Getting started as a triathlete requires some initial cash outlay. Not only do you need the basics (swimsuit, bike, running shoes), but you’ll find tons of gear and gadgets designed to help you train and compete better. If you’re a product junkie like me, the prospect of so much shopping makes you salivate. If you’re like my friend Rhea, you start muttering about conspicuous consumption and the class stratification of the sport. Penny pinchers take heart – you can be a frugal triathlete. Here are some tips on how to save and which gear is truly essential.
Swim – you can get by with your beach bikini, but you’ll feel more hardcore in a sport swimsuit. But don’t pay $80 at a sports store. Shop online for last year’s models, or hit your local discount clothing store. I recently found a Speedo suit at TJ Max for $15. Trisuits are nifty swimsuits designed for all three parts of the race. They save time during the transitions, but they are also ridiculously expensive. Sales at online triathlon sport companies are your best bet for a deal. The cheapest I ever found was about $35, but it was canary yellow. Yuck. Luckily, my fiance gave me a groovy Danskin trisuit for my birthday last year. Never underestimate the motivating power of cool clothing.! Before that, I swam in a pair of spinning bike shorts (the thick padding in regular bike shorts will soak up too much water) and a sports bra. It worked fine, even if it wasn’t the classiest outfit in the field.
Goggles are a must. I made the mistake of doing an open water swim without them one time. There’s no chlorine in a lake, so I don’t need them, right? Wrong. I couldn’t see a thing! Goggles make it easier to sight the course markers and eliminate squinting into the early morning sun. It’s good to have a tinted pair for sunny days and a clear pair for overcast weather. Also, you won’t have to panic if the strap on one breaks the morning of the race. You can get a perfectly good pair for $5 at Target.
At open water races, swim caps are usually provided. You won’t get one for pool swims, though, and you’ll need one for training. For women, I highly recommend spending a couple of extra dollars on a silicone cap. If you have long hair, latex will worsen the breakage and damage done by chlorine. Silicone caps slide on and off easily, sans gobs of hair. And while on the subject, let me plug my favorite hair care brand. Malibu Wellness makes a line of demineralizing products that are are great for getting chlorine residue out.
Wetsuits are a big investment and if this is your first season, you should probably hold off buying one until you know you’re going to stick with the sport. You can easily avoid early season open water swims, since plenty of sports centers offer pool swim triathlons before June. You can also rent a wetsuit from a local company like Go For It Sports. E-Bay is a good place to find used suits, but make sure you can return it if it doesn’t fit. Either that or go try one on at REI to find out what size you are.
Swim workout plans often call for an array of exotic looking training devices. I pretty much ignore these. If you’re just starting out and not hoping to place in your age group, you’ll be fine ignoring them too. If you do want to experiment with hand paddles, flippers, and styrofoam blocks that you stick between your thighs, your local pool will probably have some for you to use.
And don’t forget a pair of flip flops to protect your feet from nasty diseases that will turn your toesies gnarly and yellow for the rest of your life.
Thanks, Jill! The socialist is learning a lot! I’d like to chime in and recommend getting a tri suit. That two-piece thingy I got at the boot camp has been great for running and biking as well as swimming. (The notion of having a separate pair of shorts for each sport is far too bourgeois for me). And I did invest in some good running shoes at a place where they do a personal fitting. I’ll probably save on chiropractor bills in the long run