If you're either shooting for a spot on the podium, or just aiming to set yourself a new PB in your next triathlon, getting through transition quickly can make a big difference.
And making your transition as easy and as smooth as possible definitely keeps your stress levels and your heart rate down!
7 things you can do to make transition smooth are to have the bare essentials in your space, get your gear laid out in the order that you'll need it, place your helmet upside down with your sunglasses on top, roll up your socks, use quick tie laces, know how to get in and out and finally choose a landmark that will help you find your bike quickly and easily.
So, coming up are 7 tips on how to improve your transition times.
As always, these "no pro" tips are simply little tricks that have made my transitions smoother and a little bit quicker.
If there are some other tips that you have, please feel free to share them so we can all get better at transitions!
Before we get into that, if you're new to triathlon then you may be wondering what exactly transition is!
What is Transition?
As you probably know, a triathlon consists of 3 sports; swimming, cycling and running.
And the time spent switching between each sport is know as transition. In a triathlon, you will need to go through 2 transitions:
T1 - move from swimming to cycling
T2 - move from cycling to running
Everything you need for the bike and run legs will be set up in the transition area, which you should aim to get set up around 1 hour before the race starts.
Let's dive into our 7 top tips that will improve your transition times!
1. Reduce Clutter
As you can see from the picture above, there's not much room in the transition area!
So, you want to make sure that you only have the bare essentials with you in transition, such as your running shoes, race belt with number attached, hat, energy gels and of course your bike!
Getting your water bottle on your bike and taping your energy gels to the top tube of your bike are other little tricks that can help. Not having to scramble around on the floor trying to pick up your energy gels will help a lot.
2. Get your gear laid out in the order you need it.
After the swim you'll be coming in to T1 and preparing for the bike leg.
So it makes sense to have you bike gear at the front and easily accessible, for example your cycling or tri shoes, socks if you're going to wear them and race belt.
You can then have your running shoes a bit further behind and out of the way.
3. Helmet Position
Put your helmet upside down and place your sunglasses inside your helmet.
Having your helmet upside down makes it a little bit easier to pick up and put on.
And having your sunglasses inside your helmet works as a nice reminder to put them on BEFORE your helmet! It's quite tricky to slip your sunnies on when your helmet is already in place!
4. Pull Your Socks Up!
Whole articles have been written on this debate, which I won't go into here!!
Putting socks on wet feet isn't the easiest thing to do.
Luckily, there are a couple of little tricks to make it easier!
Firstly, before the race, put your socks on then roll them down so that they only cover your toes, take them off and add a dash of baby powder.
When it's time to put your socks on, all you'll need to do is put your toes in and then roll the socks back over your foot. Easy!!
5. Find Your Bike
Transition areas can be huge, and in the heat of completion with your heart rate going 90 to the dozen, it's easy to forget where your bike is!
I learnt this the hard way on my first ever triathlon. I came in after the swim and for the life of me I couldn't remember where my bike was.
It took me about 2 minutes to find it, which didn't help my stress levels!
So, identify a landmark or something that stands out near your bike to guide you. In the past I've used things like trees, lampposts, and even other people's brightly coloured bikes (although that's a bit risky if they're a better swimmer than you!).
Another trick is put something bright on your saddle to make it more visible.
Also bear in mind that you have to rack your bike AFTER the bike leg, so again knowing exactly where to go is going to save you time and headache!
Finally, get a grip on your bearings. It's possible that the direction you enter transition from the bike exit and entry points are different, so get a feel for that as well.
6. Use Elastic Laces
You can buy elastic style laces which makes putting your running shoes on much quicker.
One of the main advantages of elastic laces is how easily they can be fastened and unfastened. For athletes, being able to put on and remove shoes quickly can be a tremendous advantage,
They are also held securely in place so they won't come undone when you're running.
They aren't perfect though, and because they won't be as tight as using normal laces they can create some instability in your feet.
For a more in-depth discussion on the pros and cons of elastic laces check out this post.
Personally, I always use these elastic laces for sprint or Olympic distance triathlons, but for the longer races I've done I prefer normal laces to get a tighter fit.
7. Transition Entry and Exit Points
Finally, it's a wise idea to know where the entry and exit points for each leg will be.
Recce these before the race begins so that it's one less thing to worry about during race time!
You don't want to be in the situation of picking up your bike and then not knowing which way to head!
Final Thoughts
As I mentioned at the start, getting through transition quickly and smoothly will make your race more enjoyable and less stressful.
Those few seconds that you saved can also lead to a new PB!
I would love to hear any other tips that you guys have, let's share together and help us all get better in our transitions!
Hope you guys found this useful!
Have fun racing and remember...
WHO DARES WINS!!!
