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All advice welcome!!!!

I'm really contemplating getting into triathon and was wondering if any of you could help as to what gear i should be getting to help start me off (baring in mind i have a 3 week old daughter so money is not readilly available )

Also what kind of training would anyone suggest to start me off? I do a lot of running roughly 12-15 miles per week but dont do any of the other 2 disciplines????

Looking forward to your replies....

Comments

  • matt333matt333 Posts: 32
    It's not a cheap hobby but you could get a decent 2nd hand entry level bike for around £300.00 & hire a wetsuit for the season for around £50.00..

    If possible cycling to work is a good way to get a few miles in. I swim most days in the summer but that's because I live right near a lido and enjoy it. Swimming 2 -3 times a week should be enough.

    Which distance are you thinking on starting with?
  • I wasthinking of either a sprint distance or the olympic distance.....

    I used to do a lot of swimming but hav'nt swam for a good few years now so it will be good for some advice on training and style of swimming......
  • matt333matt333 Posts: 32
    This site is goood for swimming advice:

    http://www.swimsmooth.com/

    My girlfriend has trained for her 1st sprint tri this year and can now cover all the required distances with four months of training probably swimming 2 -3 times a week running twice and cycling about three times. She hadn't exercised for years prior to this and was a smoker so you can get in to shape pretty quickly for these things.
  • MATT333
    thanks for the link it will sure come in handy, and being an ex smoker myself its good to hear that with a bit training and devotion its possible to achieve the goals you set....
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Hi and welcome.

    Well you will see all sorts of posting here about bling kit and bikes and whilst it can get addictive and silly at times (gonna get shot now) you really don't need to spend a lot.

    For pool Sprints, swimming trunks and goggles, shorts and vest. Now if you don't have some of those and thinking of buying then a basic tri suit would be fine and dandy and is the best option. You can get a basic one here for under £30
    http://www.startfitness.co.uk/product.a ... P_ID=41230

    Goggles, well under a tenner will set you up.

    Running shoes, don't go cheap and nasty here you will hurt yourself. For Sprints and Olympic up to 10K you can get a decent shoe, Saucony, Asics, Mizuno etc for £40-£60 but please have your running style or gait analysed at a running shop.

    Bike: from £50 to £5,000 - check out your locak Police, they usually have auctions of recoverd stolen unclaimed bikes. http://www.bumblebeeauctions.co.uk/XcAP ... .asp?ID=24
    An MTB or hybrid is OK, just get some road tyres instead of knobbly ones, road bike even better.

    So have a think and then please come back at us with any further questions - we are a friendly bunch.
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    if cashflow is an issue then i'd ditch the open water events for now and stick with pool ones. main reason is the wettie cost but ow races tend to cost more to enter, too. if you are looking for cheap race entries then look around at local ones, they are often brilliant value, well organised and very friendly.

    i am a real tight git when it comes to kit, i have a lot of cheapo trikit that does the job without being fashionable or even tasteful. as zacnici has said, if you boil it down you can have a great time racing without all the kit.

    my bike is on the cyclescheme, so some saving there! i also commute on it so some nearly free training time. i bought my bike shoes and pedals off a bike forum (bikeradar or ctc i think), for a fraction of the rrp. i eventually bought some tri-shoes, this time from ebay.

    i bought some proper garish nasty tri shorts for my first event and wore some running shorts over the top to spare the eyes of the innocent. they were a fiver from ebay or the interweb i think. i did get a trisuit last birthday as a pressie, and the horrible shorts are used for swim and bike training.

    bike helmet was a present from family. lots of bike stuff (tyres, spare odds and sods) from forums. swimming goggles as part of my tri-club membership.
  • guys,

    Thanks for all the advice it is much appreciated, i have been looking in a free mag that i got with 220 and there is a firm (triuk) offering starter kits which include all the main essentials for getting into triathlons.....
    Just wondering what your thoughts were on this kit? is it worth the money or not.
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    They along with other stores can be good value when you look at the individual retail price and particularly if you are starting from scratch. Suggest wherever possible visit the place for a fit depending on the package.

    As with anything shop around look at what's on offer and see if this is for you.
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    the starter kits are great if you don't already have or think you will replace any of the stuff in it very soon. they certainly offer good value for money for starting out and triuk are a pretty well established place - their actual shop is in yeovil if memory serves.

    there are usually some good sales to be had in the winter for some kit (trisuit/short/tops, running shoes particularly) so you can do a lot of it piecemeal if you don't mind endless shopping around on the interweb.
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    Brillaint CH....
  • SkidsSkids Posts: 6
    Dad

    Like you I'm very new to tri and been trainging well in prep for the London, where I'm doing the sprint but today did my 1st OW swim and WOW what a difference it is to pool swimming!!!....but once I got used to the restriction from the wet suit, the fact you can't see alot under the water and a bit of zig zagging and learning to sight where I was heading it was great but would highly recommend doing it before you do any comp OW swim and so gald I did it cos takes a bit of getting used to, which is best done before any race!!!!
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Re OW swimming, quite often people find that there is tightness around the chest and shortage of breath, that is natural in wearing a wetsuit for the first time so try and get some practice in before the event. In any case spend a few minutes getting used to being in the water, face down, swish head from side to side. Find out if you have any pooling or flushing of water in the torso, arm or leg areas and adjust. Conehead gave a tip of get in the water, imerse yourself for a few minutes and then get out or move to shallow water, stand up to let water drain, some water remains and then 'seals' the suit.

    Lots of clips on youtube, heres one to start
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsHw_TkFEdE
    And sighting
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaPtvpI8 ... re=related
    But if you are like me its just a case of following the rest. What I do is sight as part of my stroke rythm e.g. 4 strokes head down, 2 double strokes, 1st double stroke raise head so goggles are just above water, sight-correct, 2nd double repeat and confirm the correction - but I do stress that works for me and I am a rubbish swimmer - the swim is just to get me to the bike which is a means to get me to the run.
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