11-7-16
Y'all, so yesterday I volunteered to help out at a 'Best of the Best' triathlon in Denton. I had no clue what I really signed up for, but true to form the race director (RD), Jeff, was super nice. I've found that to be relatively consistent across sports. I told him I had just signed up for my first try and wanted to observe how things went so I could better understand what I was getting myself into!
I left the house around 6:30am and got there about 7:30. The parking lot was pretty empty since the race didn't start until 9:30am. What was cool is that the few people who were already in the lot had their music blasting and seemed to be having a great time! I met Jeff in person and he directed me over to the transition area. Turns out, there were only about 6 volunteers total! *Lesson Learned: Races may be understaffed- do your best to know the rules before starting*
My first endeavor as a tri volunteer would be as a 'body marker'. which means I wrote the participant's bib number on their arms and legs, as well as their age. Apprehensive at first, but obviously this wasn't a hard job. Normally I'm pretty shy, or quiet, but in situations like this, I feel more myself and can be sillier. The majority of the people I marked were pretty keyed up as this was an invitation only race so I tried to get them to laugh. *Lesson Learned: People will be writing on you- be nice to them*
What I found interesting was about 1/3 of the people said "not really" when I asked if they were excited! Well dang, then why bother?? (the people who were happy generally asked for smily faces to be inked on as well!) ((a few even asked for Mickey Mouse? IDK about that yet)) *Lesson Learned: Attitude!!!!!!*
Getting to see how people transported gear and set up transition was priceless, honestly. You can read about it all day, but until you see it, and then I'm sure, until you DO it, it means nothing. Some people brought supplies in Home Depot type buckets, while others had special backpacks. One of the other volunteers, Steve, told me how you set up your transition: you hang your bike up on the rack and one wheel will be off the ground. The space between that hanging wheel and the ground is YOURS. With that space you set up your supplies. It's best to alternate between the bikes if possible, meaning, if the guy next to you has his shit facing one way, try to face the other way, so you aren't booty bumping or getting agitated that someone is in your space. *Lesson Learned: Wheel hanging space. Got it*
Most people automatically placed their helmets and sunglasses upside down on the handlebars of their bike. Why? Because before you can go ANYWHERE with your bike, you have to have your helmet on and clipped. So it makes since to do this absolutely first. The people with the fastest transitions already had their shoes clipped to the pedals, so all they did was put on their helmet and sunglasses before going. Daaaang. I mean, the people who did this weren't in transition for more than 30 seconds. No. Joke. *Lesson Learned: simplify, simplify, simplify*
The people who took longer generally fumbled around with socks and trying to put on extra clothes on. This clearly is more my speed.
After watching those who were incredibly fast and those who were more precise, I could see the benefits to both. The fast people likely less comfortable (I'd imagine?) while the opposite (in theory) could be said of those who took longer.
Okay. here are some of my major take aways
1. Practice. Holy guacamole- practice transitions. Some people fumbled the hello kitty out of everything and got super agitated.
2. Tri Suit or try pieces are necessary. At this triathlon their was no place to change. People had to swim in the same stuff they biked and ran in.
3. Less, Less, Less. Lots of people brought a ton of S they didn't use (as far as I could see). The people who flowed the best had the fewest items.
4. Nutrition. Almost everyone I saw had snacks during transition or during the next leg.
5. Have fun! It was so great to see the people who actually appeared to be enjoying what they were doing, vs trudging through it.
Y'all, so yesterday I volunteered to help out at a 'Best of the Best' triathlon in Denton. I had no clue what I really signed up for, but true to form the race director (RD), Jeff, was super nice. I've found that to be relatively consistent across sports. I told him I had just signed up for my first try and wanted to observe how things went so I could better understand what I was getting myself into!
I left the house around 6:30am and got there about 7:30. The parking lot was pretty empty since the race didn't start until 9:30am. What was cool is that the few people who were already in the lot had their music blasting and seemed to be having a great time! I met Jeff in person and he directed me over to the transition area. Turns out, there were only about 6 volunteers total! *Lesson Learned: Races may be understaffed- do your best to know the rules before starting*
My first endeavor as a tri volunteer would be as a 'body marker'. which means I wrote the participant's bib number on their arms and legs, as well as their age. Apprehensive at first, but obviously this wasn't a hard job. Normally I'm pretty shy, or quiet, but in situations like this, I feel more myself and can be sillier. The majority of the people I marked were pretty keyed up as this was an invitation only race so I tried to get them to laugh. *Lesson Learned: People will be writing on you- be nice to them*
What I found interesting was about 1/3 of the people said "not really" when I asked if they were excited! Well dang, then why bother?? (the people who were happy generally asked for smily faces to be inked on as well!) ((a few even asked for Mickey Mouse? IDK about that yet)) *Lesson Learned: Attitude!!!!!!*
Getting to see how people transported gear and set up transition was priceless, honestly. You can read about it all day, but until you see it, and then I'm sure, until you DO it, it means nothing. Some people brought supplies in Home Depot type buckets, while others had special backpacks. One of the other volunteers, Steve, told me how you set up your transition: you hang your bike up on the rack and one wheel will be off the ground. The space between that hanging wheel and the ground is YOURS. With that space you set up your supplies. It's best to alternate between the bikes if possible, meaning, if the guy next to you has his shit facing one way, try to face the other way, so you aren't booty bumping or getting agitated that someone is in your space. *Lesson Learned: Wheel hanging space. Got it*
Most people automatically placed their helmets and sunglasses upside down on the handlebars of their bike. Why? Because before you can go ANYWHERE with your bike, you have to have your helmet on and clipped. So it makes since to do this absolutely first. The people with the fastest transitions already had their shoes clipped to the pedals, so all they did was put on their helmet and sunglasses before going. Daaaang. I mean, the people who did this weren't in transition for more than 30 seconds. No. Joke. *Lesson Learned: simplify, simplify, simplify*
The people who took longer generally fumbled around with socks and trying to put on extra clothes on. This clearly is more my speed.
After watching those who were incredibly fast and those who were more precise, I could see the benefits to both. The fast people likely less comfortable (I'd imagine?) while the opposite (in theory) could be said of those who took longer.
Okay. here are some of my major take aways
1. Practice. Holy guacamole- practice transitions. Some people fumbled the hello kitty out of everything and got super agitated.
2. Tri Suit or try pieces are necessary. At this triathlon their was no place to change. People had to swim in the same stuff they biked and ran in.
3. Less, Less, Less. Lots of people brought a ton of S they didn't use (as far as I could see). The people who flowed the best had the fewest items.
4. Nutrition. Almost everyone I saw had snacks during transition or during the next leg.
5. Have fun! It was so great to see the people who actually appeared to be enjoying what they were doing, vs trudging through it.
Lester, You should deff get them to draw a unicorn on you. "So yea no mickey mouse please.... unicorn." - Mole
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