Australian Triathlete - 01.08.2018

86 | AustrAliAn triAthlete

mount and dismount, being able to hit

your realistic race paces right away will be

key to your overall race performance.

So, for the following training session we

are working the swim/bike focus:

S ET UP – either a wind trainer/ergo set

up at pool or if safe to ride from the pool in

a loop/circuit and is not in a busy built up

area then ride your bike on the road. Most

inner city athletes would likely take the

stationary bike option for safely/being able

to keep the bike flowing not waiting for

lights/traffic out on the open road. Even if

on the wind trainer put on the helmet to

practice fastening it, sunnies if using, clip

shoes on pedals (again if do on the race

day) or beside bike. Use your race clothing/

tri suit and for the first time through, if you

are training for a wetsuit swim you can use

this to practice removing it also.

I

n a pervious article I wrote for

Australian triathlete, I covered the tips

and tricks for total transition training

with a big focus on the skills required

to execute a seamless change between

swim/bike and bike/run, addressing the

whole process as far as race day set up

and being prepared, and how to practice/

train for this very important part of

triathlon.

The focus of this article is the often-

neglected part of the transition in training

• the swim/bike (T1). Many age groupers
  have their transition/brick training
  focusing on runs off the bike (T2) - but
  what about T1 training? Doing repetitive
  sets of swim/bike will greatly help you to
  become more efficient at this aspect of
  the race. The swim-to-bike transition is
  early on in the event but much time can be
  gained or lost through not only being rusty

at the changes and skills required in T1 but

even more so, with it taking more time

than it should be to make the change from

upper body dominance in the swim to

getting those bike legs working and up to

speed as quickly as possible.

Swim fitness can definitely play a role

here so it is important and should be a

motivator to become more swim fit as this

will transfer over to being able to ride well

from the start as you are not still

recovering (suffering) from the effort of

swimming. It can take over five kilometres

to find those bike legs when not race fit or

simply if you haven’t practiced T1 enough

in recent times to become more efficient

in getting the blood to transfer between

upper and lower body. Apart from the

obvious time savings in both transitions by

practicing the changes of shoes, helmet,

running with your bike in and out and the

tips & tricks

text by nIcK croFt | photogrAphy by Itu medIa/Janos schmIdt

swim/Bike training

TRANSITION

© ITU Media / Janos Schmidt