Health & Fitness

Gear List: The Thrill Of Shopping For Triathlon Gear

I found everything I needed for race day within biking distance of my home in Renton.

requires a lot more gear than your average 5K race. Luckily, I was able to find everything I needed within biking distance from my home in Renton. Pretty cool, huh?

had me covered for shoes. If you haven’t had your stride analyzed, their treadmill video system is a cool eye-opener into the quality of your stride.

I recently purchased a pair of Asics Nimbus shoes. If you’ve ever been interested in taking a pair for a test run, their are an awesome way to explore running shoes and accessories (they frequently offer shoe and other product demos).

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Since I’d had good luck at The Balanced Athlete with my shoes, I decided to return for some advice on triathlon clothing. Some triathletes race in one-piece suits, while others wear fitted shorts and shirts. I opted for the shorts and shirt over the one piece since they’d serve a dual purpose for cycling and running when I’m not competing in a race.

I chose a pair of Sugoi compression shorts, which happened to be on sale. If you know me, you know I get really excited about bargains, deals and sales, so this was just peachy.

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The Balanced Athlete also offers shirts, but I opted for a Sugoi top from REI just down the road in Tukwila. It was also on sale!

That’s it for new purchases for race day. Everything else I already owned, including:

A swim cap: I purchased my silicone swim cap from . For the longest time I’d used a latex cap, but got tired of the rubbery material ripping out my hair when I tried to take it off. I then switched to the spandex cap. No more hair-pulling, but chlorine saturated my locks and I ended up smelling like a pool — all the time. Enter the silicone cap: it took a little extra time getting used to stretching it over my noggin, but I’ve got it down now. And my stands are chlorine-free!

Goggles: from located in the Renton Village shopping center.

Road Bike: I’ve been told a beginning triathlete can ride just about any bike. Yes, you can get away with a mountain bike, but your gams will appreciate the relative ease and glide of the road bike. I know my view of cycling changed drastically when I switched from mountain to road bike. The expert employees at helped me pick out a bike and adjust it to fit.

Cycling Shoes/Clipless Pedals: Just when I thought I couldn’t go any faster, I discovered the world of the clipless pedal (you know, those funny looking, clicky shoes that spandex clad cyclists often wear?).

Amazing.

Just remember to unclip before you stop. Falling over while clipped to your super-cool bike makes you feel less than glamorous. I’ve been there.

Anyway, thanks to for walking me through the concept of clipless shoes. They are an awesome place to purchase cycling shoes, clips and pedals installed the pedals free of charge.

My sport sunglasses recently bit the dust, so I’ll gladly accept tips on where to pick up a pair, or advice on brands and lenses that work well for triathlon races.


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