Swim to Bike: Tidy-Up Your Triathlon T1

TriDot Podcast Episode 311

Swim to Bike: Tidy-Up Your Triathlon T1

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Andrew Harley: Welcome to the TriDot podcast. Today I have coach Jenn Reinhart, founder and lead coach at Reinhardt Racing, and coach Jeff Raines, biomechanics expert and the lead coach of team Raines. They are joining us to help us tidy up our transitions, specifically talking about the swim to bike transition today, aka T1. 60 minutes on T1. Let's do it. I'm Andrew, the average triathlete, voice of the people and captain of the middle of the pack. We treat the show like any good workout. We'll start with a warm up question, settle into our main set conversation and then wind things down by having our coaches answer an audience question on the cool down. Lots of good stuff. Let's get to it.

Announcer: This is the TriDot podcast, the triathlon show that brings you world class coaching with every conversation. Let's get started with today's warmup.

Andrew Harley: All right, Coach Jeff, Coach Jenn. Every sport has an individual or a small team of individuals watching the contest, watching the game, watching the match to make sure that all the rules are followed and the competition is fair. Some sports call these folks referees, some call them umpires. They can be judges, stewards, officials and so many more names. My warm up question today, what sport do you think is the hardest on the officials? Jeff, what do you think?

Jeff Raines: You know, my fantasy football just kicked off last night and by the way, the TriDot Fantasy football league. And there we're, we're in year three. NFL. Gosh, there, they are so fast paced, so many moving parts. I don't know how each umpire or referee stays focused on their individual area or, or the things that, that they're looking for. It's crazy. I don't know. I'd say basketball is kind of the same fast paced. Rugby, baseball, gosh, there's so many rules. They're like always stopping to, you know, review the footage and things. NFL is my answer, but anything super fast paced.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. And this question was inspired. Literally the week we're recording in this sporting week. I've watched some US Open tennis. I watched a T100 triathlon event two weekends back. I watched some WNBA basketball earlier in the week and the NFL preseason has been going on and so kind of watching so many different sports in the same week. I was kind of like, man, like it kind of made me think about this question. Coach Jenn, what does this answer for you?

Jenn Reinhart: So we're big soccer fans here at our house.

Andrew Harley: Do you go to any Austin FC games in your neck of the woods?

Jenn Reinhart: We do, we do. We love that stadium is really nice. But there's so many. I mean, there's a lot of contact, but sometimes there's a lot of flopping going on for the referee to be able to see was there really contact or not? Did that guy just throw himself down? So, and then you know, the, they have the linesman that do offsides and sometimes it's so close, I mean, I don't know how they can, you know, they have to be right there looking at that, that, that where the defensive player is and the oncoming offensive player is. So I got to go with soccer because that's what we watch so much. If I had to go with the second one, it'd be gymnastics.

Andrew Harley: Okay. Yeah. Wow.

Jeff Raines: I like that. Yeah.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. Those scorekeepers are watching a lot of things happen very quickly and have to be pretty well trained. I totally get it. I read an article one time about a, a soccer referee and it was just like documenting like what this referee does to like stay in game shape because like you, you forget how much those guys and gals have to run. Right. To keep up with the players and all that. My answer here, I'm gonna go ice hockey kind of for some of the similar reasons Jeff said about the NFL. Right. You're watching a lot of stuff while you have these like grown huge fit bodies flying all around you. And I feel like if you just put that on ice and you're skating, it just makes it that much harder to stay out of the players ways and not get body checked and body slammed by these big players that are skating all around you. That looks terrifying to me. Absolutely terrifying to me. Again, inspiring. This question was me watching US Open tennis and I was thinking about how much I would struggle with my add to focus as a linesman in tennis. There's no way I'd be able to officiate a three to five hour tennis match. Watching was the ball in or out on that one line and that kind of sparked this question. But my answer is ice hockey for sure. I love watching the Dallas Stars when NHL season comes around and man, I would, I would just be scared. I'd be terrified. I would trip and fall and get hurt for sure by, by those, those big old boys out there skating around. We're going to throw this question out to our TriDot Podcast audience. Find this question on the TriDot socials. If you're watching our podcast episode on Spotify or YouTube, you can write in the comments below. Let us know what your answer the one up question is. Can't wait to hear what you, our listeners have to say.

Main Set

Andrew Harley: Let's go on to our main set, where Coach Jeff and Coach Jenn are going to help us get a little bit faster, a little bit more efficient, a little bit smarter and wiser when we go through our triathlon T1. And so, Jeff, Jenn, just to kick us off today, I'd love to hear just some stories from your own racing experience. The both of you race a ton of triathlons, so whether it was for a good reason or whether it was due to some sort of T1 kerfuffle, what was an extra memorable T1 for you personally, Coach Jenn?

Jenn Reinhart: Well, I was going to say Cozumel when my bike wasn't there, but we've been talking about that way too much.

Andrew Harley: That is memorable. That is memorable. That's a kerfuffle.

Jenn Reinhart: Going to go to the, the next more pretty recent one, too. I did 70.3 Chattanooga. Not this past May, but May 2024. And as I'm swimming, I'm pretty relaxed when I'm swimming. So I'm kind of thinking ahead, what do I need to do for T1? And you know, that's got a pretty long run. You got to go up this metal first guy climb out on the stairs, run over the dock and go up this big, long metal bridge and then all over. And I'm thinking about how I laid things out. I went, oh, crap. I didn't bring any socks to T1 because I wore them up to the swim start. I was going to supposed to take them off and leave them, and I didn't. So I'm thinking, well, what? I can't run without socks. I can ride without socks, but I can't run without socks. So I get out, and as I'm starting to run down this line of people, I'm going, anyone got an extra pair of socks? Anyone? And this lady did. She. She threw me a pair of socks. They weren't my favorite brand, but I was not gonna, you know, be picky. Gift course in the house. Be picky. So I. I got a pair of socks and I wore them for the whole race. Only got one blister. But, you know, we'll get into it a little bit more as we go through this podcast, but making sure that you remember everything and you have it set out and ready to go. And how many triathlons have I done that I forgot that I needed to leave my socks?

Andrew Harley: Now, the socks this person gave you, were they a clean pair they happen to have in a bag, or did they take their socks off?

Jenn Reinhart: I think they were a clean pair.

Andrew Harley: Okay.

Jenn Reinhart: They didn't take them off their feet.

Andrew Harley: But they, I mean you got to do what you got to do at the end of the day, but.

Jenn Reinhart: Oh, I would have, yeah, we won't go there. But I've, I've reused many a thing in triathlon, so.

Andrew Harley: Coach Jeff, what was an extra memorable T1 for you?

Jeff Raines: Man, getting into T1 and my bike not being there, that's a tough one to top. Reinhardt. The T1 at Escape from Alcatraz is iconic.

Andrew Harley: It's pretty cool.

Jeff Raines: Yeah, you have a huge beach to land on, but you don't know whether you're going to undershoot it, overshoot it just with the cross currents on that crazy swim. But you run quite a long ways from that swim exit to T1 at Alcatraz and that is very memorable. Just running through that sand and just an iconic moment of I just did that swim. It's so hard. I did it that you don't even necessarily care about that crazy long T1 run. So that, that's a really memorable one and I have to just throw out another one. If anybody remembers or raced IRONMAN California 2022, that was a crazy, crazy wind year. And the T1 was in the baseball stadium. It was a 1.4 mile run from swim exit to bike mount line. By the time, by the time you ran through center field and down onto the infield and got your bike and everything. But it was extra memorable for me because of my buddy who the day before the race broke his elbow and was not able to race and getting out of the water, he was standing there in a sling giving everybody some, some slaps on the bottom from team Raines. And so seeing him there and giving back to the sport after a rough day, I'll always remember that T1.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, no great answers. I, I, I, I suppose for a warm up question I could have done like what is the longest transition you've had? Like T1 you've had. Cause I actually had one. Jeff, my answer here is 70.3 Greece. That the T1 at 70, at 70.3 Greece was really, really cool because for starters it was, I should have gone back and looked at my Strava. It was something like 0.76, 0.78. It was over 3/4 of a mile. This transition mostly uphill cause you're, you're landing on a Beach and 70.3 Greece. At the time, it was the inaugural year that I raced it. Now it's, it's moved locations. But where it was back then the whole thing was based at these two resorts that were side by side on the Grecian coast. And so there wasn't, like, a town there. There wasn't anything else there. Just these two resorts side by side. And so you literally were landing on the beach and running, you know, up the pathways of these resorts to get to the parking lot where T1 was staged. And it was just a long freaking way. But what was so cool about it was between the friends, family, fans, and the resort staffs, like, the whole 0.78 miles was lined with spectator support and people clapping for you and people cheering for you. And it's these, like, you know, European, Mediterranean, like, cobblestone pathways. You're running up red carpet the whole way. To IRONMAN's credit, red carpet the entire 0.78 miles. And it was a while. And you kind of had to. To temper your pace, to not elevate your heart rate as you were running slightly uphill for that far. Um, but. But what I thought was gonna be like, oh, man, they have us running. How far? Actually kind of turned into a pretty cool transition. Cause you got the. The. The beach views on one side and the beautiful Mediterranean resort views on the other side and people cheering you on the whole way. And it was. I don't know, it was kind of nice. Uh, and then once we got to T1, it was the most well organized, most well run T1 I think I've ever been a part of. So shout out to that race. Fantastic event. And as we transition into you guys coaching us on how to have a smooth T1, the first question I want to ask is this. As an athlete is approaching the swim exit, they exit the water, they're going up the steps, or they're going up the bank or they're going up the beach, whatever it is. What do you want to see an athlete do in those very first, kind of almost disorienting moments as they're leaving the water? Coach Jeff.

Jeff Raines: The first thing, I honestly, is smile. A lot just happened on that swim. A lot of dunking, pushing, swallowing water. I know for most of the athletes that I coach, the swim is and can be a barrier even to the sport. And so just congratulating yourself, you got through the first leg of the journey. Smile. Next would be lap your watch. Lap your watch. Or make sure that the auto lap. Right. Make sure that the auto lap took and that you get credit for that swim, because you got to have the data, right? So smile. Lap your watch. And then I like to get my goggles and swim cap off asap. Just so I can kind of reorientate myself with goggles on. It's kind of two dimensional and, you know, so to speak.

Andrew Harley: And so I love being reorientated.

Jeff Raines: Is that word? Did I say that right? But yeah, swim cap and goggles off asap. But again, make sure you get credit for the data first then. But if it's a wetsuit swim, I would say start working that thing off asap. But don't be frantic, right? Don't be frantic. Let that heart rate come down. And you see people just absolutely sprinting right to, to into T1 and to their bike. I, I would say don't run too fast. Try to control your heart rate. It's a big day. You still got two big events. Your, your heart rate is arguably lower in the swim than the bike and run, but we don't want to elevate it too soon, too quick. And, and lastly, I'll just say, you know, if you're working that wetsuit down and if you came out of a saltwater swim, I like my athletes to rinse. Usually saltwater swims, at least in IRONMAN events, there's a number of hoses or showers there available. So I always recommend getting the salt water off as you work your way into T1.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that, Jeff. Cause I, I did not have a question on our sheet about, about those. Not every race has the, the freshwater, the, the, the saltwater swim, freshwater rinses. Right where. And, and so is it worth taking? You see some athletes just blow through those, but blow around though. Some athletes take their time. But yeah, you can pay for it later, right? If you don't rinse off, get that salt off your body, you can pay for it and, and chafing and many other ways. So. Great, great mention there, Jeff. Thanks for saying that. Coach Jenn, is there anything else you like to see an athlete do when they're coming out of the water besides that? The items Jeff just mentioned?

Jenn Reinhart: Just one or two things. One is actually before they come out of the water, most of us don't use our legs much as we're swimming. And when we stand up all of a sudden you're trying to push blood down into your legs so that you can run and not be disoriented. So I tell them when they make that last turn buoy, don't be a motorboat, but pick up your kick, wake your legs up so that they're ready for you to stand up. As you come out of the water.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, great tip.

Jenn Reinhart: So just kind of, you know, again, don't kick like you're a 50 meter sprinter, but, but wake those legs up, kick them a little, kick a little nice soft kick. As Jeff said, the swim is so much. It is usually an anxiety point for a lot of athletes. They can't wait to get to the bike and the run. So I just always remind them, well, the swim is your gateway to the rest of the race. You got to get through that swim. So smile when you get out. You've conquered your biggest fear of the day, getting through the swim. And you know, Jeff mentioned you use the peelers. They'll. Even if you can't get your arms down, they'll help you with your arms. One thing, with my cap and goggles like Jeff, I take them off and as I pull my right side off first at my sleeved wetsuit, I leave my cap and goggles inside the sleeve. I just let go of them and so they're pretty secure in there, so I don't have to worry about them as I try to get the rest of the wetsuit off and thank those peelers, thank those volunteers. I like to thank the volunteers all day long, but, you know, as they give you a hand and pull you up and hand you your wetsuit, make sure you give them a big thank you and jog on into T1.

Andrew Harley: Now, now both of you are talking about getting the wetsuit off and, and starting to get things down, getting the goggles off, the swim cap off, all that makes a ton of sense. Jenn. I love the, the idea of stashing that, those goggles and swim cap in your wetsuit as it's coming off to not have one less thing you're carrying for an event that is. Is swim skin eligible and not wetsuit legal, you can wear a swim skin or, or for an event where you're just swimming in your tri kit. You know, maybe it's a local sprint with a pool or maybe it's a local sprinter. Olympic. Uh, we. You both are both Texas based. You know, we have a lot of summer triathlons where you're in the open water at a Texas lake or a Texas river and you're in your tri kit because it is not cold enough for anything else. Um, does that just simplify the transition or, or. Jeff, is there anything else we need to consider with a swim skin or, or just our, our tri kit on?

Jeff Raines: Yeah, swim skins are a lot easier to get off. I'm still a fan of getting it off.

Andrew Harley: Start starting the process.

Jeff Raines: Yeah, yeah, because I, I don't, I, I don't want 2 pounds of water on me on the bike if I can help it. I, I want as much as that to drip off or be off before I get onto the bike. But yeah, the biggest thing with, with the wetsuit, if there's not a wetsuit peeler available, and, and I always recommend, if there's wetsuit peelers, use them. But if not, you want to get the swim skin or the wetsuit below your hip bones while you're running towards T1 or to your bike. That does help get it off quicker if you're going to get both of those off by yourself.

Andrew Harley: We, we actually, I was on a recording for a different project with Jan Sibberson from Sailfish Wetsuits. I swim in Sailfish. I, I, I, Jeff, I know you do as well. And what one thing that Jan was saying that I thought was so fascinating. So, so this is a guy who owns and runs a company that makes wetsuits, right. And his preference as a wetsuit specialist is for athletes to, you know, you have your, you have your full tri suit on, you have your wetsuit on over the tri suit. He's, he says that it is better to start with your tri kit unzipped and not over the upper part of your body. Like, just have it up to your waist unzipped and then put your wetsuit on because that tri kick can actually increase the shoulder restriction as you swim more so than the wetsuit people think wetsuits are, are the reason your shoulders are fatiguing. And he's like, well, a lot of times it's that tri kit that you're, that the fabric you're fighting. Um, do either of you have athletes do this where, where they'll actually do the swim in their wetsuit or in a swim skin? They don't have the, the tri kit all the way up. And so for them in transition, they're getting the wetsuit to their waist. Then they're also getting their tri suit over their torso. I've seen the pros do this. Do either of you have age groupers do this as well?

Jenn Reinhart: I do, and I do myself. I kind of roll it up and tuck it in. And then, you know, once I've gotten the wetsuit off, you know, I start getting untucked, but I usually don't get it up until I get to my bike because I got to get rid of that wetsuit so I can wiggle in and zip it up. But I don't see a whole lot of age groupers doing that. I think most of them have their kit up and zipped.

Jeff Raines: I agree. I have a handful of my athletes that will have it unzipped underneath their wetsuit. I myself, I've done it a handful of times. I usually don't. But I also swim with my race kit underneath my wetsuit many times before each race. Just to confirm, okay, how am I going to do it this time? It felt good those two or three swims, so I'm just going to leave it on or, or vice versa. So I think it depends, but I, I think most age groupers opt not to just because putting it on wet is, is so hard they don't get it on all the way and, and it sets up bad for the rest of the day sometimes.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, no, yeah, great points from both of you. So, so probably something that if an athlete wants to consider that, um, Jeff, just like you said, swim, practice it both ways, try it both ways, see if it makes a difference for you swimming in your wetsuit with that tri kit down and just know if that's a, if that's a, this is, if that's something you're gonna try. Just like coach Jenn, it just adds one more step. And Jenn, very interesting to hear for you. You just kind of let yourself get to your bike where your bike is wrecked and then you get your trike all situated. So yeah, great, great addition.

Jenn Reinhart: Especially if I'm at an IRONMAN event and I'm going into a change tent anyways, I, I don't think I would do it in a sprint that way because yeah, sometimes it, sometimes it comes up and on real easy and other times you're really struggling.

Andrew Harley: Yeah.

Jenn Reinhart: And it's the same kit, so I'm not sure why. But you know, when I'm doing a long course event and I know I'm going to go into the change tent where I'm going to sit down and I'm just going to take a little more time. I can get up really quickly usually. And the reason I start trying that way is if I can get a race that's going to be colder, I usually like to put a dry top on when I get out of the swim because I hate being cold. So I'll wear, just, I'll wear a two piece kit for that race. And I found that, wow, I really like swimming with just my sports bra in my tri shorts under my wetsuit. It feels better. And so that's what, why I evolved to try because I would see the pros do it and go, yeah, yeah, Very, very interesting.

Andrew Harley: So my next question, and in our warmup stories, a couple of us mentioned triathlons that have a longer run. Right. And sometimes you're at a very highly produced event like an IRONMAN or a challenge family race where they have red carpet for you for that entire transition run. Sometimes it's a local event or, or, or just somewhere where they can't have carpet all. So you triathletes, as, as you're doing a mixture of events throughout your season, we might end up running on sand, on sidewalks, on rocks, grass, all sorts of surfaces to get from the pool, the, the water, the ocean to where transition is. What, what do you talk about with your athletes when it comes to taking care of your feet through that process? We're on our feet the whole rest of the day, so we can't, we can't beat them the hell right there. Running the T1. Coach Jenn, what would you say here?

Jenn Reinhart: Well, definitely, if it's a 70.3 race or a full IRONMAN, you're there early enough that you can go and walk that swim, exit into transition and look at any spots that might cause you an issue. Local races, you know, you're showing up the morning of. But the transitions are normally shorter there. And my experience, when they've been longer, like in Texas, our lakes had receded so much that there'd be a big long stretch of dirt you had to run on to get to T1, and they were allowing you to put a second pair of shoes. I think Alcatraz does too. You can put some shoes where you're going to get out of the swim. I've always found that on race day, if I put those shoes there, I'm just going to pick them up and run barefoot. Because on race day, it doesn't. It feels different. My feet don't hurt. I don't know why on the day before they hurt when I was trying to do that run. So, you know, sometimes there is the option of having a second pair of shoes if, if it's a really long 1.4 miles that Jeff was talking about California, that would be a good one to have a pair of shoes to put on. So some will allow shoes. You know, you talk about the red carpet and IRONMAN does do a great job, but I noticed at Rockford and Galveston, you've really got to be careful of the fencing, the metal brackets at the bottom that stabilize them. They really kind of. Sometimes that's what I was going to.

Jeff Raines: Say, and if you.

Jenn Reinhart: Well, I'm a slower runner, so I'm trying to stay right so that I can let people go by. But I've got to watch out, you know, I'm going to break another toe, which. Which I don't want to do. So, you know, you know, first, if you're there early, walk it. Make sure you see what might be a hazard. Think about if they offer that you can have a second pair of shoes. You know, maybe it's a pair that you don't even care if you pick up. Maybe you just leave them there and they go to. They get donated. You know, that there's something. You were going to chunk anyways, but. And then just. It doesn't have to be an all out sprint, you know, take your time, watch out for those metal protrusions and keep your feet healthy.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, I. So, Jenn, the one race I've done where you, you could and were encouraged to stash a pair of shoes was Alcatraz, which you both mentioned. And it's not. It's the run in Alcatraz. It's all sidewalk and it's a nice sidewalk. It's just, you know, it's concrete. So what's your feet's tolerance for that? I decided what I decided to try. I thought I was really clever, you guys, because I was like, okay, I'm not going to stop and put on a pair of shoes. I'm going to stash my Oofa’s, right? And I have Oofa’s. Some people have the HOKA recovery slide. Some people have different brands that the cane slides. But there's a ton of brands now that do plush, cushioned, rubbery, silicone slip on sandals, right? And around the house and around the neighborhood, I can wear my Oofa’s outside in the sidewalk, and I can run a pretty decent pace in my Oofa’s. They're very stable. What I didn't account for was once your feet are wet, wet, they are not at all stable and your foot sliding all around in them. So I thought I was super clever. I'm just. I'm going to stash my Oofa’s and I'm going to run in my Oofa’s through transition. I can run in my Oofa’s just fine. Well, that's true until your feet are wet. And then I could not run in my Oofa’s just fine. So I made it. But I almost rolled my ankle probably six or seven times on that. The, the other one you mentioned, Jenn, the other thing I thought of while you were talking. I remember the fir. The, the first time I think I had done, I'd done some local races where there was like a, it was tri Key west and Key West Florida was my first like beach exit. And both of those events I just did not think about like, oh, it's pretty easy to run on the beach. It's pretty easy to run on grass. No, no worries. I don't, I don't think I need to stash anything. Well, yeah, but then you get to Your spot in T1 and your feet are sandy or your feet are grassy and your seasoned triathletes will have just a half full water bottle or something in T1 to just quickly rinse off their feet, slide them into their cycling shoes and take off. And I, I have done a couple races with sandy feet and sandy or grassy feet because I was not savvy enough to think about that one ahead of time. So I'll mention that one too. Coach Jeff, any, any, anything you want to add here in this conversation on taking care of your feet as you run your way through T1?

Jeff Raines: Yeah, I was going to say that very thing is you get to your bike and you've gone through so many elements, you've got stuff on your feet and if, if it's, if it's a, a dirty transition they call it, where you're allowed to put whatever you want under your bike. I always have a towel down there and I have half of my gear on half or all of my gear on half of the towel, but half of the towel out into the aisle. So the first thing I do when I get to my bike is wipe my feet off because like you said, the worst thing is sand in between your toes for, for a long, you know, 12 to 112 mile bike ride. Right. And so that's a big thing is, is just mud and grass and things like that. You want to take the shortest distance, right. You want to take the tangents running from long T1s and into the bike area. But, but just watch out for those holes. And, and, and I would say walk it all the day before and even race morning because things can change from the, from, from the day before. So have a plan. Walk it, practice it when you're on site.

Andrew Harley: So we, we, whether we check our, our gear in the day before or whether it's an event where we're checking in the morning of, you know, we, we, we get our bike ready we kind of pick our spot on the rack or find our assigned spot on the rack. And I think we all know, okay, kind of look around, get your bearings, figure out some landmarks, know where your stuff is. In T1, I find once I'm actually in race mode, that's when like all of the. Just row after row after row, bike after bike after bike can start to blend together. And it's not as easy to remember where my bike is as I always think it's going to be. So, so what, what advice you give your athletes just in terms of, of knowing where your stuff is, Rehearsing the flow of T1 to make sure you know where you're coming from, where you're going next. Talk to us about this one, Coach Jeff.

Jenn Reinhart: Yeah.

Jeff Raines: First, I think there's a big difference in assigned racking and first come first serve. If, if you're allowed to set up your bike wherever you want in T1 or, or in transition for T1, I always am an advocate of putting your bike as close to the bike out the bike exit area or as close to the bike mount line because it's just. And if, and if you're like, Transition opens at 5am even for your local sprint, well, you show up at 5:05. There's probably 20 bikes on the first two racks because they know that like they want to get a good spot because it's just less distance to run with your bike in and out of people and all of that. So I would say first, just make sure you know whether it's assigned racking or not. I'm always an advocate of getting there earlier rather than later. If you have a window to be in T1 before the race starts. But there's all sorts of tricks I've seen and heard a lot of your local sprints and Olympics will still let you maybe mark the end of your bike rack. You're not really allowed to these days. You're not really supposed to, but I've seen it all. I've seen helium balloons on the end of their rack chalk. You know, they go out and chalk it the day before or put little cues. You're not supposed to do that anymore. So just disclaimer. But some local sprints and Olympics, maybe you still want to get away with it, but, but I think that the, just like you said, you get out of the water and you're disoriented in all those things, the last thing you're thinking about the last hundred yards of your swim is, okay, my bike is row 48 bike number 23. That's the last thing you're thinking of, right?

Andrew Harley: It's like when you park at the airport for a big trip and you remember, okay, my car's at 26D. Two weeks later, you forget that.

Jeff Raines: Yeah, you know what? I guess you could get your Apple watch or your Garmin and ding your phone in your bag under your bike and you could listen for it. No, I think, you know, obviously have a plan. I've seen some athletes have their significant other or their Sherpa or their cheer squad on the rail closest to where their bike is, and so they have them like a reminder. Andrew. Andrew, good job. Over here, over here. So it kind of helps.

Andrew Harley: I haven't heard of that one. Yeah, that's good. I like that.

Jeff Raines: So have your cheer squad.

Andrew Harley: They're going to cheer for you somewhere anyway, right? Might as well be helpful.

Jeff Raines: That's right. So I, when I have team races, I, I like to work T1. It's one of my favorite spots. I get to see my athletes, congratulate them out of the swim. But, but on the tracker app, I'm always watching for them. Oh, they're. They're in T1 in the change tent. Let me go to their row and cheer them on and, and help them out a little bit as they come out of that. So, so there, there's ways to, to get that extra help if you, you.

Jenn Reinhart: Do it right outside Jeff. I don't know.

Jeff Raines: Legal. Legal outside aid. Right.

Andrew Harley: Coach Jenn, is there anything different there that you kind of tell your athletes to do? Jeff gave us a lot of just thoughts in terms of, of marking that spot, remembering that spot, looking for that spot. But, but do, do you do anything to, to kind of rehearse that flow? Walk through from the entrance to T1 to your spot to the bike out, and if so how many times and, and talk to us about it.

Jenn Reinhart: Luckily, IRONMAN events now they've got signs on the end of the rows, which, the numbers. So. But I'll still count how many rows. I'll look for a tree, you know, landmark. And yeah, maybe I'm not going to remember it when I come out, but if I, if I walk it the day before and, and in that morning, usually something pops and it's like, oh, yeah, that tree, that trash can. There's my bike. The other thing I've seen people do now because they've gotten pretty strict about not having the balloons or marking the edges of the rose is my towel that I put down. Don't use just an ordinary white towel. Use a bright orange towel or that red and black tract towel. You know, something that stands out just a little bit more so you can, you can pick your spot out. But yeah, you know, I. I have overshot my rack a couple of times in, in my race history. And it's like, oh, crap. And you gotta run back around and you feel really full.

Jeff Raines: Your army crawling under the. Under the rack to get to the other side. I've seen, I've seen that.

Jenn Reinhart: Yeah.

Andrew Harley: One more thing I'll say here.

Jenn Reinhart: The bucket might be in the way that somebody set up.

Andrew Harley: I used to do that, Jenn. I used to do that. I thought it was brilliant when, when I saw more veteran racers do that, and now I certainly don't. But that's a different story for people, for people who don't know, was advised for a while, and I'm sure a lot of people still do this. To carry, to take. To take a paint bucket to transition. And it served two purposes. One, it would help you carry your gear to transition. So instead of having a big bulky backpack, you just have all your stuff in a. In a paint bucket from Home Depot or Lowe's or similar. And then once you got there, it was the spot where you could. You could turn it upside down, pop a squat and sit to pull your socks on, pull your shoes on, do what you need to do. And when I first had. I'll just call this person an old codger who had done a lot of triathlons, kind of give me this tip as a young triathlete, like, hey, you should bring a paint bucket. Like, this is brilliant. I love this. And I did it for a couple of local sprints and Olympics in a row. And then after a couple times, I was like, why am I sitting down in transition when I can just pull my shoes on and just go. But anyway, that's the paint bucket reference for anybody who might not recognize that. I caught it, Jenn. I caught it. I've heard of that.

Jenn Reinhart: I would just say, if you're one of those people that bring a bucket in, please don't put it under the wheel of the person on the other side of the rack.

Andrew Harley: Fair.

Jenn Reinhart: It makes it really hard for them to kick their bike off.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, totally fair. So I, I want to ask for triathlons, there's a bunch of different ways an event can stage transition. And Jeff, you. You threw out the term earlier. A dirty transition versus a clean transition. Right? A dirty transition is where you do have your stuff by your bike. It's all right. There. And so transition is dirty, so it's full of stuff, but it's organized in a clean transition. Usually employs something like changing tents or something like gear bags where all your stuff is in the gear bag and nothing is by your bike. You're grabbing the bag, you're doing your thing and it's keeping transition clean. Hence the name clean Transition. So I, I want to talk about both, I want to talk about how to arrange our gear to, to make sure it's just as easy as possible to get our, our swim stuff off our bike stuff on and get rolling. So let's start by talking about a, a, a dirty transition where all of your stuff is by your bike. It's on that, that bright towel coach Jenn just told us to use so we can find it very easily. Coach Jenn, how would you advise an athlete to set up their, their run stuff, their bike stuff on the towel to make that, that transition as seamlessly as possible?

Jenn Reinhart: So this was a big discussion in transition at Rockford 70.3. Because I've been doing the racing for so long, we used to always rack our bikes by our brake levers or our handlebars. But now almost every race now wants you to rack it by the, the your seat. So you have a wheel down on one side. It used to be you put your stuff on the right side of the wheel that was down. That was the USAT rules. And now at different races, I've seen people start to put their stuff under their, their wheel so they would be on the opposite side of the rack from where I'm used to because it always read where your wheel touches down. So I don't know if anyone, if Iron man has any rules along that line. But I always still put my stuff on the right side of whatever wheel is touching down. So be on the right side of my front wheel. I'll fold a towel in half so that it's fairly narrow. I don't want to take up a whole lot of space. I'm not going to take a beach towel and lay it all the way out. Jeff mentioned earlier that he has half the towel for his feet to dry off. I do the same thing, but I fold it back over my stuff till I get up there and then I fold it out so that nobody's tromping over my clean towel. But I have my bike shoes in socks. If I'm going to put on socks in front and then behind my bike shoes, I'll have my run shoes with my race belt and my hat and any nutrition I might be wanting to grab on my handlebars. I'll have my bike helmet.

Andrew Harley: Open, end.

Jenn Reinhart: Up where I'm going to pull it on. If, if I have my face shield on, I'll have it on the magnet part so I can just bring it down. I like to work from my shoes up because my balance isn't the best and sometimes I have to sit down to get my shoes on. And I find that if I have my helmet and glasses on already, they tend to fog up and get a lot of water dripping from, from just getting out of swim. So I'll do, I'll do shoes and then helmet. When I come back in for my run stuff, I'll again, I'll take off my helmet first. Usually I've left my shoes on my bike and then I'll, I'll slip my run shoes on. I've tried it both ways. Stepping into my race belt, having it clipped versus having it unclipped and being able to start to run or walk out of transition while I clip it on, get my hat on. But so I'll have narrow towel, that bottle, half bottle of water you talk about because not only is it nice to wipe it off with a towel, but if you can pour some water on there first to get that sand out of your toes. So keep it as simple as I can. Keep it. Be respectful of how much space I take up. And so race morning in Rockford we're all talking about, because the bikes were tight, there was not much space. So, you know, we had some people putting their stuff down like I was other people putting it under their wheel. It all worked out. So I think it's, you know, where's the best space for you on race morning to set it up? Because, you know, usually the bikes are pretty tight. If you get a race where there's more space and you have more, more room to do to work with.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, and I think too there's always officials walking around in transition as, as you're getting set up. So if you have any questions about where your stuff is supposed to go in relation to your bike and the bikes around you go find an official and they're going to be happy to, to help you make sure you and the people around you get that right. Um, one thing that I, I thought about that I wanted to add here, and this kind of goes back to the last question about how to, how to get to your bike quickly and kind of know where you are in transition. I, I've gotten tripped up a couple times by Being there early, getting, getting the spot on the rack that, that, that, that I want racking my bike and there might be one or two or three other bikes around me. You know, you, you go, you, you use the porta potty, you take some nutrition, you talk with your friends, and then all of a sudden you start the race and you get the T1. And I, I, I didn't memorize like, what the scene, what, what the rack looked like with 12 bikes around my bike instead of two bikes around my bike. Right. And so suddenly or, or, or you, you, you have somebody who slightly moves your stuff to make more room for their stuff. And, and there, there's not many people like that, but there's some triathletes that are like that. It's happened probably to most of us once or twice. So I, at, at this point in my tri career, I always go back right before the race and I'm talking like local sprint, local Olympic, right, where it is a little more of a free for all. Um, but I, I will always go back and kind of take in, okay, I might have racked my bike 45 minutes ago, but what's changed? What are the bikes around my bike? Is my, is my stuff still how I had it? Has anybody moved it, touched it? Usually not, but let's just be sure. But then when I come out of the water, I, I, I have that fresher reference point for what my spot on the rack looks like as opposed to not. Um, I, I'm like you, Jenn. I, I know a lot of people like to put the helmet on first and clip it immediately to make sure that they don't forget to do that. And then they start putting on everything else. So they kind of work from the top down. I'm like you, I want to get there. I've got my cycling shoes right there. First thing on the towel, I slip my feet in those cycling shoes and then I work my way up. Uh, and kind of same thing as you, I, I, I found a couple times if I put the, the helmet on too quickly, my, my goggles fog up and well, now I'm doing T1 half blind. Uh, and so I personally am like you, I like working my, my way from the, the bottom, the ground up. Coach, Jeff, any, any tricks to the trade that you found over the years that you give your athletes on setting up that dirty transition to make sure you have a smooth transition?

Jeff Raines: Yeah, I, you know, I, I would actually, just to be devil's advocate, do it. I, I, I would encourage to go head first down to your feet. I would also say it doesn't really matter, whatever is best for you. But the bigger picture and the coaching answer is you just want to bend down, stand up, bend down the least amount as possible.

Andrew Harley: Ah, gotcha.

Jeff Raines: Right now, for most races, I do a flying mount. My shoes are already on the bike, so I'm gonna grab helmet first, right? I always have my shield on top because the first mile, it's early, the sun's not up yet, there's fog, things like that. So I always have this shield up. So putting my helmet on first doesn't bother me. And also, the new bike rules from two years ago, right, you're not even allowed to touch your bike if your helmet is not on and buckled. That new rule is they are very strict on that. So I encourage a lot of my athletes. Just get the helmet on, buckle it done. Now you can put on your gear, touch your bike, do whatever you want. One last thing I'll say is how you lay out your shoes and how you do your towel and all that stuff. Um, a lot will depend on. This is what I do if, if I'm going to put my shoes on in transition and not do a flying mount. If my bike is really, really far away from the bike mount line, I don't want to put my bike shoes on and hobble a quarter mile on concrete or grass in my bike shoes, trying to push my bike through all these people in grass and roll my ankle. So I have a rule that if my bike is halfway in transition or closer to the bike mount or bike exit bike mount line, then I will put my shoes on and hobble a little bit. It's not that far. But if my bike is really far away, I will consider doing a flying mount. So I don't got to worry about them. Or I'll actually carry my bike shoes, run close to the bike mount line, put them on, and then go into traffic when it is clear and safe. So, um, that's just a rule that I have. Where is your bike in transition? And that will actually dictate where you're going to set up. Now, you also don't want to run around and snake up and down four or five aisles. If your bike's on the middle of the rack, you know, the long line, you may say, well, bike mounts to the left, so. So I'm just going to go to the left. But what if race morning and out of the swim, there's 25 people in your way and it's easier to Go the other way, but it's a hair longer. So have a plan and a route that is efficient. It could be longer, but still more efficient. Right. And so just have that plan.

Andrew Harley: Yep. Great, great stuff there from both of you. Now to move on to a clean transition. And there's a couple of different ways these can happen, but in general, your stuff is in a bag. You're grabbing that bag, you're putting your stuff on, and then you're making your way to your bike and proceeding coach. Jeff, is there anything different we need to do with a clean transition? Is there any special way we can arrange the stuff in a bag to. To grab it as easy as possible? What would you tell us for. For that kind of transition?

Jeff Raines: Yeah, first, they're. They're in numerical order. They're hard to find. Even though they're in numerical order. Sometimes they get misplaced and things like that. If you're early and. And there's only 50 bags there of 2,500, you got a clean spot on the sidewalk or whatever. But by the time you get to race morning, there's 25, you know, 24, 50 bags added. And so always have your bag marked with some sort of clear or not clear. A bright, fun tape or something. One of my athletes does gold ribbons just so that you can spot your bag if it got misplaced. Oh, it's not here anymore. Oh, it's just one row over. I see it. Right. So. So have a distinguishing mark on your transition bag. Also, the way you tie it. Don't tie it too tight to where you. You. You pull that little bow and whoops, it's knotted. And now you're going to take 45 seconds. You can't untie it. So. So how you tie it is important. Then once you get in to the tent or you're sitting down and you're ready to open up that bag, you're gonna have to put your swim gear back into that bag. Once everything is dumped out of the bag, you got your bike helmet on, you've eaten something, you got your bike shoes and all that. You have to put your swim cap, goggles, roll up your, or swim skin, stuff it in that bag, close it off. You either hand it to a volunteer and they put it somewhere for you, or you sometimes have to run out into the clean transition and leave that bag under your bike. And then you grab your bike and go, right. So what I would say is roll up that swim skin or wetsuit. Really, I just. I just do it hot dog style. Right. Both legs are on top of each other. And then I roll it up. Right. It's the size of a tennis shoe now. And it's very easy to get that wet wetsuit and rubber and neoprene into that, that dry plastic bag. It can be a Nightmare. I've worked T1 a million times, and people are so fast and efficient in T1, but they cannot get that stinking wetsuit back into their bag. And they get so frustrated. All right, I'll end with this is I like to have the food that I'm going to eat more readily available. In clean transition races, they tend to be more long course races. And in long course, you need that nutrition. You typically don't eat till 30, 45 minutes before the swim. Maybe you do a two hour swim. Now it's been two hours and 45 minutes. You're in T1 and you haven't eaten or drinking anything. So I like to get that nutrition in, start sipping on that, have that readily available out of the bag first, take a few sips, start eating that banana. Then I work my shoes on, then I work my helmet. I'll end with this. Again, sorry. I've worked T1 so many times and half in a full iron man.

Andrew Harley: That's why I put you on this episode, Jeff.

Jeff Raines: And in the changing tent, 99 out of 100 people have food. A gel, a banana, a half a Gatorade. They have all of this food and they have a plan to eat that food. I would say nine out of 10 people don't eat it or they take one little bite and throw it down.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, yeah.

Jeff Raines: At the end of that shift, I could come home with 400 gels if I wanted to.

Andrew Harley: And so 40,000 calories, grams of carbohydrate.

Jeff Raines: Eat that food. Eat that food. Don't skip it. Eat every bite, every drop that you plan to do is my advice.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, really, really good. And you mentioned that the wetsuit, getting stuck, you know, getting put in the bag. And I think for a lot of people, myself included, my biggest fear in T1 Is, is getting stuck in my wetsuit, trying to get out of my wetsuit, you know, and, and, you know, usually it comes off the arms and gets down to your waist pretty good and then you get to your spot and, and start to take it off. For me, personally, when my wetsuit gets stuck, and I've had this happen twice during a race when I get stuck, it's either an arm sleeve gets caught on my Garmin watch or the leg sleeve gets caught on My timing chip, and I've practiced it. I know how to take my wetsuit off. I'm smooth at it, I'm confident in it, but I didn't account for those two things being on my body. And all of a sudden I've got neoprene imprisoning my appendage because it's caught on one of those two things. So, so Coach Jenn talked to us about this. How can we, how can we make sure this doesn't happen to us? And if it does happen to us, all of a sudden we find ourselves in transition, our foot is caught in the brain, we're panicking. What do we do?

Jenn Reinhart: So, deep breath. You know you're going to get. I've seen people take their. And I actually once have taken my watch off so that I can then get the wetsuit off easier and then put my watch back on normally. I've learned that when I get that sleeve down, I just need to stick a finger up in to the sleeve from my right hand into the left and I can get it over the watch and get it off. For the ankles, you know, use some, some body glide or some of the spray silicon so that it comes off easier. Then you're just doing the stomp and stomp and pull. So, you know, you stomp on the leg and pull up with your foot on the. At the other leg and just till you work it down and walk and off. Worst case, you've got to sit down and put your finger in there and pull it all over your foot. But, you know, try not to panic. Panic just makes it worse. It's. And you can ask a fellow athlete to help you. I mean, that's not outside assistance. So. I have helped people before and I've, I've had somebody help me before. So, you know, if you're just really struggling, most athletes will give you 15 seconds of help and you know they're going to just yank it right off.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, yeah, Very, very true. Jeff, anything to add there about any tricks of the trade on getting, getting out of neoprene?

Jeff Raines: Yeah, I like that. You know, if you get out of the swim, you run into T1 and someone's next to you, you know, they look like a pretty cool guy. Like, hey, I'll peel your wetsuit if you peel mine. I, I like that exactly. Yeah. You know, I'll, I'll say that I see a lot of people pre-race with for that very reason. Andrews. They'll have their wetsuit go all the way, like almost, you know, past their wrist. On top of their watch. You can't even see their watch. Same thing with the timing chip. I always safety pin my timing chip because I don't want it to fall off in the swim. So in T1, like, I can't get it off right. So it makes sense to, like, put your wetsuit lower, closer to your foot that the sleeve suit over your watch. But Roka and all sorts of companies recommend. Don't recommend that because usually most people don't have their wetsuit on high enough or closer to their core enough, and that causes a lot of issues. So you shouldn't have a problem getting the wetsuit off over the timing chip or the watch. Again, practice, practice, practice. But the silicone, you can put silicone gel, There's a silicone spray. There's silicone towelettes, right, that you can rub around your ankles. Just don't get too much of it on your foot because then your foot will slide around in your shoe. So it's the ankle bone that usually gets you. So put it around the ankle, not the entire foot, and it'll slip right off. But, but I encourage everybody to get that wetsuit on over their watch. You can have an inch or two between the wetsuit and your watch. Same thing with your ankle. Get it on right, because that's going to give you two extra minutes and a lot of comfort on the swim. Whereas it might take four extra seconds to get your hand out right now.

Andrew Harley: Jeff, many races, they'll, they'll have Porta Potties in transition or near transition. Um, that sometimes there's nutrition tables, right, with water and, and some snacks and Gatorade, whatever. Um, is T1 a good spot to use these amenities if we need these amenities, or is it better to do. Do you like seeing your athletes flies through transition and take care of those things elsewhere if they need to take care of those things?

Jeff Raines: You know, that's a good question. I. I would probably say that in my experience, most people will use porta potties in T2 rather than T1. I guess you could also do that if.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, still.

Jeff Raines: Yeah, yeah, I guess.

Andrew Harley: Enough.

Jeff Raines: Yeah. No, that for that very reason, actually, it's early in the day. You don't have to go yet. You just went right before the swim. But I guess the, the other side of the coin is that T1 Porta Potties could be more crowded because if it is, you know, like a, a clean transition and, you know, people want to, want to change. I guess even if it's a dirty transition, people sometimes want to Change clothes and, and maybe they don't want to do it in front of people. Right. Or something like that. And so they'll run into the porta potties. Right. So you know, there, there's arguments both but, but I, in my experience, people especially sprints and Olympics, if you got to go, you'll hold it. It's just a sprint or an Olympic. And I don't mean just, I just. They're shorter, right? Yeah, but in long course, you know, T2 people may have had the urge to potty a little bit on the bike and they've been holding it for extra long time. So, so T2 is usually more crowded. But you know, if, if, if, if you didn't pee during the swim or you're not going to pee on the bike, then, then yeah, utilize T1 because the bike is the longest portion of any triathlon from a sprint to a full. You spend the most time on the bike so you want to be comfortable out there. So if, if it's, if you're going to be more comfortable, spend the extra time in T1 to, to get the potty out of the way so, so you can enjoy the experience.

Andrew Harley: Now I, I didn't realize until I became a triathlete how many different ways somebody can get on a bike and start riding. Right. And so when you're coaching your athletes, what, what do you talk to them to do to get on the bike as smoothly as possible? I've seen people do the flying mount and they're off and riding within half a second. I've seen people take a full on minute to, to stand there, clip in, you know, get and, and get. And I've seen all sorts of variations in between. There, there's more than two ways, more than three ways to get on a bicycle. Coach Jenn, what, what do you, what do you tell your athletes to do when it comes to, to actually mounting and starting that ride?

Jenn Reinhart: That's very athlete dependent. So because I coach a, a wide range of ages and, and flexibilities and disabilities so someone like coach Raines, I'm, you know, we're going to definitely teach the, the flying mount to having his shoes already in his pedals. The process of, you know, you know, stepping on that pedal and bringing your leg around and then getting your feet in and it's practice, practice, practice so that it's smooth. Then I have someone with less mobility. Okay. You don't have to do that. And some reasons don't let you start with your shoes and your pedals. You have to you have, know, have them on your feet, but still you can still do a much quicker mount by, you know, clicking in one foot and, and, and swinging your leg over. But some of us just can't do that. So then it's like, okay, as you get past that mountain line, I want you to be looking at which side is more clear, want you to find your space so that you can take your time being. So I always tell them that, well, I was going to use this on the last one, but slow is smooth and smooth is fast. So don't rush it, don't panic. You don't have to look like a professional if, if you can't do those flying mounts, you know, find your spot, get one foot in, get the leg over, push off, get the other foot in. But you know it. I, Jeff and I worked with a lot of youth triathletes and those little kids, they can just run and hop on the bike, you know. Yeah, they have no fear. But I'll tell a 66-year-old lady I can't run and hop on the bike. So it depends on who I'm working with, how I'm going to have them do it and whether whatever style they're doing, it's still practice. You know, I love doing bike runs, repeats, the brick repeats because just going through that, you know how you're going to do it, how, how are you going to get on, how are you going to get off? Practice, practice, practice.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, I really like that mention Jim, because I think these days especially, and this is myself included, you know, I, a lot of us do most of our training indoors on Zwift or Rouvy or Fulgaz or something in our pain cave. And when I first started as a triathlete, I didn't have any of that, none of that was developed yet. I didn't even have a dumb trainer, right. So I, I had to go outside and ride my bike. Right. And the more you go outside and ride your bike, the more you get used to doing those stops and starts doing, you know, getting on the bike and getting started, coming to a red light, unclipping and, and, and so yeah, making yourself really comfortable with how that, that, that cleat interacts with that pedal, interacts with getting started. I really like that reminder to us in this modern day where a lot of us can just train indoors and not do that, that bike start a lot. Yeah, practice it, practice it. Get, get a flow that works for you. Don't worry about it being too fast unless you're athletic enough to do something too fast. Very, very, very good.

Jenn Reinhart: Make sure you have your water bottles on too, because if you have two big water bottles in back, you know, you want to make sure that you can get your leg over and, and not get caught and go.

Andrew Harley: Now, last question for our main set. Before we move into the cooldown, I wanted to ask the both of you, and we're right at an hour right now, so we'll keep this quick. Uh, so just whatever you would say in like a minute each. But I, I, I, I want to talk about, like, just the, our. What, what should our mindset be in transition? Like, should every athlete listening from sprint to, to Olympic to IRONMAN, should we have the mindset that, okay, we're in transition, we're on the clock, I need to go as fast as I can, I'm racing. Or should we have a mindset that's a little bit more slower and measured and, and you know, obviously the faster we go, the, the faster we go, and that's great for the clock, but the, the, the more room there is for mistakes, the slower we go, that, okay, we're losing time, but we're not making mistakes. So there, there's, there's, there's a push and a pull here. So when you're talking to your athletes, what mindset do you like to put an athlete in when it comes to how, how rushed they should feel going through transition? Give us just your 30 to 60 second spiel and we'll move on to the cooldown. Coach Jeff.

Jeff Raines: Yeah, I would just say if it's an A, B or C race, the priority, Are they in it to win it? Are they in it for the money, so to speak. Then, then, yeah, you want every second. And we're going to practice that, or it'll be almost the opposite. It's a C race. I don't care. So I'm going to try something new because if something happens, I'm okay. But you know, I would just say it really is, especially you. You want your heart rate to remain calm. You want to set yourself up for the next leg of the journey?

Jenn Reinhart: No. Sprint or Olympic, we're going to really practice those transitions a lot so that you can be quicker. I'm always saying slow is smooth, smooth is fast. So just, if you don't panic and you know what you're doing, just be confident. Go through those motions to make sure that you get everything and that you're keeping your heart rate down, that's going to pay off tenfold later on in the race.

Cooldown

Andrew Harley: On to the cooldown of our show where I will ask our coaches one question from a member of the audience. And today's question comes from Steve. And Steve wants to know how to add a race in RaceX that is a nonstandard distance. For instance, I have a try coming up that is a 1000 meter swim, a 30k bike and a 10k run. So, so this isn't a stock standard sprint, Olympic half or full. Right? Which is the four toggles and athlete can pick in RaceX for. For a race. And we in Dallas Fort Worth, we have a lot of local sprints where sometimes the local sprint is a 600 yard swim, sometimes it's a thousand yard swim. The swim especially is very variable in the Dallas Fort Worth local triathlon scene. So. So anyway, coach Jeff, if an athlete has a race that is not a standard distance, what do we do to enter that correctly in RaceX?

Jeff Raines: Yeah, not all sprints and Olympics are created equal, right? Um, so. So in our race execution, right, RaceX is to racing as TriDot is to your training. So in RaceX you can edit any distance you can customize. So, so what you would do there, Steve, is add the closest one. I'd probably just add in a standard Olympic and then you go into each of the disciplines and you can edit the exact distance and RaceX will take into account, oh, the swim's a little short, so maybe you can push a little harder on the bike and run and it runs hundreds of scenarios and gets you pacing perfect to cross the finish line and your absolute fastest finish time possible. And lastly, if it's an unlisted race or it's not a standard distance race, Steve, you can load into RaceX the actual GPX file of that bike and run course and it will know how the course is distributed and apply weather and environmental normalization and all sorts of cool things. So if you're going one, you can edit the distances how you need, but two, make sure that you dump in the GPX file of your course so RaceX is even more accurate for you.

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