by Ian Adamson
1. Practice your transitions.
This means setting up your food/apparel/equipment just as you would have it for the event and do a few timed run through's in each of the likely combinations. You should be able to do a major complicated transition in 10 minutes with practice, although most teams take 40 - 60 minutes and 20 minutes is pretty good. For sprint races your transitions should be well under 5 minutes, with the best times a minute or less.
2. Think through each transition well in advance of getting there.
Before the event or while coming into a transition, it helps to talk through the transition with your teammates and mentally rehearse what you are going to do.
3. Know what sport you are doing next.
One trap teams fall into is not knowing what is ahead. Many athletes rely on their teammates to think through the event, but everyone on the team should know so you can all be using your brainpower (which is at no athletic cost, but a huge time cost if not used).
4. Assign tasks.
Generally there will be tasks that have to be done for the team as a whole, or ones which can be separated out - such as organizing food, questioning officials or preparing maps. These tasks should be pre allocated for the transition to keep it smooth and to cover all necessary tasks.
5. Help each other out.
If you are finished with preparing your personal items in a transition look to help your teammates and ask to help anyone who is lagging. Conversely if you are slow in the TA, ask your teammates for help.
This week's AR Tips & Tricks regarding faster transitions was provided by Ian Adamson (formerly of Team Nike). Thanks Ian!
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