The transitions in Triathlon and Duathlon (and I suppose Aquathons as well, if you are that way inclined) are often called the fourth discipline which always sounds a bit strange when you are doing a duathlon but never mind.
Anyway are they all pretty much the same? And is my T1 or T2 time pretty relevant to compare to others and/or to say how good I did at that particular part of any given event?
No! Is the answer to all of the above so let me explain. I’ll take the easy ones first.
You can’t necessarily compare your T1 to your mate’s T1 and say yours is better. Why? Because in large events, like the London Duathlon, there can be significant differences in the distance you have to run whilst pushing your bike compared to other people because of your rack position. This will be evened out in T2 but all I’m saying is that you can’t always sensibly compare your T1 to someone else’s. T1+T2 is a different matter. That is broadly comparable.
And of course transitions from one event to the next can be quite different. Some bike dismounts can have a nasty run to the T2 transition area. It can be nasty in terms of ‘bumpy’ if you happen to do that bit barefoot or it could have rubbery mats which could prove quite slippy with certain kinds of cleats on bike shoes.
Also bear in mind that the transition represents a ‘kit change over period’. It does not always fully represent all the ‘transitional’ time that is required. eg
1. The run from the swim to the T1 entry timing mat
2. The run from T1 exit to the bike mount
3. The time taken to mount your bike and get fully clipped in
4. The time taken to unclips dismount and get to the bike dismount line.
I’m sure most of you realise all of that and that sometimes these points can be quite significant periods of time. However you might neglect to think about the time cost of doing all these things as they are NEVER independently reflected in any of the timing breakdowns. You might think you’ve nailed your T1+T2 but in fact have wasted 5 seconds or so clipping in or dismounting too early or too inefficiently.
That’s the end but I’ve looked at some of the timings of these points IN DETAIL at the end of my review on PYRO PLATFORMs…if you are interested!
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