Planning a Triathlon Finish

Finish time is the sum of three legs plus two transitions. Estimate each leg from your sustainable paces: swim from pace per 100 m, bike from average speed, and run from pace per mile. The defaults model a standard Olympic-distance race (1.5 km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run).

Realistic Targets

For Olympic distance: sub-2:30 is competitive, 2:30–3:00 a strong age-group result, and 3:00–3:30 a solid first goal. Most age-groupers finish in 2:45–3:30. Course hills, wind, water temperature, and wetsuit rules all shift times beyond the math.

The Bike-Run Tradeoff

The classic triathlon error is riding too hard and dying on the run. Plan the bike at 75–85% of threshold effort, practice brick sessions, and keep transitions under 90 seconds each. Total time follows from pacing discipline.