How to Pace Your Next Triathlon Properly

Podcast

June 20, 2022

How to pace a triathlon at every distance: why fast starts cost you, how hard to ride so you can still run, and how to set a realistic run pace.

Get Fast Podcast, Ep 129, with Gerard and Jordan Donnelly

Pacing changes with distance. The longer the race, the lower the share of your threshold you can hold and still run well. At every distance, start each leg at a pace you can hold, ride to a number that lets you run properly, and aim to run as close to your fresh best as you can. Gerard Donnelly says all of his pacing advice is built around one aim: being able to run properly off the bike.

Why do most people start too fast?

Gerard calls it human nature. On a start line we're competitive, and when someone takes off, everyone feels they have to chase. Jordan points to Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who runs his own pace early, often near the back of the field, and still wins. Gerard notes that almost all world records on the track and the road are run with the second half faster than the first.

Jordan proved it at amateur level. For two years his 800 m races started with a 26-second 200 m and faded from there. He first broke two minutes, running 1:58, the day he ran his 200 m splits in 30, 30, 30 and 28 seconds.

Gerard has seen the same in fun runs. With an elite marathoner on the start line, most of the field ran the first kilometre at his pace and finished half an hour or more behind him.

How should you pace the swim?

Sprint: even though it's short, it's still a 10 to 15 minute swim, so aim to swim at your threshold and no faster. If there's a bunch a few metres ahead, it's OK to burn a match to get onto it, because you won't be out there long.

Ironman: this is a big endurance swim. Gerard swims his own pace from start to finish, with no sprints to chase packs. If someone passes him slowly, he may ease up and sit in behind them to save energy.

Transitions matter too. In a sprint, losing 30 seconds in transition can be the difference between first and fourth.

How hard should you ride?

Gerard's advice is based on letting you run well. You could ride harder, but it isn't worth it if you can't run. He cites six-time Kona winner Dave Scott's reminder that a triathlon is more than a bike race. You can have a magnificent ride and then a shocking run.

Sprint and Olympic races are ridden close to your threshold, and the difference between the two is marginal. Unlike a cycling time trial, you aim to hold the same effort and get off the bike without a maxed-out heart rate.

For the longer races, Gerard's ranges as a share of FTP are:

70.3: 65 to 90%. Beginners sit near the bottom, experienced athletes near the top.
Ironman: 60 to 80%. Only pros should be near 80%. Winning age groupers ride 75 to 78%, competitive age groupers 70 to 75%, and athletes towards the back of the field 60 to 70%.

Those numbers can feel low. With an FTP of 200 watts, 70% is 140 watts. Plenty of athletes who train well above 200 watts start their Ironman ride at 150 or 160, which is far too high.

How do you ride to your number in wind?

Gerard uses the Cairns Ironman course. The first leg from Palm Cove to Port Douglas is usually a tailwind and the way back is a headwind. If your average is 140 watts, ride around 130 in the tailwind, even though the whole field is flying past you. When you turn into the headwind, ride a bit over your average, around 145.

By the second half, the people who passed you have stopped passing you, and you're passing them into the headwind. TriVelo athletes at Cairns told Gerard exactly that happened. The slowest sections take the most time, so that's where the gains are made.

How close to your best can you run off the bike?

Gerard says the sign of a really good triathlete is running close to their personal best off the bike. A 40-minute 10K runner who runs 40:30 in an Olympic won't have many people ahead of them.

To estimate a realistic half marathon, Gerard doubles your best 10 km time and adds 10 to 22 minutes, depending on your background. To run 90 minutes, you need to be around a 40-minute 10K runner. If your best 10K is over 45 minutes, a 90-minute half isn't possible. That's fresh, so in a 70.3 add a little more for the swim and bike.

For the Ironman marathon, Gerard compares himself. His Ironman marathons were between 2:58 and 3:10, about 30 minutes slower than his best open marathon, and he rode a steel bike without clip-on bars. He's found elite athletes add around 20 minutes to their fresh marathon, while for others it can be 30 minutes to an hour. Most of the age groupers TriVelo coaches get a race plan at the conservative end.

Nutrition matters here too. Some athletes who run poorly paced the bike well and simply didn't fuel. As Jordan puts it: "The race plan is only as good as the execution."