I am doing LP as my first IM next month. I am still trying to decide about the clothes I will wear. In all my half Iron distance races I have just worn a tri suit for the whole race. However,I have volunteeredat several IM races and noticed that a lot people change from bike shorts to run shorts. The extra time in T2 to change does not bother me… but I was just wondering what some of you experienced IMers would suggest.
I wore Tri shorts and a sleeveless jersey under my wetsuit. Never changed, except to put on socks & bike shoes for the bike, and then running shoes for the run.
i’ve done it both ways and much prefer keeping the same outfit (tri top, tri shorts) on for the whole thing. for one, i think running shorts with a snug tri top isn’t the best look. but it’s all a presonal preference. the problem with a one piece is peeing on the bike - which if you’re hydrating correctly will be more than once.
tri shorts and jersey, only change shoes. If you think you may need more coverage later on, you can put more clothes in run special needs bag.
Consider putting an extra pair of tri shorts and socks in your T-2 bag and a spare pair of socks in your run special needs. I like to have the second pair in special needs in case I have dumped so much water over myself that i am getting blisters (altho I havent used them yet, good to know they are there) and my persoanl preference is that it is worth the extra 45 seconds in T2 for new, non-salty shorts before getting out on the run.
For LP last year I wore DeSoto one-pocket tri shorts under my wetsuit and during the bike. At T2 I changed to the deSoto 4-pocket model just to have the extra pockets in which to put gels and stuff. I did not wear these during the bike because for some reason they tend to chafe a bit, whereas the one-pocket ones don’t.
This change took all of about 15 seconds - time well spent, I figure. If you’re figuring to be out there a real long time, you might as well be comfortable during the process. I was out for 12:57, and for me comfort was not the issue; rather I wanted to make sure I had with me everything I thought I might need. This included gels, a flask of Perpetupaste, a small baggy with a pad in it in case my metatarsal head dropped during the run, and a smaller baggy with Endurolytes and an Advil or two.