First Time in a Triathlon
This week's blog should have been about running, but I am interrupting the series for a special blog post.
A friend texted me for some advice on doing a Triathlon for the first time. He will be doing the Jakes Off-Road Triathlon on the last weekend of April, which is a respectable challenge. This triathlon is open to Jamaicans and foreigners alike, so I am encouraging both my Jamaican and my Canadian peeps to check it out. Here is my advice for the first timer in this triathlon:
Swim - Jakes' 300m swim is at the fishing beach in Great Bay. Some things to think about:
Get comfortable swimming 1.5x the distance continuous in the pool. That means 450m in this case. You can use any stroke as there are no restriction on strokes in a Tri. Get comfortable with deep water, with wave action and that you will not be able to see the bottom. Go to the beach and swim a bit. If you are in Kingston, Lime Cay is great.
Learn to sight: Every 10-15 strokes, lift your head up to ensure you’re going in the correct direction.
Learn to breathe on both sides when using Freestyle (front crawl), if you learn to breathe on the right, and turn left on the Jakes swim, you now have waves hitting you in the face. In my training, I swim a length breathing on the right, then next length on the left.
The start – as the first turn is to the left and everyone else will be trying to win the event on the swim, you will be smart to either start on the right of the pack or if you choose to start with the pack, walk out rather than run into the water. Getting kicked in the face isn’t nice.
Bike – Transition 1. As it is an off road event, I would recommend using a mountain bike.
Helmet – before touching your bike in transition, put on your helmet, make sure it is clipped up – safety first.
If your schedule allows it, I would go to Jakes and do the bike route at least two weeks before. It is marked all year round, so it shouldn’t be a problem to figure it out, if not ask someone to accompany you.
Get your bike serviced with enough time to ride it at least once before the event, check to make sure the seat height is correct, the tyre pressures are right, the gears are shifting properly.
Make sure you are equipped with a tyre repair kit (have at least tyre irons, spare tubes and a pump). Learn how to change the tube. In the off road event going through macka-bush, it will cause punctures and you don’t want to "not finish" because of a flat.
Shoes – Make sure your laces are pulled and the shoes are ready for your feet to slip in. Running shoes will work fine if you don't have cycling shoes.
Sand – make sure you have a towel to wipe sand off your feet at the transition, some athletes also use a bucket with water.
Calories – drink or eat something within 15 minutes of getting on the bike, bonking out on the course is not good. Keep hydrated, if you are lucky it is a bright sunny day for the event, which means 85-100 (30-40) temps. The bike is the best time to hydrate for the ride itself and the upcoming run. It can get very hot in Treasure Beach and heatstroke is a medical emergency, so don't go there.
Run – time to find the inner animal
- Dismount, DISMOUNT – remember to get off the bike just before the line at the transition, with practice it should be smooth.
- Helmet – put the bike down or hand it off, then unclip your helmet.
Hydrate – grab two bottles of water, one to drink and the other dump on your head and the back of your neck. I cannot stress how important it is to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Once you have had a bottle of water to drink, grab a bar and start eating as you go on the run.
The run – the best thing I can tell you is during training, at least once a week, do a short run after biking or do a 15-20 minute bike ride before going for a weekly run. Running uses a different set of muscles than cycling, and they will give you a cussing like you would not believe when you try to run after cycling.
Start the run at an easy pace and as your legs warm up, pick up the pace. Your goal is to finish strong.
Good luck!