I Practice Changing Shoes

T2- Judgment...Transition Day

Today was transition two practice. For those of you who aren't much for rememberizing things, I will review. The race goes swim, bike, run. So transition two would be...yes, practicing taking the cycling shoes and helmet off and putting the running shoes on. See what you can do when you set your mind to it?
So out to the covered driveway I go with my Vibram FiveFingers, my cycling shoes, and my helmet. I'll mime the bike, it's ok. I don't even know how the bike gets set up or what the holder thing looks like, so that makes it hard to practice putting it away. I do know that there is no riding inside the transition area so practicing running up with the bike is the best way anyway. Super cool fast people will probably be slipping their feet out of their shoes while the shoes are still clipped in and running up barefoot for this transition. I would do that if I wanted to fall and die. So I won't. Maybe later I'll ask Obi Tri Kenobi to teach me that trick.
This transition will actually be slower for me than it will be for other people because of my choice of shoe. Check out the above link. Those toe sockets to not a swift transition make. Adding on to that is sometimes my toes go numb in my cycling shoes (probably because I pedal with too great an angle or something), which makes aiming those little piggies harder than hitting a Womp rat in Begger's Canyon back home (by the way, what a great innuendo that should be, "I'd hit that Womp rat right in Begger's Canyon!"). Also, the preceding sentence contained two parenthetical asides, a new record. Please wait while I take a victory lap.
Anyway, I went out and practiced taking off one pair of shoes and putting on another. Here are my times:

#1- 48.97
#2- 42.44
#3- 40.85
#4- 41.88
#5- 42.63
#6- 42.62
#7- 47.25 *toe fail
#8- 37.47

I have no idea what I did differently on that last one, but I like it. I know that a 10 second variation isn't going to mean much in a hour and a half long race, so I'm not very concerned with the times here, they are just good to know. I don't see myself finishing, looking at my time and going, "Ohhh, if only I'd been five seconds faster on T2! Damn!" Plus I'll be tired, I'll be breathing heavy, I'll be trying to focus and go slow, but quickly. So the hope is to be under 50 seconds for the transition. Honestly, if it takes a few seconds longer then that's a few seconds more of rest I get. Not exactly a bad thing. Not going to over-stress about the transition.