You’re having an amazing day on the race. The beginning went easily and also you made your means by the swim with none mishaps. The bike experience was a blast; all that point on the indoor coach in the course of the winter has clearly paid off and also you had been actually in a position to push the tempo. You enter T2 within the warmth of the day, already working onerous. Heading out on the run you intention to carry your goal tempo and instantly your coronary heart fee rises to fulfill this demand. With out the cooling breeze you felt on the bike you begin to really feel scorching instantly. Your physique tries to ramp up the sweat fee to compensate, however your water bottle ran dry 10 km in the past and also you aren’t hydrated sufficient to sweat on the degree wanted to maintain from overheating. Your physique takes rapid motion to maintain you upright. It sends out indicators that come throughout as fatigue and thirst, designed to lower your warmth manufacturing and get you to drink. What you thought was going to be a clean last leg has became a protracted, painful jog-trot from assist station to assist station as you battle your physique to maintain going. This story, or one thing like it’s in all probability acquainted to many triathletes – we’ve all had that race the place every little thing appeared good till the run. How can we grasp T2 and keep away from this destiny?

To start out, I believe we have to perceive a bit about what makes T2 so onerous. First off, operating is extra bodily demanding than biking or swimming. Whereas swimming and biking your physique is semi-supported, both by the water itself or the bike seat and handlebars, however whereas operating you need to carry your complete weight on a regular basis. This requires further work and signifies that your coronary heart fee will immediately rise the minute you permit the bike and start operating, even if you happen to keep on the similar relative effort degree.

A better coronary heart fee means larger oxygen consumption. This will likely tip you over your threshold or “red-line” if you happen to aren’t cautious.  This alone can burn you out in a short time. Even when that doesn’t occur, further oxygen consumption additionally means further warmth manufacturing. Our our bodies solely work inside a really slim band of inner temperature so this warmth must be dissipated if you wish to hold going for any size of time. That is made tougher by the truth that you will have misplaced the cooling air circulate that comes together with biking. The run part of a triathlon additionally usually occurs in the course of the hottest a part of the day, growing the ambient warmth that you need to take care of. Add all of those elements collectively and the extra heat-load on the run might be important.

Once you enter T2 can be if you find yourself probably beginning to expertise the consequences of dehydration.  You’ve already been sweating for some time – possibly many hours if it’s a long-distance triathlon.  All this train has been slowly draining your fluid reserves. Now that you’re creating extra warmth, your physique might want to sweat much more, probably resulting in much more dehydration. In case you don’t have the fluid, or if you’re already sweating at your most fee, your physique’s solely option to keep away from overheating is to decelerate.

These three elements collectively – larger warmth manufacturing, more difficult warmth dissipation and decrease fluid reserves – are primarily chargeable for creating the disagreeable state of affairs described in the beginning of this text. Add within the threat of over-shooting your “red-line” and getting T2 proper is clearly an vital a part of a profitable triathlon.

So how do you get it proper? To start out, set your physique as much as do the most effective it may well to maintain you cool. This implies beginning the race nicely hydrated so you’ll be able to sweat so much earlier than dehydration impacts your efficiency.  This begins just a few days earlier than the race. You don’t have to do something excessive, simply drink water commonly, attempt to hold your urine on the clearer finish of yellow and keep away from diuretics that you simply aren’t used to having. This implies no further espresso or wine within the few days earlier than the race (an additional espresso on race morning is okay, so long as you drink further fluids to make up for it). You can too assist your self out by ingesting in the course of the race, which you’re in all probability already doing. Understand that ingesting early in the course of the race is best than ingesting late. Your physique can not sweat out fluids if they’re nonetheless sitting in your abdomen ready to be absorbed.

Additionally it is vital to understand that staying cool is simpler than getting cool. A method to do that is to be proactive about it when you are nonetheless on the bike. If it’s a scorching day, spray your head and again with water whereas biking. The additional air motion created by your bike pace will enhance the evaporation fee and funky you extra successfully than if you happen to wait until the run.

Lastly, and most significantly it’s worthwhile to follow your bike-to-run transitions. I’m not speaking about doing a slow-and-steady brick or engaged on the technical facets of the transition – the place to place your sun shades, tips on how to arrange your shoelaces and so on. Though it’s worthwhile to follow this stuff as nicely, I’m speaking about training the tempo transition that occurs as you progress from the bike to the run.  This implies doing bike-to-run bricks at your anticipated race effort.  This can assist develop your health however extra importantly will assist you be taught what an applicable tempo going into and out of T2 truly is.  Holding a sure wattage or HR on the bike for hours is nice, however in a triathlon, it’s worthwhile to discover the proper mix of effort on the bike and run that’s going to take you all the best way to the end line.

Observe the following pointers and strategies earlier than your mid-summer race and you need to be able to breeze by T2 and onto the sleek run you had been aiming for.

Tricks to having an amazing run out of T2:

1. Observe extra race-pace transitions.  That is about greater than constructing health. It’s about studying how briskly you’ll be able to bike whereas nonetheless retaining the power to run at your required effort/tempo.
2. Don’t overexert your self on the bike.  From the professionals on down, overextending on the bike simply comes again to chew you within the run.  That is a lot simpler if you happen to’ve practiced it (see tip #1).
3. Hydrate within the days main as much as the race so that you begin off with full fluid reserves.
4. Drink as a lot fluid as you’ll be able to deal with (follow this in coaching) early on within the bike so you will have time to soak up it earlier than the run.
5. Staying cool is simpler than cooling off.  If you recognize it’s going to be scorching, spray your self with water on the bike as a substitute of ready for the run.
6. Do a few of your coaching within the circumstances wherein you’ll race. You don’t have to do all of your onerous exercises at noon on the most well liked day of the yr, however doing all of your coaching indoors within the A/C will go away your physique ill-prepared for the warmth of a summer time race.

Pattern Race-pace brick exercise:

This works greatest along with your bike arrange on an indoor coach and with a treadmill or different place you’ll be able to run very near the indoor coach.  It will possibly additionally work outdoor you probably have a great place to depart your bike whereas doing the run.

Heat-Up:

Experience your bike for at the very least 10-15minutes at a pleasant regular tempo. Construct up the tempo to race effort for the subsequent 3-4min

Principal Set:

Repeat the next 2-3x (or much more if you’re aiming for longer races)

• Bike for 10min at your predicted race effort
• Transition to your operating gear as shortly as doable
• Construct shortly to your supposed race effort on the run and run at this tempo for 10min. End the run again the place you left your bike
• Bike at a restoration tempo for five min and repeat

Calm down:

Experience or run at a restoration tempo for at the very least 10min.

Darian Silk is a triathlon coach and Scientific Train Physiologist primarily based in Toronto.  Learn extra about Darian right here: https://teamatomica.com/coaching/teaching/coach-darian-silk/ or e mail him at darian@teamatomica.com.  This story initially appeared within the July problem of Triathlon Journal Canada