TNT Transition Clinic

Today was quite busy. After a 10K race in the morning, I only had about an hour to relax at home and then pack up my bike and the rest of my tri/swim gear for a Team In Training clinic on transitions at the Carroll High School Aquatic Center.

They call transitions the "fourth discipline" in triathlons and even though I've done a few tris I know I still have room for improvement in this area. After a "classroom" (if you can call it that since we were in the natatorium lobby) session on how to set up a transition area and other topics, we did some mini (really mini) triathlons with emphasis on the transitions. 200 meter swim in the pool, a 0.5-mile bike around the rear parking lots and a 0.25 mile run in the front parking lot. We did three of these.

The first iteration I got off to a slow start in the pool since I did about 100 meters of (too) fast warm-up before the timed start. Finished the swim in about 3:33 - thought I hit the "LAP" button on my watch but I guess I missed. T1 (swim-to-bike transition) was a little slow, my helmet was turned the wrong direction and the straps weren't laid out. Felt rusty on the bike (it's been 2 weeks since I'd been on it!) and there was a fairly stiff head-wind. Looked down at my bike computer to check my speed - oops, not on yet, need to hit "START". T2 (bike-to-run transition) was better/smoother. A little trouble with the race-belt, but that always happens. About 100 yards into the run: PAIN - major leg cramp in my right calf - OUCH - flashbacks of when it happened in early in the summer during swim-run sessions at North Lake. Stopped to stretch/massage and limped around the parking lot to finish up. Time: 9:55. Coach Todd says "Good Job," but I know better. More stretching and massaging of my calf.

Second iteration: Before jumping back in the pool, I took two SaltStick tablets and gulp some water. No messing around. Coach says we can do a 100 meter swim this time but I still do the full 200 to better compare my times. Finished the swim in 3:23 - faster than the first time but I am the last one out of the pool - everybody else just did 100 meters. T1 was fairly smooth until I got on my bike ... oops, forgot to stick it in low gear. Back into the transition area for a fast T2 and a decent run. I was second to last because of the longer swim, but my time was 9:13. Much better.

Last time: Since I was almost dead last for the second go-round, I didn't have much time to rest before getting back in the water. So the swim was pretty tough but I still finished another 200 meters in 3:28. Everything else went smoothly and with a final sprint for the run, I completed the last nano-tri (too small to be "mini") in 9:14 (just one second slower than the prior one and I actually finished in the middle of the pack).

Things I learned:

1. Practice makes perfect. I need to make a "transition area checklist" to ensure I don't miss anything.

2. It doesn't matter how short/fast the "race" is going to be, I better take some SaltSticks or risk leg cramps. :-(

3. Swim cap and tri-shorts definitely improve my swim times. On Friday, even for my early laps I had trouble going faster than 55 seconds for 50 YARDS. Today, I averaged 52 seconds for 50 METERS. So I'm glad to know that I am definitely handicapping myself during training, which is my plan so that I can have an easier time of it on race day.

4. Regarding nutrition and other things, don't eat/drink/do anything on race day that you haven't tried before. Interesting example: shaving on race day (or the night before) might be a bad idea if the swim is going to be in salt water (like my Galveston Lonestar Tri!)

5. The small amount of time that can be saved by having bike shoes already clipped into the pedals is not worth the danger of getting bare feet/toes injured by bike gear (e.g., near amputation incident in River Cities Tri earlier this summer). Umm, yeah, I will do T1/T2 with bike shoes ON for the foreseeable future.