Free Speed - use transition to your advantage!

Great post.

One thing I would like to throw into the mix is that an easy way to get faster is to just dumb it down.  For a sprint or an oly. there is no reason to have all the extra food and such in your pockets.  In T1 you should get out the water, have your wetsuit almost off by the time you get to your bike, strip it off fast, put on your helmet and shades, grab your bike and go putting your feet into the shoes as you are riding.  That's it!  If for some reason you cannot put your shoes on while riding, then just slip them on and go.  Don't worry about tightening the straps until you are riding.

For T2, you should aready be out of your shoes by the time you dismount, run with the bike to the rack, take your helmet off, running shoes on with some sort of speed laces and grab your number belt and hat/visor if you use one and put all those on while running.

If you need nutrition, keep it in your tri top/shorts pocket under your wetsuit while you swim.  Or (yuck) use some sort of bento box.  Try to be as much course supported as possible.  The less you have to carry, the easier it is to stay light and unencumbered.

Don't lolligag and chat if you are looking to be fast in transitions!!  Be all business, in, change, out.

Great post, nice to illuminate the performance gains necessary to compensate for slower transitions.

I did want to add my 2¢ in the form of that one word "simplify," as I see too many triathletes bringing too much and attempting to do too much in transitions, especially in short course races. In my sprint transition bag I pack:

• Beach towel (transition mat)
• Hand towel (to wipe sweat or dirt, used rarely)
• Goggles
• Swim cap
• Race belt

That's it. Bike shoes stay on the bike, running shoes are on my feet, helmet is on my head as I usually ride my bike in from parking. Nutrition and hydration is preloaded on the bike.

In T1, place goggles and cap in my bag, put my helmet on, grab the bike and go.

In T2, rack the bike, quickly slip into shoes, grab cap and race belt and go.

There are no socks, no sunglasses, no washing of the feet, no nutrition taken, no sitting down in either transition.

Simplified, planned, organized and practiced.

Rick,

Great points, I had initially detailed all the steps of transition but the post got really long...

However, as far as KISS; I agree 100%.  I think that if athletes put a little practice into transitions (so they can do a flying mount or at least a rolling mount) that their transition area should have the following:

bike shoes - on bike
helmet and glasses - sitting on handlebars
running shoes - next to bike
race belt (if required) and hat - under running shoes
towel (missed this, thanks bear!) - sitting next to bike with running shoes on top

Shane

The only caveat for some runners is that they need socks.  That can add a little hiccup for some.  But it can still be done very quickly if you have then open and laid out on the shoes.

And remember to cover things up if it is raining!!

If you need to wear socks, baby poweder on the inside will make them easier to slip on if your feet are wet. I need socks for running but I put them on before the bike.

Great suggestions everyone. I'll be practicing! 

I actually baby powder the inside of my cycling and running shoes to make them easier to slip on without socks.

A race belt is a good cheap investment of about $7, or free in many goody bags of the races I do. You don't spend time putting it on in transition but rather slip it on as you are running.

To each his own, but I couldn't imagine swimming with my shorts full of race bib. I'd be scared to death of paper cuts.

I saw a transition video I think it was here that talked about rolling up your socks, my feet seem to blister easily so I have to wear them.  Rolling them up made them 10x faster to put on.

2 tri's ago I actually ended up coming in 2nd in my AG, The guy in 3rd was faster in the swim, right behind me on the bike and way faster than me on the run.  I beat him in Transition by over 2.5 minutes and ended up being 7 seconds faster overall.

Big fan of faster transitions.

Hmm...I may have to try this with my sneakers - I have speed laces and open them up as far as I can, but I seem to have a harder time getting into them.

I agree that transition should be WAY simple - too many newbies bring too much crap. Thankfully, I was on BT a good three months before my first race, so I learned well  At a race I did in June with some friends, only one or two of which are super-competitive, it was the first race for this one girl and the other girl with us, who is pretty slow and not competitive has this whole elaborate transition that she uses and had convinced the new girl to use. Needless to say, the slow girl and I got out of the water around the same time (she was behind me and is a decent swimmer only) - I was done and out of transition before she even sat down on her stupid bucket. I hope new girl, who IS competitive (in other things and probably will be in triathlon), realizes that all that extra crap isn't needed. I had told her about my transition plan while we were at the hotel, just to make it clear that there are many (better) ways to do it!

And I am looking for ways to simplify even more! I can't and won't do the "shoes on the bike" thing for quite some time, though - too risky at my level.

An IM transition, while in basic principal should be the same, is a whole different animal.  We could have a separate thread about those.

But the numbers do last through the swim without too many issues.  Plenty of people do it.  I just put mine on when in the tent because it takes very little time as I mentioned before.  And I put the other one in my bike to run bag (you are given 2 in IM events, one with your first name, the other with your last) just in case it does get all messed up.  For what it is worth, mine lasted through the 11 hours of deluge that I was wearing it in LP.

One more thing - bring a checklist.  You can print one out very easily here on BT, and make sure you have everything you want in the transition area. 

This weekend, at The Dutchman 1/2, one of the competitors forgot his nutrition.  He realized he had forgot it at the beginning of the swim.  He told his girlfriend about it and asked her to go to the car and get it for him so he could grab it from her in T1.  She did, he did, and he got a 4:00 penalty for assistance.  When I was talking to him after the race, he knew he was chancing getting a penalty, but he felt he would have done much worse than 4 minutes slower if he had gone out on the bike without his nutrition.  A checklist that he could have run down before transition was closed would have made all of the difference.  He finished in the top 20 overall, but would have been 5 places higher overall and 2 places higher in his AG without the penalty. 

Having your mental game ready when setting up transition can make more of a difference than just "in transition".

Not sure how this saves time, particularly trying to do this while running full speed with the bike. I "fumble" less after having racked  the bike. Regardless, we're talking microseconds of difference either way.

Also, I have seen some races where the RD imposes a rule requiring helmet to be buckled whenever the bike is off the rack. This Isn't a USAT rule but some RDs do invoke it. 

Even more reason to go course supported as I mentioned above.  One bottle on the bike and you're done .......

The only time I think someone needs a checklist per se is when they are packing their stuff before their race.

As mentioned before, keep the transition are as simple and basic as possible.  For a sprint or oly. you barely even need nutrition to begin with.

I'm surprised it's not a USAT rule because IIRC it is an ITU rule (not just ITU elite but the overll governing body).  It is definitely a TriCanada rule so for anyone north of the border, don't touch that buckle until you are no longer in possession of your bike!

Shane