Advice for a newbie

"The Murray Midget" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Doing my first triathlon in august in London.

Looking for advice on mistakes other people might have made on their first one. Either training or
the race itself. Any caveats? Good places to train in london?

And also need some advice about the best type of goggles to get. Obviously it is different for
each person but what sort of price will get me a decent pair?

The midget

Don't worry if the first one doesn't go as well as you expect or hope, just finish.

Planning for every scenario is different from actually executing the plan. Try to enjoy the
spectacle.

Goggles: Whatever you used in preparation(?). As far as price goes, it depends. I have several off-the-
rack pairs that are less than $10(US) and one pair with a prescription lens, $50(US). I use the
expensive pair to see the clock during pool workouts. The cheap ones are for racing and unplanned
opportunities to swim.

rsquared

The Murray Midget said:

And also need some advice about the best type of goggles to get. Obviously it is different for
each person but what sort of price will get me a decent pair?

I don't think price has much to do with goggles. I've been swimming for years and can't imagine
using anything besides the build-it-yourself swedes. They're generally about $3 each.

Obviously those may not work for you, but they work for many (just look around next time you're at a
swim meet or tri). Price shouldn't play too much of a role in goggle shopping.

- chris

In article <[email hidden]>,

Chris said:

The Murray Midget said:

And also need some advice about the best type of goggles to get. Obviously it is different for
each person but what sort of price will get me a decent pair?

I don't think price has much to do with goggles. I've been swimming for years and can't imagine
using anything besides the build-it-yourself swedes. They're generally about $3 each.

Obviously those may not work for you, but they work for many (just look around next time you're at
a swim meet or tri). Price shouldn't play too much of a role in goggle shopping.

I agree. I've had some $8 Speedo and Tyr goggles that were just fine. Of course, I loved my (then)
$30 Barracudas so much that I had a pair made with my prescription for $100 in 1991 and another pair
for about $120 in 2001. Someday I'll get Lasik, but until then . . . .

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."

- Homer J. Simpson

The Murray Midget said:

Doing my first triathlon in august in London.

Looking for advice on mistakes other people might have made on their first one. Either training or
the race itself. Any caveats? Good places to train in london?

And also need some advice about the best type of goggles to get. Obviously it is different for
each person but what sort of price will get me a decent pair?

The midget

Didn't happen till my second tri, but I couldn't find my bike on the first transition,a nd then when
I got back for T2 I couldn't find the spot to put it back in. Since then I take a bright bit of
ribbon and tie it to the bike rack next to my bike. It's amazing how all bikes tend to look the same
in transition but the ribbon always stands out. Of course if everyone who readds this starts puttign
ribbons on the bars I'm stuffed (Doh!).

The other thing I found is that initially I would get there early and do a walk through of the
transitions, but I was doing a walk through when mine was one of teh few bikes in there. Better to
wait till it fills up a bit and looks more like it will in race conditions.

Good luck.

Dave B.

In article <[email hidden]>,

DaveB said:

Didn't happen till my second tri, but I couldn't find my bike on the first transition,a nd then
when I got back for T2 I couldn't find the spot to put it back in. Since then I take a bright bit
of ribbon and tie it to the bike rack next to my bike. It's amazing how all bikes tend to look the
same in transition but the ribbon always stands out. Of course if everyone who readds this starts
puttign ribbons on the bars I'm stuffed (Doh!).

The other thing I found is that initially I would get there early and do a walk through of the
transitions, but I was doing a walk through when mine was one of teh few bikes in there. Better to
wait till it fills up a bit and looks more like it will in race conditions.

Helium balloon and chalk on the pavement are other tricks I've heard of. Of course, lots of big
races have the racks marked with the number of your wave, so that helps, and if you can remember
"I'm the third rack on the left from wave 3" then you're set.

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."

- Homer J. Simpson

[email hidden] (The Murray Midget) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Doing my first triathlon in august in London.

Looking for advice on mistakes other people might have made on their first one. Either training or
the race itself. Any caveats? Good places to train in london?

And also need some advice about the best type of goggles to get. Obviously it is different for
each person but what sort of price will get me a decent pair?

The midget

For training in London, it's definitely worth going down to Tooting Bec Lido when it opens for
some swimming - it's a 100 yard outdoor pool so gives you a chance to practice in your wetsuit and
get some good distance in without having to turn. Only open during the summer though, from about
April I think.

For cycling, the best place to go for short-medium rides is Richmond Park if you live anywhere in
south or west london. Lots of other cyclists there, no traffic lights and not too much traffic and
you get to look at the deer as you go round. If you want to get some longer group rides in, get down
to Sigma Sports bike shop near Kingston Bridge at 9.30am on a sunday, a load of riders meet there
every week and split into different groups based on speed and distance, there's normally a few
triathletes there.

Be carefull marking your bike location in transition, a new BTA rule states"rule 15.8 competitors
must not use any device to mark their position in transition. Any device or marker will be removed
by the referee but if this is not possible a penalty will be applied" Penalty is generally a 2 min
time penalty

Regards Dave

"rookie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (The Murray Midget) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Doing my first triathlon in august in London.

Looking for advice on mistakes other people might have made on their first one. Either training
or the race itself. Any caveats? Good places to train in london?

And also need some advice about the best type of goggles to get. Obviously it is different for
each person but what sort of price will get me a decent pair?

The midget

For training in London, it's definitely worth going down to Tooting Bec Lido when it opens for
some swimming - it's a 100 yard outdoor pool so gives you a chance to practice in your wetsuit and
get some good distance in without having to turn. Only open during the summer though, from about
April I think.

For cycling, the best place to go for short-medium rides is Richmond Park if you live anywhere in
south or west london. Lots of other cyclists there, no traffic lights and not too much traffic and
you get to look at the deer as you go round. If you want to get some longer group rides in, get
down to Sigma Sports bike shop near Kingston Bridge at 9.30am on a sunday, a load of riders meet
there every week and split into different groups based on speed and distance, there's normally a
few triathletes there.