Doing St. Anthony's this weekend for the first time in 3 years. The last time I did this race it was my first Oly and I had no clue about anything. I've since done two 70.3 and one 140.6. In training for those and on race day I focused on HR zones. Do I try to stay in a low zone for this race? Or just go at it?

Doing St. Anthony's this weekend for the first time in 3 years. The last time I did this race it was my first Oly and I had no clue about anything. I've since done two 70.3 and one 140.6. In training for those and on race day I focused on HR zones. Do I try to stay in a low zone for this race? Or just go at it?

I would modify this to say that an Oly can be raced (almost) as if you were racing each dicipline individually (at least the bike and run). I wouldn't recommend opening either event with a balls-out sprint:)

Go out on the bike as if it were a 40k TT, and go full gas for the run:)

In all my Olympic race I just go as hard as I can, having the experience of what effort I can get away with. Totally different approach compared to what I do
in long course racing.

That's a great way for someone to have a horrible run. Going 40k TT pace is a lot harder than I think you realize. If you hit that pace you surely won't be running well off the bike. If running at all. There's a reason people don't do 40k TT efforts to get their FTP. Also, given that he has no powermeter and racing on HR and feel, it's likely that he over cooks the bike a bit anyways, so it's better to aim low and over cook it a bit then to aim high and over cook the first 20k and have a miserable rest of your race.

There's a reason people don't do 40k TT efforts to get their FTP.

So, in an Olympic you go as (relatively, for the length) hard as you can but in a longer race you don't go as (relatively, for the length) as hard as you can?

Not sure I see a difference.

Why don't you go as hard as you can in long course racing? Just wanna finish?

I know in a long race I have to pace, eat smart, etc. I can swim a 1.5K swim hard, but no way would swim that hard in a 2.4 mile.

On the 40K bike, I push real hard. but in a 112 mile for me, I pace since I know I have a marathon left.

For the 10K run, it is just all I have left in the take. For a marathon run I know the run does not start until the last 10K, and I do not want to walk.

Not saying this is right for anyone else, but how I race for an Olympic vs a IM is totally different.

More than anything, the biggest difference between the two is knowing how to get food. Olympic, you really cannot screw it up. But in a long,
you can be in the best shape, pace correctly and bonk because the nutrition was missed.

Actually, FTP is your max 60 min power.

....Go out on the bike as if it were a 40k TT, and go full gas for the run:)

ALL races need to be paced.
I would say pacing can be done more readily on feel with less experience for shorter races. Also if you get it wrong in longer races, the consequences are more dire but that doesn't mean shorter races don't require pacing.
Even a 100m sprint is paced (generally so that full speed is reached by 60m or so and then it's somewhat coasting from there, with some variation).

I don't get the comments suggesting the run and bike legs should be treated as stand alone TTs or runs. the people saying this then come back qualifying these comments to say it should be treated as a stand-alone "with a run after"....So not a stand alone event then! What's the point of saying to treat it like a stand-alone when that's not what you mean at all?

"Go full gas for the run" doesn't mean anything unless it means you should start at a flat out sprint. Otherwise you're just saying to pace it to go as fast as you can, which is pretty obvious and does in fact require pacing. The question is how to choose that pace!

I am a runner turned triathlete turned cyclist turned cyclist / triathlete...lol.

So for me I'm also run focused in a race.

That said the point of my post is we are always trying to race hard. OLY you can't go all out. Due to cycling I've learned to BURY myself on a bike. If I tried to do that in an OLY you'd have to peel me off the bike in T2. There would be no run. Therefore I know for me I need to ride in the 85-90% range. I can swim pretty hard or on the rivet. Then I can use my run.

Pacing is always important as you well know, but your initial post may have been misleading to the OP.

I'm racing St Anthony's too. I think a lot of people hammer too hard the first 5 miles of the bike in Olympic distance racing. I try to hold back just a bit (5-10 watts from goal wattage) to get the legs going but not burn any matches. Those first 5 miles on the bike can make you pay the price towards the end of the bike and on the run.

Olympic distance racing is freaking hard. For me, it's about a 95-100 minute TT all out (~20 mile bike and 10k run). I am usually redlined for 5 miles of the 10k run.