What are "good" paces?

Every race is going to be a little different. Pull up last year's results for your upcoming race, and get the paces from there.

This is a tough question to answer because it's so course dependent (hilly vs flat).

But to give you my opinion for #1: Competitive
1:25ish/100m in the water
25mph on the bike
6:30 min/mile

That's just my crazy ballpark I just came up with off the top of my head. When you say competitive, I assume you mean overall in the race. If you're talking about a specific race, try and look up last year's winners and their times.

As far as #2, who knows depends who comes out that day. And #3, everyone is different for some just finishing gives a sense of pride. You'll be able to answer that one as your training progresses and you have data points to set some goals!

Good luck!


Edited by merlin2375 2009-08-31 8:28 PM

I'm a new Triathlete and had allot of apprehension about first race, including how I would stack-up.  What helped me is the course was close enough that I could make a dry run a few weeks ahead of time.  Most races have previous year results online, which allowed me to compare my times.

I'd say 1:30/100 for the swim, 24-26 mph on the bike, and a 6-7 minute run pace


Its all respectable so long as you finish.  I'm not trying to be a go go rah rah motivator but really past the ag standings no one really cares who places where.


Finish strong and don't sulk if your not happy.  Triathletes are a competitive bunch but they also realize people are racing for different reasons, and not everyone is on form for the race.

I looked at the results from the previous year's OLY that I'm doing.  The times varied from 2:19 to 4:09.  LOL  I was happy with that range because I knew I wouldn't be DFL.

respectable, but slower than contenders:   That's also hard.  I did one Oly where I was 3rd in AG and I did another Oly about a month later (same performance) and I was in the MOP in AG?  depends on the race.  

All valid responses above. I agree with Merlin and FuriousFerret on the paces though- those paces would have put you very close to the front in the tris I have done (very roughly speaking since sprints will be faster and longer distances will be a little slower). The exact placing obviously will depend on who else shows up.

Times are irrelevant across races. Look at each race, and see what folks are up to.

They may be irrelevant but the OP was looking for some general guidelines. I agree though, check out the paces in some of the events you are interested in. That will give you a good idea. Also, read the course description- was it hilly, raining, etc. In the 4 tris I have done, the paces some others mentioned (25mph bike, 6:30/mile run) would have put you in a very competitive position and these were all relatively decent sized tris (elite wave plus 500-1000AGs). In a smaller, local tri you could drop the paces a little and be competitive. I would say, in general, and 18-20mph average with a 7:30-9 min run (ignoring the swim in this- even harder to predict because of the wetsuit, unreliable course distance, etc) would put you somewhere in the 30th -60th percentile. A 15mph average, 10+ min run would be BOP in general.

I know what you are asking but, honestly does it matter where you finish compared to everyone else? It is your first race so go out there and have fun, do your best, and see how your best stacks up. Remember you are out there doing it, better than the thousands + people who are probably sitting at home on their butts. You put in the time and whether you finish first, MOP of dead last, you should be proud of your accomplishment and the work you have done and you just set a PR for yourself.

If you really do want specific number though pull up previous results for the race and see where your current speed stacks up against those numbers. Good luck with your training and with your race!

Thanks everyone! All these responses have been great - and most have been very helpful.  Certainly each race will be different, but this gives me a general idea of where on the spectrum I can expect to fall.  I feel much better now knowing that I probalbly won't end up dead last.  Even though I'm doing this for intrinsic reasons (arent we all?), I'm still fairly competitive and not sure if getting smoked by the field would give me the same sense of acomplishment as if I were to finish more to the middle. 

This is my first year and have completed 2 sprint races.  So far the formula has been to look at last years results, find the midway point in my AG and see what will it take for me to finish above that line.  Next year will be different, but I went from "just finish" to "leave it all on the field" and hope I am above the line

It's a pretty good question though.  I was looking at the results of a sprint last year.  I happened to notice that there were 25 people in my age group.  The guy who came in 25th in that group had the 4th best run but he was horrible in the swim and bike.  It's almost like a 3 dimensional sport or something. 

Interestly, the guy with the fastest swim came in 17th out of 25. 

The guy who came in 1st out of 25 was only the fastest in the two transitions.  Hmmmmmm

Top swimmers will be going 1:10 - 1:20/100 on the swim. Top cyclists will be going 24-26mph on the bike, and the top runners will be in the 18:xx range for a 5k, so around 6:00/mile.

however, not too many people will be hitting those in all three disciplines. For most sprints, I would guess that a swim pace of 1:30/100, a bike split of 22-23mph and a run pace of 6:50 or faster will generally get you pretty near top 10 OA, and just about guarantee an AG podium spot. You may occasionally podium OA (overall) with those paces.

I've been splitting 1:20-1:30/100 on my swim, 20-21 on the bike, and not so well on the run this year, around 7:30/mile, and I've been in the top 10-15% overall, and top 10 AG (40-45) in each race I've done.

John

So that'd be about 11 minutes on the swim (assuming 750m), 29 minutes on the bike (assuming a 20K) and roughly 19 minutes (assuming a 5K) on the run. That's 59 minutes. Plus, say, 2:30 for transitions, or say 3:00 to be fair, and you'd have a 1:02:00.

The winner of the Chicago Triathlon's sprint distance did it in 1:05:19. (splits were 11:05, 1:37, 34:06, 1:17, 17:11).

**

Also, that's about a 22-minute swim, a 58-minute bike and a 37-minute run for an Oly.
That's 117 minutes, or a 1:57:00 Olympic distance triathlon.

The elite-amateur class winner of the Chicago Tri did the Oly in 1:56:14.

So I guess I don't think that a 1:30 swim/26mph bike and a 6-7m run is ``respectable'' ... it's more like ``amazingly fast.''

That's, like, pro territory there. Or is my math way off?

OK. Well to me competitive doesn't mean winning the Chicago Triathlon.

Back on-topic, to the OP, I'd say just go out and do your best. As I read somewhere `Find uncomfortable and stay there.' Especially for your first, leave the watch at home and enjoy the experience.

Rob,
What race are you doing?  I noticed you were from Charlotte.  I am from Davidson and have done several tris around here.  Maybe I can give you a little background on the race.

Greg

A lot of people on here routinely suggest you not worry about time, just do your best, etc. While that is fine, since you are asking about times and pacing, I imagine that finishing is not the issue for you- it is more about trying to do well (by your standards) and seeing whether you can achieve the (somewhat arbitrary) goals you have set for yourself. I say take your watch, think about your times, etc. That is all part of the experience. Just don't be too hung up on them and don't be too upset if you miss your goal times. If you are just concerned with being able to do the distance, just do your own race on the weekend and save the entry fee. :-) But if you want to see how you do in a race setting where things go wrong, you are kinda clueless, etc. then you will likely have some goal in mind based on your training and what you know about yourself. To me, even in my first, it was about seeing how I reacted to race day and my time was a big part of that. But then again, I didn't really have any doubt that I would not be able to finish- it was more seeing how well I could race without ever having done it before. Just my 2c

Matias (OA amateur at chicago) went sub 20, 59, 34 at Chicago. You were forgetting almost 3 minutes in transitions. He is not a pro but is fast enough to be (he was also 8th OA including pros at IMRI this year). 1:30, 24 mph and 6:30 is competitive for a sprint/oly. 1:30, 26 and 6:00 is very fast IMO.

Yeah, so much depends on the race--who shows up, what the course is like.  I did an Oly in June last year in 2:32 (pancake flat bike and run) and was barely MOP...did another in early October in 2:48 (nothing but hills on the bike, trails on the run) and was 3rd (of 13, iirc) in my AG.

It's also a little misleading to look at separate paces to see where you are against the fast people in each individual discipline...there aren't that many age groupers who are going to be equally strong in all three, so you could end up kicking someone's butt in the swim, but finish well behind them by the time they finish schooling you on the bike and run.

Edited by tcovert 2009-09-01 1:31 PM

Course..who shows up, weather...all make times and rank hard to predict.

Also, our perspective on "Respectable" varies

Finishing a first race is quite the achievement, but I like you wanted something more tangible

This is my first year and I did 3 races, 2 sprint, 1 Oly. I am 46.

Here is my convoluted logic

First race was a sprint(750m,20km,5km), I came 9/28 (top 32%) in 1:17
But I am a better swimmer (came out 1st for AG), reasonable runner (3rd for AG) and terrible biker (17/28). Few people seem well balanced.

If I take my time and transpose it to your AG I I would have placed 13/37 (top 35%)
If I take the 13th place swim in your AG, it's 2:03/100m, 13th pace bike 18mph, 13th place run 6:50 min per mile

Second race was a sprin(750m,20km,5km), I came 6/16 (top 38%) in 1:18
If I take my time and transpose it to your AG I I would have placed 9/14 (top 64%)
If I take the 9th place swim is's 2:14/100m, 9th place bike 18.75mph, 9th place run 8:00 min per mile

Third race was an OLY, I came 4/9 (top 44%) in 2:34
If I take my time and transpose it to your AG, I I would have placed 8/14 (top 57%)
If I take the 8th place swim it's, 2:08/100m, 8th place bike 20.3 mph, 8th pace run 7:40 min per mile

Our biking numbers include both transitions transitions so they appear slower than reality

So I would say on average 2min/100m swim, 20mph bike and 7:30 min per mile seems MOP in my area for your age group and would be pretty good for a newb

I also noticed that most people in my AG  that beat me have been doing this a few years.

this gives a 15 min swim, 37.7 min bike, 22.5 min run + 4 min transition = 1:19 sounds like quite the accomplishment for a newb and I would say is quite aggressive unless you have a very strong background in one of the sports.


What percentage of the population can complete a triathlon ?

What percentage of the population can win a triathlon ?

If you can finish, you are already in a very elite group :-)

Sorry for the convoluted logic.

No you're right, but the thing is no one excels at all 3 disciplines, and individually those are competitive numbers for each sport, or the benchmark numbers people shoot for.  

Hi Greg:
I think my first event will be the "Take Flight" event in Huntersville on Oct 4th. Have you done that one?
Rob