transition

I wrote this piece a little over a year ago to place into the mind of an athlete an order of things to do the morning of an event. It’s as relevant today as it was then. Let us know if it helps:

Make sure that you have given yourself enough time to get to registration when arriving at the event location. There is no need to add that extra stress and burn calories frantically looking for the registration tent 30 minutes before the swim start. Taking a step back further, during the night before, have a read through your athlete’s guide so that you know where everything is situated so that you can comfortably arrive the following morning armed with all you need to know about your event.

 

Plan to arrive early at Transition to have enough time to set up your area and to make any finally checks on your gear, nutrition and tyres.

 

Rack your bike and make certain that your equipment is properly stowed in your transition bags or laid out in your designated transition spot.

 

Make sure that you have properly sited where your bike is in respect of the rest of the Transition area, the swim entry point, bike exit and entry as well as the run exit all mapped out in your head.

 

Following the body marking and street clothes drop off, do one last visual check of the swim course as you are waiting for your wave start time.

 

If it’s possible, do a dry land warm up by jogging and loosening up your shoulders and if it’s allowed to do a short high intensity water warm up by swimming a few 100m efforts.

 

Position yourself according to ability at the swim start.

 

Start your swim and get some clear water by taking the first 300m at Zone 3 and settle in behind an equivalent athlete’s toes or shoulder and draft at an even Zone 2.

 

Prior to exiting the swim, start kicking more than your standard two beat kick to get some blood flowing in your legs and swim to shore to avoid the heart rate spike and consequent shock to your system.

 

When you exit the swim, do not first remove your swim hat and goggles from your head, but first unzip your wetsuit with both of your free hands and head to Transition.

 

Mount the bike at the appropriate point at the bike mount line and start out on the bike at a steady pace at Z2-3 for the first few kilometres and do not go beyond Zone 4 threshold. You have successfully left T1!  Enjoy the rest of your event!

 

If you have any questions, drop me an email at rav@alohatri.com.

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