How well do you execute Transitions?

How well do you execute Transitions?

by Emma Carney (AUS) -
Number of replies: 0

Dear Athletes,

Over the past few weeks we have been identifying race IQ and skills. We have closely touched on the physiology of testing, and analysing results. We have then closely examined each discipline and the intricacies of racing each according to athlete strength and weaknesses.

As you develop as an athlete, you need to fully understand your own strengths and weaknesses and ensure you maintain and continue to develop your strengths and also work on improving and further developing your weaknesses.

As previously discussed a very important skill to develop in triathlon racing is the skill of racing and using the race course to your own advantage.

Transitions are vital to this skill.

To an untrained triathlon eye, a transition is ‘just’ the time spent changing from one discipline to the next. To a world class triathlete, a transition is so much more….

T1 – Swim to Bike

T1 is extremely important to all athletes, because it is the change from the slowest discipline to the fastest discipline, so the quicker the transition is executed, the more time gains you will make on your competitors.

Due to the fact that athletes are moving from the slowest discipline – the swim – any time gaps made by the front swimmers become visually greater once athletes are on the bike, so T1 is an extremely important time for the weaker swimmers to remain focussed on the task at hand – that is closing any gaps in front.

What are the skills required in T1?

Swim Exit 

You must check the approach to the exit. Identify the shortest line from the last buoy to the swim exit and transition entry. Identify how to exit the water quickly –

Are you swimming to shore (then only stand when your fingers touch the bottom of the lake/ocean as you swim),

Are you catching a wave (know how to look for swell as you swim by checking under your arm as you breathe). Know how to body surf and catch waves to shore.

Or is it a ladder/ramp exit? Watch for turns into transition and make sure your exit approach is positioning you on the correct side for the shortest run into transition.

Work out how far the run is to your bike. If it was a wetsuit swim, you need to arrive at your bike with the wetsuit undone, your arms out and at your hips with only your legs still in it. Once at your bike you will pull your wetsuit down to your ankles and then stomp your ankles out as you put your helmet on.

Know the rules

Transition rules that are broken will see you suffer a time penalty. Rules include you to put all your equipment into a box. Your box. No one else's. Don’t mess this up. As you approach your bike, take your cap and goggles off last minute, then you won’t drop anything running in…

Don’t touch your bike before you put your helmet on.

On the way out, know exactly where the mount line is.

This is all basic T1 stuff.

Know how to run fast with your bike

The fastest way to run with a bike is by holding the seat. If you cannot run fast doing this – practice until you can. Running holding the handlebars is slower, so avoid it.

Know how to mount your bike at speed

Getting onto your bike quickly is vital. Any time you spend not moving forward it time lost. You really need to avoid stopping to get on your bike. You need to practice the ‘flying mount’. If you are unable to do this, practice on a grassy area and do the following –

Practice running fast with your bike, holding the top of your seat with one hand

Where the mount position would be, move both hands onto the hoods

Scoot sideways beside your bike, making sure you are now positioned alongside your bike seat and maintaining speed.

Throw one leg over your seat. Aim to get the outside leg inside of the thigh just below your crotch onto the seat. If you land straight on your crotch, it will be painful.

With the speed maintained, find your shoes on your bike and place your feet on them and start pedalling.

Put your feet into your shoes when safe to do so. Remember this may not be immediately – because you may have to go straight into a chase out of T1.

…..as you improve your mount skills, you should be able to remove step 3 above so it is all one swift movement.

Set your bike up for a quick T1

Things to consider are –

  1. The course out of T1. Will you be climbing out of T1 or will it be a hard TT effort? Both require the bike to be in a specific gearing choice. Make sure you have your bike ready to go.
  2. Set up your fast bike mount

To ensure your bike mount is fast – do you need your bike shoes set in a certain position so your feet will find them quickly? The use of elastic bands are useful here.

  1. Sunglasses

It is a waste of time to put sunglasses on the helmet during T1. Have sunglasses set up to put on during the bike. Tuck them into your helmet airflow holes. If you don’t feel confident doing this, leave the sunglasses for the run.

  1. Check and double check the transition flows, so you know which way you are running and which way to go…

T2 – Bike to Run

T2 is extremely important, because we are now at the closing discipline of the race. Time losses made in T2 will be costly, and require you to outrun your competitors by more than the time you waste, just to simply get back to the position you were at prior to entering T2.

What are the skills required in T2?

Position yourself on the approach

If you are able to get yourself into T2 on the front of any group you may be riding with, you will often have a cleaner transition. There are obviously hazards of being a part of the hustle of the front group, but you are better off racing from the front with regard to transition time gains.

Get in and get out quickly

Any time you spend in T2 you are not progressing, so you need to get out quickly. Practice dismounting your bike quickly and know how to do this at speed (and safely at this speed). You must know where the dismount line is, and make sure you are off the bike once this point has been passed. Know where your bike is and understand the transition flows.

Focus on you

Don’t get carried away with what everyone else is doing. Stay focussed on what you need to do to remain efficient. Know your transition procedure and stick to it.

Know your run pace

While you do need to respond to athletes around you and react to the pace of the race, you should avoid over extending yourself out of T2. Know what you are capable of, and understand that a run leg that sees you increase your speed over the duration of the run will be much more effective than running out of T2 at top speed and slowing in the latter stages of the run. The swim specialists will generally run out of T2 fast, to maintain any time advantage they have off the bike. A run specialist must be able to focus throughout the run, and remain positive, especially if chasing non run specialists. It is a common tactic in triathlon to run out of T2 very fast, so as to demoralise anyone who is trying to chase or hang on to the running pace. Athletes should be coached to be diligent with the efficiency of their T2, but also remain aware that the hot pace run exiting T2 will usually slow as athletes settle into their natural race pace.

The importance of the transitions in triathlon lies in what is lost if you are not efficient. As you move between disciplines, you are not actually moving forward in the race, so you must minimise this ‘dead time’. Unlike the swim bike and run disciplines, every type of athlete must be fast through transition and every type of athlete should aim to be the best. There is no reason why a young athlete can’t match the speed of an experienced athlete in transitions if the practice, planning and work has been done.

The key is to practice your routine and make sure you can execute every movement and skill at speed.

Next week we look at the myths vs realities to racing triathlon well. Until then, train well!

Emma


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