Look what happened during the T1. (and also during the first swim leg)
My heart rate increased so much reaching almost my 100% ,… I didn’t realise that at the moment, because of excitement, adrenaline, etc…
But what followed was that it took almost 30min for me to recover and that RUINED all my ride and run… So much energy spent…
And i COULD NOT ride above 105W (so low!) … Why ?!
I know that going from Horizontal to Vertical causes this…
I’ve read that I should have left the sea more slowly, that I should have beaten legs more vigourously and so on.
And maybe walk during T1…
Is it just me ? How can I see people doing so naturally efficient (not fast)…
Can I train my body not to have this HR spike ?
I’m sure others will provide additional insight but I’ll definitely be the first to say that, no it is not only you. This still happens to even some of the most experienced.
It is why I tell most first timers, when they come out of the water to not try to rush to t1. It’s tough because you have a bunch of people cheering you on, you’re in race mode, you want to look good, etc.
Through time and conditioning, this will get somewhat easier.
It also depends on what the run to t1 is like and you need to adjust accordingly.
Are you running on sand?
Steep uphill?
Once on the bike, if your heart rate is still on the high side, try to get a mellow pace in before ramping up.
If I took a screen shot of the HR profile from my last 5 races it would be almost identical to yours. My most recent race was the first one I’ve had where my T1 heartrate was not the highest HR experienced during the race. During the Nations Tri in DC I actually hit 188bpm in transition due to a warm water swim and long run to the bike.
It sucks, there’s only so much you can do to get used to it. Basically I just anticipate the out of breath feeling until I can get on the bike and work on settling in. Where I would say you need to work on fitness is in the length of time it took for you to drop back down to a ‘regular’ race heartrate. Mine tends to come back down fairly quickly.
I see a lot of people who seem overly concerned about getting the best T1 or T2 time possible. They are SPRINTING the transition. My take is this: why would you run faster in either transition than you would during the run? Would you consider random 200-400m sprints during the run? Or random sprints during the bike?
The answer is that pacing applies to the entire race. So slow down in transition; don’t worry about “losing” 10-15 seconds in transition. Instead focus on having the fastest race possible.
Also, focus on being calm at all times pre-race and during the race. Don’t let the crowds and anticipation get to you. I was in the water before an IM once, floating next to 2 guys, when one of their HR monitors starts beeping. He looks at is and says “hey, look, I’m ABOVE my target HR for the race”; this was before the gun even went off!
So stay calm, don’t run the transition faster than you will run the run leg, and have a good race.
This is very normal and happens to the most experienced triathletes. For reference my 10k time in an Oly is about 42:00. Or about 7:00/mile. From the water to my bike I probably start off at a 10:00/mile pace and gradually build to 8:00/mile. I try to get as much done on the way as I can:
-goggles on forehead
-unzip wetsuit
-get arms of wetsuit off
-roll wetsuit down to about wait
-get sleeves of tri suit on and zip up top
-swim cap and goggles off and in hand
-get to bike, throw goggles and cap into bag, begin putting on helmet. Use legs to roll suit down while putting on helmet.
-Grab bike and jog toward mount line.
I find a fast transition is more about being “smooth” and minimizing time at the rack than raw speed between the water and the mount line. Also, I really focus on concious deep breathing while going through T1. I find that helps.
Out of curiosity, the first HR spike, did that happen around a buoy or between two buoys, it appears almost exactly half way through the swim. There’s a lot of confusion, and bodies, good swimmer or not, not everyone is comfortable getting jostled in the water. My TRi Master club occasionally plays a little water polo to get people acclimatized to that situation.
Getting your legs under you when you come out of the water can take a while. If you are a swimmer that uses their arms a lot more than their legs, then the body has to transition and that’s a lot of blood moving about. HR can be all over the place. It takes me close to half an hour to sort that out. Also bike fitness may have something to do with it. It has been my experience that biking is quite a few beats below running HR. In your case they are very similar.
This was your first Tri, lots of confusion, very little comfort and not many years of training.
Were you a competitive athlete before and how long ago?
So…
The 1500m swim was two 750m loops, around a buoy on the sand between them.
There it was the first spike.
I was swimming very confortable… Even could swim 30min more… My HR was confortable…
The problem appeared when standing up…
Between the sea and the bike, there was 500m (100m of it sand, ascent)
Based on previous tips, I don’t use legs during the swim (to preserve them to ride/run) … I did it during 1min before exiting the sea…to help blood movement…
My bike HR is lower than my run HR… On that day, particularly, because of everything above, my bike HR was very high…
So…
The 1500m swim was two 750m loops, around a buoy on the sand between them.
There it was the first spike.
I was swimming very confortable… Even could swim 30min more… My HR was confortable…
**The problem appeared when standing up… **
Between the sea and the bike, there was 500m (100m of it sand, ascent)
Based on previous tips, I don’t use legs during the swim (to preserve them to ride/run) … I did it during 1min before exiting the sea…to help blood movement…
My bike HR is lower than my run HR… On that day, particularly, because of everything above, my bike HR was very high…
Thanks for the comments
regards/Dany.
^that.
i have the same “problem”. all my HR files show a spike in T1. not much you can do about it. you can train to get used to it, but short of sitting down for a bit, i have not found anything good to make it go away. I only race sprint and oly, so while i wear a HRM it is really only for data collection purposes only, i race on feel, power, and pace.
i did notice last year was better than the previous (first) year as far as this goes. its just how often do we really get the opportunity to practice swimming really hard then immediately get up and start running/jogging around? most life guards frown on running laps around the pool on the deck. as i get calmer in the water things get better. there is a difference between trying to be calm, thinking your calm, and actually being calm.
as for the low power on the bike, was that because you couldn’t produce the power, or because you were using your HR to set your level of effort?
Lots of good advice from people in this thread so far.
One thing to mention is the “why” of why your HR was so high in T1 (besides excitement) and you probably felt a bit out of breath too.
Have you ever donated blood and exercised shortly after? It’s similar. You don’t have as much blood to go to your legs. Less blood volume means your heart has to pump way more to keep up with the demand your legs are screaming for. The blood vessels in your upper body are wide open after swimming and holding on to lots of your blood…almost stealing them from your legs. It’s going to take a little bit before the blood goes from your upper body to your legs. “Burning matches” before you even start the bike is going to make it hard to recover and/or get to your goal watts. If you’re set on using watts to dictate your effort level on a bike split, some would say to make sure you have zeroed out your PM as close to the actual race as possible without your shoes connected to the pedals. I don’t know if that’s actually helpful, but it’s one of the ST’isms I don’t question because it’s on my pre-race routine and helps me get ready mentally. It’s also good to be sure you can actually hold that effort after a swim and still run afterwards. I’m guilty of messing that up in the past.
I can’t say with certainty, but I would guess your claim of “not kicking” during the swim would make this worse as even less blood would be circulating in your legs. The suggestions above about not sprinting T1 are spot on as well. Going into the actual transition area with wobbly legs, grabbing your gear and bike and mounting the bike while you’re seeing spots and not feeling great is probably going to cost you more overall time than a fast run right out of the water saved you. With practice it should get better too.
Kick during the swim.
Run smart from the water to your bike (also taking advantage of the other suggestions listed above).
Practice.
Keeping being awesome. It’s really cool to see people asking real questions about how to improve, not what crap they can buy and not know how to use.
