(updated with split times) Roade Sprint Triathlon - 5 year Triathlon Anniversary

Five years ago I did my first Triathlon at Roade in Northampton. It's a 414m swim (pool); 20km bike (sporty) and 5km run (60% off-road with hills).

2003 Results
01:11:58 (153rd), Swim 00:07:08 (73rd) Bike 00:42:37 (175th) Run 00:22:13 (202nd)

2008 Results
1:06:48 (78th 0f 420), Swim 00:07:11 (87th) Bike 00:38:37 (74th) Run 00:21:00 (111th)

So I've trimmed off 5 minutes in 5 years. Not too bad I suppose. I think quite a bit of that will be the transition (both transitions are reflected in the bike time). Not wearing socks on the bike or run must save over a minute, and having a top I can wear in the water is probably another minute. The swim was 3 seconds slower than 5 years ago which is partly luck I think since I had a very clear lane to swim in and was not held up (but conversely didnt get a tow either!). My bike is much faster than the one I rode 5 years ago so I expect that made quite a difference. Overall, with the bike and faster transitions I chopped off 5 minutes from 5 years ago and didn't feel that I had a good ride. My running fitness is coming back so I am pleased to see I was 1:13 minutes quicker than last year (I have more to come here too).

Most of all it was good fun and a nice crowd from Cambridge Triathletes to hang out with.

In terms of looking for improvement, my swim could improve a bit, perhaps 30 seconds max, so that would be 6:30; the bike could perhaps be 2 minutes quicker on a different bike (say 36:47) and the run could perhaps be a minute quicker (20:00). So, perhaps 63:17 is a good target, which, looking at this years results would have put me in the top 30 (and 9th in my agegroup :-( ). A bit dreamy but nice to have a target anyway!