What Should I Wear for my first triathlon?

The short answer is: whatever you’re comfortable in.

For your first triathlon, you don’t need to invest in a brand new, expensive tri suit. Wear what you know you’ll feel good in and if the triathlon bug bites (it will), you can invest in a traditional suit later on.

Here are 5 ideas on how to put a race day fit together.

Start with a solid one piece for the swim, then throw on shorts and a tee to ride and run in. Make sure to pin your race number on the t-shirt the night before to save time in the morning–the last thing you want to be doing is searching high and low for safety pins right before the race starts. And of course, choose good socks that won’t make you blister! Your feet will be wet when you put them on.

If you want to go minimal, wear just a sports bra and biker shorts (no padding) throughout the entire race. This will work best for a wetsuit-friendly race since the shorts would drag you down otherwise. For your race number–either take the time to pin the top of the bib to the bottom band on your sports bra in transition, or you can buy a race belt that is already attached to the bib and clicks together around the waist to save a few seconds.

The last option leans closer to a traditional tri suit–a sports bra and tri shorts in the water, then add a tank, cycling gloves, and socks for the run and ride. Triathlon shorts have a little bit of padding that you’ll feel on the run, but not as much as you’d have in traditional cycling bibs.

Again, don’t let anyone tell you that you haaaave to wear this or that–just wear what you’re drawn to and you’ll learn what you like each time you race.

I hope this helps!