Gray Guys/Girls Maturing Triathlete Mentor Group (Page 24)

Dorm,

You're right, there really isn't a secret to fast transitions.  As you observed the real key starts with a tri-suit - doesn't matter one-piece or two-piece.  Having a tri-suit eliminates having to deal with clothes on wet skin. One word on HR monitors.  I put mine on before the swim.  It's waterproof so the water won't hurt it.  One less thing to worry about in transition.  If you choose to go that route, make sure your HR monitor is waterproof.  They are all water resistant, most are waterproof - the time to find out yours isn't waterproof isn't after you have worn it in the water.

Next up is going sock-less.  Personally, I don't even think about socks for any distance except 140.6.  You need to go sock-less in training!  If you have never ridden your bike or run sock-less and on race day you ditch the socks, there is a VERY good chance your day is going to be a disaster.  You need to make sure your feet can tolerate no socks.  You need to make sure your shoes (both cycling and running) are compatible with no socks.  Once you have done it (the race distance) in training, it will shave a huge amount of time off of transitions.  The downside to going sock-less is you are more prone to blisters.  One good blister can end your day so make absolutely sure you can tolerate the race distance with no socks before you go that route. 

Finally, as Dorm said, slower is faster.    Every movement in transition is deliberate and there is no wasted motion.  I tell all the athletes I work with when we get to talking about transition that you should rehearse transitions to the point you can go through transition in a dark room with your eyes closed.  It should be automatic and you shouldn't have to think about it.  If you find yourself having to think about "what's next" you didn't rehearse your transitions enough.

A hotly debated topic is "Triathlon shoes or Cycling shoes" on the bike.  There are pluses and minuses either way you go.  Personally I prefer cycling shoes.  I feel like I can get more power to the pedals with cycling shoes.  Other people prefer triathlon shoes.  Cycling shoes are slower to get in and out of, while triathlon shoes are easier to get in and out of.  The choice ultimately is yours to make.  That brings us to how you get on the bike.

Flying mounts out of T1.  The VAST majority of triathletes have FAR more to lose by doing a flying mount then they have to gain.  Yes, those flying mounts look cool when they are done properly.  They can end your day when done improperly.  If you aren't on the very pointy end of the spear, meaning you are seriously in contention for a podium finish, Kona spot, championship, etc. I submit you should probably not do a flying mount. 

This is what happens when a flying mount doesn't go well.  In this particular case, it was only embarrassment.  I have seen FAR worse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62oFoUJQ-x8

One of the most important things to make your transitions faster is to plan and practice.  There really is no "right way" or "wrong way."  Arguably there are ways that are faster, but in reality, the second or two you might save will be negligible at the end of the day unless you have designs on a top finish.

Hope that helps.  Have fun out there!

Scott ... a big AMEN from me on the below bullets!  On going sockless ... I periodically run without socks in my running shoes to toughen up the feet.  I usually get one small wear spot/callous (ok it's a blister) at the knuckle of one big toe.  But for me, I'm usually hurting so bad elsewhere that this one spot is absolutely the least of my worries.

Flying mounts ... I've watched racers exiting the bike transition in the Wilmington, NC IM.  My conclusion about 'flying mounts' ... I doubted anyone could winthe race based on executing a flying mount ... but they sure could lose the race from trying.  So many people tried and failed, ran into other people - I never saw the benefit of the risk.

Lastly ... I do have tri-shoes for cycling.  I also have road bike shoes for cycling.  For one Tri, I decided to wear my road bike shoes, and at the point wherein I was trying to unstrap (2-3 straps), 100 yds from transition, that I knew right then and there I'd always go with the one strap tri-shoe.  Mine are weellll worn too, so going without socks is a breeze as well.

Ciao ... Dorm

I had the same problem.  Try this link - http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=547723

You can go to a user name at the top of a post, click on the name, then go down to 'go to race log' and get to race reports that way.

I actually think there are seven disciplines in triathlon -

• Swim
• Bike
• Run
• Hydration
• Nutrition
• Transition
• Mental

Arguably mental is the most important.  Indeed, I believe that success in sport is 90% mental and 10% physical.  Your body will go where your mind leads.  From motivating you to go workout when you simply want to stay in bed or it's stormy outside to allowing you to overcome the pain of going very deep as you approach the finish line - it all starts in the mind.

Hydration/nutrition are often overlooked or not considered until the day before a race.  That's all well and good for a sprint distance race, but for anything longer, ignoring your hydration/nutrition plan is an invitation to a painful day at best and outright failure at worst.

We've been talking a little bit about transitions - I had an athlete I worked with a couple of years ago - their T1 at an Ironman event was 14:37 and T2 was 9:16.  That's nearly 24-minutes in transition - when other people can do the same thing in less than 2-minutes.  Transitions are free time.  You have to do nothing but practice a few times to gain that free time.

I realize that many of us are simply enjoying triathlon as a way to improve our physical fitness - which is fine.  For those of us who are competing against ourselves and trying to improve - paying attention to all seven disciplines is a good place to start.

Originally posted by Rollergirl About the socks. The time it takes to put my socks on in T1 is extra time to catch my breath after the swim, well worth it for me

I'm gonna throw something out for you (or anyone else who might be reading) to think about.

If you are coming out of the water and needing to "catch your breath," I submit one of two things is taking place - either you are going to hard on the swim, or you need to improve your technique and/or swim fitness.

The goal of a triathlon swim during any race distance is to stay aerobic.  If you are getting to T1 and find you have to "catch your breath" I encourage you to take a look at your swim.  Your training should include enough swim volume so you can swim at your threshold pace for the full length of the race distance swim.  Once you can do that, you will come out of the water strong, fresh and ready to take on the remainder of the day.

Hey guys!  Been a while since I've been on here.  Between training and work (co-worker has been off the last 2 weeks so I've been doing double work), it just seems like there aren't enough hours in the day.  But I've got a long weekend coming up and I'm looking forward to the time off - time off work at least, still have the training to do .  

Re: transitions - something I need to work on a lot.  My T2 isn't too bad usually but T1 is always extra slow.  I think it's because I'm just afraid of forgetting something.  It happened once, the first tri I did with an OWS.  It was a hot morning - close to 90* by the time we got done with the swim - and I had forgotten to put my water bottles on my bike.  I didn't realize it until I was about a mile into the bike course.  It was only a sprint, so just 12 miles but my riding pace at the time was really slow so I was out there for almost an hour with no water.  Ever since then, I always double and triple check everything while I'm in T1 (after double and triple checking it before the race started also).  It's a mental thing with me that I need to get over.  

Deb - congrats on your race!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend!
Janet

Since Deb brought this up, I thought I'd clarify the rationale.

When you come out of the water in any triathlon race, you are at a caloric deficit and are dehydrated - yes you can become dehydrated while swimming.  The traditional wisdom is to wait until you are comfortable on the bike before you begin taking in nutrition.

WHY? 

It takes but a few seconds to take a couple gulps of sports drink or swallow a gel and water.  The sooner you can get ahead of the nutrition/hydration curve, the better off you will be.  The longer the race, the more important this becomes.  Once you are comfortable on the bike, you can begin to take hydration/nutrition in according to your plan knowing the 100 calories you took in while in T1 put you ahead of the vast majority of people you are racing against.

Happy racing everyone!