7 Triathlon Mistakes You Need To Avoid!

Are you new to triathlon? Want to avoid making big mistakes? We are here for you! With the help of former triathlete newbies, we’ve got the most common mistakes covered, so you can watch this, take note, and not have to make the same errors!

0:00 Intro
0:30 New Kit Day
1:50 Pinning Race Number
2:35 Helmet Mistakes
3:15 Losing Your Kit
4:34 The Bike Mount
5:17 Rushing
6:53 Not Knowing The Rules

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Photos: © Triathlon / Getty Images

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[gtn]

Were there any mistakes you made in your first triathlon, let us know 👇

[Aeronwor]

Losing count of the number of laps I made on the bike course (I ended up doing 6 instead of 5). :D

[blitzzturbo]

I did my first triathlon (Ironman Oceanside 70.3 April 2023). Made tons of newbie mistakes even after watching lots of these helpful videos. I WISH someone told me about CUTOFF times and advised me to be very greedy about time. Don't take unnecessary breaks or socialize during the RACE. Don't try to help people with flat tires or wait up for friends. I did all these things and took my sweet time changing, eating, and lather sunblock in transition like a silly noob. Don't treat triathlon like a casual sightseeing marathon like I did and got my chip taken away halfway into the run. Fortunately, I still finished and got a medal but with a DNF for the record 😅. I'll have my vengeance at Santa Cruz 70.3.

[scottlawson]

We tell our Newbies, make sure your bike is in the correct gear for the bike exit.

[NimraZainab-lwwv]

Even for the seasoned triathlete, these are all good reminders. The longer one has been doing it, the better chance of getting complacent and making a mistake in the vlog as always!

[megmikerodriguez]

At T1 in my first tri I ran right past my bike/kit not once but TWICE as I was extremely disoriented from a cold swim. After that debacle I followed great advice of draping a small brightly colored towel over my handle bars and then using it to wipe my feet and not have to deal with grit and water in my bike shoes. I enjoy following you all on GTN; consistently great content, thank you! ~Megan

[learningtri]

Tip i learnt years ago was to make the row number of the rack on your hand with a sharpie. Protip is to include the side. for example 14T (row 14 tree side) or 14L (row 14 lake side)

[DaveStecker]

A couple years ago I went into the first triathlon of the season and made so many mistakes. Mistake 1: Didn’t look into the parking details and ended up parking further from the park than I thought I would. So by the time I got registered and into transition I had about 10 minutes until transition closed. I was rushing to get my stuff set up and forgot to mix my electrolyte drinks and put water on my bike. Mistake #2: I was battling a calf injury and wanted to save as much time in transition as possible so I opted to do the swim without a wetsuit (which I had never practiced) and it was a disaster. Then, Mistake #3: I hammered it on the bike to make up time and when I got to the run (dehydrated from forgetting fluids) it was cramp city. I learned a lot that day 🙃

[fleurvanboven]

I'll do my first ever triathlon (70.3) in 2 weeks, and I'm so so happy I found this video! Thanks for the great tips (especially walking the route from the swim-exit to your bike - genious!)

[olafblohm]

Don´t forget to join the race briefing, and listen carefully.

[thegoodguy]

I have my first triathlon (Ironman 70.3) 1 month from now. Thanks for these tips I will try my best not to make them 😆

[SBoots]

I am always jittery on race day. Days before I lay my kit out, check, recheck, check, recheck. Race day the same. Good advice from your Vlogs. Cheers

[syedaiqra]

Brtief information and the details you share are such a good impact.

[imranahmad]

6 months ago
A couple years ago I went into the first triathlon of the season and made so many mistakes. Mistake 1: Didn’t look into the parking details and ended up parking further from the park than I thought I would

[hazel-vtpe]

Learn to negative split. Include intervals in your workouts with the easiest pace first and then progressively get harder.
Use technologies such as heart rate, GPS and power meters to create measurable pacing targets.
Train your endurance.

[MrTigerlilly]

My latest mistakes; not chaging my smartwatch and use a dodgy hr strap. Since the run laps was not marked for each kilometers it made my paceing difficult...

[suttonfarms]

Always great info! Thanks so much!!
Did a self-induced 70.3 in prep for a full Ironman in September and learned a lot. Would love advice on how to keep running after swim/bike. I always feel knackered after the swim/bike and don’t want to run.

[EshaAmir-kz]

Brief information and maan the details you share are such a good impact ❤😍

[MuhammadImranAfzal-efru]

Walking and running between the moment and support to the body stronger 💪.

[muhammadAsim-zyfh]

Important lessons to improve your performance on the Race day