How To Prep For A Triathlon Transition

Signing up for the triathlon and training for it seemed like the easy part once I started thinking about how much STUFF is needed for Race Day and the transition area.

Where to begin?

Step One: Lay out everything I need for Race Day

I find it helpful to lay my gear out by category.

Category 1: Outfit.

My Got Chocolate Milk Tri Kit, my Garmin watch and aSparkle Athletic Skirt.

Not pictured Zensah sports bra.

This will be my base for the day, except I will NOT be wearing the Sparkle Athletic skirt in the water. 

Now not everyone will have a tri kit and that is A-okay! I didn't have one for the first year of racing in triathlons and only have one now thanks to Team Chocolate Milk! ;)

Category 2: Transition Area.

I love to use my Asics towel as my base. On top of that base goes all accessories, fuel and “just in case” stuff. I like to keep a water bottle, a handheld water bottle (if I want it for the run), a KIND bar, my ENERGYBits and sunglasses.

Category 3: The Swim.

So apparently I cut off the most important part of the swim attire – goggles. Ha. So my swim gear includes goggles, swim cap (usually one issued by the race itself), wetsuit and a towel to clear off my feet to transition to the bike.

Do you like the sweet Nestle towel I have? I got it when the Nesquik Bunny visited me back in March. 

Category 4: The Bike.

Once I maneuver the wetsuit off – hopefully without falling  – and the feet are dry, it is time to secure my Sparkly Soul headband before putting on my helmet. You can get penalized if you are moving with the bike and not having your helmet on so I make sure it is one of the first thing I put on for the bike.

With the helmet on, I will put on myZensah compression sleeves, attach my race belt which will already have my number on it and slip into the shoes.

NOW if you do not want to wear the race belt - again A-okay - you can also throw on a shirt or singlet during transition, which will already have the number pinned to it. This is your call and what you are more comfortable with.

I actually like to throw a singlet or tank on over my tri kit because well the tri kit isn't very flattering especially when went. :P

Category 5: The Run.

The final transition should be the easiest. Bike shoes and helmet off … visor and sneakers on.

Once I give everything a once over – adding the race bib and bike number – it all goes into my big IKEA bag (yup classy) and it sits by the front door. This way I won’t forget anything. I put everything in the bag by category, which makes setting up transition on race day a breeze.

I personally like bike gear closest to front of towel, food/energy/fuel in the middle and run farthest away. Play around with the set up of your transition area to see what works for you.

My bike helmet isn't in the transition picture since I keep it on the handlebars with my Garmin, which is already cued up to MultiSport. :)

It has taken me a few tries tris (see what I did there) to get it right, but now I have a good system. It is always up for tweaking, but I am getting into the groove.

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I hope some of these tips can help you prep for your next triathlon.

Three Things Thursday

Here's a little running edition of Three Things Thursday!

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First up ... Oofos Sandals

I was wicked excited when Oofos contacted me to test out their sandals (value $39.95). One because I love to try new things and two...

...I love my flip flops post race! But I find they lack in the support my feet need after hitting the pavement for a race. The Oofos sandals offer the support my feet - especially the arch - need thanks to their OOfoam.

Technical advantages of OOfoam™ over traditional cushioning materials:

• Significantly more comfort, cushioning and natural articulation
• 37% more impact absorption
• Longer lasting support and cushioning
• Arch support for most foot-types
• Durable wear
• Machine washable

I took these out for a Spin after my 17.4 miler and 10 miler. My feet really felt like they were walking on clouds (and I don't use that term loosely).

I really like the fact that I could put my Zensah compression socks on after the run and then easily slip my feet into these sandals. Double the recovery help and double the comfort. It really was a great combination.

Oofos offers three different types of shoes: the original (regular flip flops with the toe divider) in NINE different colors, the slide (which I tried) in two different colors and the OOClog (which you can figure out is a clog) in two different colors (clog is $49.95). So the variety is there depending on your dress, style or comfort level.

Many readers saw my posts on Instagram and Facebook already and asked my true thoughts on these sandals. And the verdict is in...

I would buy them to rock post-long run!

I can't wait to try them out in the summer months especially when I usually hit the beach for the day after a morning run.

Thanks OOfos for letting me try these sweet sandals.

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Numero Dos: KIND Snacks

There’s healthy. There’s tasty. Then there’s healthy and tasty. At KIND, we believe you deserve both—we call it our brAND philosophy. That’s why you’ll find all of our snacks are pretty much the nirvana of healthful tastiness. What began with just 8 bar varieties in 2004 has grown to over 22 bars and 6 Healthy Grains snackable clusters, and a multitude of new recipes being perfected and refined to our standards in the KIND kitchen.

Well KIND snacks pretty much sold me with that introduction to their company.

KIND snacks has been around since 2004, but didn’t enter my radar until last summer. Yes I know I am behind the times. What else is new? 

I kept seeing their product at local races. Now, I am ALL about the free products at a race so I would pick one up and not really think anything about it I did a giveaway with KIND last August. They sent me a whole goodie bag of flavors so I was really able to try them in all different fueling capacities.

So I am often asked what do I do when I am traveling for a race, I can't necessarily make my usual egg whites, wheat toast and peanut butter concoction I do when I am at home.

Enter KIND Snack bars.

Personally I need to eat an hour before a race then nothing else (besides ENERGYBits) until I am done. A thing with my body. Soooo when traveling, I throw one of these bars (5-6 PPV on Weight Watchers) into my bag and I enjoy usually one that has chocolate or peanut butter in it (it's like a treat at 5am) one hour before the Start while I am stretching, etc.

I appreciate what KIND stands for as a company and I like that I can read all of the ingredients in their product. Now, I know some people need more before a race and everyone is different, but for me - this packs the punch I need.

I've also found if I cut them up in advance and put them in a little baggy, it is the perfect fuel while on the bike. Easy to eat, enjoyable and gives me the extra push I need. The trick is cutting it up ahead of time. I am still new to the bike so I haven't mastered tearing open the container and biking at the same time ... yet!

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And last, but certainly not least... Fitsnap App!

 

I think folks have noticed on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram fitness posts a new look. They are jazzed up and that is thanks to the Fitsnap App.

FitSnap is an iPhone app that creates inspirational pictures from your workouts & activities. Add your workout information on top of your photos to create beautiful images to share with your friends on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter.

It's as simple as that!

They have a great drop down menu full of different activities you can use:

You an fill in your duration of the activity, how far you went (if you know) and then you can add a little snippet about how it went (this might be my favorite part).

They even have a whole list of specific yoga poses on the app.

Once you input the information, you then choose the layout of the overlay by swiping left and right. After that is picked, you can choose a filter to dress up or dress down your picture. Then it is saving to your phone and you are off!

The basic Fitsnap app is free, but you can make "in-app purchases" to give you additional Fitsnap themes for 99 cents each. The additional themes are: Half Marathon and Marathon. I'm excited to try those two out in the coming months! :)

So if you are looking to jazz up those post-run selfies or you just need another iPhone app, I highly recommend Fitsnap.

Oh and tell 'em IrishEyes1982 sent ya. ;)