Tips - Little things you never think about (Page 4)

I keep a small penlight/flashlight in my transition bag,, it' helps when you are somewhere at o'dark thirty getting your stuff together

Flashlight helps in those DARK port-o-potties too.

Ugh

I'm not sure about this one either.  I thought a good tip, and something I do, is to get to know my neighbors.  I've found that by getting to know the people around me, I become 'a person' and not just 'some guy'.  I believe that kind of familiarity has helped to keep my transition area in tact because the people 'know' me and therefore will have a little more respect for my things and my space.  And if there is an issue, we can resolve it amicably and before T1 or T2. 
It's easier to be rude to a stranger and throw their stuff around than it is to a person you were talking w/ and having a good time just minutes or hours before.

I think the point of the post you're referring was to keep the transistion area uncongested, not that you shouldn't talk to friends or competitors.  Unpack your stuff, set up your transition area, and then shoot the breeze out side of the TA so others can get setup. 

I really like this thread; I find myself coming back to it often. 

I wonder if we could create 3 separate TIP Threads (S B R) and then sticky it.   (Maybe even a "Transition" thread too).

I've seen people tie funny helium balloons to the end of their bike rack in transition.  You can see it a long way away and the chances of someone having the same balloon are slim.  Also I bring an extra water bottle to rinse my feet at T1.  It may take a few extra seconds, but if it was a yucky run out of the water I'm grateful for the clean feet for the rest of the race. Plus it doesn't take up as much room as the "foot baths".

I understood the point. I've done a lot of races and never once felt like the TA was "congested" by people hanging out and talking.

Check with the RD first. Some don't allow balloons in the TA as markers. One race I did last year pretty much banned all athlete laid markers in transition.

I've found walking through each of the following once before the race is generally sufficient (and I have a HORRIBLE sense of direction):

• Swim in to transition spot
• Transition spot to bike out
• Bike In to transition spot
• Transition sport to run out

Use immovable objects like trees and buildings as cues of where to go. Things like trash cans can be moved. Say the cues to yourself out loud eg: "turn left at the 2nd tree".  And definitely don't use other people's bikes as landmarks. There's every chance they won't be there when you are. Not that I've ever done that.

Just a lttle bump....this thread is so great!  Thanks to all contributors!

if you need to go to the bathroom on a long run dont hold it in... find the nearest bush. fast.

IBUPROFEN!! nuff said... but for those of use who are aren't super athletes and are mainly trying to survive a couple of NSAIDs before and after the race seems to help reduce the joint pain, swelling, headaches, sore muscles and other physical signs of insanity resulting from these nutso races

No tip, yet, but just a question. How do people measure OWS distance on unmapped courses? like if just go out and swim for 30 mins, how do I know how far I swam, other than taking guess based on my pool pace?

bodyglide on your feet before the race can ruin your day, it will pick up rocks when you run to your bike.

Put baby powder in your bike/run shoes (if you ride barefoot). your feet will slide right in and note chafe.

um you dont really know, but i would say you swam for 30min......... is knowing the distance going to really help or hurt you one way or another?

Kayak with a Garmin.

One thing you should be able to do as you get more experienced is tell within a few seconds what your pace is. Swim 100. Don't make it all out, make it 75% or so, but try to guess your time. Then, try to do 10x100 all at that exact same pace. You can do the same with cycling and running.

Once you can gauge a given effort, you know how far to apply distance for x minutes at y effort.

John

Often, you can pick up your packet the day before the race. This is when I drive the bike/run course to check for hills, etc.

Try Mapmyride.com.  If you unclick the follow roads option it will map location points & distances directly.

Powerbars are extremely tough to bite off and chew below 45F.  Less so for sport beans, but they get tough, too.

Take water or gatorade at every aid station, even if all you are going to do is pour it on head. (The water, not the gatorade)

Smile as much as you can during the race.

Acknowledge the volunteers and crowd even if you can only manage a nod and a smile.

You cannot ham it up too much for the cameras.  Smile bigger and stick your thumbs WAY up!!!

Edited by pga_mike 2009-05-03 9:00 AM

+2. You can do it with BT's Route Tracker as well. Pull up where you're swimming on satellite before you swim and set up some landmarks you want to swim to (and back). Like a peninsula or water tower or something. Then when you get home you can map the swim based on where you actually swam in relation to those landmarks. If you really want to be accurate, take a little compass with you (some watches have them). Swim as far as you want, at the turnaround take a bearing off a landmark and estimate how far you are from the landmark. I use 100 yards when I estimate distance because it's easy for me to imagine the size of a football field. If you want to be very accurate, take two bearings off two landmarks. Where those two lines meet will be your position at the turn-around.

Cycling shoes are slippy.  Jumping off your bike with them on may result in you slipping over, obtaining some minor road rash in the process...

Therefore my tip would be to get out of your shoes before you get off the bike.

I have Look cleats with a small amount of rubber on them to increase friction.  They solve this problem, and when the rubber starts to wear away, it's probably about time to replace the cleats anyway.