Tri - sprint times
si
Posts: 6
in General Chat
Hi guys,
I realise I'm probably being lazy and I can find this information somewhere, but I was wondering about times in respect to a Triathlon sprint.
I'm about to do my first one and am keen to get an idea about the sort of times people on the board achieve to give me an idea for what to aim for.
Thanks in advance [:)]
I realise I'm probably being lazy and I can find this information somewhere, but I was wondering about times in respect to a Triathlon sprint.
I'm about to do my first one and am keen to get an idea about the sort of times people on the board achieve to give me an idea for what to aim for.
Thanks in advance [:)]
0
Comments
Even better is to check last years results. They all come in sufficient detail to give a break down of the time splits. Some even split the transition times as well. Most results can still be found on the web.
Reason for this is that I had a target time in mind for my first tri last year. The bike leg was stated as 20km but it was actually 23km which threw me a bit.
Keep a record of each of your best splits as your training progresses and see where you would fit in the results. I did this just as a marker to see that was improving.
For the record my first sprint tri was 1hr 19min (23km bike). My second tri a week later was 1hr 11min (20km bike). Nowhere near winning but i finished in the top third for both which was comforting.
http://www.thelondontriathlon.com/LTresults.html
The course is pretty much spot on 750m, 20km, 5km and it is a fairly fast, flat race. Other than that, my guess is that an average time for a first time 30 year old averagely fit bloke would be:
Swim 16:30 mins
T1 4:30
Bike 40mins
T2 2mins
Run 23mins
Total 1hr 26mins
But, as Wella says, every course is different - Blenheim has a 400m run uphill from the lake to the transition area, a narrow cycle course with plenty of bends and then has a 5.4km run, so you can add on nearly 5 mins to the above average. Good or bad weather also makes a big difference - wet weather slows down the bike leg significantly, v.hot weather slows down the run times. The other variable is training - some people consider 5 sessions of 1hr a week to be 'average', others manage to fit in 3 x 30 min sessions a week (see the 60 page training thread as a good example!). I'd say that any time under 1hr 40mins for your first sprint is doing pretty well.
www.humanrace.co.uk
This will give you results for Eton sprints, Windsor, Steelman, Banana Man etc.
Spot on. My 2nd tri was quicker only due to the shorter bike distance. It was the Spalding Tri in Lincolnshire. Anyone that knows Lincolnshire will know that it is as flat as a pancake. I thought I was on for a PB on the bike until I hit the wind. The place is so flat with no cover the cross winds meant the average speed going into the wind was about 20% slower than normal. And this was in July!
As tiring was saying the course specifics and weather can play a huge part. A bit of local/course knowledge goes a long way. I drove the St. Albans course the week before so knew what to expect.
Also the swim distances for my times were for 400m in a pool, not 750m as is the standard for a sprint.
I think i may have given by first few races too much respect and raced too conservatively.
The next sprint i do I'll fall over the line in a heap!!!
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Lee
For instance, if you were feeling fit one year, than a previous year, but got a slower time, it could be down to a stronger wind but you would be disheartened at the results.
I think for a first sprint race anything under 1 hour 30 is a good time. The pros usually do about an hour or under, (depending on the course), for a 750m swim, 20k bike and 5k run. Good age groupers do between 1 hour and 1 hr 15 mins. But anything up to 1 hour 30 mins in good too.
Don't put too much pressure on yourself for your first race. Just go out and enjoy it and you will soon learn where you are in the pack, what your strengths/weaknesses are and you can work on these for the next race.
Sarah [:)]
PS Tip - go out and have a wee practice run at a race before the big day. This will give you an idea of the feeling of transition, especially bike to run! Have you a friend you could have a pretend race with?