Triathlon Toolkit

I’m just days away from my first Ironman 70.3 (and maybe my only one but it’s a little too early to say that yet).  I’ve started assessing what I’m gonna need and thinking back to what I’ve been using to get me ready and I thought I would share what tools I’ve been pulling form my toolkit to get me ready.  If you’re even thinking about tri’ing read this!

Training

With my tri happening in May, I did 90% of my workouts indoors, in my basement to be exact.  And that wouldn’t have been possible without some tools.

• Treadmill – I have a Life Fitness treadmill.  You can see the details of it here.
• Bike Trainer – I’m an ambassador for CycleOps and have been using the Magnus power trainer since January and LOVE IT.  Working with a long distance coach is so much easier when they can see the details of your workouts!
• Gym (with pool) membership – So we have two gym memberships, one to our local Club Fitness and one to the YMCA.  The Y has the pool I need and we take advantage of a lot of the programs for the kids.
• Garmin 735xt -DUDE, this watch (Garmin 735xt) is awesome.  The only thing it can’t do is control Spotify.  It connects seamlessly to Garmin Connect which is the tool my coach and I use to exchange workouts and details.
• Coach – I debated a long time on whether or not to hire a coach.  I interviewed some locally and virtually and decided in December, I would go it alone.  I did that for a while and realized I really needed to have a sounding board, someone that’s been through it to tell me if I’m going in the right direction while not over training, etc.  I hired one in February, Ryan, and it’s been the best decision I made.  I talk about Ryan here or you can visit his site here.

Swimming

Swimming has been fun for me this time around.  I have really enjoyed my time in the pool.  Hopefully it equates to a good swim on the course but if not, it’s still been fun.

• Swim Suit – Speedo, a while back I did a campaign with Speedo and I got a suit and goggles out of it.  I loved them so much I got another swimsuit and another pair of goggles and I’m glad I did.  I’m cycling through two suits a week.  I have the LZR Racer and the Color Fusion
• Swim training gear – My coach has had me doing swim drills which I’ve never done before but it was fun to add some variety.  For these drills I had to get some fins, paddles and a pull buoy.

• Garmin heart rate strap – as an add-on to my watch, this strap is awesome for communicating how efficient I’ve been in the water with my coach.  The heart rate strap is triathlon friendly!
• Xterra Wetsuit – I’m so excited about this one.  It’s the only thing I hadn’t really upgraded and wasn’t really planning to….I mean how different could they be?!  Then I put my (6 year old) wetsuit on and realized real quick that there WAS a difference.  After researching the Xterra Vengeance wetsuits, I realized they had altered the full body suit so that the thickness was less around the shoulders creating less resistance on the wetsuit on your arm stroke…less energy wasted.  BRILLIANT!  So I’m excited about it!

Bike

Oh the bike.  I’ve debated for a LONG time keeping vs buying a new bike.  I thought I could do it on “stella” but after a couple tune ups, I realized I was going to need something a little more efficient.  So I upgraded.

• Bike – Cannondale Slice Ultregra; an all carbon frame, it doesn’t take me as much energy to turn the crank over and over.  I seemed to have picked up a little speed.  We’ll see.
• Hydration System – TBD
• Helmet – Ruby Project
• Glasses – Tifosi
• Shoes – Shimano
• Clothes – Coeur Sports

Running

• Shoes – I’ve been flipping and flopping a lot this training cycle trying all kinds of shoes but my “go to” lately has been the On Running Cloudflow.  It’s a smooth ride.  I just wish the shoelaces were shorter.

• Socks – For training, I love Balega.  For recovery, I love ProCompression.
• Gear – For clothes, I like it all.  I’ve been leaning very heavily on Lululemon shorts lately and they are holding up well.  Plus my local Lululemon store is so supportive.  They know what my goals are and everytime I go in there they ask me how I’m doing.  That’s a group of people that really cares!

Nutrition

One of the biggest differences between an Olympic distance triathlon is nutrition and learning how to fuel for 6+ hours of work.  I’ve been playing around with different things but I’m planning to lean on

• Honeystingers Chews: Cherry Cola was REALLY good last time
• Clif Bars: I’ve liked them all but really love the Oatmeal Raisin and Mint Chocolate Chip
• Nuun: the less sugar option is really nice on the bike
• Gatorade: On the run, sometimes a little extra sugar is good and Gatorade is on the course so I’ve wanted to get comfortable using that

Phew!  Did you get all that?  I just threw a lot of info at you but bookmark it for future reference if you’re even considering triathlon.  It’s all here.  🙂

Well, I better start hydrating.