.
The swim course will be explained in your competition
package, an open water swim is completed by rounding several buoys. Pool
swims have their own rules, read the information package.
I highly recommend to get in the water shortly before start if possible, especially if the water is cold. It takes a few
minutes for the body to get used to cold water and function well.
Usually, not all swimmers start at the same time. On the
information sheet, the start time for your swim group will be announced. Groups
are arranged after age and gender and have the same color on the swim cap. Occasionally, the swim caps also have numbers, but commonly not.
Swim start can be in water, run in or jump from a platform. If you are an experienced swimmer, great for
you, go ahead. For most newbies, the swim start can be the most stressful point
in the competition. You are nervous and high on adrenaline; people are everywhere,
and many are very pushy, including age groupers! The water is cold, you get
an elbow in your head, a leg in your arm, you can’t see and your heart is
racing alarmingly, you are only a few minutes in the water and you worry you are
already toast. I am describing what happened to me in one of my early
competitions, and I am not a useless swimmer. I recovered, but I would have
done better getting in the water beforehand and starting slower.
My advice is, take it easy, warm up ahead of time if
possible, stay back a little and get the most competitive participants to rush ahead. Even
if you are doing a sprint, there is plenty of time to get exhausted on, make
sure it is not in the first 200 yards.
All triathlon races have safety staff in the water looking
out for struggling swimmers. It is allowed to hang on to a safety boat and continue
the swim after a brief rest as long as the boat is not dragging you forward. It
is a good safety measure, but it should be for unexpected emergencies only.
Another way to rest is to lie on your back for a little while. But think ahead,
if you do not know you can safely swim the distance during all normal
circumstances, even at a slow pace, you probably should not be in the water.
My beginner tips: When the water is cold, it can
initially feel like you are not getting enough air and your heart is racing. Get
into cold water ahead of the start. The discomfort will go away but take it
easy and swim steady in your comfort zone until you are normal.
Pay attention
to the swim course, take sight of the buoy, keep a straight line and frequently
check your direction. In most competitions, about halfway, I start to catch up swimmers that started too fast. Think like this; the race is long, you need to save your extra energy for the run leg. Just do
the swim leg with a business-like effort, you should not be exhausted when you
come out of the water.
T1
When you come out of the water, you will feel surprisingly
heavy. If you are not wearing a wetsuit, take off the swim cap and glasses while
jogging to transition. If you are wearing a wetsuit, put the goggles on top of
your head so you can see properly and start peeling off the wetsuit by lowering the back zipper and get your arms out. Jog to the transition area and get your legs
out of the wetsuit there. Wetsuits stays in your transition
spot, put away properly.
If it is very cold, you may want to put on some extra
clothes, otherwise there is no changing.
Helmet on head and fastened, number
belt around waist, bike shoes on.
Maybe put on glasses if you need them. I
did use socks in my first triathlons, mainly because my running shoes gave me blisters.
Many do not use socks as it saves times. (If it is cold, I recommend that you do
wear socks covering your ankles to avoid cooling your achilles tendons).
You will see that experienced triathletes have their shoes
already clipped to their bike pedals, but you can ignore all that. Just put the
shoes on your feet in the transition area and run with them on your feet to the
mount line.
Biking gloves are not used in shorter triathlons.
Jog, walk with your bike (helmet fastened) out of the
transition area in direction Bike Out to the Mount Line,
clearly marked on the road. You are not allowed to mount the bike before
passing the line.
My beginner tips: In cold weather, a thin cap under
the helmet really helps against the cold. Remember, you are in wet clothes
and will face the bike wind.
If you are swimming with a wetsuit, practice ahead
of time peeling it off efficiently.
Bike leg
Is the competition draft legal, or is it non- drafting? Most triathlons are non-drafting, which (normally) means you should keep 3 bike lengths to the cyclist ahead of you. If you want to pass, you have 25 seconds to pass. The moment you are side by side, the other cyclist must not fight you, but should drop back 3 bike lengths. Review the rules ahead of time as they may be different. Marshalls along the routes will be checking and hand out time penalties for rule breakers.
Pace yourself, you still have most of the race to go, so no
max pulse just yet. A steady, moderately hard effort is required. If there is a
climb, slow and steady does it. You will not come back from pushing at max
early on, you will just make the whole race miserable and your speed will
taper. But it is not a picnic, it is a race, so push a bit, just do not burn out.
Take it slightly easier the last few miles and prepare your
legs for the run. You get off the bike before the dismount line, you must not pass the line on your bike. Be careful of other incoming bikers.
My beginner tips: Hydrate with energy drink during the bike leg as needed, and about 5 - 10 minutes before approaching transition.
T2
Keep the helmet fastened and jog/walk with your bike to the transition area. Rack bike. Now you can take off helmet and bike shoes.
Put on running shoes. Start moving toward Run Out.
Run leg
Depending on how fit and
experienced you are, you will find it difficult to run after coming off the
bike. The legs feel wooden, and you are surprisingly tired. Can you even run at
all? And if you are doing some sort of running, form is out of the window. Five
kilometers have never felt so long.
Do not despair, after a mile it will go away, at least the stiffness, maybe not the tiredness. If you have any energy left, it is now up to you to spend it all. If you are exhausted at the start of the run, I urge you to stay in your relative comfort zone and see if you have anything left at the halfway mark. Now you may have thoughts like “why I am doing this?”
My beginner tips: If you are stiff, you can benefit by walking for a minute to loosen up before running. If you run, take slightly shorter steps until you fall into your normal gait. The first time you have this feeling, it can be unnerving, but it is normal and it gets better after a while.
Goal
I promise you, once you pass the goal you are so proud you
did it and you will want to do it again. Only better next time.
At some time, the transition area will open. You will need your number bib to pick up your bike and gear.
Recovery
I have found a that ingesting a nutritional drink (Ensure,
Core Power or similar) immediately after the race is helpful for recovery. If
it is cold, get warm clothes on asap. You may not feel hungry, but after a
while you should eat a nutritious meal.
Rest a day or two.
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