Turbeau’s Triathlon Essentials

Here is a list of what I use on pretty much a daily basis.  This will be a kind of running list but at least here is a start and maybe it will help you in your decision making.  Let me know what other things you are interested in or thinking about buying and maybe I can shed some light and lead you in the right direction!

Garmin 310xt

Wetsuit – wide range of varieties and price ranges.  My suggestion is that if you are new to the sport and just “getting your feet wet” pick up a cheaper model and see how things go.  If you get sucked into this sport than by all means go balls out and get the latest and greatest :)..just learn from me..I tend to go big right off the bat and many times I end up spending way more than I should have or needed to.  But if money is no option the Blue Seventy Helix is always a pretty nice buy.

Timex Ironman Sleek 150-Lap TapScreen Watch – This watch is a jack of all trades, I use it for timing my laps in the pool, using it on my runs when I don’t want to wear my HR monitor or even on those runs when I want to use the 4 garmin screens for other data read outs, and on the bike during my long rides and races.  During the long rides and races I use my watch to keep track of my race total time and more importantly I monitor when I should be eating and drinking.  This watch is a great tool and has many uses for a triathlete.  It even comes in handy when lifting weights and making sure you take enough rest in between sets!

Running Shoes – Trainers.  I am currently running in Brooks Adrenaline 11’s. These were recommended to me by a very fast friend of mine named PW, check his blog out!  This dude is lightning fast SO I go by his advice.  I have been running regularly for about a year and a half now and I have struggled to find a reliable shoe that feels good day in and day out.  I though the Newtons were going to be the ones that I would stick with but I became injured last Spring, now I am not blaming the Newtons at all for this but since then I have been hesitant to get back to running in them mainly because of all the injuries that I have seen and heard about from people who were running in Newtons.  The mind can play some nasty games on you and for me I have not wanted to risk getting hurt in them at the moment.  Thus, I have tried many many shoes from Saucony Kinavara’s, to KSwiss Blades, to versions of asics…but Brooks has been the one brand that has hit a certain cord with me.  I ran the Syracuse 70.3 in the ST-4 racer and I ran IMFL in them as well.  Brooks is coming out with the ST-5 in a few months and I am pretty psyched to pick up a pair as the new colors are Blue and Orange..which if you know me well were my high school colors 🙂

I usually will buy my shoes at Fleet Feet in Rochester if they have what I want since its very convenient and I don’t have to wait for shipping.  However once I know what I like I will usually stick to Roadrunnersports.com as they have really good deals.

Bike – A tri bike is a great tool for triathlon.  However it is not essential and you are more than prepared if you have a road bike.  I am just a straight up goober and have to more bikes than know what to do with.  And if you ask me what kind of bikes to buy I am going to tell you TREK TREK TREK..Speed Concept for triathlon and a Madone for road riding.  And I know some great people at Towpath Bike in Pittsford, NY that will hook you up!  Just tell them that Turbeau sent you!!  GET THE TURBEAU DISCOUNT!

Bike Shoes – Bike shoes are another area where I have toyed around with A LOT.  Just ask people who ride with me.  I seem to have a different pair of bike shoes everyday.  Its just the nature of Turbeau, I have always been fussy about my sneakers whether they be baseball cleats, football cleats, basketball sneakers, Jordans for walking around in, dress shoes for work..it just doesn’t matter I am very fussy about how they look and how they fit.  What does all that mean?  Well it means that in my 1.5 years of cycling I’ve probably had 6 different pairs of bike shoes.  I’ve tried Bontrager Hilo’s, Bonts, DMT’s, etc.. I though the DMT’s were going to be the IT shoes..in fact I still have a good pair that I use but the ones that I have really settled on are the Specialized Road Shoes..even though they are supposed to be for road riding they are great for 1/2 Ironman and Full Ironman races and I will even use them for Sprints because I like them.  And if you don’t believe me just look at any of the pictures from Ironman races.  Jordan Rapp wears them…MACCA (World Champ) wears them..the proof as they say is in the pudding.

Goggles

Swim Fins

Paddles

Pull Buoy

Nutrition:

Powerbar Endurance

Powergels

Endurox – a great post workout recovery drink if you can find it at a good price.  I usually get it on Amazon.com.  However if you are looking for comparable replacement that you can get at the grocery store just pick up some skim milk and hersheys syrup and there ya go a great post workout recovery drink!

Water Bottles, a lot of them!