Originally Posted by
msu2001la
I'll be doing my first tri this summer (Chicago Accenture). I'm told that the water temp will be somewhere around 70 degrees, and that I don't need a wetsuit.
What should I wear?
As a cyclist, my initial thought was to wear either some thin bike shorts, or tri shorts for the entire race. I figured I'd do the swim topless, then pull on a bike jersey or a tighter fitting workout shirt for the bike/run.
I'm wondering if there is any advantage to buying a tri-specific top? I'm assuming I can swim/bike/run in one of these? I've never swam with a shirt on of any kind, is it going to slow me down? Is it really that hard to pull a jersey or shirt on after getting out of the water? If I do swim in a tri-shirt, how do I attach my number (I'm assuming it's a pin-on deal).
Since this is my first race, I'm mainly interested in simplicity and comfort. Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks.
A wetsuit will help you if you're not a strong swimmer.
I did my first tri last year at the Annapolis Tri and I wore the tri shorts and top under the full wetsuit. At T1, I just took off the wetsuit and goggles. Because of the thin and tight materials, the shorts and top dried very quickly and also helped aerodynamically. I didn't have to wear a number on me until the run because I had a number on the bike and another on my helmet. At T2, I just put on a racing belt (w/ a number already attached) around my waist and ran.
I've to run with socks so I struggled a bit putting them on at T1 when my feet were wet.