I'm only two days away from the official start of my duathlon season. While Tri for Joe Du was a great success I consider it a kind of warm up or scrimmage. Now we're heading into the first race of five that make up the Wheelie Fun Series. This is the beginning of a great season that starts in Deer Creek on Sunday and will end on September 3rd at Portages State Park in Akron, OH.
As part of my preparation for the series I've been thinking about transitions. In duathlon and triathlon it can be one of the most daunting parts of the race. I've seen many people get flustered in transition and forget something, knock over their bike trying to rack it, or do a number of other little things that cause them to get stressed out. As if getting through transition without incident isn't enough you can also lose or gain valuable time during transition. I learned this first hand at the Tri for Joe Du. The difference between my 3rd place age group finish and a 2nd place age group finish was less than 2 minutes. The second place finisher was 1 minute faster than myself in the two transitions. That brings the deficit down to less than 1 minute. I saw that 2nd place finisher on the final run, but was unable to catch him. Shave off a minute in transition and it might have been a different story.
I don't think I'm going to shave a minute off my transition by this Sunday, but I'm working on it. As part of the process of making it faster it helps to look at what I do in transition now. I'm not too bad in transition. I've learned to get organized before hand, trust that I've got what I need, and stay calm when the time comes to do the deed. These are all valuable lessons to those just starting out. That's what I'm here to share. Since I'm dealing specifically with duathlon that is what I'm going to talk about.
The first key to a good transition is organization.
Figure out exactly what you need in the first transition. In duathlon the second transition is essentially a mirror image of the first, so it's a little easier to prepare for than triathlon. You'll be coming off the run. You'll have your bike racked with fluid bottle or bottles caged. I usually have one with water and one with a sports drink, usually Gatorade.
Helmet. I grab my helmet first. If you forget anything you do not want to forget your helmet. You can be disqualified for not having your helmet secured to your head. Actually, it's worth noting that once you are at the race site you must wear your helmet anytime you get on your bike, even for a warm-up ride or ride to the transition area. You can be disqualified from the race for not wearing a helmet at anytime before, during or after the race. That would be a crying shame to do all that training to get disqualified for something so trivial. Don't do it.
In terms of transition I set my helmet up on my aerobars upside down with the straps hanging over the rim to the outside. Upon entering transition I grab my helmet first put it on and secure it. I really can't stress enough how important this step is in transition.
Shoes. Some people have their shoes clipped in already while the bike is racked. You have to be pretty confident and well practiced to run out of transition, jump on the bike, and slip the shoes on while riding away. I'm not quite there yet, so I set my shoes up in front of my bike. I run into transition, and take off my running shoes. I be sure to untie them, because I need to put them back on in transition 2. I set them in place of my running shoes, slip my running shoes on.
Gloves. I like to secure my gloves to the stem of the bike. I jump on the bike and put the gloves on after I'm comfortably riding. Sometimes I skip the gloves all together on hot days. I spend a lot of time in aero position, so gloves aren't a necessity. I've seen other people run with their gloves on, which is a good idea to save a few seconds if you don't mind having the gloves on, and you can make a smooth shoe switch with the gloves on your hands.
Food. I like to carry a Gu pack or two with me during the bike section of the ride. I've gone about storing foods in two ways. If you are just starting out I'd suggest the first. I typically wear a bicycling jersey, so take advantage of those pockets. No fuss, no muss, and you don't have to worry about forgetting it in transition. Other times I don't feel like carrying it during the run so I'll put the pack or two of gu inside my helmet. The only disadvantage this could have is if you are nervous or rushed you might dump them by picking up the helmet or put them on your head. You still won't forget, but run the risk of getting flustered as Gu packs go spilling to the ground.
The second key to a good transition is preparation. You spend hours on the bike training, and you spend hours on the run training. All you need is minutes to train for a smooth transition. Use your brick training days to practice second transition from bike to run. Also, set aside a little time to practice first transition. Set up everything as you imagine it on race day, or at least as close as possible. Most people don't have a transition bike rack at home. Anyway, set it up. Start about 10 yards out and run as if you were coming into transition, and go through the steps all the way up to getting on the bike and riding away. Like anything else, start out slowly, deliberately, and as you gain confidence try to do it a little faster.
The third key to a good transition is to relax. On race day you are going to be excited, and pumping with adrenaline coming into transition one. As you come into transition slow down and take a deep breath before you throw yourself into your routine. That extra second to focus may make a big difference. As you come into second transition you might be a little tired, but still excited and pumping with adrenaline, so once again take a deep breath and focus. Second transition can be a little messy sometimes. People will rack their bikes in a haphazard manner. You might have to take an extra second to squeeze your bike in between a couple of quick a**holes in front of you that think just because they are faster they suddenly have the right to toss their bike on the rack at a diagonal taking up what was 3 bikes at the start of the race. People will be coming into transition on bike and going out on foot. During a large race things can be a little chaotic. If that's the case you may want to take two deep breaths and a drink of water. Just remember you're out there to have a good time and a good race!
On Sunday I'm going to try and get to the race site early to set up. If I can I'll get some photos to illustrate how I set up my transition.
No comments:
Post a Comment