HA! Why don't you think you'll have time when you're in grad school? I'm currently in grad school as well and while I'm busy as all hell between training, school, and work I can still make it happen... though I'm not training as much as some of these crazy people.

As for the $200 bux I'd suggest a really nice outfit - or depending on where you live a stationary trainer. I don't know what program you're going in to but GradStudents have a decent amount of focus. With that, you can apply it to sneaking in 1hr trainer workouts every day or two to keep your fitness.

Is the "hypothetical $200" for the offseason or racing season? Off season I would go for either a trainer (CycleOps Fluid) or a gym membership to get in my swimming and lifting needs. Racing Season would be racing fees and travel costs.

Some nice tri shorts and top for racing. Then I would look at a wetsuit based on the water temps of the races you might decide to participate in some day. Then maybe aerobars. I like the bike trainer idea for off-season training.

Gotta agree with this statement. It takes a certain personality to go to grad school, and a similar personality to train for a tri! When I was in grad school, I managed to go to Weight Watchers, start running, and lose 50 lbs. It can be done, just needs to be a priority in your life.

As far as the $200 goes, I'd buy a trainer. I live in WI and can't ride outside for 6 months of the year!

"PJT posted 14 min ago.
Tri shorts would be my first buy. Though for around $200 you could probably get both a decent used wetsuit and a set of aerobars."

Careful with buying a used wetsuit, after it's 2-3 years old the coating on the outside will flake (in a very minimal way) and will essentially cause drag. Granted this is a small detail, but I like to slip through the water as fast as I can.

couple thoughts...

- dude! grad school is such a luxery. enjoy your training/tris during school cuz after that your time/life will disappear.

- areo bars sound right to me too, but i like the investment idea as well. although for $200 bucks I would go with a relatively short term trade as opposed to an investment. so many stock ideas - so little time - fnm, aapl, ener, ...

When I began I bought a set of Syntace C2 aerobars, Profile fast forward seatpost and Profile base bar (never used it though) for $40 from a fellow triathlete who had it sitting in his garage. Tri top/shorts can double as biking gear if you're on a budget. I searched online and got a set pretty cheap. A bike computer if you don't already have one to monitor your bike training, you can get one for around $25. Save the rest for entry fees and travel to your race. And whatever you have left spend on beer to celebrate your finish.

+1 on dinner for the wife. Unfortunately it won't stop at that. It's amazing how much shopping she can do while I'm on a 3 hour bike ride.

I think you should give the $200 to me (cash or check) and I'll give you some advice about tris, grad school, relationship counseling, and some legal advice. Ok, ok, ok, I guess I would go with the trainer--you can work out while doing your grad school reading at the same time.

I think all master's programs say that ;) I'm in one now (part time, but with fulltime work) and just by planning things I'm not finding it an issue to get in training. Plus it can be a good break when it feels like my brain would explode!

And those $200... I'd save 'em to put towards a race -- maybe one with a bit of travel involved. Or even a training weekend somewhere fun just with friends.

Agreed... I'm in the same boat. Save the money and see how the first semester goes. Spend your time running or swimming at the school. If you're not working you'll have plenty of time for studies. Just use the time as a relaxer every now and then while keeping your head down and getting through school.

not to belittle any other programs, but architecture is particularly time intensive, because there's a LOT of production time in addition to the research time. the studios are typically open 24/7 and you will find students there at all hours

HH, if you can try not to keep hours like a bat, you'll be more successful with both the studies and the training...good luck with that! (I was never able to fit training in with my studies)

+2 if you are concerned about only having $200 and have the basics, save the money. Especially if you are doing sprints. If you were doing HIM or IM I would say go with the areobars. Many sprints in this area are hilly and you don't even get time to get into them much.

I don't want to take this too far off topic, but I think all the master's programs I've read about have something similar: some kind of real application or project that ends up being a major thing, and students working at all hours. I just believe that even with them if you plan your time well it is not as hard as they make it sound.

He's right. I went to school with some architecture undergrads and for some reason they treat'em like doctors doing a residence. Major projects due every few weeks and hours in the studio. After while they were all batty. I'm not sure why it is...

The first part of a tri is the swim. I would spend some of the money on swim lessons. If you cannot make it out of the water, the aerobars do you no good. This is also where most people struggle. Good luck.