The first triathlon of the season for a triathlete is a nervous, exciting, challenging, and important race to get under their belt. It sets the tone for the season, a gauge of how the form is so far, if the pre-season training was successful. A unique feature of a triathlon is the "Transition" area. It is the nerve center for the athlete. It's where the bicycle and all the gear for the other two disciplines are held, the racer must return between each leg and change in and out of gear for the next. A dizzying place where you see racers come in after 20-90mins or so of extreme effort..they must get sorted and on to the next as fast as possible. You often see them stumbling in, dehydrated, trying to focus on the task at hand, "in the zone" of the race, trying to keep the focus and performance to the maximum. I am truly impressed how triathletes can shift between disciplines and perform at such a high level in all of them.
But the thing that I take away most from the "transition" area in a triathlon, is the energy. The arena that it creates, the fans, friends, family members, partners, coaches, teammates, volunteers, and all the staff and support crews that are there to make sure everyone is safe and sound. Its palpable, engaging, and inspiring. To watch these athletes, as young as 13, and as old as 70's, all giving it their best.. you cheer them on, shout out split times, try to compare to past results, try to gauge how they are doing, are they ok, are they going to make it, if so.. how fast .. etc. you can't help but cheer for all of them, even if you have a racer that you are supporting and, of course, hoping they win. To me, when they come in-and-out of the transition area, its like a mini finish line, a mini victory, or win, that they survived and conquered to the end of that leg. As a performance coach, yes, I want the top result for my athlete, but what I walk away with is the memory of not one, but three "wins"
Then its all about the breakdown of the race, the tech, what worked, what didn't, what we learned for next race, etc. the work has only just begun.
EVEPC is soo proud of Tri team pilot , Allison "Alley Cat" Gadaleta, finishing in the top five in her age group in this first triathlon of the season. We were aiming for the #1 win of course, but we walked away with 3 in my book !
