The Sunday Sampler - Fitness

Welcome to another installment of The Sunday Sampler.  This is the day where I share my insights, thoughts, and opinions with you about different things in three categories: fitness (gear/clothing/accessories/etc.), parenthood, and health, rotating each category each week.  I hope that makes sense! :)  

My hope is that I will be able to help you along your adventure just like so many others have helped me. So, let me know what you think!  I'd love to read about your perspectives on these things as well!  :) 

Fitness:

TYR Transition Backpack:

When I first started doing tris I used a regular backpack to carry all of my gear for my races.  While it served it's purpose, I soon found that it just wasn't enough room.  Especially for the races where I needed a wetsuit.  It also drove me a little crazy because everything I needed for the race was basically just stuffed into one main compartment.  

Now, anyone that knows me knows that I like to be organized.  I will fully admit that I am an organizational freak!  I guess I just like for everything to have its' own place and know where to find things easily.  Enter the TYR Transition Backpack.

Here is some general information about it that I got from trisports.com:

 Outside Features:

Padded Adjustable Back Straps

2 Padded Side Pockets for cell phone/MP3 Player w/ Slit for headphone wire

Completely unfolds with dual zippers

Two External Mesh Water Bottle Pockets

Reflective Binding on padded straps, side pockets and front face of bag

Large Outside Mesh Pocket

External Helmet Pocket with Safety Clip and Bungee Straps

5” Expandable Mesh Bottom Compartment for a Wetsuit or Towel

Inside Features:

Two Large Internal Mesh Shoe Pockets – Running and Cycling

Removable Waterproof Bag for Wet Items (with clip for wetsuit)

Pros:
* Being the organizational freak that I am, this bag has enough separate compartments to split things up.  For example, I put my shoes in one, nutrition in another, accessories (garmin, race belt, visor, etc..) in another, etc.  This is also nice because we all know how we check, double, and triple check all of our stuff the night before the race to make sure we have everything.  Because there are different, see-through compartments, I can tell that I have everything I need without having to unpack everything.   

The gray pouch in the middle is the removable wetsuit bag.  It clips onto the bottom of the bag to keep it in place.

*  It holds everything you will need for race day.


*  It is actually really comfortable to wear, even though it's big.  For a couple of my races last year I actually rode to the race site so my husband and kiddos didn't have to get up at the butt crack of dawn to drop me off.  I wore this backpack and it worked perfectly. 

*  The removable wetsuit bag is awesome!  It is big enough to fit your wetsuit in, but small enough so that it doesn't take up too much space.  Plus, it prevents getting all of your other gear wet after your race.  And, you can remove it if you don't need a wetsuit for your race. 


Cons:
*  It's pretty big for a backpack.  When I first put it on, because I'm so short, my husband joked that I looked like a Kindergartner on the first day of school carrying a huge backpack.  Ha ha!  

*  It takes up more space in the transition area than a normal backpack.  But, what I do is lay out all my stuff on my towel, then scrunch down the backpack making it as compact as possible so it doesn't take up too much space for other people.  


*  It costs about $60.  But, they are always on sale somewhere online. I got mine for about $45 last Christmas.  And, for what it's worth, I think trisports has them on sale right now.      




All in all, I really like this as a transition backpack.  Yes, it's a little big, but to me it's worth it.  It works perfectly when I ride my bike to the race, it keeps all of my stuff organized, and it's nice to be able to get all of my stuff I need to the transition area in one trip. 


* Please note:  I was not contacted or paid by TYR or trisports to review this product.  This review is my own opinion and is based on my experiences.