Transition Lecture

Shannon gave a transition lecture at the Presidio Y Sports Basement. Although I had read about some tips from Eric Harr's triathlon book, it was much more useful to see a demonstration. According to Shannon, layout and execution can mean the difference between a 1-2 minute transition and a 5-minute one. At this point however, since I'm out there for hours anyway, a couple of extra minutes is a rounding error for my overall finish time.

Here are some hints she gave us:

• Eating
  • Eat a larger dinner the night before, and 500-700 calories for breakfast as soon as you wake up. You want to fill up your glycogen stores prior to the race.
  • Eat an energy bar 45 min before the race, even if you don't feel like it
  • Shannon uses only one waterbottle for the bike portion of an Olympic race but she advises people to put initially two on their bike just in case
  • For a 1/2 IM, Shannon eats an energy bar 45 min into the bike ride, and then another one 1:30 hr afterwards
  • Contrary to popular belief, it's okay to be a little dehydrated in the race. According to Shannon, people who collapse at finish lines do so not because they're dehydrated, but because their blood pools in their legs
• T1: Swim to Bike
  • Rack your bike with the nose of the saddle over the transition bar. If you rack your handlebars, you'll take up too much space
  • Cycling shoes should be placed closest to you and pointing AWAY from you so you're ready to step into them
  • Don't put a pool of water in the transition area to rinse your feet. It takes up a lot of space and you'll get everybody else's things wet if it tips over. If you must clean the sand off your feet, spray them with water from a water battle and just drag your feet across a towel on the ground
  • Helmet should be unclasped and placed upside down (ready to wear) on top of your cycling shoes
  • Shades should be placed with arms open inside the helmet
  • Shannon doesn't wear gloves for races under 1/2 IM. I always wear gloves, and put them inside the helmet
  • Singlet should be placed on top of everything, with the opening facing you so you can just pull it over your head. Better still, wear it under your wetsuit
  • Unlike everybody else, I use a Camelbak hydration unit
  • After the swim, start pulling off your wetsuit down to your waist as you run to the transition area
  • When you're in the transition area, pull your wetsuit down as far as possible (down to the calves) and step on it to get out. Don't sit on the ground to try and remove it that way
• T2: Bike to Run
  • Use lace locks for your shoes. Keep them loose tied since your feet will expand. I wouldn't recommend this for trail running tho.
  • Grab your cap and race belt and put them on as you are running