transition time and training

I've also started preparing for my first tri of any type, a sprint tri this ept 14th.  Here is a link to last year's results.

http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_results&id=762

The elites will tell you to get Transition times under 1 minute, seems the average is around the 2 minute mark, the slower overall times were in the 3 mintue range, then there are some 4, 5, 6, and 8 minute plus transitions.

As a total newb myself and first-timer, I'm shooting for a 3 minute or less transition in my first race and hoping to improve that over time.

Bricks!

I'd suggest a longer bike ride, go straight into transition practice, then run maybe 10-15 minutes.  Try mixing something like that in once a week or so.  The jelly leg thing will feel less severe after a while as your body begins to learn what to expect.

Also, I feel that the longer I spend in transition, the worse the start of the run will feel.  Sure, I generally just want to lay down for a while and rest, but that tends to cool my muscles down and tighten them up.  Thus, it actually makes starting the run more difficult. 

To improve your transition time, just simplify everything.  Rack your bike, helmet off, shoes off if you have clipless pedals (or if you can get out of them on the bike you can skip that step), socks on if you use them, shoes on, grab your race number belt, go.  There will probably be people handing out water at the transition exit and you can put your number belt on while running.  You can practice this transition everytime you get off the bike, even if you aren't going to actually continue on with a brick run.

As for swim to bike.  Wetsuit off if you're wearing one, Helmet on, shoes on, unrack the bike, go.  Easy as that.  No need to drink anything in T1.  You've got fluid on your bike that you can get while your moving instead of standing still in transition.  You can practice this one, too.  You just won't be coming out of the water when you practice.

I'm not spectacular with transitions - I have to sit vs. falling over and taking out a rack of bikes...

That being said, I know of no time limits on transitions - you do what you have to do to get in and get out, and sometimes it's not really quick, but that isn't the end of the world, either.

As far as jelly-legs go, do some bricks (bike/run) in your training, and you'll at least get used to them.  Personally, I do some quad stretches in T2 - hurts T2 time, but makes the run a little less painful, so it's worth it to me.  I do really think I make up the 10-25 seconds stretching in T2 on the run.  (Your mileage may vary...I may be the only one for whom this actually helps in the long run.)

I've yet to be able to properly recreate a swim to bike transition, because it's quite hard to replicate the "post-swim loopy-ness" but perhaps you could do a swim set and then take a lap around the pool deck?  (Not "running" because it's usually not allowed, but at least getting from horizontal to vertical and then moving in a semi-straight line.)

Overall, keep practicing and you'll keep getting better and faster at T's.

To answer your questions, there are no cut off times in transitions.  But 5 minutes to cool down is too long.  You really don't want to cool down, you want to keep going to keep your heart-rate up. 

 I recommend doing bike to run without taking any break in between.  Yes, it will feel awful.  But it does get better.  You will probably find that you will feel better after 5 minutes on the run.  Just start slow.  My strategy is to tell myself that I can't walk, no matter what, for those first 5 minutes on the run.  And then after that I am usually into a groove and don't feel like stopping anymore, esp in a race. 

I don't think you really need to replicate the swim to bike transition exactly, but its a good idea to practice how you will set up your stuff in the transition area and have a plan of what steps you will do in what order.

And congrats on training for your first tri! 

Agreed. Yeah, your legs will feel like crap. Just start off slow and if you HAVE to walk, walk a little (like the previous poster, I hate having to walk, but I definitely did it in my first race) - your legs will start to loosen up again. A way to AVOID jelly legs is at the very end of the bike, shift into an easier gear and spin at a higher cadence to loosen everything up. Try that in practice and see if that helps. 

Check out the video here on transitions.

Doesn't hurt at all to even practice T1 and T2 every so often.

As people posted try a few bricks, I was amazed after trying a few in training it wasn't so bad going from bike to run anymore.

awesome!  ...thanks everyone for all the great posts/advice.   ..now that I know what a "brick" is () I'm going to work those in!

  ..and yeah, the swim "loopyness" has me a little worried for T1.  Training for a tri has my body feeling like i've never felt it before (some swim loopyness - a little light headed after the bike - etc).  I need to make sure I'm not over-doing it; but at the same time, i want to do good and improve.

Not sure how much nutrition I need to worry about in a sprint.

+1   keep your bricks to once per week or so.  that allows you to have better quality workouts for your biking, running, and bricks.  here is a link to the transition video mentioned above.  good tips:  http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=1488

I just completed my first sprint tri, and my T1 time was 1:38 and my T2 time was 2:22. On the T2, I made myself stop and eat a gel before I ran out. Figured it would help get me through the run portion.

I'll hopefully improve my transition times as I go.

One piece of advice that helped was to KEEP IT SIMPLE. No need for a lot of stuff. Just keep it bare bones, and it will work fine. 

+2.  Some people (who know more than I do) say that you get no specific physiological benefit from bricks.  Maybe they're right -- I don't know.  What I feel confident about are the following: 

(1) 5 minutes is too long, unless you plan to take five minutes in transition;

(2) doing bricks will probably help you get your transition logistics down (assuming you set things up just as you would on race day); anyway, I feel like it has helped me to understand better what it takes to get through transition quickly;

(3) doing bricks may also help you get used to the feeling of running on spongy legs; it might not make the sponginess go away, but you'll get used to it.  (This has been my experience after only half a dozen bricks or so; one thing I realized is that, for me, when I run off the bike, I FEEL like I'm going slow, but it turns out I'm going faster than I feel.  That was a good lesson to learn.)

(4) bad runs = bad training.  If you want to get better at the run, don't practice it under circumstances where you CAN'T run well.  Practice running well.  This is the most important observation, here, IMO.
 

Practice, Practice, Practice, Practice.

I set up my a transiton in my living room a couple of nights for an hour or so.  I ran to my bike, put on my shoes, glasses helmet etc.  Grabbed my bike, turned around, took off my helmet et al, put on my running  shoes, hat, ect and then out.  The day before my race, My only 'workout' was on transitions.  I set up outside, and ran in and out of an approx transition area- this time w/ my bike.  I was at the point where I could do it in my sleep, which I did the night before the race because I couldnt sleep that well.  I just kept going over my transitions in my mind until I fell asleep.

It def helped, cause my brain was mush in T1 and non existent for T2.  I did 2:12 in T1, and T2 was :43 which seems a little better than average.  This was my first race so I know I can do a little better.

It was also good to do a pre-set up so I knew I had everything I needed and where it would go before I started packing up. 

X2

One of the purposes of the brick workout is to transition between the bike and run as fast as possible so the body can get used to overcoming the dead leg feeling at the beginning of the run. When doing these workouts I'm running within 30 seconds of dismounting the bike. You also don't need to run 5K after getting off the bike - a mile or two is sufficient. A workout I've found helpful is doing repeats of a 4 mile bike and 1 mile run. Bike 4/run 1/bike 4/run 1/bike 4/run 1/bike 4/run 1. Doing this workout will provide some help with the T1 as you may be getting to the bike on tired legs from the run, much like you may experience in the swim/bike transition. It also provides an opportunity to practice transitions multiple times. This workout is best when done at close to maximum effort throughout and no rest breaks. This is something that could be done once every two weeks.