Triathlon Tips for Beginners - Training and Wardrobe

Hi there budding triathletes!
I'm no expert as I've only done one Olympic triathlon, but I'd like to share my experience on how I got here. You need three things: general fitness, time and money!

I'm 46 and this is the first time in my life that the constellation of these 3 factors has come around for me. But literally anyone can do it if they have some sports background from their youth.

Your sporting background should preferably be as a swimmer, cyclist or runner. I raced in an 8-day competitive cycling tour at 18, and after a 25-year gap from sport I got back into the gym at 42 and ended up running two marathons at 44 and 45. Legs have memories!

My son is now 20 years old and I'm fed up studying languages in my free time, so I have 3 hours free time a day to change, train for 2 hours, shower, change again and get back home. You need to do double sessions some days, and it's best to seperate them. So, a working person has to train on the way to work and on the way home back from work to reduce commuting time. Once you're at home you won't move from the comfort of your living room, I can assure you!

You should find a swimming pool and a gym directly on your way to work. This way, you end up parking automatically outside as part of your routine. Those "Not now, I'm tired" excuses are easier to fight if it's part of your routine. If you can find a high-level swimming class at your commuting times, so much the better. Strength and running training can be easily done alone in the gym. Meals should be eaten just after training to repair your body, so get that Tupperware out, fast food doesn't repair a thing, on the contrary!

A normal training routine would be:
Monday and Tuesday: One medium-distance session of each discipline at light intensity
Wednesday and Thursday: One shorter-distance session of each at high intensity
Friday: Rest and socialize intensely!
Saturday and Sunday: One long-distance, low-intensity session of each

So that's general fitness and time. But what about money? If you're a swimmer, cyclist or runner, you will already have all the winter and summer equipment for that sport, so depending on the season, you'll have to buy 2 basic outfits for the other two sports.

Here's my swimming wardrobe:

A basic wetsuit like the one on the left costs around 200 euros. You need one when the water temperature is less than 20ºC. The swimming buoy is for open-water training at the weekend. It's 40 euros. The other equipment to develop swimming technique etc. only costs 100 euros. If you only swim in the pool and do summer triathlons in warm water, you only need this.

Here's my running wardrobe:

The winter gear on the right costs about 60 euros, but you often get a winter garment as part of the race inscription in the bigger half-marathons. A good pair of trainers costs 100 euros and a decent multi-sport GPS watch with total distance + current speed + heart rate will cost you 200 euros. You really need this watch for training at intensity. And if you've got peculiar soles on your feet, which most runners find, a pair of personalized insoles cost 100 euros more.

So, if you're going to just jog around the neighborhood, it's true that a 100 euro pair of trainers will be enough, but if you want to train seriously, you're talking about around 500 euros.

Now the really painful one, cycling. A basic carbon-fibre bike costs around 1,00 euros and a pair of carbon-fibre cycling shoes cost 200 euros:

Now here's my cycling wardrobe, winter gear on the right, which goes over the summer gear on the left. It's around 20 euros per garment which comes to 200 euros.

Did you think I was finished? No, now, here's my triathlon and gym wardrobe;

For strength and resistence training in the gym, you basically need a running outfit as previously shown, but also a long and short towel, grip gloves and flip-flops. Very cheap of course, but look at the back: a triathlon skinsuit will set you back about 150 euros and a competition timechip 20 euros.

The various creams, gels and energy bars are of course perishable and will cost you around 10 euros a month. A low-budget gym is 20 euros a month and a cheap public pool 10 euros monthly. Treatments of one spa, one massage and one physiotherapy consultation will cost around 80 euros a month. Race fees, racing licence fees and club subscriptions will cost around 30 euros a month. So, monthly perishables (MNTH) cost about 150 euros a month or 1,800 a year

So, in total, the basket for our first-year triathlete costs:
SWIM       340 euros
BIKE     1,400
RUN         500
TRI           170
MNTH   1,800
c.            4,200 euros

Do you STILL  wanna tri?