Three weeks and counting

athoyle

Hi guys,

Its my first year in triathlon. I plan on doing the bleinheim sprint followed by London olympic distance. I am now starting to get slightly gittery as my first race is fast approaching. I have a few questions:



Should i wear my heart rate monitor during the race?

Having done no open water swimming i was planning on heading to the beach one weekend to brave the sea, is this wise?

Are there water stations at bleinheim/london or do you have to carry all your own fluids.



Silly questions, but these type of things become more important the more you think about them



Hope everyones preparations are going smoothly.



Andy

Boycie

Andy,



It's natural to be a bit gittery before the first race, so my advice is;

[ul][*]It's totally up to you about wearing your HRM. You probably won't pay much attention to it when you're racing and go more on how you feel. However it may be useful for comparing data over races. I always wear mine.

[*]I've never trained in the sea, but imagine it is a bit intimidating on the first time of trying, especially if you are on your own. As neither Blenheim or London are raced in the sea, an organized open water session in a lake may be more useful. But I would strongly recommend an open water session before the race.

[*]I would imagine that both races have water stations on the run, however I have raced neither. Take some fluids on the bike, an isotonic drink would be good, especially if it is hot.[/ul]

Good luck with the races, I'm sure you will enjoy them.



David.

Tiring Tri ing

Both races have water stops on the running route. For the bike stage, you'll need to have any drinks you need on your bike.



Sea swimming is OK (it was my only wetsuit/open water practice before the Blenheim sprint last year) but, as Boycie says, it's not quite the same as swimming in a lake. The waves make it difficult to steer straight and the rise and fall of the water (and spray) makes it harder to breathe on both sides. It's well worth swimming in the sea if you have no lakes to practice in, but it would be better to try one of the open water lake sessions if you can (places like Heron lake run these each weekend). Either way, you should definitely practice with a wetsuit before the race even if it's only in your local pool.



HRM - up to you. I've never tried it but I'd have thought it could get in the way in transition (taking wetsuit off etc, particularly if you have the watch on your wrist). Best to practice with it beforehand.