http://ez-pledge.com/ironman/what-do-i-wear-during-a-sprint-triathlon/ the accomplished Triathlete Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:33:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://ez-pledge.com/ironman/what-do-i-wear-during-a-sprint-triathlon/comment-page-1/#comment-132 rwd Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:55:25 +0000 http://ez-pledge.com/ironman/what-do-i-wear-during-a-sprint-triathlon/#comment-132 What you wear kind of depends on what kind of swimmer you are. If you are not going to wear a wetsuit, the water will be brisk, but bearable (unless you are the type that chills easily). Should you wear a shirt? It depends on the type. I wouldn't consider wearing anything but a tight-fitting tri-top. Anything else will introduce too much drag. Also, if you have never worn a tri-top swimming, don't do it for the first time in a race. Too many opportunities for surprises -- like the possibility of chafing. Tri-shorts will be better than bike shorts, since the pad won't absorb as much water. Since the ride will be short, you won't miss the bigger pad. Whether you wear a shirt on the bike and/or run is up to you. Have you done any of your workouts shirtless? (Again -- you don't want to try anything new on race day.) What will the air temperature be that day? Will you be prone to severe sunburn? I just finished a race series over the summer that consisted of a sprint, Olympic, and 1/2 IM. I wore the same thing for each: tri-top and tri-shorts. (Oh, yeah, I also wore a bra, but I'm assuming you won't need that.) In the Olympic I went without my wetsuit, and rubbed the inside of my arms raw during the swim. Watch out for that! In sprint in late spring, I wore a swim suit (before I got the tri gear) and added a cycling jersey in T1 because the air temp was cool. I would rather struggle a few seconds in T1 putting on a jersey than try to swim with it on. What you wear kind of depends on what kind of swimmer you are. If you are not going to wear a wetsuit, the water will be brisk, but bearable (unless you are the type that chills easily).
Should you wear a shirt? It depends on the type. I wouldn’t consider wearing anything but a tight-fitting tri-top. Anything else will introduce too much drag. Also, if you have never worn a tri-top swimming, don’t do it for the first time in a race. Too many opportunities for surprises — like the possibility of chafing.
Tri-shorts will be better than bike shorts, since the pad won’t absorb as much water. Since the ride will be short, you won’t miss the bigger pad.
Whether you wear a shirt on the bike and/or run is up to you. Have you done any of your workouts shirtless? (Again — you don’t want to try anything new on race day.) What will the air temperature be that day? Will you be prone to severe sunburn?
I just finished a race series over the summer that consisted of a sprint, Olympic, and 1/2 IM. I wore the same thing for each: tri-top and tri-shorts. (Oh, yeah, I also wore a bra, but I’m assuming you won’t need that.) In the Olympic I went without my wetsuit, and rubbed the inside of my arms raw during the swim. Watch out for that! In sprint in late spring, I wore a swim suit (before I got the tri gear) and added a cycling jersey in T1 because the air temp was cool. I would rather struggle a few seconds in T1 putting on a jersey than try to swim with it on.

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