What should you wear for a cold triathlon?
Although racing in the UK has many perks, one downside is that we don’t usually get the excessive heat that some of our European and US friends are accustomed to racing in. In this article, Coach Philip explores some top tips for racing in the cold.
For many athletes, the focus of racing is usually on staying cool. After all, we know that performance can decrease when temperatures go above 16°C. However, with many athletes racing in just their tri suits, cold temperatures can also cause issues. Furthermore, triathletes plunge themselves into cold water before exposing themselves to wind, reducing their core body temperature and aiding further cooling.
Excellent guidelines exist about racing in cold temperatures and the limits permitting wetsuit use when swimming. These factors consider the impact of cold water, air temperature, and wind chill. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that some athletes won’t feel cold as much as others.
The ideal performance temperature is cooler air temperature to offset the heat generated through exercise, but not so cool that the body diverts additional energy to heat itself. In the same way, it is essential to warm up before any training session; athletes don’t want to be cold when racing. Muscles and systems involved with performance need some heat to operate optimally. Additionally, as athletes race longer distances, any energy used to stay warm will be diverted away from the muscles for locomotion to generate heat. As a result, athletes lose performance while trying to keep themselves warm. This can be especially true for longer distances, where the intensities are lower. In reality, as long as athletes start warm for much shorter races, the intensity can keep them warm for most of the race. Still, some of the guidelines in this article can help.
For most people, the question about what to wear focuses more on the bike than the run. The problem with racing is that athletes don’t want to sacrifice aerodynamics for comfort.
This article won’t explore what to do in extremely cold temperatures, for example, in a duathlon where temperatures could be single figures! Instead, that classic British summer day, when the air temperature is chilly (10-15°C), especially for an early morning start, and if the athlete was going out for a training session, they would probably wear more than just a suit!
What should you wear?
The main focus is to ensure that the core temperature remains warm. Thereafter, athletes must consider the impact cold hands and feet may have—not getting nutrition out because of cold hands will have as much of an effect on performance as could be gained by the time taken to put gloves on!
Extremities
I confess I used to hate racing in the cold (give me the high 20s any day!). As a general rule of thumb, when I raced, I always raced with toe covers on. This meant I had warm feet going onto the run, which made me feel the ground better. I have never had any issues with cold hands, but some people get really cold hands—especially those suffering from Reynauds. If athletes are likely to have cold hands, they must consider wearing light gloves. Gloves will slow them down transition more than toe covers. But if it means that they can put their helmet on and do up the clip, grab nutrition and feel the gears and brakes, that’s a worthwhile time penalty to take. These options have limited impact on the wind or aerodynamics.
Core temperature control
On the bike, the wind chill impacts an athlete’s core temperature. Carefully choosing layers to wear is essential as athletes must balance warmth with aerodynamics. Many of the new top-level racing suits have specific fabrics that are faster. Therefore, the ideal solution is to leave that on the outside. For cooler races, racing with a good quality sleeveless base layer (which can be worn through the swim and then dry on the bike) can be effective. There may be time to remove it in T2 before the run in longer races. This can also be an option for short course races where putting stuff on in T1 isn’t an option.
Alternatively, wearing a tight-fitting gillet is a good choice if it is particularly cold. This will keep the trunk warm and, if it is lightweight, can be thrown very quickly into a pocket should there be a significant temperature change. On top of that, putting a gillet on when wet after a swim is much easier than putting on a full jacket. Arm warmers are an excellent choice for keeping arms warm. We suggest rolling them up into a big bangle or bracelet and slipping them over the wrist before unrolling them up the arm. They can be unravelled in T1 or after starting the bike. This is much simpler than pulling an arm warmer over wet skin.
Helmet
Many aerodynamic helmets are aerodynamic because they lack vents, and one way of making some regular helmets faster is by taping the vents up. This comes with the risk of overheating, but for cooler races, taping up a vent is a great way to prevent airflow and, therefore, keep the athlete warmer; it also saves athletes from needing to put a hat on underneath their helmets.
Summary
In summary, the aim of racing when cool is to balance speed both in transition and also aerodynamics with comfort and warmth. In colder conditions, especially if athletes feel the cold more, focusing more on aerodynamics may result in a slower overall time, especially for longer distances. Whatever athletes decide to do for the bike, they may undo for the run. Things like arm warmers can be rolled down before arriving at the dismount line, reducing the time in transition. Whatever they decide to do, athletes must practice it beforehand and always decide before swimming! Deciding how cold they may be on the bike when they’ve just come out of the water can often be incorrect and result in a worse performance.
We also cover racing in the rain here, which provides some added considerations.
Philip is the founder of Tri Training Harder LLP. He’s a British Triathlon Level 3 coach, and has been coaching for over a decade and is involved with mentoring and developing other coaches.
Philip has coached athletes to European and World AG wins, elite racing, many Kona qualifications, IRONMAN podiums and AG wins.
Alongside the conventional development through many CPD courses, he has also been fortunate enough to work alongside experts in the fields of Physiotherapy, Strength and Conditioning, Nutrition, Psychology, Biomechanics, Sports Medicine. Putting this knowledge into practice he has worked with thousands of athletes to various degrees, from training camps in Portugal and around Europe, clinics in the UK and online coaching.
Visit Philip's
Coach profile
We’re here to help
Tri Training Harder are one of the leading Triathlon coaching providers in the UK, using our wealth of experience to unite scientific and technological research with already well-established and successful best practices, to create a formula for triathlon and endurance coaching that works.
The result is an honest, dynamic, yet simple new way of constructing an athlete’s training to allow them to reach their potential.
If you’re planning your next season, just starting out in the sport or are looking for extra guidance at the very top end of the field, we are here to help, and our coaches would be delighted to hear from you. You can contact us via the website, and one of the team will be in touch.