Gear & Equipment

Triathlon is a very involved and complex sport. Why? Simple, there are not 1, but 3 sports to fully master.  As a triathlete, you have to accept, that you will never be the quickest swimmer, you will never be the quickest cyclist nor will you be the fastest runner. The reason for this, you have to train each of the 3 disciplines weekly, where as a cyclist can just focus on cycling, a triathlete has to divide his or her time amongst the 3 disciplines. However, with the combination of the 3 disciplines, the triathlete is lethal.

This also amounts to to having more gear and equipment! Shame! ;) So here I will just list a brief overview of the equipment I will be using whilst in training and also for the events.

Bike

For my winter training, every day training and also turbo training, I am using a Carrera Virtuoso Ltd. This is not expensive by any means, but it has served me extremely well. I have ridden over 1,500 miles on this bike and it is still going strong. With it not being the most expensive bike out there, it also means that I don't feel as bad using it through winter when the weather isn't so great!!

Now then, time for my competition and very precious TT Bike! I am very lucky and honoured to own a fully carbon, Planet X Exocet 2 Tri Bike fully equipped with Dura Ace. This bike, feels more like a machine. I travelled up to Planet X HQ in Sheffield to collect the bike, whilst also being fitted to it. They went through every angle the body makes whilst riding the bike and adjusted everything accordingly meaning that my bike positioning is absolutely perfect. This is essential when riding, particularly in Ironman when the ride is over 112 miles long!! Other wise it makes for an extremely unpleasant (or adds to the unpleasant) experience. 

This is a photo I took whilst my bike was on the stand ready for me to be fitted to it!

As you can see, a Tri bike is very different looking to a normal road bike! A Tri bike has things we call 'aero bars' (these are the bar extensions seen on the handlebars). This is also where the gears are found and also where you will spend most of your time leaning whilst riding the bike. The higher seat angle, with the leaning down on aero bars is a completely alien experience to someone who is used to riding road bikes, and also something that requires plenty of core and shoulder strength to be able to maintain the 'tucked' position for sustained periods of time. By being in this position vastly improves your aerodynamic position. Less wind resistance, can mean that you expend less energy, eventually saving that little bit extra in the legs for the run

Now this piece of equipment is fantastic! And also essential for stat geeks like me ;) This watch comes complete with a bike sensor, and also a heart rate monitor. With these items you can see your distance, time, average/current speed, average/current heart rate, lap times, cadence and so many more different data options, all on one little screen attached to your wrist, or bike via the quick release kit, meaning you can take the watch off your wrist and onto your bike in a matter of seconds, very handy indeed for those quick transition times! This watch is also water proof, can be used in an indoor pool, or via the gps it can be used in an open water lake as it tracks your progress through satellites, fascinating! Once you've finished your training/event, it uploads wirelessly to your computer so you can look at all of your stats, time, route, distance and any other data field imaginable! Very handy for tracking progress and looking where to improve.

For the full blog post just visit:  Gear & Equipment!