Beginner triathletes and often more experienced age groupers and even the pros often ask this question and get it wrong. What most people forget is a swim-bike-run and your overall time is more important than individual split times. For the beginner triathlete it is more than likely that you are going to be on the race course for anywhere from 4.5hrs to 7hrs, so it’s definitely not a high intensity effort.
The Swim
So you have a 2 kilometre swim to start the day, with all the hype, adrenalin and nervous energy flowing you don’t have to worry about going out hard. Just take your time, get into a good rhythm and focus on drafting off the other swimmers. The swim should feel comfortable as remember you have 90 kilometers to cycle and 21kilometers to run still. If you red line it and come out of the swim exhausted it will be a very long day.
Keegan at Ironman Brazil
The Bike
Onto the bike, and its 90ks, its best to split the ride into 15km pieces or even smaller and work away at them. The first 15km should be spent getting relaxed, finding your legs and again getting into a comfortable intensity which you can hold……..
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