I am fortunate to have a river that is dammed up that creates a nice little lake that I normally swim in. It has it's pros and cons but it's what is available. Most tris are open water swims so look for a pond, river, lake, bay, ocean, what's available.

hmmm, probably need to look for a wetsuit, rivers around here aren't safe or warm enough till late summer, ocean isn't safe, to much undertow...have to check out a nearby gravel pond
so where do I get a wetsuit for us big guys

The question is, how big of boy are you? Also, do some research online to figure out what you are looking for and at. Check your local tri shop, sport store (ie academy) or even your nearest scuba shop.

305 with a 54 inch chest...it is usually not the waist measurement that is the problem, it is the fit around the chest

check online with the tyr company and see what their suits go up to. I believe that I have a 54" chest and they had one that would fit e. I do only weigh 260 though and I'm only 5'9" tall. I didn't buy one because I do live in Texas and the water normally does not get colder than the mid 50s. Check craigslist also, from time to time people will put them for sale there.

what kind of water temps are y'alls rivers and lakes?

Im 325 and my XTERRA XXL Vortex 3 fits me, though its a bit tight. Im guessing it would fit you fine assuming youre around 5'22" or taller you can almost always find a sale to get them for around $200 shipped.

I was looking at the sleeveless model that Xterra sells for around 100.00....and yes I am taller than 5'2...I am 6'

Rivers around here are in the low 40s in winter to 60 in summer. Lakes get a little warmer

Thats a great first suit. should be fine for the lakes, but might not be warm enough for the rivers until they reach warmest. you want 60 minimum for those suits.

Ya, I would be using it in the lakes...rivers around here aren't the safest for swimming, to fast and lots of log jams, I have snorkelled most of them for work in dry suits even in the middle of summer.

I signed up for a Sprint Tri October 1st. Working through a training schedule I found on beginnertriathlete.com. The Bike/Run bricks are kicking my @$$!!!!

congrats sparrish! good luck with it, it's so much fun. training is hard but worth it.

Naperville Sprint Triathalon is complete! I did a 1:54 last year (not stellar, but I finished).

This year: I dropped 11 minutes off my time for a 1:43. Mrs. Zoxe went with me this year and met her goal of finishing the route. Good day, great weather, and a very pretty route. Already talking about next year.

I finished my first triathlon this weekend! I did the Sprint distance of the Chicago Triathlon. My time was...well, 4:01:21. But hey - it's my first race so it was a PR, right? :)

The swim was NASTY - people were getting sick and I even got motion sickness (though I didn't throw up, thankfully). The bike was mostly flat, and the wind was against us going out, which made coming back awesome. The run was a walk for me due to some severe back pain, but I'm going to work on my abs and get a new bike that's fitted for me for next season.

Overall, I LOVED IT. I finished last in my division but not last overall - and I wasn't even last in my division on the swim! :)

Next year I want to do 2-3 races, but I'll see how I feel in January and get a few weeks of a decent road bike under my belt as opposed to the hardcore but heavy 20 year old mountain bike I've been using. :)

I'm gearing up for my first tri, well duathlon (1.5m run, 13m bike, 3.1m run), with my daughter. My goal is to finish..... Since this is my first tri, should I invest in a pair of tri shorts?

The Tri Shorts that I'm familiar with are made more for swimming->biking rather than running. They're basically bike pants made from thinner material so they dry faster and don't feel like a diaper in the pool.

I've practiced bike/run transitions using my normal bike bibs, and I've also biked the relatively short distances in running shorts. Use what's comfortable and will be the least amount of worry on race day.

This thread got updated in perfect time! After reading the posts, I felt very inspired. When I looked online, there's a July 2012 Sprint Tri (the 3rd annual Dam Triathlon). I emailed the race directors, and found out that registration opens next week. I'm in it to win it! (They have an Athena division. I just want to finish, as it will be my first one, and put forth my best effort.)

How much are the entry fees on average? I saw someone paid $100 for his/her race. Is that about average?

UPDATE: registration was open today and I'm in! It was 100 dollars and I joined the Athena division.

Neil, did you end up doing the tri? I didn't see an update and was just wondering.

Zencalm - havent been around in a while, but yes, still doing tris. Wife and I moved to NC in September. You should have no trouble finding great places to train. Which bike shop(s) do you go to?

The destruction of my knees in 2010 put paid to the idea for now. Possibly in 2013, once I recover from my upcoming knee replacement.

Mrs. Zoxe and I are signed up for the Naperville Tri this coming August. Will be my third, and her second. Our Gym was bought by LA Fitness last fall, so we've had the benefit of a pool all winter. I swam a 400m in about 8 minutes on Thursday, or over 2 1/2 minutes off of my Tri time last year. I'm hoping to cut 10 minutes off of my 1:43 overall.

Zoxe - Nice. I dont know what my 400 time is right now but I doubt it is 8 minutes LOL. Im pretty sure Ive never been that fast, especially in the pool. Ive only been in the pool seriously for about 6 weeks, i took most of november and all of december off. I needed the break, but Ive been charging pretty hard lately. Im hoping 8 minutes will be my 400 time by the time of my first sprint this year, which will come after my first olympic. There im more worried about my 1600 time than my 400.

TechKnowGN, do you have any knowledge of people with knee replacements doing a tri? Even if I have to walk the run portion, I'd love to do one.

I realized I never updated this. The relay tri (Olympic distance) went well, I thought, though my partner wasn't happy with his run time. I suprised him coming in from the bike segment a couple of minutes before he expected me. I was suprised, too, having churned through 40K at an 18.6 mph average.

Now he insists that I do a tri of my own. I got into the pool at the gym over the winter, but found after not swimming for 35 years, I couldn't achieve anything like a comfort level in the water. I wouldn't say I was panic-striken, but something closer to that than to calm. So I signed up for remedial (OK, beginning) lessons at the natatorium at IU/Purdue's downtown campus. I had the first of the 8 sessions Tuesday night, and the instructor, a former collegiate swimmer, was great and had me calm and comfortable in no time. I'm going to continue with the rest of the sessions, since he's said he'll take me as far and as fast as I want to go in our 4 weeks, so I don't have to spend money on any additional "intermediate" lessons. Next session is tonight.

And I started running with the C25K program a year ago, and did three 5ks last year, and this season opener for me is this Saturday, so I know running won't be a problem. I'm not fast (my best time last year worked out to about a 10:25 pace(per mile)), but I know I can get through.

So now, once I get a feel for how long it might take me to train up to 400m or so, I'll have a better handle on how soon my first sprint tri will be.

Number of Triathlons:2

Length: .5 K swim 22 K Bike 5K run

The transition from the swim to the bike was a bear! :)

My ex (2nd from left) took 2nd in the woman's Div the second year we ran it. I had taken 3rd the previous year in a field of around 60 (mostly sailors with a few Italian locals thrown into the mix)

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...triatholon.jpg