Anyone have any ideas on how to get a better time in a triathlon?
Last year, I did the London Tri in 3 hours 20 minutes. That’s the full Olympic - 1500m swim, 40k bike, 10k run.
Here are my splits:
45min swim, 7min transition, 1hr2min bike, 10min transition, 1hr10 run.
Other than the obvious - running and biking and swimming faster (all of which I am working on), any other ideas on how to improve my time? I am doing the same tri again this year (last year was my first) and want to do it under 2 hours 30 minutes and really think I can do it.
Well, the speed work at the track would help decrease running time, which you know. I would say you could work on cutting down transition times.
I’ve never done a tri, but having those easy on laces so you don’t spend time with your shoes. Having a multi-purpose outfit so that you don’t have to change in the transition areas, stuff like that.
Thanks for that; I will definitely be using a ‘tri suit’ this year, but the swim requires a wet suit - the water at Embankment Dock is damn cold, in addition to being incredibly murky… so that will still take some time. But if I can drop the second transition down from ten minutes to 5, and take 20 minutes off both the cycle and the run, and 15 off the swm, then I am sub-2:30 and happy as a clam!
I would agree that you can definitely shave a lot of time off your transitions by having everything ready in the transition area. In my first triathlon (sprint tri or ½ olympic distance), my transition times added an extra 10 minutes to my overall race time. The following transition time-savers have worked for me in practice and in recent triathlons. Some of these are no-brainers but I’m trying to think of all the tips I’m aware of:
General/Pre-Race Tips
-Invest in a tri-suit (something you can wear during the entire triathlon for the swim, bike & run) if you haven’t already.
-Pin your race number to the tri suit and wear the tri suit for the swim and/or under your wetsuit.
-If you wear a wetsuit (I can imagine the water is a bit chilly!), apply body-glide to your skin so the wetsuit comes off more easily.
-Lay out everything you need for both transitions on a towel next to your bike (clothes, shoes, food, etc.).
-Put your bike helmet and gloves on the bike seat and have all water bottles/camelback/hydration systems or whatever you use for hydration filled and ready to go.
-Clip your bike shoes to your bike.
Swim to Bike
-Start running to the transition area as soon as you exit the water.
-Start unzipping your wetsuit and take off your cap/goggles as soon as you exit the water.
-Take off your wetsuit as quickly as possible – the body glide will help.
-If you lay out everything you need for the bike on a towel (e.g. bike shorts), you’re set to go. It’s also good to use the towel dry off your feet.
Run to Bike
-This should be a quick transition of 1-2 minutes. Same thing, have your running shoes set-up to easily slip on.
-If you wear a tri-suit, the only thing you need to do is change shoes and maybe take-off your bike shorts if you choose to wear them on top of your tri-suit.
You can practice transitions with your training and I think you can easily decrease your overall transition time from 17 minutes to 5 minutes. Good luck with your training!!
Thanks very much for the tips, will do… one problem is space, as this triathlon is the largest in the world (believe it or not) so there is no space to lay stuff out…
Aside from all the great advice above I have a few, sorry if these are too obvious;
Swim as far as you can before you start running.
I notice people all the time who as soon as they can stand up, they stand up and start walking in waist deep water. I sometimes swim past them. Personally, I swim until the bottom is a foot of so from my face.
Practice your transitions.
The transition numbers you mention above seem high to me, but in some races you end up running a long time to T1, or something. You can practice your transitions by setting up a bike trainer pool side. Swim a 200, hop out, do T1, ride the trainer for 10 minutes, do T2, run a mile, repeat. You can usually recruit some other tri people to do this with you so you don’t feel so stupid doing it.
The most time in a tri is on the bike.
For me more than others. But you’ll get the biggest benefit from improving your biking times.
Spray Pam on the outside of your wetsuit, around the lower legs.
Pam is a non-stick cooking spray. It helps your wetsuit slide against itself, so when you’re trying to pull it off it’s faster. Pick non-fat to save calories (just joking).
Good luck with your time. But don’t forget, enjoy the race also.
The OP spent 8 more minutes running than biking… GomiBoy, what is the course for the biking like? In the USA, the amateur record for the 40k is 47:35 (I think) and that was biking only, on a flat course on a close to perfect day (and on a fixed gear bike, no less). A good 40k time would be under 55 minutes. So at most, you can expect to gain perhaps 7 or so minutes on the bike.
I’d compare that to what would be considered a ‘good’ time for the 1500m swim or 10k run. You can then work on the event that you can expect to gain the most from. For instance, if a good 10k run time is 55 minutes, then you could expect to gain 15 minutes by working on the run. (Just guessing on that, I’m a biker and have no idea what a good 10k time is.)
Thanks! That was kind of my plan, but nice to know I did OK on the bike, as I felt like I was flying…
The bike course is pretty flat; starts out by Canary Wharf, then 'round through the centre of London. 2 laps, no real hills, lots of turns though.
I think my mission is to shrink transition times, shrink run time (to be honest I was so bloody exhausted by then it was like running in molasses), and shrink the swim.
Interesting I didn’t even notice that the run time was longer than the bike.
I should have said, the general view is that the most time is spent on the bike, so you can get the biggest gains there.
One other thing to add about tri suits. And maybe this applies to only half-Ironmans and more, in a one piece tri suit, it takes longer to pee, you’d got to get all undressed. I recommend a two piece tri suit, quicker pee times.
I hate to point it out, GomiBoy, but after looking around a bit it seems that 1 hour 10 minutes for a 10k is a pretty horrible time. It seems that someone strong enough to do a decent bike leg ought to be able to run somewhat better than that. Any idea what happened? Are you eating enough during the event?
Sorry for the late responses, but wow, thanks for all the tips. I will endeavor to do them all.
Yeah, I thought of that. I think I was pretty dehydrated, as I bonked pretty hard on the running leg. In fact, I stopped sweating at one point, which really scared me. I think I was a bit dehydrated, and a bit undernourished, in spite of drinking about 1 litre before the race, 1.5 litres during, and eating a powerbar on the bike.
Yeah, it’s huge. Like 8000 competed over 2 days in 2004 in all categories. My group (30-34 male olympic) was so big it had to be broken into two groups of about 150 each. With all the different classes (sprint, olympic, veterans, pro, etc…) and divided by sex and age group, it takes 2 days to run it all
I got cautioned for race officials for breaking the laws of physics on the bike, but couldn’t quite pull it off in the swim. They were watching us awful close.
Might help with the aerodynamics, and would definitely help with the, *ahem… ‘celebrations’ afterwards
