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First triathlon complete. What are some realistic time goals?
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Hey all I am a new triathlete and a new member here. I just completed my first ever triathlon and am instantly addicted and trying to plan out some realistic goals for the next year or two and was hoping someone in here that is much more knowledgeable than me could point me in the right direction.
A little background on my athletic life for some context. I grew up playing very competitive tennis 4-5 days a week for two hours a day and ended up playing D1 tennis for a year before ultimately quitting because I wasn't good enough and wanted to spend time drinking and being a normal college kid. I then proceeded to become extremely out of shape over the next 5 years and when I finally decided to go running again I could only run a mile in 9 mins and was 100% gassed at that point I decided to get my physical health back in check and signed up for the Chicago Marathon. After 4 months of training and running ~4 days a week I was able to complete it in 4:03 which was way ahead of the goal time I originally set. The training was tough kicking my body back into shape but I got through it injury free outside of some shin splints and decided my next challenge was going to be a olympic tri.
I bought a bike and started swimming in january off and on for an event in march that was canceled (like many others) and decided just to leapfrog the training straight to a 70.3 and started training much harder in May ~30 hours/month until now. All of the 70.3s I was signed up for or transfered to all got cancelled, but I finally was able to get in a sprint tri locally and finished second in my AG 25-29 with the following splits on a lake swim and flat course
Swim 600M: 12:43
Bike 12 miles: 32:07 (22.4mph)
Run 5: 23:18 (7:31/ mile)
I am hoping that I will eventually get to do a 70.3 this year and would then like to start focusing on the sprint & olympic distance. I am aware that I am a terrible swimmer :) so lots of room for improvements there. I only really started biking in May and am now able to average 20mph over 50 miles without being warn out, which I feel like is a decent start, and my run has a long ways to go as well.
Given this info what would you all say is a realistic goal target for me for that same sprint race next year and other olympic distance races? In my head seeing how much I have improved over the last year I would like to think the following would be achievable assuming I keep training at ~10hrs/ week:
Swim 600M: 10:00
Bike 12 miles: 28:33 (25.2 mph)
Run 5: 20:00 (6:30/ mile)
Is this possible or pipe dream? Just trying to estimate and understand what rate I can hope/expect to keep improving at? I have had zero coaching to date as well, just downloaded a plan on training peaks and have gone from there.
Any help advice appreciated! Thanks all!
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Re: First triathlon complete. What are some realistic time goals? [hoosierfan24] [ In reply to ]
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Of course part of the allure of the sport is that there's no way to know without trying, but that doesn't sound like an outrageous target to me over that distance.

More generally, for the 70.3 distance a sub-five is generally considered a good benchmark to aim for, which is probably a good starting goal based on what you've written.

Good luck and enjoy!

Chop Nutrition http://www.chopnutrition.com (UK only)
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Re: First triathlon complete. What are some realistic time goals? [hoosierfan24] [ In reply to ]
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At your age those times are all doable with proper training.

Going from 2:07/100 meters to 1:40/100 meters is a stretch without technique improvement AND volume.

The bike time might be a stretch unless your position on the bike needs improvement and you’re not using all the “free speed” options available (fast tires, latex tubes, aero helmet, fast tri suit). It takes a pretty good jump in watts to increase 3 mph without the items mentioned above. Not saying you can’t do it with what you have but it’s a tougher ask (especially with the work needed to achieve your other time goals).

I think it’s easiest for you to get the run time down to your goal time. Just be consistent in frequency and add volume slowly.
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Re: First triathlon complete. What are some realistic time goals? [hoosierfan24] [ In reply to ]
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Don't drown, don't crash, don't walk... And have fun!
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Re: First triathlon complete. What are some realistic time goals? [hoosierfan24] [ In reply to ]
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"am instantly addicted"...love it. congrats and welcome!

nothing's a pipe dream if you train consistently (and smartly), and give yourself enough time (don't rush, that's how injuries can happen). that being said, unless youre particularly gifted, upping your cycling avg speed to over 25mph in just a year could be somewhat lofty goal. could be done, but even if it's flat and only 12 mi, 25+ is pretty high level speed, esp if you are on a non-aero bike and want to have enough left to run well afterwards. not to say you can't do it, but just know at those speeds, every mph more takes lots more effort than the previous mph. upping from 22 to 23 takes less proportional effort than 23 to 24, and so on, all other things being equal. somebody smart with math and the proportions of speed/drag, help me out here.

the best part of the sport for me is just working to improve, even if it's just a little bit. my advice is focus on getting better, not necessarily just faster - if that makes sense. educate yourself (forums here are a GREAT place), train consistently, hone your craft, and the speed will come naturally.

You didn't mention your time for the fourth discipline - transitions! If you want to be competitive in sprint races, you'll have to be good at that too. lol.
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Re: First triathlon complete. What are some realistic time goals? [Shambolic] [ In reply to ]
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Shambolic wrote:
Don't drown, don't crash, don't walk... And have fun!
I'll add, "Don't go off course and/or get lost".

Good luck!

"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.
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Re: First triathlon complete. What are some realistic time goals? [hoosierfan24] [ In reply to ]
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OK, good goals. It may take you more than 1 (or even 2) years to get there. Triathlon is a journey and there is no way to know the destination until you get there. Enjoy the journey. Celebrate your accomplishments (great and small) in both racing and training. You will be a rare case if your journey is of continuous improvements. Rather expect plateaus and even backsliding. One good thing about triathlon is that with three components, you may often find you are making progress in at least one of them even when another is being a problem child.

One more thought on triathlon goals. You can use them to motivate your training, but don't race to them. Take what the day gives you. It may be hot or cold or windy, etc. Your body may or may not have gotten itself to the starting line in optimal condition (by a combination of optimal training and tapering and the absence of physical ailments/injuries -- some of which may have no manifestations other than inability to race at speeds you are otherwise capable of). Forcing yourself to a goal pace that exceeds what you can sustain on that day will only make matters worse. (OTOH, it is good to race a lot and to try different RPE's to try to find the feel for racing at the very edge of what you can sustain for the whole race and what your RPE feels like when it is not sustainable.)

Good luck and have fun.
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Re: First triathlon complete. What are some realistic time goals? [hoosierfan24] [ In reply to ]
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Goals are good to have, but when i'm doing a new distance or course its really tough to come up with realistic time goals. It often is course and condition dependent. One day you are swimming with the current or have a tailwind, the next day it could be the opposite.

I think time goals are good in training it gives you something to progress toward from day to day. Race day I just try to have the best race I can given my current fitness and the conditions.

For your first 70.3 I would just try your best and not focus too much on time. If you end up behind pace early you may push to make up time and pay the price later.

My first 70.3 was 70.3 Florida not knowing what I could do I set a pretty low bar as far as time and would have been happy to come in between 6-6.5 hours. I ended up almost breaking 5 hours and might have if I didnt have such slow transitions.

Going into my second 70.3 I think it was Oceanside. If I set my goal as sub 5 I would have come away disappointed with my performance. The Oceanside bike course is harder with more climbing.
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Re: First triathlon complete. What are some realistic time goals? [j.shanney] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks everyone appreciate all of the feedback super helpful!
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Re: First triathlon complete. What are some realistic time goals? [hoosierfan24] [ In reply to ]
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That's a great bike leg especially for your first race.

Swimming is probably the place where you can get the quickest improvement. 2:07/100m for 600m isn't terrible but with the aerobic fitness for a bike leg like that, I would guess it's a form issue and you can probably get that down to <2:00 pretty quickly. That alone is almost a minute off your finish time and that's a lot in a sprint.

Did you feel like you went too hard on the bike and didn't have enough left for the run, or they both felt pretty good? It's not exactly the zero-sum game but it's similar, e.g. if you lose two minutes on the bike but pick up 2+ on the run, that's a good trade in triathlon especially in a sprint where ~30 seconds can be a big deal. This would be another thing (pacing) that can get you some quick gains along with slower longer-term gains from just more training.

Hope this helps!

For a point of reference, my first sprint (2018, 35-39 age group) with less than a year of serious tri training (~20 years of running) was:

750m swim: 16:06 (2:09/100m) in a wetsuit
20k bike: 41:36 (17.9 mph)
5k run: 19:47 (6:20 min/mi)

Swim is by far my weakest discipline and running by far my strongest. I definitely took it too easy on the bike because I was afraid of being burned out for my strongest leg but I think I could have gone ~two minutes faster on the bike and ~one minute slower on the run, this gives me a less impressive run leg but my overall time is faster. With another ~two years of serious training (and a much faster bike), if I did this race again today I think I could optimistically go something like 1:55/20.0/6:20.
Last edited by: rosshm: Aug 19, 20 9:35
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Re: First triathlon complete. What are some realistic time goals? [hugoagogo] [ In reply to ]
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hugoagogo wrote:
One more thought on triathlon goals. You can use them to motivate your training, but don't race to them. Take what the day gives you.

May be the best statement I've read on training vs. racing. Being new, this hit me as an "AHA!" moment. With the cancellations I haven't been able to compete in any tri event - with some prodding from my son, that was one of my goals this year; namely to finish a 70.3 without a DNF regardless of the time.

I hadn't thought of it like you put it, but I'm going to keep this in my mind as long as my old brain will let me.

Not a coach. Not a FOP Tri/swimmer/biker/runner. Barely a MOP AGer.
But I'm learning and making progress.
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