Tips from the IRACELIKEAGIRL team

• Find a coach. • Practice running right off the bike.

• My training involved making sure I could complete all the distances individually and trying a couple of bike-to-run transitions to see how that felt.

• My advice to any newbie is to find a group to train with. That was the best decision I ever made. Also attending as many swim clinics or classes you can will help tremendously. While it is intimidating to see so many athletes with their fancy equipment, if your goal is to do it and to finish, as long as you have the basics, you will be fine.

• Seek out help to answer questions– many pros and coaches offer free seminars, practice swims and transition sessions. Find a friend to experience the first race with and laugh off any rookie mistakes.

• The biggest prep I did for my first triathlon was achieving swim endurance. I started swimming in January in preparation for a triathlon in August. I swam at least twice a week and practiced open-water swims with a local group. My first open-water swim was terrifying and I was so happy that I had it out of the way before race day. Also, running through the bike-to-run transition is so important. I took my bike and my running shoes to a park and practiced stopping my bike and switching shoes over and over again until I felt OK. I looked like a crazy person. I would bike around a parking lot, try to stop and unclip, switch shoes, run around the parking lot again and then repeat. I feel like a lot of the initial prep looks silly and can make you feel self-conscious, but it’s so incredibly helpful for building confidence.

• I could barely run three miles, but decided to “train” six days per week no matter what. Some days it was only 15 minutes in the pool because that’s all I could do.

• The best thing for me was joining the local triathlon club and showing up to events. Even social events because I always found a new friend!