In an indoor triathlon, your placement is based on your total distance covered, not your time. One of the biggest challenges is pacing yourself, says Jason Glowney, MD, and winner of the 2006 Olympic Distance Lake Geneva Triathlon. "Check out the prior race results to know what's competitive for your group and then you'll have a better idea of what to shoot for come race day."

Here are some of his other top tips:
Warm up. "Many triathletes use the swim as their warm-up in the longer outdoor events, but with an event this short, it's just not going to do the trick."
Negative split. Swim at-pace for the first half, but then pick up your effort--you have a whole ten minutes for your heart rate to recover before hopping on the bike.
Tune-up your turns. The shorter the pool, the more important your turns are going to be. Maintain as much momentum as you can at every wall and push off streamlined. "If you can do flip turns and do them well, you're ahead of the game," Glowney says.
Know the equipment. Before you race, adjust your seat height and figure out what RPM and resistance settings give you the most distance for your effort. Your best result might be a higher resistance at lower cadence. Try out the treadmill, too.
Careful of the corners. Most indoor tracks are no more than 130 meters, and the tight corners are hotbeds for injury.
Live on the edge. "Keep your effort even and at your threshold pace," Glowney says. "It should feel uncomfortable the whole way, but not so much that you need to stop." Halfway through the run, kick it in so that you finish feeling like you couldn't have pushed yourself any harder.

Jason Glowney is a coach for Vision Quest Coaching. He has won more than ten state championships, including victories in the 40K individual time trial, individual pursuit and Olympic sprint.