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My first Triathlon

hey guys im 15 years old, about to be 16, and i did my first triathlon this past weekend, that was 400 meter swim 8 mile bike and 3k run. I went 50.06 minutes, and i was wondering if that was a prety good time for my first one. My swim split was close to 5 minutes, my bike was about 35 minutes and my run was around 10 or so. thanks

Comments

  • The swim wasn't bad. You certainly didn't show yourself up but there is room for improvement.



    The bike was certainly great by my standards, but then the bike is my weakness. It would take me close to an hour to do that distance.



    3k in 10 min is good. Again, I would probably take about 14 min to do that distance.



    I've only done 2 triathlons, so hardly an expert, but it sounds to me as if you have made a good start!
  • Swim time looks pretty good to me. At first glance bike looks like you were averaging approx 22kph. Could be better but of course it depends on what you were riding, course profile and and overall conditions. Run at 3:20 per K. I'd love to do that.



    If you look at your finish position overall and then look at where you finished in each discipline you will get an idea of which disciplines need most work. In general it is usually easiest to make up time and gain places in your weakest discipline. ie going from 100 to 90 in the bike will be easier than going from 50 to 40 in the swim or from 30 to 20 in the run.

  • If you've got an electronic copy of the results, and you can do basic stuff with a spreadsheet then try the following (Nerd alert!):



    For each split take the average of the top ten finishers, then divide this average by your split and multiply by 100. You've now got a set of percentage scores that compares you to the top 10. In most triathlons the numbers are sufficient to make it statistically meaningful to do this.



    This will show you very easily where you are lagging behind the herd. For example, you might see 90% for the swim (meaning you are faster than the top 10 average), 150% for the bike (meaning you are slower) and say 110% for the run. This will tell you to work on the bike.



    If you do this for every race you do then you start to get a set of numbers that show how you are improving. The useful thing is that you are not comparing times directly, so you don't have to worry so much about the length of the race or the terrain... you are just comparing yourself to other competitors.



    It works for me.
  • nivaghnivagh Posts: 595

    Hmm, interesting (except you have to divide your time by the top ten average, rather than the other way around)



    Also provides the unwelcome confirmation for me that the swim is where I have to concentrate. Well, that and taking a minute off T1![:'(]
  • Ah... yes. Apologies for the duff instructions.



    It's the run for me. Closely followed by the bike.
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