Doing an IRONMAN takes effort. Calculating the proper time spent on each discipline takes even more effort.
IRONMAN offers three distances, 140.6, 112, and 51.5 miles. Each distance is a long race, relatively speaking. An IRONMAN is made up of three disciplines, swimming, biking, and running. Each discipline is a challenge in its own right, but the real challenge, at least for most people, is getting to the finish line before the cut off.
The goal of this entry is to break down the IRONMAN into its three disciplines, and then to breakdown each discipline into its constituent segments with appropriate race pace calculations to provide a clear understanding of how to best allocate training time to best effect.
IRONMAN 140.6 (Full Distance)
Swimming (3.8km)
Swimming 3.8km in forty-five minutes means holding a pace of 1:11 min/100m
Swimming 3.8km in one hour means holding a pace of 1:35 min/100m
Swimming 3.8km in two hours means holding a pace of 3:10 min/100m
Swimming 3.8km in three hours means holding a pace of 4:44 min/100m
Bike (180km)
Riding 180km in four hours means holding a speed of 45km/h
Riding 180km in five hours means holding a speed of 36km/h
Riding 180km in six hours means holding a speed of 30km/h
Riding 180km in seven hours means holding a speed of 25.7km/h
Riding 180km in eight hours means holding a speed of 22.5km/h
Running (42.2km)
Running 42.2km in two hours means holding a pace of 2:50 min/km
Running 42.2km in three hours means holding a pace of 4:15 min/km
Running 42.2km in four hours means holding a pace of 5:40 min/km
Running 42.2km in five hours means holding a pace of 7:07 min/km
Running 42.2km in six hours means holding a pace of 8:34 min/km
Running 42.2km in seven hours means holding a pace of 10:00 min/km
IRONMAN 70.3 (Half Distance)
Swimming (1.9km)
Swimming 1.9km in thirty minutes means holding a pace of 1:35 min/100m
Swimming 1.9km in forty-five minutes means holding a pace of 2:22 min/100m
Swimming 1.9km in one hour means holding a pace of 3:09 min/100m
Bike (90km)
Riding 90km in two hours means holding a speed of 45km/h
Riding 90km in two hours and thirty minutes means holding a speed of 36km/h
Riding 90km in three hours means holding a speed of 30km/h
Riding 90km in three hours and thirty minutes means holding a speed of 25.7km/h
Riding 90km in four hours means holding a speed of 22.5km/h
Run (21.1km)
Running 21.1km in one hour and thirty minutes means holding a pace of 4:16 min/km
Running 21.1km in one hour and forty-five minutes means holding a pace of 4:57 min/km
Running 21.1km in one hour and fifty minutes means holding a pace of 5:16 min/km
Running 21.1km in two hours means holding a pace of 5:41 min/km
Running 21.1km in two hours and thirty minutes means holding a pace of 7:07 min/km
Running 21.1km in three hours means holding a pace of 8:32 min/km
IRONMAN 51.5 (Sprint Distance)
Swimming (1.5km)
Swimming 1.5km in fifteen minutes means holding a pace of 1:00 min/100m
Swimming 1.5km in twenty minutes means holding a pace of 1:20 min/100m
Swimming 1.5km in thirty minutes means holding a pace of 2:00 min/100m
Swimming 1.5km in forty minutes means holding a pace of 2:40 min/100m
Bike (40km)
Riding 40km in one hour means holding a speed of 40 km/h
Riding 40km in one hour and fifteen minutes means holding a speed of 32 km/h
Riding 40km in one hour and thirty minutes means holding a speed of 26.7 km/h
Riding 40km in one hour and forty-five minutes means holding a speed of 22.9 km/h
Riding 40km in two hours means holding a speed of 20 km/h
Run (10km)
Running 10km in thirty minutes means holding a pace of 3:00 min/km
Running 10km in forty minutes means holding a pace of 4:00 min/km
Running 10km in fifty minutes means holding a pace of 5:00 min/km
Running 10km in one hour means holding a pace of 6:00 min/km
Running 10km in one hour and ten minutes means holding a pace of 7:00 min/km
Running 10km in one hour and twenty minutes means holding a pace of 8:00 min/km