How To Pack Your Ironman Transition Bags

In this video we’re going to take a look at each Ironman gear bag, we'll go over suggested items, start a checklist and give some hacks that help your Ironman transition. Links to downloads below:

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Transition Check List Downloads:
Morning Bag : http://mattlegrand.com/transitionbags...
T1 Bike Bag : http://mattlegrand.com/transitionbags...
Bike Special Needs : http://mattlegrand.com/transitionbags...
T2 Run Bag : http://mattlegrand.com/transitionbags...
Running Special Needs : http://mattlegrand.com/transitionbags...

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I suggest spreading out each of your transition bags, labeling them with the number that Ironman has provided you and you might even want to use a checklist for each bag so that you know you’re not forgetting anything.

Morning Bag -
This is the bag that you’ll put everything that you’re wearing down to the race start. So if your race starts early and the weather is dark and chilly, you might have some warm up pants, sweatshirt, headlamp, and a bike pump.

T1 - Bike Bag

Most Ironman races that I’ve participated in have required that your helmet and bike shoes not be attached to your bike before the race. But I’ve always been able to put water bottles and nutrition on my bike before the swim. So I’ll typically put the helmet and shoes in this Bike Bag. You’ll typically have a tent or changing area that you’ll have access to so you could change clothes completely. Other items that you might consider for this bag : bike shammy cream, sunscreen, nutrition.

Bike Special Needs Bag

Typically, you’ll have access to this bag in the middle of your race somewhere. But Ironman will typically publish an “Athlete Guide” about a week before the race and it really is worth reading. Two things to keep in mind as you pack your bike special needs bag,

#1. You will have to slow down (and probably stop) to get this bag. You can call out your number and the volunteers will do a really great job finding your bag as fast as possible but it just takes time for them to find your bag amongst the 1000s of special needs bags.

#2. If you don’t grab what ever is in your special needs bag, it’ll often be thrown away or donated to charity.

I put an extra C02 cartridge and some extra gels or nutrition.

T2 - Run Bag

Running shoes. I also put a hat in here and some more gels that I’ll carry with me on the run.

Run Special Needs Bag

I’ll typically only put a few gels in here but the last IM race I did, I didn’t even put a Run Special needs bag out.

HACKS
Some people will put extra water bottles in their special needs bags with inspirational messages written on them. - Jenn Brooks
I’ve seen people put ribbon on their transition bags to distinguish their bags from all of the other 1000s transition bags. I haven’t used ribbon but I’ve used tinfoil.


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