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Transition is often called the fourth discipline of triathlon. As such, it's something you
should think about, you should consciously make a plan for, and you should practice.
You can bring your bike to the pool, to your local pool, have it outside or have it on
the deck, or whatever, you can lay out a towel, and you can practice hopping up out of the
pool, running to the bike, changing gear, put on the helmet, put on the shoes, put on
the glasses and taking off. And another transition that's real easy to practice is the bike to
run. You can do that in your driveway. When you come in from your bike ride, you can have
your towel laid out with your shoes and you can practice it, but like anything else, the
more time you spend practicing it the more you'll refine little details, you'll find
things to do that are quicker and you'll become more efficient at it. Scott Tinley once said
that to save thirty seconds on the bike takes a lot of work. You can save thirty seconds
on transition and exert no energy. So obviously that's real important for racing to the best
of your ability. But make a plan, find out where the best place is to lay your helmet,
where the best place is to put your sunglasses, what things you really need in there, what
things you don't need, and then get into that routine and stick with it. And then practice
that routine repeatedly.