There is no question that having the best, and usually most expensive, equipment can benefit you on race day. However, if you have limited financial resources to devote to Ironman Triathlon, these are our thoughts on where best to spend your hard earned money.
When you look at the time you spend riding in an Ironman it is tempting to spend a bunch of money on a fancy new bike. A great bike does make a difference, but keep in mind the overall goal is to hit the finish line as fast as possible, not to roll into T2 so you can brag about your fast bike split. You may want to hold back on the $3000 wheel set and the 200 gram savings of the carbon bars so you can spend that money elsewhere. Here are our suggestions:
1) Food. Don’t cheap out when it comes to food. By lots of healthy fruits and vegetables, organic preferably. Eating race food on the bike and run from time to time is also important, but try to fuel with whole foods most of the time in training. A diet of energy bars alone hits your wallet and is far from optimal nutrition wise.
2) Coaching. With the $2000 you saved on a wheel-set, you can afford yourself a good coach for 10 months of the year. This person should have the knowledge to guide you to your best possible result. There are a lot of online programs out there that provide you with very limited personal feedback and individual support. A good coach will help put the three sports together saving you years of making silly mistakes until you get it on your own. The difference between the best wheels and some good wheels in an Ironman is maybe 10 minutes at most. The time savings from training properly under the guidance of a coach can be hours.
3) Massage and Recovery. We still place this piece of the puzzle well above the top of the line equipment. If you need to cut some financial corners, don’t do it here. Getting to the start line healthy is your number one priority. Having a professional treat those niggles and develop a core and stability routine to supplement your triathlon training will go a long way to helping you avoid injury and will enable you to train hard every day.
4) Unless you live, train, and race in Hawaii you’ll need a wetsuit. Overall fit and flexible shoulders are the most important things. The highest-end suit may not fit you the best so try a bunch on. The big races generally have demo booths set up, a great way to find a good fit.
5) Train hard and consistently. It only costs you your time and it’s time well spent!
