The 2 races I hear people talk about qualifying for are Escape From Alcatraz and Kona. I'm sure there's more, but having to qualify is uncommon.

You can do any distance you want. If you sign up for a 10k run, nobody is going to ask for proof that you ran a 5k. Same goes for triathlons.

Good luck in October.

And keep in mind to that while there aren't many races that you have to qualify for, there are quite a few that fill up very quickly.

And as far as progression, it's up to you. Personally I'm only doing sprint distance events right now because that's all that my life will allow time for.

i have only ever done Olympic distance...i have to admit though that I was scared of the sprint distance when i first even considered doing tri's...i joined a training group; and, before I knew it, we had trained through all the total distances, and I was ready.

I yo-yo the distances based on a couple of factors. one, my one target race that I want to do well in. two, the venue is interesting (which rules out Alcatraz because the water is cold). Three, a location the family would want to go to for a mini-vacation.

So I may have a goal race that is a sprint, but do FL Ford 70.3 because its at Disney World.

For USAT age group nationals you have to either win your age group at any USAT sanction race, or here are the official rules from USAT:
2008 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship Qualification Standards

Any athlete wishing to compete at the 2008 Age Group National Championship must qualify in their respective age group at a USAT-sanctioned event to race. This event is the only intermediate-distance triathlon for which athletes have to meet a strict qualification.

Qualifying distances include: Intermediate/Olympic, Sprint, Long Distance Triathlon or Duathlon and Short Distance Duathlon. You may qualify in any of these specified distances; however, each athlete will compete in the intermediate-distance at the Age Group National Championship.

2008 Age Group National Championship Qualification Standards are as follows:

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Athletes can meet qualification at any USAT sanctioned event between July 1, 2007 and one week prior to 2008 Nationals (Date TBA).
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Special Qualifying and Regional Championship races will qualify the top 33 percent or top five finishers (whichever is greater) in each age group. Click here for a list of Special Qualifying and Regional Championship races.
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Any non-championship USAT sanctioned event will qualify the top 10 percent or top finisher (whichever is greater) in each age group.
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Any athlete who has ever competed as a member of Team USA (triathlon or duathlon) will automatically qualify.
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All-American and honorable mention All-Americans from the 2007 USAT National Rankings automatically qualify.
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The top 10 finishers in each age group from the 2007 USAT Age Group National Championship automatically qualify.

Once qualification is met, athletes do not need to do anything special except indicate where they met qualification on the Age Group National Championship race application. There will be no other steps required. You will not receive a notification from USAT on your qualification as each athlete is responsible for submitting their own race application with their qualification race listed.

USA Triathlon will do an audit of those who have met qualification shortly after the receipt of the race application. If an athlete does not get a written request for more information within two weeks of submission of the race application, the athlete can rest assured that the entry has been accepted. From there, the athlete's name will appear on the participant list.

For more information, please contact the National Events Department

Wow, I thought getting to nationals would be a bit harder than that. I was making that one of my "out of focus, not enough planning yet" goals for next year, but it turns out I already qualified this past year. Thanks for the info!!