And finally, LMFAO and Jimmy Fallon in their Spin Class Song!!!
Showing posts with label ironman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ironman. Show all posts
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Weekend Humor - Cycling Style!
And finally, LMFAO and Jimmy Fallon in their Spin Class Song!!!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Confession: I train 15 minutes at a time
Well, that's kind of true. Anything over an hour, I take in nutrition. And I start taking in nutrition early. Recent research has led me to adapt what I'm doing, and I'll be changing my methods a bit. USAT had a good article on nutrition myths this month that is worth a read-emphasizing the importance of individual nutrition. Meaning-don't take the cookie cutter approach to your race/training nutrition. What nutrition works for one athlete is not guaranteed to work for you. But this blog is less about the nutrition, and more about what happens between the nutrition...
Read on:
For a triathlon, I'll take in a half serving of my Infinit marathon formula about 15 minutes before the triathlon starts, then I'll start with my cycling formula right out of T1 and every 15 minutes after that until I hit T2, then I switch to my marathon formula.
For a running race, it depends on the distance. I'll take in nutrition starting 15 minutes before the race starts, and nothing else unless the race is more than an hour. If it is, I'll take in my marathon mix every 15 minutes.
But back to my point. I train 15 minutes at a time. I break down my 60 minute, 90 minute, 120 minute (OH MY GOSH THIS WORKOUT IS NEVER GOING TO END) into smaller, more bearable portions, broken up by my nutrition needs. How does this translate to race day? I swim/bike/run from transition to aid station, or from aid station to aid station. And that's it. I focus on each portion as one manageable bit at a time.
And the best part? Each 15 minute segment is different. The scenery changes, the people change, my train of thoughts change, etc. It's like my system reboots every time I take a nutrition break and I'm ready to start again.
During a half/marathon I usually run aid station to aid station and I walk through the aid station so I don't unintentionally wear my water. The 15 minute rule gets a little more flexible, but the concept is the same, and the nutrition still happens on the 15 minute mark.
"Why 15 minutes?" a person might ask. I've set up my nutrition to take in about 18-20 oz of water per hour as recommended and trained for, and the Infinit as directed and trained with. If I take it in every 15 minutes, I tend not to get "sloshy" or bloated. So the answer is "personal choice."
Truthfully, switching to Infinit has helped substantially. No more "What was next? Gel? Drink mix? Ugh, NO MOAR," and abandoning my plan to switch to on-course offerings. I know my stomach won't revolt. It's simple and doesn't take any extra thought.
But the race or training session is manageable. It's not one huge event, but several smaller ones that don't overwhelm me with the thought of completing it. Beyond that, I take one day at a time. Ironman training for IM Texas in May? Nah. I entered each day from the Beginner Triathlete basic Ironman plan into my calendar, and I'm looking a few days ahead at a time. Not weeks, not even to the race. Just to the next day or so to make sure I have time to complete the training sessions, and switch around what I need to. I did the same for the Marathon in February, and the Ultramarathon on Saturday.
The lesson is the same whether you're training or racing. Small, manageable parts. I've chosen to break mine up by nutrition breaks (and sleeping at night!).
How do you break your training sessions up?
To my readers: Infinit Nutrition has ended their amazing yearly sale, but you can still save some money. Use the code "firegirl" at checkout to save 10% and help to fund the scholarship that I'll be running a marathon for in firefighting gear!
Read on:
For a triathlon, I'll take in a half serving of my Infinit marathon formula about 15 minutes before the triathlon starts, then I'll start with my cycling formula right out of T1 and every 15 minutes after that until I hit T2, then I switch to my marathon formula.
For a running race, it depends on the distance. I'll take in nutrition starting 15 minutes before the race starts, and nothing else unless the race is more than an hour. If it is, I'll take in my marathon mix every 15 minutes.
But back to my point. I train 15 minutes at a time. I break down my 60 minute, 90 minute, 120 minute (OH MY GOSH THIS WORKOUT IS NEVER GOING TO END) into smaller, more bearable portions, broken up by my nutrition needs. How does this translate to race day? I swim/bike/run from transition to aid station, or from aid station to aid station. And that's it. I focus on each portion as one manageable bit at a time.
And the best part? Each 15 minute segment is different. The scenery changes, the people change, my train of thoughts change, etc. It's like my system reboots every time I take a nutrition break and I'm ready to start again.
During a half/marathon I usually run aid station to aid station and I walk through the aid station so I don't unintentionally wear my water. The 15 minute rule gets a little more flexible, but the concept is the same, and the nutrition still happens on the 15 minute mark.
"Why 15 minutes?" a person might ask. I've set up my nutrition to take in about 18-20 oz of water per hour as recommended and trained for, and the Infinit as directed and trained with. If I take it in every 15 minutes, I tend not to get "sloshy" or bloated. So the answer is "personal choice."
Truthfully, switching to Infinit has helped substantially. No more "What was next? Gel? Drink mix? Ugh, NO MOAR," and abandoning my plan to switch to on-course offerings. I know my stomach won't revolt. It's simple and doesn't take any extra thought.
But the race or training session is manageable. It's not one huge event, but several smaller ones that don't overwhelm me with the thought of completing it. Beyond that, I take one day at a time. Ironman training for IM Texas in May? Nah. I entered each day from the Beginner Triathlete basic Ironman plan into my calendar, and I'm looking a few days ahead at a time. Not weeks, not even to the race. Just to the next day or so to make sure I have time to complete the training sessions, and switch around what I need to. I did the same for the Marathon in February, and the Ultramarathon on Saturday.
The lesson is the same whether you're training or racing. Small, manageable parts. I've chosen to break mine up by nutrition breaks (and sleeping at night!).
How do you break your training sessions up?
To my readers: Infinit Nutrition has ended their amazing yearly sale, but you can still save some money. Use the code "firegirl" at checkout to save 10% and help to fund the scholarship that I'll be running a marathon for in firefighting gear!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Evolution of Nutrition
Ugh. I still haven't learned how to use this blogger. I thought it was going to post this automatically-so to my readers, I'm sorry for the delay.
I'm putting off a promised blog post about taking breaks during running to post about my nutrition.
When I started running, I was clueless. Sometimes I still am. I was so proud of how I looked with something like fourteen packets of Gu stuffed in a running belt during the Austin marathon...
I used Gu to keep the calories in. On my frame, however, I took in too many calories. Now, several years and many evolutions of my nutritional plan later, I'm still running water stop to water stop, but my nutrition is different. None of this occurred in one huge leap, but more as a series a stumbles and hops as I (eventually) took advice of those smarter and more experienced than I.
The first major evolution of my nutrition came when I moved to triathlon. I started using a packet of Gu before my swim, then water and Gu just out of T1 and every 30 minutes for the rest of the race. I added a half serving of Perpetuem per hour on the bike and took in water when I took in Gu. Essentially, every fifteen minutes I was taking in Gu or Perpetuem.
Guess what? Still. Too. Much. Nutrition. At my last triathlon, I wound up abandoning my "tried and true" nutrition plan and taking in coke on the run just to try and settle my stomach. It was a less than pleasant experience (well of course it was, it was a half ironman, silly) and I vowed not to repeat the nutrition portion. But since I'm gearing up for Ironman Texas and a marathon and........ Anyway, I had to figure out what I was going to replace my defunct nutrition plan with.
Enter Infinit. (Can you hear the angels singing?) I'd been considering switching anyway. I was tired of all the gels, all the mixing, keeping it straight on race day, and trying to figure out where to put all my gels (There's a joke there..) So I logged onto the Infinit website, ordered an initial consultation, and waited patiently. The slider thing on the front page didn't do much for my Type A personality because (are you listening Infinit?) there are no numbers on the sliders to tell me what exactly is in my drink at each step of the way. Okay, I'll wait for a real person. And of course, I'm a typical athlete. I know what I need, I know what's best for me, just set it up so I can do it the way I've been training and let me order it!!!!!! Yeah, about that..... I got a email from Laurie asking me some basic information about what distance races I usually tackle, how heavy do I sweat, do I have any GI issues, my, ahem, weight...... In a pretty short period of time she had two formulas set up for me. One for running and one for cycling. I looked at the nutritional values and (drumroll please)......
Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to run on that? My pet dog couldn't run for an hour on that, let alone me. But her email was so convincing, so I decided to give it a try. I ordered my first bag, a cycling mix, and I didn't just settle for any test. I put it to a real test. I set out for a 52 mile bike ride. Hills. Sustained climbs. Wind. Heat. With no backup nutrition. Just me, my bicycle, Infinit, and of course my cell phone, just in case my stomach decided to revolt and I had to turn my bike ride into a sudden duathlon involving a run for the treeline away from the road.
What happened next was pure magic. No stomach upset. No bonking. I felt strong, I felt good and my bicycle had wings that day. Okay... I'm convinced... Slightly. Let's see what happens when I run. Surely this is a fluke and can't happen twice. So I ordered a bag of the running mix. Once again, a real test. Fourteen miles in Texas heat. Once again, magic. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not just taking my word for it. I'm putting it to the test. Again. And again and again. And we'll see what happens. But through this whole process, Laurie has been amazing. She's been patient with a Type A athlete who is demanding and not understanding. I just run this, I don't do the whole microbiology thing where you need to understand exactly how muscles/cells/organs work and work under the stress of endurance exercise and then how to feed them. I mean really, who has time to do all that? But I'm glad someone does!
So I'm still taking in nutrition every fifteen minutes, but not at the higher levels of calories I was taking in before. Laurie dialed it down for EXACTLY what I needed. She seems to be an expert or something!!! She asked the right questions and got the answers she needed so that my hypersensitive-going-to-need-counseling-before-this-season-is-over stomach could handle the stresses I'm putting my body through.
And that's the foundation behind Infinit. The formula is designed with each athlete in mind. How many calories, how strong you like your flavor, how much you'll be sweating, how much caffeine do you want (if any), do you have any gi issues, etc.? Infinit knows you aren't just another athlete with a number. You're an individual with different needs than the ones that you're racing, and I really got that feeling throughout this whole process.
So, Thanks, Infinit. And Laurie... Standing ovation!
Infinit has goodies like energy drink mix and recovery drink mixes, water bottles and hats. Don't forget that when you order from Infinit, you can help to fund the scholarship by using the discount code "firegirl" at checkout.
To my readers-I hope your holiday season is going well. Happy New Year!
I'm putting off a promised blog post about taking breaks during running to post about my nutrition.
When I started running, I was clueless. Sometimes I still am. I was so proud of how I looked with something like fourteen packets of Gu stuffed in a running belt during the Austin marathon...
I used Gu to keep the calories in. On my frame, however, I took in too many calories. Now, several years and many evolutions of my nutritional plan later, I'm still running water stop to water stop, but my nutrition is different. None of this occurred in one huge leap, but more as a series a stumbles and hops as I (eventually) took advice of those smarter and more experienced than I.
The first major evolution of my nutrition came when I moved to triathlon. I started using a packet of Gu before my swim, then water and Gu just out of T1 and every 30 minutes for the rest of the race. I added a half serving of Perpetuem per hour on the bike and took in water when I took in Gu. Essentially, every fifteen minutes I was taking in Gu or Perpetuem.
Guess what? Still. Too. Much. Nutrition. At my last triathlon, I wound up abandoning my "tried and true" nutrition plan and taking in coke on the run just to try and settle my stomach. It was a less than pleasant experience (well of course it was, it was a half ironman, silly) and I vowed not to repeat the nutrition portion. But since I'm gearing up for Ironman Texas and a marathon and........ Anyway, I had to figure out what I was going to replace my defunct nutrition plan with.
Enter Infinit. (Can you hear the angels singing?) I'd been considering switching anyway. I was tired of all the gels, all the mixing, keeping it straight on race day, and trying to figure out where to put all my gels (There's a joke there..) So I logged onto the Infinit website, ordered an initial consultation, and waited patiently. The slider thing on the front page didn't do much for my Type A personality because (are you listening Infinit?) there are no numbers on the sliders to tell me what exactly is in my drink at each step of the way. Okay, I'll wait for a real person. And of course, I'm a typical athlete. I know what I need, I know what's best for me, just set it up so I can do it the way I've been training and let me order it!!!!!! Yeah, about that..... I got a email from Laurie asking me some basic information about what distance races I usually tackle, how heavy do I sweat, do I have any GI issues, my, ahem, weight...... In a pretty short period of time she had two formulas set up for me. One for running and one for cycling. I looked at the nutritional values and (drumroll please)......
Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to run on that? My pet dog couldn't run for an hour on that, let alone me. But her email was so convincing, so I decided to give it a try. I ordered my first bag, a cycling mix, and I didn't just settle for any test. I put it to a real test. I set out for a 52 mile bike ride. Hills. Sustained climbs. Wind. Heat. With no backup nutrition. Just me, my bicycle, Infinit, and of course my cell phone, just in case my stomach decided to revolt and I had to turn my bike ride into a sudden duathlon involving a run for the treeline away from the road.
What happened next was pure magic. No stomach upset. No bonking. I felt strong, I felt good and my bicycle had wings that day. Okay... I'm convinced... Slightly. Let's see what happens when I run. Surely this is a fluke and can't happen twice. So I ordered a bag of the running mix. Once again, a real test. Fourteen miles in Texas heat. Once again, magic. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not just taking my word for it. I'm putting it to the test. Again. And again and again. And we'll see what happens. But through this whole process, Laurie has been amazing. She's been patient with a Type A athlete who is demanding and not understanding. I just run this, I don't do the whole microbiology thing where you need to understand exactly how muscles/cells/organs work and work under the stress of endurance exercise and then how to feed them. I mean really, who has time to do all that? But I'm glad someone does!
So I'm still taking in nutrition every fifteen minutes, but not at the higher levels of calories I was taking in before. Laurie dialed it down for EXACTLY what I needed. She seems to be an expert or something!!! She asked the right questions and got the answers she needed so that my hypersensitive-going-to-need-counseling-before-this-season-is-over stomach could handle the stresses I'm putting my body through.
And that's the foundation behind Infinit. The formula is designed with each athlete in mind. How many calories, how strong you like your flavor, how much you'll be sweating, how much caffeine do you want (if any), do you have any gi issues, etc.? Infinit knows you aren't just another athlete with a number. You're an individual with different needs than the ones that you're racing, and I really got that feeling throughout this whole process.
So, Thanks, Infinit. And Laurie... Standing ovation!
Infinit has goodies like energy drink mix and recovery drink mixes, water bottles and hats. Don't forget that when you order from Infinit, you can help to fund the scholarship by using the discount code "firegirl" at checkout.
To my readers-I hope your holiday season is going well. Happy New Year!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Kerrville Triathlon Festival - A Must-Do Event for 2012
WOW. High Five Events, you get a standing ovation. Well done.
You guys even got the weather to cooperate.
The drive in wasn't so bad. Two-ish hours from the Austin area, through beautiful central Texas. The Inn of the Hills hosted the event, and the packet pick-up, expo, and athlete meetings were all in the same building, about a block away from bike check-in. The whole thing felt well organized and welcoming from the beginning. I was one of the last minute registrants, but, not a problem, the race organizers still had it work smoothly. I registered for the quarter iron distance, got my wristband and shwag, and got some last minute items from the expo. I picked up some Zensah sleeves, anticipating a cool start for the next morning (Thanks, Hill Country Running!). Bike check in was next. T1 was about a block away from packet pick-up, and once again, well organized. Everything went smoothly. Thanks to the help of a volunteer who is slightly OCD like myself, the race number got onto my bike and my bike got checked in. Off to T2 and run bag check in. Once again, thanks to the help of a VERY smart volunteer, I got my bag set up and ready for T2.
Next stop? Got to find dinner. Chili's was very welcoming, and the servers even seemed excited for the race, wishing us good luck on the way out the door.
Back to the hotel to get ready and rested.
The morning was in the 50's. Off to the races. Parking was near the finish line/T2, with a shuttle to the starting line/T1. The half iron distance waves went first with the quarter (olympic) distance waves last. As far as an open water swim goes, the water was a dream. It was as calm as you could get, and you could get a view of the half iron distance swimmers as they went by. The race announcer was a hoot! I'm not sure who he was, but he had us cracking up while we were waiting for our wave. Then, 3-2-1 and my wave was in the water and off! The water was almost warm enough to go without wetsuits, but not quite (which was good, because most of us used wetsuits for warmth before the race, not during!).
The swim was good. After my wave thinned out, it was fairly calm, with very few people running over each other. Then, out of the water, up the ramp and over to the strippers. And first, I need to give props to the guy that made the ramps. 'Cause dude, you rock! Back to the strippers... If you've never done a triathlon needing a wetsuit or that had strippers, you need to. These guys and gals are awesome. You and they get the wetsuit down to your waist, you flop down on your butt, they rip the wetsuit down over your feet, and off you go. But this is where I had a problem... When the strippers ripped my wetsuit off, the chip strap on my ankle broke. No, I don't mean came undone. It broke. And the chip must have flown a good ten feet or more. Thanks to some sharp eyed volunteers, they saw it take a hike, and got it back for me. So I wasted several minutes while one of the awesome volunteers figured out how to make the thing work for the rest of the race. Did I mention how awesome the volunteers were?
Run up the hill and to my bike. Except for the mishap with my chip strap, T1 went well. Then, onto the bike leg. Which. Was. AWESOME. If you're familiar with Central Texas, you know that cycling can sometimes be a crapshoot. Hills, traffic, chipseal, hills, lights, itty bitty shoulders, hills, roadkill... You name it. Well, the course was mostly flat-ish, some chipseal, and wide shoulders/protected roadway/quiet roadway. Gorgeous hill country. Two hills that reminded you that you were, in fact, still in the hill country. Fast enough of a course that I was grateful for my sleeves! Great, well supported course.
Then into T2. Great transition-uneventful. And on to the run. Well supported. Did I mention well supported? Two loops through downtown(?) and a park. Then the finish line. It was a beautiful thing. They even stretched a tape across the finish line for each finisher so you could "break" it. Results were up so quickly that my head was spinning! Post race massage, snacks, and adult beverages were available. There were finisher's medals for everyone that completed the quarter and the half distance events (I'm not sure about the sprint from the day before).
I just got my email saying that pictures were ready, and my post race high is typically smooshed by viewing those pictures. Well, Kreutz-thanks for not ruining that high! Kreutz Photography did a really good job.
My stats:
4th in my AG, 7th woman. 24th finisher overall. Time 2:50. Great place to start!
Congrats to all the finishers.
Pros:
The volunteers were amazing
Beautiful race
Well organized
The volunteers did such a great job
Great swim course
Awesome bike course
Nice shuttle between T2 and T1
Strippers
Post race party
Kreutz Photography did a great job
Well organized
The event was about the triathletes, focused on having fun
The town got involved and was very welcoming.
Did I mention the volunteers rocked it?
Cons:
Mud in T1
Half of the run course was off road
The run course may have been longer than it was advertised
At least one aggressive cyclist that would pass people and then cut them off-she was really rude!
Hands down, the best triathlon I've ever done.
So once again, High Five Events, amazing job.
You guys even got the weather to cooperate.
The drive in wasn't so bad. Two-ish hours from the Austin area, through beautiful central Texas. The Inn of the Hills hosted the event, and the packet pick-up, expo, and athlete meetings were all in the same building, about a block away from bike check-in. The whole thing felt well organized and welcoming from the beginning. I was one of the last minute registrants, but, not a problem, the race organizers still had it work smoothly. I registered for the quarter iron distance, got my wristband and shwag, and got some last minute items from the expo. I picked up some Zensah sleeves, anticipating a cool start for the next morning (Thanks, Hill Country Running!). Bike check in was next. T1 was about a block away from packet pick-up, and once again, well organized. Everything went smoothly. Thanks to the help of a volunteer who is slightly OCD like myself, the race number got onto my bike and my bike got checked in. Off to T2 and run bag check in. Once again, thanks to the help of a VERY smart volunteer, I got my bag set up and ready for T2.
Next stop? Got to find dinner. Chili's was very welcoming, and the servers even seemed excited for the race, wishing us good luck on the way out the door.
Back to the hotel to get ready and rested.
The morning was in the 50's. Off to the races. Parking was near the finish line/T2, with a shuttle to the starting line/T1. The half iron distance waves went first with the quarter (olympic) distance waves last. As far as an open water swim goes, the water was a dream. It was as calm as you could get, and you could get a view of the half iron distance swimmers as they went by. The race announcer was a hoot! I'm not sure who he was, but he had us cracking up while we were waiting for our wave. Then, 3-2-1 and my wave was in the water and off! The water was almost warm enough to go without wetsuits, but not quite (which was good, because most of us used wetsuits for warmth before the race, not during!).
The swim was good. After my wave thinned out, it was fairly calm, with very few people running over each other. Then, out of the water, up the ramp and over to the strippers. And first, I need to give props to the guy that made the ramps. 'Cause dude, you rock! Back to the strippers... If you've never done a triathlon needing a wetsuit or that had strippers, you need to. These guys and gals are awesome. You and they get the wetsuit down to your waist, you flop down on your butt, they rip the wetsuit down over your feet, and off you go. But this is where I had a problem... When the strippers ripped my wetsuit off, the chip strap on my ankle broke. No, I don't mean came undone. It broke. And the chip must have flown a good ten feet or more. Thanks to some sharp eyed volunteers, they saw it take a hike, and got it back for me. So I wasted several minutes while one of the awesome volunteers figured out how to make the thing work for the rest of the race. Did I mention how awesome the volunteers were?
Run up the hill and to my bike. Except for the mishap with my chip strap, T1 went well. Then, onto the bike leg. Which. Was. AWESOME. If you're familiar with Central Texas, you know that cycling can sometimes be a crapshoot. Hills, traffic, chipseal, hills, lights, itty bitty shoulders, hills, roadkill... You name it. Well, the course was mostly flat-ish, some chipseal, and wide shoulders/protected roadway/quiet roadway. Gorgeous hill country. Two hills that reminded you that you were, in fact, still in the hill country. Fast enough of a course that I was grateful for my sleeves! Great, well supported course.
Then into T2. Great transition-uneventful. And on to the run. Well supported. Did I mention well supported? Two loops through downtown(?) and a park. Then the finish line. It was a beautiful thing. They even stretched a tape across the finish line for each finisher so you could "break" it. Results were up so quickly that my head was spinning! Post race massage, snacks, and adult beverages were available. There were finisher's medals for everyone that completed the quarter and the half distance events (I'm not sure about the sprint from the day before).
I just got my email saying that pictures were ready, and my post race high is typically smooshed by viewing those pictures. Well, Kreutz-thanks for not ruining that high! Kreutz Photography did a really good job.
My stats:
4th in my AG, 7th woman. 24th finisher overall. Time 2:50. Great place to start!
Congrats to all the finishers.
Pros:
The volunteers were amazing
Beautiful race
Well organized
The volunteers did such a great job
Great swim course
Awesome bike course
Nice shuttle between T2 and T1
Strippers
Post race party
Kreutz Photography did a great job
Well organized
The event was about the triathletes, focused on having fun
The town got involved and was very welcoming.
Did I mention the volunteers rocked it?
Cons:
Mud in T1
Half of the run course was off road
The run course may have been longer than it was advertised
At least one aggressive cyclist that would pass people and then cut them off-she was really rude!
Hands down, the best triathlon I've ever done.
So once again, High Five Events, amazing job.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
What do I wear for my triathlon?
I frequently see the question, "What do I wear for my triathlon?"
You can find many different solutions online. Search the forum at iamtri.com or beginnnertriathlete.com and you can find this question has been answered over and over again.
Personally, I'm a big fan of the two-piece tri suit. I have three. I train in them religiously and I have my favorite. One of them even matches my bike.
But I've learned several things about what to wear, and what not to wear during endurance sports.
First, the baggier your clothing is, the more likely you are to chafe. Coming from a running background, I have all the cute running skorts. Guess what. I used to bathe in body glide to keep from chafing so badly that I'd walk bowlegged for a few days. I once saw a guy during the Austin Marathon bleeding from his nipples from chafing so badly. No more cute running clothes...
Second, everyone wears tight fitting lycra, and no one cares!!! If you catch a stranger looking at you, they're probably admiring your tri suit or jersey, and wondering what brand it is. In one race, I saw athletes with their names on their bottoms. Try not to stare at that!
Third, train in it. If you wear your pretty new tri suit the day of the race, you won't know where the hot spots are. I have one tri suit that I have to coat the inner seams so I don't chafe or blister. I'm glad to have found this out before race day!
Unless you're doing an Iron distance event, the likelihood is that you won't have a changing tent-meaning you won't get to change. Tri suits reduce the time spent in transition and give you one (or more) fewer thing(s) to worry about.
Since I started doing triathlon, my running gear has gotten a makeover. I now run in either a tri suit, or compression shorts and a racerback top.
The most important thing to remember is that no two bodies are alike. What fits one person just right and doesn't chafe may be too harsh on another person's shape. One brand may work well for one person, but not at all for another. Be prepared to try different things.
You can find many different solutions online. Search the forum at iamtri.com or beginnnertriathlete.com and you can find this question has been answered over and over again.
Personally, I'm a big fan of the two-piece tri suit. I have three. I train in them religiously and I have my favorite. One of them even matches my bike.
But I've learned several things about what to wear, and what not to wear during endurance sports.
First, the baggier your clothing is, the more likely you are to chafe. Coming from a running background, I have all the cute running skorts. Guess what. I used to bathe in body glide to keep from chafing so badly that I'd walk bowlegged for a few days. I once saw a guy during the Austin Marathon bleeding from his nipples from chafing so badly. No more cute running clothes...
Second, everyone wears tight fitting lycra, and no one cares!!! If you catch a stranger looking at you, they're probably admiring your tri suit or jersey, and wondering what brand it is. In one race, I saw athletes with their names on their bottoms. Try not to stare at that!
Third, train in it. If you wear your pretty new tri suit the day of the race, you won't know where the hot spots are. I have one tri suit that I have to coat the inner seams so I don't chafe or blister. I'm glad to have found this out before race day!
Unless you're doing an Iron distance event, the likelihood is that you won't have a changing tent-meaning you won't get to change. Tri suits reduce the time spent in transition and give you one (or more) fewer thing(s) to worry about.
Since I started doing triathlon, my running gear has gotten a makeover. I now run in either a tri suit, or compression shorts and a racerback top.
The most important thing to remember is that no two bodies are alike. What fits one person just right and doesn't chafe may be too harsh on another person's shape. One brand may work well for one person, but not at all for another. Be prepared to try different things.
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