Race analysis answers three questions: did you hit the Race Pacing Targets you planned, where did fitness or fuelling limit you, and do your stored CSS, FTP, and FT still match what you can sustain?
When the day reflects real fitness — not a mechanical, weather, or gut failure — a race can refresh thresholds as well as any field test. Set or check numbers on Threshold Testing. Protocols are in how to test.
Triathletes often race standalone events between A-races — a spring 10K, a gran fondo, an open-water swim. Log those in the same vault so thresholds and execution history stay in one place. Triathlons get the full analysis; standalone races get the checks that apply to that sport.
Splits
Start With Discipline Splits
Overall time is an outcome. Begin with swim, bike, and run in absolute time and as % of total race time.
Typical 70.3 age-grouper shape:
If swim is under ~12%, you may be over-investing in pool volume relative to run limiters at long-course. If run exceeds ~40%, bike pacing or Fuelling deserves scrutiny.
Compare segment rankings when the results page provides them — a strong swimmer masking a weak run is common at Olympic distance but painful at 70.3.
Race pace
Race Pace vs Your Thresholds
CSS, FTP, and FT are controlled capacity. Race output is what you actually sustained.
Expected ranges (align with WattX Race Simulator logic):
- Swim~105% CSS
- Bike~95% FTP
- Run~96% FT
- Swim~100% CSS
- Bike~85% FTP
- Run~90% FT
- Swim~95% CSS
- Bike~80% FTP
- Run~86% FT
- Swim~94% CSS
- Bike~75% FTP
- Run~80% FT
Swim above CSS with a weak run → you may have spent too much in the water. 65% FTP on a 70.3 bike with a strong run → conservative bike or outdated FTP. 88% FTP and then walking the run → you over-biked or your fuelling failed.
The gap separates fitness from execution.
Log the event in the Race Vault. WattX compares your splits to your profile and planned pacing, flags run fade, spells out what likely went right or wrong, and can suggest new CSS, FTP, or FT from the race — you choose what to sync so the rest of the app updates together.
Run fade
Run Degradation
Split the run into first and second half by distance (not time). Compare average pace each half.
Example: 5:00/km → 5:45/km = 15% degradation.
Short-course blow-ups often trace to bike overreach. Long-course fade is usually bike plus gut training.
Transitions
Transition Times — Free Speed
T1 + T2 can cost 3–5 minutes in a 70.3 with no fitness change required — only practice. Compare yours with the median for your age group, and close the gap by rehearsing transitions in brick sessions.
Sync thresholds
When to Sync Thresholds From a Race
A clean race is often the truest snapshot: tapered, fuelled, and racing at real intensity over full legs. Treat it as a threshold signal when execution matches fitness — not when the day was defined by a DNF, mechanical, crash, extreme weather, GI meltdown, or a pacing mistake you would not repeat.
WattX estimates CSS, FTP, and FT from well-paced legs and compares them to your profile. When they differ, the insight explains why (solid swim, over-biked bike leg, underestimated FTP, and so on) and lets you sync proposed thresholds you trust. Skip updates from a messy day; accept them when the race honestly reflects your fitness.
If your races keep beating your stored numbers, your profile is probably too low. Updating it resets every zone-based session.
Between races, use Threshold Testing for controlled checkpoints. Workouts from the Session Generator always use your current profile.
Close the loop
Close the Loop
Log the race in the Race Vault — compare to Race Pacing Targets.
Sync proposed threshold updates you trust (or retest if the day was messy).
Adjust the next block from Race Planning Explained.
Revisit Long-Course Nutrition Explained if run fade looked fuel-related.
Two or three races per season are enough to see patterns.