What would be an average time for a 30 year old female to do a 300m swim, 13.5 mi bike and 3.5 run in the dead of summer!!  Also, how do I find triathlon's in my area?

Anonymous from Ontario

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Hi Rebecca,

Thank you for contacting TriathaNewbie.com!

This is a really tough question to answer, probably the toughest of all. First of all, times vary from age group to age group and within that, it varies on gender. From there, every single triathlon course is different. Very few mini-triathlons are exactly the same distance and the terrain differs vastly between races.

For example, ocean swims tend to be the longest due to currents and waves. Lake and pond swims have fewer obstacles and swim much more smoothly. The biking and running depends on whether the course has many hills, few hills, intense hills, rolling hills or no hills. It also depends on whether the race is on-road or off-road.

Another factor that can play a huge part in your finish-time is weather. You can actually participate in the same mini-triathlon several times, have different weather conditions and get very different times.

Our suggestion is that you research the times from the race you will be participating in. Find your gender and age group and get a range of times, but be kind to yourself and run your own race -- don't compare. Triathlons are an individual sport and should be based on the individual. Remember; only one person comes in first, then there is the rest of us!
Most race results can be found on www.coolrunning.com or the website of the actual race.

Here are the races we were able to find in your area (and a lot of them have posted the results from the previous year):

• http://www.playtri.com/
• http://www.cooperaerobics.com/
• http://www.twuathletics.com/
• http://www.discotriathlon.com/ (this looks like a lot of fun!!!)
• http://www.oldcollegetri.com/

If you end up doing any of these, let us know.

Be well,
Niki

Niki Jamieson
TriathaNewbie.com