My 1st Tri

[Deleted User]

I'm doing my first tri in 3 weeks and wanted a place to ask those experienced triathletes the nagging 'silly' questions that pop into your mind when thinking about the race and in training.   I hope I'm not the only one with such concerns!

Why does my swimming hat keep working its way off my head?  Is this due to my head being too big (or the hat too small - do they come in different sizes?)?  Or is there some special trick to putting them on so they dont creep off?  Everytime I swim I seem to spend a lot of time pulling the hat back down!

I often get numbness in the balls of my feet while cycling - is there anything I should be doing to avoid it?  My shoes don't seem to be too tight.

Thanks for any help out there, and feel free to add in any other random questions, hopefully someone will take pity!

fat buddha

hat - dunno - but try putting your goggles on over the top as that will help hold it on. in many races you get a hat given and some do appear smaller/tighter than others.

numb feet - what sort of shoes and pedals? if you're cycling in trainers, they have soft soles so can lead to pressure points and numbness. so get proper cycling shoes. if cycling shoes with clipless pedals - perhaps the shoes are too tight, so loosen the straps off and see what happens. otherwise it could just be that the shoes are too narrow in the footbed leading to foot compression

Dustboy

Hat - finally found something good to say about a certain IM race that has received much bad press. The hat fits really well for pool tri! All the others work off or pull my hair. So stick with it till you find a good one.

Wot FB said re shoes, but do check your cleat position if you can. Get LBS to show you. I get numb feet and hotspots if not exactly right.

[Deleted User]

If you're riding clipless pedals you might have the cleats too far forward on your shoes - try moving them back 2 or 3 mm. If you get a pain in your knee caps too that may well confirm it........

As for the hat, as mentioned above put your goggles over it. Remember when you are competing though you may have to hand your pool lane hat back to a marshal as you leave the pool, so don't forget to take your goggles off first, or ping - goggles into orbit! Failing that, have you tried Araldite?

[Deleted User]

Gongergav - lol re Araldite!  I do wear my goggles over my hat, but it jsut seems to work off underneath until it bunches up on top of my head.

Re shoes: I am currently training with flat pedals and trainers, so the soft soles may be the problem.  Any ideas as I can't afford to switch to cleats and cycling shoes?

M...eldy

You would probably be better off with a silcone hat rather than a flimsy one?  Not too much conditioner in the hair ....

Your shoe issue will probably not go away if the soles are not robust enough but you could try changing foot position very slightly for some relief or wiggling your toes??