Thursday 2 June 2011

Stats rule the world...

Statistics! I love them. All sports lovers love them. Sports competitors love them. Kids love them too. They tell what you or your team did wrong, right, worse , better longer or further than before.

One stat I was particularly proud of  recently was the percentage of AIS people competing in the Mui Ne Triathlon last month.



31 individuals at last count - out of a total of around 150 competitors. That's 20% of the entire field!  Well done AIS.!


However lets not stop there. This is just the beginning. As I hope to be announced as the official AIS triathlon coach next season I will be releasing regular inspirational updates like this.



Here's the first; 

 Although triathlon is a race purely against yourself its good to use percentages and averages of your competitors to gauge your progress.



Now that we have some data to go on I suggest to do this in preparation of your next event ;

  1. Note your percentage placing in the field in Mui Ne. For example I placed 6th in a field of 36.  [ formula is 6 / 36 x 100 = 16.66% ]  Then if you like round off (up if you had a bad race or flat or a mechanical - Down if you had a good race or the rest of the field got lost) so lets say I'll go with 20%.

  2. Look up last years results of your next race. Lets use the Vietnam International Triathlon in September. Pick the 20 % mark in your category. [ eg, Men aged 40 - 45 has 25 competitors. The 20% mark place getter is [Jo Blo] came 5th.  Time = 2hrs:39min.

  3. Note this arbitrary persons time and make it your goal. You should also be able to find the split times and use those as direct training guides. E.g 1500m swim - 26:33, 40km ride, 1:18, 10km rum 50:09.

  4. Its nothing against Jo Blo but Mr Blo better know your out to kick his arse come September. Ol' Blo is toast! He's your man (or woman). Go get him!

Point is - It doesn't matter what time you aim for - as long as you have a time to work to. It gives you an over all runing time which you can then break down and train to. It gives you a bike average to sit on as you train around the city in the mornings. And it allows you to know you swim lap times. Aiming just to finish a triathlon is good. Aiming to finish with in a pre set time and position in the field is a mini science which will increase your interest reward in each event.



Please note; If anyone competed in the Vietnam International Triathlon called Jo Blo it is purely coincidental and no offense is intended to Jo or the Blo family.



Happy training...!





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