How to pick a triathlon
Is picking a triathlon harder than doing the triathlon itself?
To the outsider it seems easy, just pick a race, sign up for it, then go do it.
But there’s a fair bit to consider. (especially if you want it to be less stressful and more enjoyable). You’re going to need to bring a lot of stuff with you, your bike, a wetsuit, food, friends!?
Well, don’t worry, below we’ve put together all the things you need to think about when picking a triathlon, using our shared knowledge as amateur triathletes, as well as collecting some general advice from books, magazines and online.
Here’s a quick overview of what we’ll get into, and the considerations you’ll need to take:
Where is it?
When is it?
What's the course like?
Branded vs local races
Cost
So, how do you pick a triathlon?
Location, location, location
Of course, this is a bit different for everyone, based on your work/living situation and where you currently live.
But two of the biggest deciding factors are location and timing - where is the race, and when is it?
This is even more important if it’s your first triathlon - you’ll want to pick an event that’s close to you, and falls mid-end of summer.
Picking an event that’s close by is beneficial for a number of reasons.
It will be easier to bring your kit, and easier for friends and family to join and support you: this is huge - from cheering support, to helping carry your stuff and organise your stickers etc - having someone their on race day will go a long way to help you keep calm, and help you finish the race.
Doing a triathlon that’s closer to where you live will help to keep costs down as well - again, especially important for a first or second time race, when you’re not yet ready to drop a huge amount of cash on a race.
When is the best time to race?
The triathlon season starts from the end of spring, right through to the end of summer.
Races will pop up all throughout the season.
We would recommend picking a race midway through the season, or towards the end, for a couple of reasons:
Firstly, it gives you time to train in better weather conditions (especially if the winter training didn’t go so well).
“If the event is before June, the risk is that the weather hasn’t been good enough to train outside. If you do an event later in the season, your training gets easier because it’s lighter and warmer outside”.
Papa woo, during episode 3 of the why we tri podcast: how to pick a tri
Secondly, if it works for you, it also gives you a chance to do a pre-race, or a test race. This could be a shorter distance, or a local race - something to ‘test the water’, run through your kit checklist - and just do a trial run under race scenarios before the big day.
So with time and place - you’ll be able to narrow down your race options quite a lot already, take a note of them, see if they work in your calendar, and get ready for the next step…
Comparing the courses
Ok, you’ve got a shortlist of a few events that would work in terms of time and place. Great!
Now you can compare the actual courses, since one triathlon can be a very different experience from another.
And here, you will need to take into account your personal experience, fitness, and preferences.
In tri order, let’s start with the swim:
Most triathlons will have an open water swim (although there are a few that can be done in a swimming pool - if open water swimming is not your thing, well then your events are going to be dictated by which ones have a pool swim!).
If you don’t mind open water swimming, you’ll still have to look at whether the swim is in a lake or the sea - again, 2 very different ‘beasts’.
A sea swim can be tough, especially if the weather turns bad. If you’re not feeling that confident in the water, maybe opt for a lake swim instead.
Wetsuit or no wet suit?
Swimming with a wetsuit gives you more buoyancy and can be faster, but some people also find it very constricting - and again, if you're already a bit nervous about the open water swim, if you have to wear a wetsuit on top of that - it might make you even more nervous / scared… if you want to avoid it, look for a warmer race so that you can swim in just your trisuit.
In most races, wetsuits are mandatory under 16 degrees, optional between 16 and 24.5 degrees, and cannot be worn above 24.5. Race organisers will measure the water temperature on the morning of the race to make the final call, so be sure to check it out.
What to look out for on a bike course:
The biggest thing here is to look at the elevation.
Sure, a hilly race might have nicer views, but it’s also going to be a lot more tiring, and take more time than a flat course.
Again, if you are a new triathlete, consider opting for a flatter course (under 600m of elevation). Your first triathlon is going to be hard enough! Don’t make it even harder by adding mountains in there - that can come later.
Another thing to check on the bike course is the set up. Is it an out and back ride? Or smaller loops?
Loops can be a good thing since you will see more people to cheer you on - but too many loops can be boring or repetitive.
One thing to note for doing a race with many loops - do you have an accurate way to measure your distance or the number of loops you’ve done!?
In some of my first triathlons, I wasn’t using a bike computer, so I wasn’t sure how many laps I'd done or had left… if you’re doing a race with a lot of loops, make sure you have a way to measure your distance, so that you can focus on the triathlon, not on the counting!
It would be a shame to finish your race only to realise you’d cut some short… right Ben?
It’s happened in both of his triathlons so far - you can hear him talk more about it in episode 2 of our podcast: the story so far.
And finally onto the run:
Again you should be looking at elevation here, but in general, the runs tend to be much flatter than the bike courses, so that won’t be as much of a problem (unless you are doing some kind of mountain triathlon).
Here, a higher number of loops might be a good thing, since you’ll be cheered on constantly and that can help push you to the finish.
Look at the number of aid stations, and the type of terrain as well - so you know what’s coming up.
With that you should have a pretty good idea of what to look for in a race, so next we’ll look at the different race distances themselves.
The different triathlon distances and formats
Sprint distance:
Swim 750m, bike 20km, run 5km.
The sprint is the shortest triathlon you can do, perfect for beginners or for testing your gear. A sprint race is a good way to get a taste of triathlon and see if you want to challenge yourself on one of the longer distances.
Olympic distance:
Swim 1.5km, bike 40km, run 10km.
The Olympic distance is double the sprint distance. It’s called ‘olympic distance' because it’s also the distance that athletes compete in during the olympic games.
This distance typically brings in a full range of athletes, you have beginners who are giving it a try, but you also have experienced athletes who come and try to get the fastest time possible - fully racing at every stage of the triathlon.
What is a respectable triathlon time?
Professional athletes finish the Olympic distance in around 2 hours! That means around 20 minutes for the swim, 1 hour or less for the bike, and 30-35 minutes for the run. Absolutely crazy pace.
Age groupers could expect anything up to 5-6 hours depending on the course.
T100:
Swim 2km, bike 80km, run 18km.
This is a relatively new triathlon format, with the aim to make pro racing more interesting over mid-long distances.
Non-professionals can also race the same courses that the pros will race on.
Half Ironman (also known as 70.3):
Swim 1.9km, bike 90km, run 21.1km (half marathon).
The half-ironman distance is also known as 70.3, because it adds up to 70.3miles in total. It’s a challenging distance just to finish (within cutoff times) and requires dedicated training. Nutrition also becomes a bigger factor here, since you will need to fuel during your race, to avoid running out of energy completely.
Full Ironman:
Swim 3.8km, bike 180km, run 42.4km (full marathon!)
This is the crazy one.
A long swim, followed by a very long bike, followed, casually, by a marathon distance run. All one after the other.
Professionals aim to finish around the 8 hour mark, but age groupers will be racing all through the day and night, with the last finishers (before cutoff) taking around 16 or 17 hours. It’s a very long race, and a huge challenge that draws a lot of inspired triathletes to take it on.
What’s the difference between Ironman, Challenge family and T100?
There are different brands who put on triathlon events, ironman, challenge and t100 are some of the biggest ones.
They race on different courses, and whilst the rules might vary slightly, in general they follow the same principle.
There are differences in terms of brands they partner with, which will change the nutrition they provide at aid stations on race day, as well as what you might receive in your entry package (things like goodies, discounts, photo service etc).
There is some debate about being an “Ironman” - are you an ironman if you complete a full distance triathlon but not at an ironman-branded event?
It depends, there are people who will say yes, and people who say no.
We say that anyone who completes the full distance triathlon, at whatever event, gets to call themselves whatever they want!
Local triathlon event organisers
The big 3 we just talked about above are not the only brands putting on races either - you can find many, smaller, local races.
And these smaller races come with their own pros and cons, some of which:
Positives of local, smaller races:
Less participants, means you have more space out on course
More local and tighter community
Cheaper to enter
Negatives of local, smaller races:
Sometimes lacking that big finish line atmosphere due to less competitors and supporters
Can have less merchandise and goodies
Harder to find
We’ve enjoyed a mix of both the branded and the more local races.
For your first triathlon, I would focus more on finding one that falls at the right time and in the right place - it doesn’t matter who organises it.
And then of course.. There is also the option to do a self-organised triathlon… but that’s a whole other story!
We hope that helped you get closer to choosing your first race. As with many things, it’s easy to overthink of it. At the end of the day, choose a shorter race, get out there and see what happens - you’ll love it and/or learn from it. In our first race, we had no idea what we were doing… Just look at our bikes!
Check out our podcast, or do you fancy having a chat with us or sharing your own triathlon insights? You can find us on Instagram @dowoowoo, or send us an email: hello@dowoowoo.com