Faster: Demystifying the Science of Triathlon Speed


Interested in knowing your predicted Ironman finishing time? There is a mathematical formula that has been tested and shown to be reasonably accurate.

152.1 +[1.332 x recent marathon time] + [1.964 x Olympic Tri time] = IM time.
Example:  Jan’s predicted finish
152.1 +[1.332 x 270] + [1.964 x 191] =  14 hours and 48 minutes.  Jan finished IM 2009 Lake Placid in 15:54, with a final marathon @ 6:12 compared with her Marine Corps Marathon time of 4:30.

Almost without fail the average age group athlete swims and bikes the IM legs faster than what they trained at and then slows precipitously in the marathon, running much slower than training pace.
Of course variables such as weather, health, training load and race course design (hilly, water conditions, wet suit or not) play a significant role. Jan's example above used the FingerLakes Triathlon time which was a year after LP. It would be better to have a marathon and Olympic distance tri completed a few months before your IM effort for the formula to be more accurate.
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Motor Imagery

Image
In the book, " The body has a mind of its own " by Blakeslee, the authors state that, "While many types of mental practice are undoubtedly helpful, motor imagery is the only technique that alters your body maps in the same way physical practice does. Visual imagery (as from a spectator's point of view), relaxation, hypnosis, affirmation, prayer...may help you...but will not alter your motor maps." (page 60). Several experiments have been conducted that verify this information. A simple example is that if you imagine moving your little finger for ten minutes a day, after four weeks it will be up to 20% stronger. Motor imagery has been used by pianists, dancers and all types of athletes. It is not something that will help you overnight get better at swimming, running or biking, but over time, just like with physical exercise, it does promote stronger muscle memory and physical attributes.
Read more

Head Over Heels

Probably not the best way to ride a bike, looking at the pavement up close, arms stretched out, seeing the rear tire straight up in the air. Once Jan knew I was only bruised and my bike was okay, she had a nice laugh. Apparently I didn't look too graceful flipping up towards the handle bars, arms and legs spread out. Fortunately I was going very slowly making a turn when I hit a hole off the shoulder of the road. The result was just a leg bruise. Jan ran 11 miles and swam almost 2 miles on Saturday. On Sunday, a beautiful day for bike riding, we rode the 6 villages route . I went 76.5 miles, she completed her scheduled 80 miles by going around our block several times. The route is 66 miles, but we did an extra 10 miles around Churchville. Our overall mph time was pretty good, faster than the cutoff time for Ironman. The roads were in pretty good condition, not too much traffic except for .5 miles on rt. 31, and only a few barking dogs that scared the heck out of us, but didn't ...
Read more

Supportive Husband?

I'm having a difficult time drawing the line between "gentle" encouragement of Jan's Ironman endeavor and being thought of as an overbearing bully where whatever she does in training isn't enough. Yes, she has trained over 8 hours in the past six days. Yes, she will be doing some massive swimming, biking and running this weekend. But I still worry about whether it's enough to make the time limits at the Tupper Lake Tinman in three weeks and Louisville Ironman in twelve. So, I sometimes feel that if I'm not going to push her, who will? Yes, Jan is obviously self-motivated and highly competitive. But even the best athletes usually need an extra push now and then, don't they? I can't imagine being a real coach and a husband or wife of the athlete you are coaching. That seems like an absolute no win situation. Something would have to give in the relationship. It's one thing to coach, push an athlete to do an extra interval or two, have them get ups...
Read more