Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Pricing up an ironman event
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
Did you think I was slagging her off!!!! I was commenting on how expensive it all was when you add in all the other stuff above and beyond the entry price.
Honestly - what did you think I meant?
You most certainly did get the wrong end of the stick and I was feeling rather cross - but I guess that's forums for you - all written words and no faces so it's easy to get misunderstood.
Aero bars are not a necessity but those and other things might be good to put on a christmas list...........not that I get many christmas presents......just my mother, OH and a token thing off the boys...........but my OH and mother always get me things for triathlon for christmas and birthdays
it can be done cheaper........I also train on squash, sandwiches and biscuits until close to the race and only use gels or energy drinks for one or two practice runs.......
( I have also had a bad day at work - so really sorry I more touchy than normal)
Clip on aero bars are a bit of an acquired taste. They take some getting used to and you'll feel distinctly wobbly the first few times you go down onto them and get back up again. That said I love mine, it's an extra position (so you're sitting on a different bit of your sitting on equipment) and my forearms are definately more relaxed. I don't tend to use them for climbing or descending.
Proper aero bars with the bar end shifters are something I've not used, but I'd file under 'serious biking kit'. Your gear selection needs careful consideration as if you're on the brakes, you won't have a spare third arm to change gear.
Yeah, 'working on swimming' is definitely on the 'to do' list. Actually, i've already started a new swim group, so there is hope!!!
Ah no worries Cake, and sorry i've not replied to your e-mail either, arggg. I'm a bit rubbish if I don't reply straight away... You doing the Outlaw then?
can i just add my 2p worth
you can double all this if both you and wife do it.
but Mrs SA did Outlaw last year as did I and we did it on a budget
We did are own half IM warm up events run from our house that cost £.3.50 for a swim £5 for gels and £2 for bottle of coke.
Mrs SA did it on a £250 halfords special, not the quickest bike ever but got round
Wetsuit £99 in sale
Pirate kit (must have)
everything else was begged, borrowed or stolen (joking about the stolen)
we dont have aero bars
Thanks Ferret, I'm still getting used to clips so am often a bit nervy on the bike. Areo bars ... hm ... I might ask someone locally for a go on theirs.
I make/put together all my own food and drink for training and keep some gels and Mule bars in reserve. The gels have just gone out of date 'coz I didn't end up using them. My food bill will always be big as I have a huge appetite. (... amazingly, I'm a small thing, so don't feel the need to cut back and it would make me exceedingly grumpy if I had to anyway!)
Seren - I've already compiled a Christmas list for Mum & Dad
Luckily they're encouraging of my sporty things and happy to contribute on birthdays and Christmas.
Yep hopefully but I might have to pull out on short notice because of stuff. No worries about the e-mail kiddo. But stay in touch because your lovely.
Parky just in case you've not seen it Aldi have cycle stuff in stook from tomorrow. There are a few winter kit things you might like and they have cheap and cheerful armwarmers.
My tri club has a long training day Assassin, so this might be a good 1/2 IM replacement. Mouse would know more about the distances I expect, as she's in the same club and may've done this.
I'm lucky enough to live right by a lake, so plenty of OW practice when it's open (May-Sept) and transition/swim-bike-run combinations would be easy as I'm about a minute on foot around the corner!
Will start seriously looking for wetsuit after next month's payday.
You dont need to see a coach, you need a plan you understand. look at beginnertriathlete.com for a free plan
Initial outlay is a lot but it gets relatively cheaper each year thereafter, if you think you will only do the one then it is an expensive one!
oh dear, oh dear.
IMR, IMW this year,
IMLanza, Outlaw, IMW next year, + Outlaw for the missus. (bugger thats a lot in just entry fees)
The cost for > 1 is about the same as 1, so more the merrirer I say!
However, I am tempted by a power meter...(well its 20% off!)
On the other hand, I started using malt loaf on rides as its cheap!
I also camp where possible at events, (ie outlaw gets cheap as a result)
None of my kit is full price - its from ebay or pickit up as cheap as possible in the sales.
The mst expensive kit I own is probably the pirate jacket I just ordered
I'm not sure if the club will/won't be doing a long training day like last year, but there's nothing stopping us doing it ourselves. It certainly saves money. One of my money savers is no extra races.
I did my first one without aero bars. I find them useful to vary position but not essential. I suppose the money allocated in the bike section could be grouped together as 'bike contingencies' in as much as there was a £200 general kit contingency.
I think the most interesting discussion has been about nutrition. Though I still maintain that even if you do it off normal food, you still buy extra normal food. I don't quite do sandwiches but I certainly wouldn't be buying nutrigrain bars and wiggly worms if it weren't for long bikes and long runs and I really think it adds a few quid a week (maybe not a tenner, granted).
Also contingencies for massage/physio - while none of us want to spend money on it, if something twangs, it may need attention.
Anyway, all I was doing was to try and think of a rough guess (and present every potential cost, with it being fairly obvious that some can be avoided.) I'm glad other people have posted. There have been lots of perspectives and food for thought on where you can (and can't) spend money depending on your budgets.
Nice to have the ideas flowing.
Aldi have cycling kit in today - always helpful to keep your clothing spend on budget.
I have £50 of new kit (gloves, trousers, jacket and thermal) that I hope will see me through winter riding. They also had arm warmers but I have pirate ones on order!
Does anyone know where I can get hold of some good and ideally free, turbo workouts. I have seen the Spinervals stuff and it isnt cheap. Just looking for something to help motitiavte me a little and provide varied but relevent training.
Just my 2p worth...
Meldy's point of "if you only ever do one it's an expensive one" is a real biggie, because you don't know whether you'll ever just do one or not until you've done one. I know the serial-IM peeps are more frequent in this community, and you may think you'll want to be one of them, but for whatever reasons it may not work out that way.
For me it was an enormously expensive year, coming to tri with nothing not even a bike and having to learn to swim. But what I hadn't bargained for was literally hundreds of pounds of physio & osteopath bill afterwards. I know that's most probably an exception and may only happen once a blue moon, but if you're doing this on the kind of budget that Cake mentioned, where you're really penny pinching, then injuries can cause you financial pains as well as training ones.
IM is a bit like getting a dog... you need to consider the unexpected vets bill as well, not just the initial kit and the daily food... I know it's a bad analogy, but I hope you get my drift.
To me IM involved too many financial (and other) sacrifices even when you have all the kit. For me it meant always having to worry about meeting other expenses in life that just happen (like car breaking down, washing machine bust etc), it meant no other holidays apart from the IM trip (lack of funds as well as annual leave), and no money (or time) for any other hobby etc... Not at all wanting to put a downer on anything, and it's sacrifices many will be glad to make, but it certainly helps if you're at least "comfortable" financially.
My 2p'worth.
Most of my 'hardware' is second hand - turbo (today), rollers, fins, bike, etc. If I can get second hand I will. My bike has had many upgrades from ebay/fora, and I have sold the old parts afterwards, often making a profit.
I think warmup & actual races and pirate kit will be the biggest total expenses. I have most of the other kit I need.
It is not just triathlons that are expensive. I'm training for a marathon, and spending money on gels and train fares. It all adds up.
i just looked through my wiggle back orders and other big stuff that i have bought since february this year, admittedly there a few quid that i didnt need to spend but they pay for themselves in the long run like treadmill (no pun intended ) weights and multi gym. my modest setup has cost me £4,2k not including running clothes, nutrition, and race entries. and theres going to be all the camping stuff for outlaw next year - and it will be glamping because the family are coming. As i look around i keep seeing other stuff i forgot about wetsuit, floor pump, head torch - where does it end!
I trust no one will EVER say a word to my missus and never show her how to use a PC and to be honest i never realise i spent that amount - its not as though i have an uber bike
For sports injuries we are all quick to find a private physio etc but don't forget that treatment is available on the NHS.
This is just one example and there are others. I don't see why we shouldn't get our treatment on the NHS either, its self-inflicted I suppose but so is smoking/alcohol related conditions.
heres another