Last weekend I had the rare opportunity to attend a triathlon expo. My first, in fact. The expo is/was called Multisport World 2012. It’s actually a series of three expos that take place in New York, Washington DC and Boston. I should have attended this last year but didn’t because it’s kind of a hike from where I am. After this year, I wish I had! I wasn’t expecting much more than a collection of vendors though honestly, that probably would have made it worth the trip for me.
Having a big group of vendors in one place was helpful and I found a couple of things I’ve been looking for. The first was a light, waterproof jacket for running in the rain. I found one that not only fit that bill, but was also reflective and had an abundance of pockets. Fun fact: I freakin’ love pockets. I also found a triathlon backpack. These are handy, since being a triathlete comes with carrying around an amount of gear that’s not insignificant. I currently use a large shoulder bag and I can tell you right now that trying to keep it from sliding off my back while riding a bike is a less than fun, mildly terrifying exercise.
In looking for these things online and in local stores, I probably could have gotten both for $170 at best. At the expo, I got both for $100. Remember, folks, despite the title of my blog, triathlon is not a cheap hobby. But I try to save where I can, and this was one of those opportunities.
Back to the expo. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it’s much more than a marketplace for sophisticated sporting goods. There were clinics, classes, and seminars running all day long. Not to mention a neat indoor triathlon and time trial that the organizers had set up. When I first started hearing about this event at the beginning of the year, I read about the indoor tri and was intrigued because participants would row, bike and swim. I didn’t sign up for it, but wish I had because it sold out.
Another interesting event was the bike time trial, sponsored by Toga Bikes (where I got my lovely bike in November). Each heat had anywhere from 2-6 participants and their progress was tracked on a large monitor which was visible to spectators. I wasn’t confident enough in my abilities as a cyclist to sign up for this, but it was very cool to watch. I only really followed one heat closely, but the conclusion I reached from my experience as a spectator was this: triathletes are machines.
I didn’t sign up for any of the clinics, though I’m sure they were very informative. What I did do was sit in for the Ironman-specific portion of the seminar schedule. The last hour or so of the schedule was dedicated to long course (Ironman aka 140.6 distance) races. If I remember, I’ll do another post on the specific things I learned. Overall, though, they covered topics ranging from the NYC Ironman that I’ll be doing in August, race nutrition and race planning. I felt that the most interesting part of the conversation had to do with the NYC race details. The most informative, however, was about nutrition. I have a lot to think about and plan going into race day.
Overall, Multisport World 2012 was a great success. I learned a lot, but even more importantly I truly felt like a triathlete and part of the triathlon community for the first time. This feeling inspired new vigor in my training and I've looked forward to every workout since. I can only hope I can carry on this new level of enthusiasm to August.
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