I’ve taken a year off from the tri circut due lack of funds because of college, but now that I have a job, I’m going to hit it hard this season (already signed up for four). Anywho, I have a bit of a competitive bug in me and I am capable of placing in my age group, so I’d like to give it a go. Looking at some of my resuslts from years past, my transition times SUCK!
I never realized how much time I wasted changing shoes. I had a 5-min transition for Christ’s sake! Now that I’m looking at longer swims and probably throwing a wetsuit into the mix, I have no idea how I can cut my times any further other than hurrying my ass up.
I’m not a retard when it comes to preparation. I line my stuff up in a logical order… socks BEFORE shoes and such, but apparently that’s not enough.
Practice. Visualization. Develop a routine for each T, practice it, and just before you leave transition to get ready to start your race, run through the steps, standing at your bike, see yourself drop your goggles and cap, put on your shades and helmet, put on your race belt, put on your shoes (ditch the sox unless its cold ;-)), unrack your bike and trot to the bike start. I actually act it out, pretending to do each step. Also helps me to be sure I haven’t forgotten anything :-p
Being the disorganized individual that I am, had the same problem until developing a “system” in which everything is laid out in order and in the exact same way every time. This helped me a lot. Still slower than I want to be, but getting better.
AndyPants’ advice was right on. Practice them and run through them in your head before you get there. If you can visualize what you are going to do, and the order in which you are going to do them, it will make the transitions a lot faster and smoother.
What other non-essentials are you putting on and taking off in T1 and T2?
I don’t know of any elites that use socks in sprint or Oly.
Racebelt??? You must get one of these and put it on as you run.
Shades: Use the same ones you cycled in.
I hope you’re not one of those guys that fills the little bucket of water and rinses your feet in T1.
Layout all of your T1 and T2 equipment and eliminate anything you don’t need.
Also, learn and practice exiting your shoes as you coast into T2. (i.e. pedaling on top of your shoes, and then hitting the ground running as you get to the dismount line.) YOU MUST PRACTICE THIS TO BE SAFE TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS.) On the other hand, I don’t recommend trying to pre-mount your shoes and putting them on as you start the bike route. Its too dangerous to yourself and others on the course.
Well, it’s obvious I’m doing a few things wrong if I posted a 5 minute T1 time, so I may as well be honest. Most of what I have been doing wrong comes from bad experience from doing it “right” earlier on.
I rinse my feet by spraying them with a water bottle. I neglected to do this the first two tri’s I did and my shoes felt like a damn rock grinder for the next 25 miles. When T2 came along, the ball of my foot was shredded and my shoe was lined with blood. You can’t do this every weekend, so how do you get the sand off?
I don’t use socks on anything less than Oly dist.
I had been using a regular jersy/shorts combo, but this year I’ll go to a skin suit to avoid putting a jersey on. Any suggestions? I’m looking at a sleeveless Exte Ondo.
I’ve got a race belt and only use shades for cycling.
Never tried the exit shoe early strategy, so I will practice that.
Wear your run singlet during the swim. I use a QR singlet and did some unscientific testing with some peers at the pool. At the end of the day, we could not tell a noticable difference in swim intervals with or without wearing the singlet in the water. So, we always wear it now in all events. That will save you much time in T1 because it will already be on you. They will dry out w/i the first few minutes of riding your bike.
I can get in and out of most T2’s (sprint and olympic) in 30 seconds by using the shoe exit technique. But, I practice it at the end of all rides. No matter how tired I am, I always exit the bike as I’m coasting back up to my car by pedaling on top of my shoes. I then toss a leg behind the seat and coast on one side of my bike. (Learning how to apply the breaks without skidding is the key, as there very little weight on that back wheel now.) Then you hit the ground running at full speed across the dismount line and straight to your T2 spot. It works great.
I’ve never rinsed my feet, but everyone’s feet are different. Sounds like its worth taking the time to rinse your feet based on what you have experienced.
Did you notice in the Olympics that some of teh athlets had their cycling shades mounted to there bottle cage? You might experiment with that. Might work for you. I don’t use that one because I’ve found its a pain to put your shades on after your helmet is buckled.
I also don’t take time to hydrate in T1 or T2. I think about it just before I exit the bike.
Also, learn and practice exiting your shoes as you coast into T2. (i.e. pedaling on top of your shoes, and then hitting the ground running as you get to the dismount line.) YOU MUST PRACTICE THIS TO BE SAFE TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS.) On the other hand, I don’t recommend trying to pre-mount your shoes and putting them on as you start the bike route. Its too dangerous to yourself and others on the course.
Totally agreed, esp for sprint tris, saves easily a minute or more depending on how far you have to run to rack yer bike. As long as you can run barefooted, that is (for me that’s faster than running in cycling shoes).
Walk through the transition(s) and make sure you know where your bike is relative to the exits.
Shoes clipped on bike. This can be faster depending on how good you are at running with cycling shoes on and what the transition surface is. wet grass is murder in bike shoes. Look at the first hundred yards out of t1. If you have to climb a hill right away you probably want to put your shoes on at T1.
Socks for run if its a long hot run. I ran my first HIM with no socks and my feet were raw by the end. my second time, i put on socks at T2 and still had a 1:20 T2 time.
your wetsuit should be down to your waist with your cap and goggles off by the time you get to your bike.
body glide yourself like crazy. For me it’s the difference between taking 10seconds to get my wetsuit off or 2 minutes. body glide the collars of your shoes and your insoles. it lets your feet slide in without wrinkling the insoles.
put your run gels in ziplock, glasses and racebelt all in a pile in a hat that you can grab and put on while running.
Nothing will motivate you more than giving up your podium spot to someone who is slower but had better transitions.
If you are a rock like me and have to wear a wetsuit to swim 500 meters than I recommend a Piel wetsuit. You can get out of it in less than 5 seconds. If running a USAT race where a shirt is required, wear your singlet under your wetsuit. This only becomes an issue of it is a cold morning and you are getting on the bike with a wet shirt but hell, your shorts are already wet so a little bit more doesn’t matter.
Socks are optional if doing a sprint. If longer race, then comfort may have to rule over the few seconds saved. If you do wear socks roll them down so that all you have to do is slip them over the toe and roll them over the ankle. If you try to pull socks on over wet legs you will become very frustrated as I have found when i failed to follow my own advice.
Some type of quick lace for your shoes if you don’t have them is a tremendous time saver. Just slip on the shoes, pull and run.
Arrive early to your next race, or better yet spectate at a race, and observe what the elite pros are dong for their transitions.
USAT regulations don’t require men to wear shirts. It’s only the US-based official Mdot Ironman and Half-Ironman races (and Kona) that have a special rule that requires men to wear shirts.
Barrio mentioned quick laces or somethng similar. my preference is Easy Laces. once you get them adjusted properly, you save a ton of time in transition and they never loosen up or come untied.
i have an issue with feet swelling up a little on the run. standard laces not only took time to tie up, but if i didn’t get them just right, i hurt from them being too tight, or had to deal with the shoes flopping around. Easy Laces solved the time and the fit issue. huge time item for me.
and ditto on the socks. drop em. your shoes may dictate how easy that will be to get used to. interior construction on some may tear you up without socks.
past that, practice. transitions are kinda like the serve in tennis. you are in total control of what happens. fast transitioning, like a strong and predictable serve, will boost the rest of your performance.
Running barefoot thru T1 + pedaling with feet on top of the cycling shoes = fairly clean feet(if still sandy) + use hands to wipe off the remaining sand…
On a flat bike-course (no hills right out of T1) I find myself pedaling “on/out the shoes” the first mile or so (until I reached my cruising speed and road is clear). Also, I take my time - one foot in, pedal more to keep up the speed, then other foot in, pedal more, strap on, pedal more, other strap on…
I find myself pedaling “on/out the shoes” the first mile or so (until I reached my cruising speed and road is clear). Also, I take my time - one foot in, pedal more to keep up the speed, then other foot in, pedal more, strap on, pedal more, other strap on…
Would this eat up more time than spraying with a water bottle?
I agree, static time is a total waste and it’s something that I have not paid proper attention to. I’ll try to innovate some ways to get me on the bike sooner and work out the details on the bike.
I don’t wipe my feet off with a towel. The watter bottle works well and takes about 5 seconds. I’m thinking with the watter bottle and the baby powder, I should be able to avoid socks.
