Best Practices for IM Transitions

Agree with other posters about knowing your goals and how much time you want to save in your transitions.  At IMUSA this year I opted to go with full clothing changes before heading onto the bike and then changing from bike stuff to running clothes in T1.  Wore a jammer under my wetsuit and changed into bike shorts and threw on a bike jersey in transition.  The night before / morning I had liberally lubed up the bike shorts, turned them sort of inside out and put them in a plastic zip lock back so it wouldn't get all over everything else.  Didn't want to have to monkey around with it in T1.  Everything I needed (shorts, jersey, shoes, helmet, sunglasses, etc) was in my T1 bag.   I arrived into T1 to a pretty heavy crowd so grabbed my own T1 bag off the rack and went into a very crowded changing tent.   Lots of naked folks sitting / standing near the entrance so if you make your way to the farther end of the tent more room and easier to find a chair to sit.   Whether or not there is help from a volunteer depended on how crowded it was.  For T1 I had little help as the volunteers were busy helping others.   After changing to bike stuff I crammed my wetsuit, cap, goggles, jammers in to the T1 bag and a volunteer took it to a pile where it apparently later was put back on the rack where I had picked it up.  Don't forget to get sunscreened by a volunteer.  I didnt' get enough on my neck and felt like I was frying the 2nd half of the bike.  Depending on the race and the number of folks coming out of transition with you they may or may not have your bike waiting.  I had to grab my own bike off the rack.   

When I finished the bike and hit the dismount line handed my bike to a volunteer and then immediately took my bike shoes off and ran barefoot carrying the shoes as I went over to the racks to pick up my T2 bag.  After 112 miles I was ready to get the shoes off and it was a lot easier than trying to run on the cleats.  I believe this time a volunteer had grabbed my bag for me off the rack and handed it to me as I arrived. 

T2 bag I had running shorts, new jersey, fresh socks, running shoes, cap.  Again did the complete change in clothing.  Hit some key areas with Body Glide.  Started to pack my bike stuff (helmet, shoes, etc)  into the bag when this time a volunteer came over and took over the packing things up for me.  Had more sunscreen applied in T2.   

Special needs bag(s) is/are bag you can pack with items that you personally thinking you may need / want out on the course.  1 for the bike, 1 for the run.  Have the opportunity to pick it up at ~1/2 way on the bike and the other bag ~1/2 way on the run.  What you put in it will be a personal decision based on what you think you'll need/want that the course/race doesn't provide.  For the bike I was using an IM Cocktail so in my special needs I had replacement bottles for the 2nd loop.   To keep the bottles cold I bought one of those silver, keep things cool or hot bags from the grocery store and put the bottles in one of them.  Worked great.  Additionally, had an uncrustable (which I had practiced eating a number of times on long rides).  Also had a spare tube/CO2 as I was paranoid since I got a flat that morning pumping up my tires before the race.  Put in a small zip lock back with cream for the bike shorts in the event I felt the need to re-lube up.  All I ended up using was the extra bottles of IM cocktail.  While not in my bike special needs bag I did pick up hugs and kisses from my wife and kids who had positioned themselves at Special Needs.  For the run special needs I had a throwaway long sleeve dri fit (in case it started to cool down), extra Endurloytes, and a couple of gels that I knew I could tolerate when things got tough.  Never grabbed anything from the run special needs bag.   You should plan on not being able to retrieve anything left in your special needs bag post race.  At IMUSA I was able to get my bike special needs bag back after the race but my run one was nowhere to be found. 

For me, I took my time in transitions (~10 mins) as I didn't want to forget anything, wanted to change to fresh clothes each time and for me a few minutes savings in transition wasn't going to make a big difference in my day and the overall experience. 

Best way to practice ...... Go to the Mall or some large shopping center where there are a bunch of people.  Then spray the floor with a hose to make it nice and slick.  Then yell out your number and hope someone recognizes it and hands you the bag with your number on it.  Then stand in the middle of the crowd (because it will be hard to find a spot to sit to change) and try to get your cycling stuff on remembering to stuff your jersey pocket with all the food you need for the start and put your helmet on.  Then throw your bag at someone who isn't changing and elbow your way to the door to get to your bike.  Then push your bike while clip-clopping in your cleats as fast as you can to another part of the mall and try to get on the bike ........ proceed to ride only 5 mph as people who don't know how to clip into their pedals come to a dead stop/fall over/weave.  After this you can finally get up to speed and ride!

The bike to run will be just like any other tri as it will have nicely spread out a lot by the time everyone gets back to the transition area.

Hope that helps!!

Thanks CNIDog for the details, and Daremo for how it actually works.  My first IM is next November, so I'm trying to learn everything I can to prepare.

In theory there's no difference between practice and theory,
In practice there is.