Transition Thoughts

Introduction
I never put much thought into transition strategy until this past weekend. Just go fast right? Run in, do your stuff, run out. It seems pretty basic. Watching the Willow Duathlon in New Boston, MI this past weekend I learned otherwise. In fact it seems I've been missing quite a bit. This was actually the first race that I've ever just watched in person and wow was it an eye-opening experience for me!! I'm definitely a newbie to multisport. With absolutely zero background in any endurance sports I started triathlon training about 9 months ago and since then have competed in 5 multisport events. So maybe my amazement is just a function of my inexperience. But watching the leaders at the Willow Duathlon (WD) go through transition was incredible!

Sure I'd practiced a bit, particularly getting my wetsuit off fast, and I definitely saw the benefit to leaving the shoes on the bike going into T2. But rubber bands for holding the shoes in place in T1?!?! Genius!! Now I think that I really need to put some hours into really practicing, flying mounts and dismounts in particular. The guy (Richard Swor) that led the whole race dismounted the bike going faster than I would have previously thought possible, he hit the ground at the dismount line at a full-on sprint...that just blew my mind.

My personal performance in the transition area is terrible, which is what prompted me to begin thinking about this. So take all of this with a grain of salt and if I say something incorrect feel free to correct me, this is about learning. I clearly have a lot of room for improvement so I've tried breaking this down into different components that I can work on individually. A little of what follows comes from my personal experience and quite a bit comes from what I observed at the WD.

Strategy
As with all parts of multisport training, I think that it is key to have a strategy for transition training and execution on race day. For me the key to the strategy will be simplicity. Trying to do too many things in the transition area was probably the biggest factor that slowed people down when I was watching at the WD. The leaders came into T1 dropped their running shoes, put on their helmets, and ran out to the to the mount line with their bikes in hand. None of them changed clothes, drank anything, ate anything, put cycling shoes on, put socks on, or any number of other things that I saw later athletes doing. The simple fact is: The less you do, the less time it will take.

Practice
Again, multisport is all about training and practice so that you can meet your goals on race day whether that's completing your first race, setting a new personal best, placing in the top 3 of your age group, or winning overall. It would be pretty foolish to attempt a multisport event without any training in the required disciplines. Unfortunately most people do not practice for transitions, which was clearly evidenced at the WD! Obviously you won't need to spend nearly as much time practicing transitions as you will swimming, biking, or running, but it's not something that should be entirely neglected. So once I have my strategy set for the transition area I will need to practice transitioning on a regular basis so that it becomes a natural routine before race-day.

Setup
Whether practicing or racing, the way that you setup the transition area can make a big difference. At the race this past weekend I noticed that the leaders of the race had the minimum amount of stuff possible around their bikes. They knew exactly what they would need and kept the rest of the clutter out of the way. No bags, no extra water bottles, no Clif bars, no extra socks, etc, etc. Helmets were waiting on the aerobars of the bike with sunglasses, cycling shoes were already clipped into the pedals and small rubber bands held the shoes in place for a quick mount. Everything was arranged such that they barely had to stop moving from when they entered the transition area until they left. From my own experience it is also key to memorize very carefully what rack you put your bike in, at some races you can even mark the rack by hanging a t-shirt off the end or by tying a balloon near your bike, but check with the race director before you do any of those things. Trust me it really sucks to forget where you racked your bike!!!

T1
Because triathlons are my primary sport I'll focus on the swim-bike transition. From my experience, as you reach the end of the swim you'll want to swim until your hands hit the bottom, then as you rise out of the water begin removing your wetsuit immediately, trust me it comes off much much easier if there is still some water in it, and whatever you do don't stop moving while you do this, keep running/walking the whole time. As you leave the water you should have your wetsuit down to your waist as you run up into T1. When you reach your bike you should have a towel to stand on to wipe the bottoms of your feet on. Some people also like to have a small bucket of water waiting so that they can rinse the sand from the beach off of their feet before getting on the bike. At your towel, pull the wetsuit down as far as you can quickly and then when only your lower legs and ankles are in the wetsuit you should step on it right next to your foot, grab your leg and pull it out quickly, then repeat with the other foot. I like to spray a (non-petroleum based) non-stick cooking spray on my lower legs to help them come out of the wetsuit more easily, many other people use products like BodyGlide in the same way.

Once your wetsuit is off grab your helmet off the bike and put it on, don't forget to clip it right away or you will get stopped as you leave the transition area. Put your sunglasses on and grab the bike off the rack. If you don't keep your shoes on the bike this is the time to put them on, don't worry about strapping them unless they are particularly difficult to do. Run out past the timing mat to the line where volunteers will tell you that you may mount the bike. I'm going to learn how to get on the bike with the shoes already mounted so I'll quickly describe that process. With the shoes already on the bike, you are running toward the mount line, once you reach the line you will step onto the top of the shoe closest to you and swing your other leg over the bike onto the other shoe and begin pedaling. Once you are up to speed and clear of the other athletes mounting their bikes you can then slip your feet into the shoes and strap them down (velcro straps really make this a lot easier).

T2
At the WD I noticed that all of the race leaders left their shoes on the bike coming into T2. To do this as they approached the dismount line they would unstrap their shoes, pull their feet out, and begin pedaling with their feet atop the shoes much like they did leaving T1. This seems like the best way to handle the shoes in T2 because I noticed many other people struggling to unclip from their pedals, slipping on their shoes, swerving into other athletes, falling over, etc. As one guy said to me "it's like there are a ton of drunk cyclists on expensive bikes playing pinball in a confined area with no awareness of what is going on around them."

Most of the race leaders also dismounted on the fly, as they approached the dismount line they would swing one leg over the back of the bike so that they were balancing on one pedal, then they would brake to a running speed and as the hit the dismount line they would jump off the bikes at a run as they entered T2. Once they were back in the transition area they quickly racked the bike, pulled the helmet off and dropped it on the ground, grabbed their running shoes, pulled them on, and started out on the run while clipping on their race belt with bib number attached. Simplicity and smoothness in action is just beautiful!

Conclusion
This little writeup is a little like an academic theory paper for me. I think that I have a fairly sound strategy to move forward with in practice but only race-day results will tell. One confounding issue is the fact that my observations and strategy center around racing like a pro, which I am not. In a perfect world things would go the way that I have them laid out above, I wouldn't feel like crap coming into either transition and I'd just be able to fly through them with minimal hassle rather than greedily using them as a chance to rest and catch my breath. But I the way I look at it is like this: There is no way I'll ever swim, bike, or run like a pro, but what is there to stop me from transitioning like one? One person commented to me on an online forum that he beat 7 people in a Half-Ironman distance race simply because his transitions were faster than theirs, that is not insignificant!! Another way to look at it is: Which is easier, shaving 30 seconds off your transitions or 7-9 seconds off your 5k race pace? Personally I think that it will be much easier and less painful to get faster at transitions. Oh and if you get a chance go check out a local multisport event, cheer the athletes on and see what kinds of things you can learn from watching them race (including the race through transition!).

Below are a few links to useful YouTube videos about transitions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brHcsqKM_mo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqYIfEN_bMo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH6Bc3kiVGM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69Vf_X6iYfo&feature=related

2008 Steelcase Grand Duathlon

Well thank goodness spring has arrived! I've been able to get outside for more of my running and biking which really helps bring the joy back to the sport for me. I've trained moderately through the winter, not as much as I would have liked, but not nothing either. My overall fitness is probably not too far off from where it was at the end of the season last October for my last races but I don't think that I made too many gains (other than in swimming).

My first race this year was the Steelcase Grand Duathlon in Kentwood, MI on 4/27/08. It was a sprint distance, with a 5k run, 30k bike, 5k run, so I figured it would be a nice easy way to start the year. It was a new race and a new course to me so I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I'm pretty comfortable with those distances so I knew that I wouldn't have any problem finishing. The race was put on by 3Disciplines, a local USAT endorsed race organization, which incidentally supports the Ann Arbor Triathlon Club by giving us discounted race entry fees through their 'Clubs First' program.

On to the details: We were a little late arriving but didn't have any problem checking in at registration and getting my number, chip, etc. Since I have learned not to overdo my transitions (like I did in the past) I was able to quickly set up and then jog around a bit for a 5-10 minute warm-up. My standalone 5k PR is 21:36 (6:57/mi) so my goal for this race was to do both run legs at a 7:30/mi pace for a total of about 47 minutes running. I figured that I could hold 18-19 mph on the bike for the duration so I assumed that the bike leg would take me about 60 minutes. Adding a few minutes for transitions I was hoping to finish the race in around 1:50.

The first 5k run started at a brisk pace and I missed the first mile marker so I couldn't gauge the pace that I was running very well (I'm terrible at pacing myself by perceived exertion). At what I thought was the first mile marker my watch read 7:38 and there were a lot of people ahead of me so I was feeling very very slow. Toward the end of the first run leg I was not feeling very well, my stomach was tightening, I was getting a headache and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the hell so many people were in front of me!!! I figured that I was just paying for allowing myself to get dehydrated the day before at a beer festival, but I decided that I would push on anyway and finish the race in whatever amount of time it took. I never glanced at my watch again until I hit the timing mat at T1, to my surprise it read 21:45! I had run a 7:00/mi pace but I still felt like crap. I took time to drink and catch my breath in T1 and ended up spending about 2 minutes doing so (oops!).

Then it was on to the bike. A few weeks ago I picked up a beautiful new Cervelo P2C race bike and this was the first time that I was going to really get to put it through the paces to see if my improved position would make me any faster. I had done a few training rides on it but was still adjusting to riding in the "aero" time-trial position. Unfortunately the transmitter for my bike computer must have gotten jostled during the loading/unloading process because I noticed right away that I wasn't getting any readout for speed or cadence. The first bit of the bike leg was through an industrial park and then it was out onto the street. Once we hit the street the wind came into play, it was 20-30mph and almost straight out of the west meaning that we would spend a little under half of the distance going into a nice (read: nasty) little head wind. I didn't really focus on the wind but just went to work trying to catch some of those fast runners. By about 20k I figured that I had passed most of the people that I would easily catch and should focus on just slowly catching the girl ahead of me that seemed to be riding nearly the exact same pace as me. I caught her about 5k from the end of the bike and decided that rather than trying to put some time between us I would just go with my normal strategy of dropping some speed in favor of higher cadence to 'freshen' my legs a little for the bike-run transition as I had felt my left calf threatening to cramp a little on the bike. I tend to forget about my watch during races so I didn't take notice of my time going into or coming out of T2, but I felt pretty good getting off the bike.

On the way out of T2 I knew that I was in trouble. I could feel my calves twitching and starting to cramp. Within the first 1/4 mile I had to stop and rub them down quickly in hopes of keeping them from locking up entirely as they have in the past. My dad was watching me and he said that he could visibly see my calves knotting and cramping up as I was running. Not fun. I decided that I would just HTFU and finish the race: only 5k to go, it couldn't hurt that bad! If the first 5k felt slow the second one felt like I was moving at a glacial pace. I felt like I was just out there plodding along, not racing, not running, just jogging at a painfully slow pace. Within a mile I was passed by the girl that I had chased down on the bike and by the 2 mile mark I was being passed by a 50 year old lady which, no disrespect to her at all, was just depressing for me. But I kept putting one foot in front of the next and eventually finished, meeting my family at the end of the finisher's chute.

Here is the breakdown of my performance:
124 Finishers
5k run -
Time: 21:45
Rate: 7:00 min/mile
Rank: 58/124
T1: 2:09
30k bike -
Time: 53:57
Rate: 20.7 mph
Rank: 54/124
T2: 1:04
5k run -
Time: 24:02
Rate: 7:45 min/mile
Rank: 69/124
Overall:
Time: 1:42:23
Overall Rank: 61/124
Gender Rank: 52/90
AG Rank: 6/8

Overall I can't be too disappointed with my performance, I beat my goal time by almost 8 minutes but I still didn't feel too good about how I did relative to the rest of the field. But I figure that at least I didn't lose too much fitness over the winter so now it's just a matter of building up to the Steelhead 70.3 race in August.

Lessons learned from this race: 1) I have to figure out what the heck is up with my calf cramps 2) I need to practice my transitions very very badly so that I can cut that time by at least half. My next post will be on the topic of transitions and what I learned by watching a local duathlon (instead of racing in it).

2007 Great Pumpkin Duathlon

On 10/7/08 I completed my first duathlon race which was an interesting experience. There were two distances to choose from, a sprint (5k run, 12 mile bike, 5k run) and an olympic distance (5k run, 24 mile bike, 10k run). I chose to do the longer distance because most of my races this year have been sprint distances of varying length and I wanted to push it a little further.

The weather started out great for the initial 5k run and I took it a bit easy finishing in 22:24 for a 7:13 pace which felt pretty good. The bike leg started out alright but the humidity and temperature were both climbing and after the first 10 miles my stomach started acting up and not feeling the greatest. The actual bike course was really boring and surprisingly slow, though that could have been due to the fact that I wasn't feeling well for the second lap of the course. I finished the bike leg in 1:15:35 for a pace of 18.3 mph which was a bit disappointing.

By time I was starting the final run leg the temps were in the upper 80's with very high humidity and I wasn't feeling well at all. The course was primarily criss-crossing grassy fields which made it a bit boring and tedious since it's very difficult to see bumps and holes in the ground when you're running on grass. Grass is my least favorite running surface for that very reason, I would much rather run on a trail where I can see the roots, rocks, holes, etc that I need to dodge. Since I wasn't feeling well after getting off the bike I decided to take an energy gel just before getting to the water station at mile 1 in hopes of keeping my energy going for the rest of the run. I made it about 1/2 mile after the water station and then puked. Sadly puking didn't make me feel any better and I had to finish the last 5 miles feeling pretty sick and partially dehydrated. The run course was terribly psychologically too in that you had to run past the finish line 3 times before you could actually run down the chute, it was entirely in the sun which also took a toll, and there were very few people in the race so, after passing a couple of people and getting passed by one guy, I was alone for most of the run which also made it boring. That 10k took me 1:02:07 to run putting me at exactly a 10 minute pace which is SUPER slow and hopefully the slowest I'll ever run in a race.

There were 27 people that did the long distance race and I finished 17th overall and 3rd in the 20-29 age group with a total time of 2:41:39. I was very glad to be done with that race and I can honestly say that there is almost no chance that I'll do it again next year because the course sucked so bad.

2007 Autumn Colors Triathlon

On 9/23/07 I participated in the Autumn Colors Triathlon at Holly State Park in Michigan, it was the final Michigan triathlon of the year. After completing my "A" race for the year, the Reeds Lake Triathlon, a couple of weeks previous I came into this one with less mental pressure to perform my "absolute best" and with a mindset of just having fun at the event. In fact I wasn't even certain that I wanted to do this race but, after some consideration, I determined that I was unlikely to regret doing the race but later in the winter I might regret NOT doing the race; so once I was sure the weather was going to be decent I went ahead and registered for the event.
My normal method for determining how I should perform is to look at previous years' results and, having a pretty good feeling for what my middle-of-the-pack status is, extrapolate my times base on the times of other people. It's a little complicated but it seems to work pretty well for me (see my Reeds Lake race report). Based on what I saw in the previous years' results I could tell that both the bike course and the run course must be significantly more difficult than those at Reeds Lake, the fastest bikers were averaging around 21 mph, and the fastest runners were right around a 7 minute pace. My goal was to place close to the level that I had achieved for the Reeds Lake race, placing a little more emphasis on the bike and run since most of my last two weeks' training time has been in those two disciplines. Based on my performance at Reeds Lake and the results from the previous year I calculated/estimated that the race should take me about 2:35 to complete.
I know the swim is my limiting event but, with the optimal weather for outdoor training in Michigan about to disappear, I want to spend as much time enjoying it as possible before I get stuck on a trainer and treadmill. I'm planning to join the local masters this winter and really put in some long yardage in the pool in hopes of shoring up my lack of skill in that discipline.
Anyway, sorry for the tangent...So for this race I made sure to be there with plenty of time to spare so that I wouldn't end up rushed and unprepared like I was at Reeds Lake. I found that taking my time and getting help with putting on the wetsuit made a huge difference in fit and mobility, I was using the same one as I had for Reeds Lake and this time it worked like a dream (not that my swim time reflected it but I was much more comfortable).
So the swim started and surprisingly it didn't feel too bad, the distance was 1000m and I was certainly one of the slowest swimmers there, but I was able to hold form longer than I previously had, and I spent significantly less time "recovering" with the backstroke than before. That said, when I got out of the water, I felt like it had been really slow relative to Reeds Lake, but there was no timer at the water and I had forgotten to start my stopwatch so I couldn't tell how long it had been. At some point during the swim, my poor stroke technique caused me to tweak my previously injured shoulder, but this is not uncommon during my swims so I didn't worry about it. T1 went smoothly but felt a little slow.
The bike course was certainly MUCH MUCH more difficult than Reeds Lake, or any other course I've ridden in my limited experience. It was 3 laps around a 6 mile loop. On the far end was a parking lot that we turned around in that had about 1/8th of a mile which was flat, the rest of the course was hills. There was also one false-flat that wasn't too bad, but the rest of the course was hills, including a couple that some people had to walk their bikes up. Oh, and it was a fairly winding course so there were some sharp turns at the bottom of tall hills which kept things interesting, especially when passing in those spots. My shoulder started bothering me on the first lap and was a constant source of annoyance but I was largely able to push it out of my mind. Overall, I felt pretty good about the effort that I put out, obviously being a slow swimmer most of the bikers were out on the course when I arrived and I fully expected to get passed by the race leaders coming around on their second and third laps. But I was only passed by 3 bikers during the entire race, and I passed quite a few more than that, maybe 12-15 total. T2 was slow.


Once I got out onto the run course I figured out why even the fast runners were slow on this course. It's a very hilly 5.75 mile trail run. So I felt the normal bike-run transition crappyness in my legs for about the first mile but then I started feeling really good. I was passing lots of people (many walking) and I was only passed by 2 guys. There were only going to be 3 aid stations so I had opted to take a Fuel Belt water flask and carry it in my jersey pocket, which turned out to be a great idea as there were a few times when that water was just what I needed to stay strong mentally.
Overall I felt really good during most of the race and met my goal of having fun. It was wonderful that my family made the 2.5+ hour drive out to watch me (seriously for a sprint?!?) 
Here is the breakdown of my performance:

162 Finishers
1000m swim-
Time: 28:17
Rank: 133/162
T1: 1:34
18 mile bike:
Time: 1:00:05
Rate: 18 mph
Rank: 47/162
5.75 mile trail run:
Time: 51:08
Pace: 8:54
Rank: 46/162
Overall Time: 2:22:32
Overall Rank: 64/162
Gender Rank: 57/119
Age Group (20-24) Rank: 4/7
So overall I was very pleased with my performance, I had estimated a 2:35 finishing time and beat that by nearly 13 minutes. As expected the swim was by far my worst event and surprisingly, again, as at Reeds Lake, the run was my strongest. I would have expected my bike to be strongest since I admittedly have spent very little training time running relative to the amount that I spend biking. Based on my percentile ranks in each discipline (calculated but not included) I can infer that either the quality of competition was a bit stiffer at Reeds Lake (most likely) or my performance improved a bit on a tougher course (possible but unlikely in 2 wks). But I can't complain, it was a fun event and one that I'll probably want to do again next year.

2007 Reed's Lake Triathlon

Well here is my first attempt at a race report: On 9/8/07 I completed the Reeds Lake Triathlon. It was wonderful having so many friends and family there to cheer me on! I was placed in the first wave which meant that I was among the first in the water. The swim portion of the race felt the worst, the rented wetsuit that I was wearing was a size too small and severely restricted the movement of my arms making it very difficult to swim well. However, my training and the added buoyancy of the wetsuit helped me complete the 1/2 mile swim in just over 21 minutes, which was only 1 minute slower than my "best case scenario" time, so I was happy. I had been worried about getting out of the wetsuit since it can sometimes be quite a pain, but the Pam that I sprayed on my lower legs helped it to slip off my feet with no problem. My Transition 1 (T1)time was 1:55, which is REALLY fast for a total newbie like me (top 15% of the field for this event). The bike section felt really good, the error that I made was in not pushing myself harder at the beginning, I was trying to preserve energy for a big hill that I knew would be in the second half of the ride; as it turns out I had plenty of energy for the hill and some to spare at the end of the bike despite pushing hard for the rest of the distance after the hill. I finished the 17.2 mile bike course in just over 51 minutes which was still only 1 minute slower than my "best case scenario" time for that event as well. Coming into Transition 2 (T2) I had a clean bike dismount but then I ran my bike past my rack and had to backtrack which cost me at least 30 seconds, probably more. I started the run and it felt really slow, my weeks of 'brick' workouts paid off and my legs were able to handle the transition from bike to run without any problem, but I just felt like I was jogging. The whole run I felt really slow, but I focused on just running my own pace and picking "rabbits" in front of me to run down, most of the time I kept telling myself "it's all mental, just run faster." Well something must have worked because, despite feeling slow, I managed to finish the 4.9 mile run in just over 38 minutes which was 2 minutes faster than my "best case scenario" time.

Here is a breakdown/summary of my performance:

1011 Finishers

½ mile swim –

Time: 21:14

Rank: 851/1011

T1: 1:55

17.2 mile bike -

Time: 51:29

Rank: 401/1011

Rate: 20.12 mph

T2: 2:00

4.9 mile run –

Time: 38.27

Rank: 367/1011

Rate: 7:45/mile

Overall time: 1:55:09

Overall Rank: 444/1011

20-24 Age group rank: 31/50

Before the race I had determined that, based on my "best case scenario" times of 20 min swim, 50 min bike, and 40 min run, I should be able to finish the events in 1hr 50 min, but I failed to factor in transition times which meant my finishing time was almost exactly what I predicted based on my training. Clearly my swim has the most room for improvement and hopefully joining my local Master's swim program will go a long ways in helping me, but I also feel that just a little more bike training and a better bike race strategy could help me shave a few minutes off as well. The run will just take time and training to improve my pace, for this event I was very happy with how it went.

Ann Arbor Triathlon Club

The Ann Arbor Triathlon Club is here to promote the sport of triathlon - that means swimming, biking and running. We aim to help out established and aspiring triathletes with training events and social activities that encourage a healthy lifestyle. (Yes, ice cream is good for you!) This organization is a Club, not a team. Racing is not our main objective and we don't care if you've never participated in a triathlon (and don't have any plans to either!) However, many of our Club members do compete in triathlons and other races. We're a non-profit group run exclusively by volunteers and we strongly urge your participation. Your input is vital to the long-term success of the Club.