The Triathlete Christmas Present Guide
The wonderful triathlete in your life may have already given you a huge list of things you could buy them for Christmas (often complete with links to purchase on the internet). However, if they haven’t been as organized or you are looking for an additional present some suggested Triathlete Christmas Presents may give a good starting guide of things to look for.
Alternatively, if you are a triathlete feel free to print this out, mark certain items with a big tick and then strategically ‘accidentally’ leave lying around the house in a prominent position.
Transition Mat
This is a fancy mat many triathletes use in transition. It has space to lay out all their important items for the stages ahead so they can grab them with speed, is nice and warm on their feet while they change and marks their space. The most important aspect of a transition mat is it needs to be highly visible so the oxygen deprived athlete can spot it from half way down the transition zone. I bought Stu one of these a couple of years ago in a lovely bright orange with flowers on it.
This is something he would never have chosen for himself.
Since then I have heard multiple stories from other competitors that simply could not find their transition mat when they came in from a stage all tired, and spent valuable minutes looking for their area and equipment. Thanks to that bright orange mat (That you can literally see for miles) Stu has never had that issue.
I bought the Speed Hound mat, and while a little pricey does come in some wonderful stand out designs (Don’t buy the flower one if your athlete is going to a race with Stu please!), is super easy to clean (I throw Stu’s in the washing machine) and has lasted well. There are plenty of alternatives that can be found on the market.
ParkRun Barcode
If your athlete is using parkrun to mix up their winter training, you can guarantee they’ll soon get tired of fumbling for a paper barcode printout. You can choose from a simple parkrun bracelet with their athlete barcode on to personalized water bottles or tags.
This one is a double whammy.
Not only do you get brownie points for being a super supportive partner but you have a added bonus of a lie in every Saturday while they head out to do their local ParkRun 5k. If you position it correctly you might even get a few breakfasts in bed when they get back, you at least deserve a cup of tea in bed for being so understanding!
https://parkrun-barcode.com/GetBarcode
A souvenir from their latest race
Most races will offer T-Shirts and Hoodies branded with the race name and logo, and sometimes distances travelled (apparently known as ‘quality merch’ even if sometimes the quality isn’t). These can often be purchased even long after the event online. Its worth looking up a particular favorite race or even a particular challenging event they are proud of and seeing if you can find a piece of clothing they will love. Be warned though whenever they wear the item of clothing it does give them the perfect excuse to start talking to strangers about the event, and how they found it.
Whenever we go anywhere with Stu wearing anything from his Escape from Alcatraz, he always ends up with people asking about the race, how to enter, what the course is like etc. I know Stu loves showing off his experience as much the memory of the event whenever he wears it.
Running Belt
An essential piece of kit to attach both the cycling and running race number to. It’s quick to put on, allows you to move the number from back (bike) to front (run) and makes it statistically impossible to stab yourself with safety pins while trying to fix the number.
This is probably so essential if your triathlete has done a number of races higher than one, they will have one already. If they are training for their first, however….
These come in many shapes and sizes. Have a think about do you want a simple belt that will literally attach just the number to with a couple of gels (race day) or do you want something bigger that can carry a mobile phone (training)?
Multiple pockets can keep front door keys and phone in different pockets. If you are looking at just race day, then something light weight to carry just the number may be all they need.
The zone 3 belt is solid and popular:
Stu was amazed by how much he could stuff in one of the more training focused belts:
https://amzn.to/2t1D2gU
Bone Conduction headphones
Not for triathlon race day, but for a lot of runs and training, bone conduction is amazing. They sit on your cheek, not in your ear so don’t block your hearing and also mean you aren’t that guy ‘sharing’ his music on his phone. Stu loves his swimming specific ones (that need to have music transferred to them but don’t need a phone):
If you run with a phone anyway, the aeropex are equally amazing and can take spotify etc over Bluetooth:
And slightly older technology, but much cheaper and still very effective are the originals:
Medal Rack
Every athlete deserves the chance to show off. A medal rack is a lovely way to display those beautiful medals they have been collecting over the year. These can come in a wide range of styles and designs. You can get triathlon versions as well as single discipline ones of running, cycling or swimming, tradition and funky designs.
Have a think what room of the house will it go in and look for a style that will work/you can live with. Again beware, all visitors to the house will be shown to see the medals so it needs to be a room you don’t mind visitors seeing.
Run Hat
There are lots of different run hats and styles depending on what you need them for. These can range from a single sun visor or sun hat when its sunny through bands that cover their ears in winter to full blown winter running hats. Think of what style and need your runner has then think bright, think really bright. While a black hat maybe used in more locations and may be used when they are not running, a bright hat will ensure you can see your athlete from a distance and help them stand out from the crowd. This will not only help you when cheering and taking photos as you can see them from further back but will also help them identify themselves in official photos.
On the same, if slightly more advanced token, we have a friend who only races in luminous green compression socks. They look ludicrous, but we never struggle to see him coming.
Run Socks
Who knew socks came in different functions as well as colours and patterns? Special running socks can help the foot breath when running and can also assist with keeping blisters at bay, or especially giving new, post blister skin a chance to harden a little. If they are training several times a week and racing at weekends, several pairs of these could be needed unless they are planning to be washed immediately. There are many brands out there – probably the best known is runderwear. Often these socks are multilayered and may be thicker than an ordinary pair, so test some out with the wearer before going for the bulk order.
Be careful with this one – my brother in law is still moaning that when Stu got a new road bike for fathers day (that we’d carefully paid for as a family) he got runderwear.
Sometimes the most useful stuff is underappreciated.
Sun Glasses for Cycling and Running
These are possibly the hardest to get right, these should be a combination of reducing sun glare, reducing wind and bugs from hitting the eyes and of course style. Almost without exception, every pair of cycling specific sunglasses make you look a berk if you aren’t on a bike, so help out your triathlete by choosing a pair they cannot bring themselves to choose on their own.
The Oakley Radar are surprisingly conservative these days:
As you could be wearing something clearly only a committed athlete would wear like the flight jackets:
Then make sure you don’t let them wear them to the shops.
Swim Goggles
They may already have a favourite brand that fits their face really well so its worth checking, as fit is the most important part of swim goggle choice. But if you know the right brand there’s polarized options for sunny days (in all seriousness, low sun on the swim can make it impossible to sight properly), or clear options for the pool, or even the all singing all dancing computerized ones Stu printed out the page for, marked up and left strategically around the house just before his birthday. Now he won’t stop going on about how brilliant they are.
Sliders/Flip flops
At the beginning of a race something simple your triathlete can slip on to walk to the swim start is nice. If spectating you may end up carrying these once they have started the race, so an open sandal is much less stinky than the trainer shoe and gives the advantage of being quick to slip on and off. Choose something distinctive so you don’t wind up picking a giant/tiny pair by mistake.
Isotonic Gels
A bit of a boring one but something they will always need and use, either during training or in races. These do come in a variety of flavours, some include caffeine and some do not. A lot of nutrition companies run specials over the winter, but a) if your athlete has a brand make sure you stick to it – the wrong ones can taste rank or upset stomachs and b) make sure there isn’t a massive stash somewhere you haven’t been told about.
https://www.scienceinsport.com/shop-sis/all-products/clearance
Compeed plasters
Need a stocking filler? There’s nothing more annoying than a blister that is large enough to stop training or even taking part in a race. These are a second skin that goes over the blister and lets your athlete carry on training as if the blister never existed. The first time I found these Stu was able to enter a couple of races he was resigned to missing, and he always has a few in his tribag.
Race day repair kit
A lot of newer triathletes have just dusted down a bike (or bought a new one) and started riding. They may not think about a mechanical until they have one. Usually in a race. You only try to patch a tire at the roadside in a race once. Especially if you have children you could have a lot of fun putting together a unique race day repair kit.
You will need a small saddle bag, a inner tube (something that has 700 x 20-25c and Presta Valve in the description) as in a race you rip out the old tube and slam in the new, and then patch any punctures in the old one later. You will also need a couple of tire levers (often these may come with the saddlebag).
Apparently I should also be recommending a CO2 inflator plus cartridge and a small multi tool as well. The CO2 inflator uses pressurized gas to reinflate the tire in seconds and are tiny; do use the neoprene sleeve for the cartridge as they get very cold when inflating.
Comment if I’ve missed anything!
(If you do purchase any of the equipment discussed using the link on this page you will be helping to support the site, but each piece of gear is purchased by us and any thoughts above are entirely ours.)