Assuming you are properly prepared for both events which event do you find more “painful”. For me it is unquestionably a 5k or 10k. Moments before the start of a 5/10k I know that I am going almost immediately to threshold and soon thereafter red zone with the goal of holding red zone and crossing the finish line with lungs burning and every muscle in my body tied up. It is all about pain tolerance. I suspect for the great majority of IM competitors ( not elite or top AGers competitors) that fear of pain is not even on the radar screen.Sure during IM my legs were tired, sore, etc but my heart rate never went past threshold and certainly the great majority of the event was sub-threshold. Just an observation that if I am honest with myself, the effort I put in to break an 18 min 5k in my 40s far exceeded my efforts at IM–despite the grossly disproportionate number of hours training for the latter. I think it boils down to the familiar refrain that most people “do” IM, very few race IM. The irony is that the adulation for doing an IM is incredible, while the response to racing a 5k is ok you did a three point one mile race. Just wondering if there are other runners turned triathletes out there who feel the same…
Any running/tri event, the longer ones get more respect. And in sprinting it’s the 100.
- “I just ran a 1:06 half-marathon”
- “So when you gonna step up to the full?”
- “%#$@^^#”
agreed. you really need to check your ego at the door to be a middle distance runner. I can “do” an IM relativley painlessly and receive the adoration of everyone who recognizes an M-dot. No one cares about your time at the Little Apple 5k run…
I ran a 5km race 2 weeks after Ironman Canada and cranked off a 18:20. Certainly hurt A LOT more than IMC.
yes, you are correct, there is nothing more painful than a 5k in my opinion, ive done 5k to IM, a lot of runners will even say the 800 is really the hardest event, lots of people do IM because they get to screw off in zone 1 for hours a week
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I ran a 1/2 marathon on Sunday and it hurt way more than the half iron I did last fall.
exactly- From a pain perspective, I would much rather ride my bike for 80 miles in 5 hours on a saturday at z/2 z/3 then go to the track to do 2 miles w/u --4x400 (1:00)-- 4x1000 (1:30)-- 4x 200 (:45) one mile cool down in less than an hour.
Why are you holding back on the swim/bike/run instead of treating them each like a stand alone race? In regards to the run leg of a 1/2-iron triathlon, I am trying to run that as fast as a stand alone half-marathon. My fastest stand-alone half was 1:19:XX and my fastest half-iron run was 1:24:XX in 2010.
To me, they “hurt” the same because I am giving the race, regardless of the type/distance, my all. The only time one would hurt more than another would be due to the difference in the course elevation/conditions that I didn’t properly train for (eg. up and down hills at race pace resulting in muscle slap).
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Hmmm.
Well, done correctly- for me at least- they hurt in different ways.
For a really good 5K you are at your limit the entire time. That’s tough. It’s 17-22 minutes or more of pretty intense pain. Dentist pain. It’s acute. The only relief is the finish, and getting there as quickly as possible is the key.
At Ironman, for me at least in the “touring” class, it’s different. The first discomfort is anxiety- the nervousness, the worry, the fear. That is suffering. Then you get your ass beat down in the swim. Of course, a couple hits to the face hurt. Then- once you get on the bike, it levels out. It becomes pleasant. Then kind of tedious. Your crotch gets sore from the saddle. You start to wish you were farther along in the race. It just gets long and uncomfortable.
Then there are those last two hours on the run, when it feels like your legs have bone-on-bone contact. It just plain hurts. Every step hurts. When your foot hits the pavement it is very painful, and your feet keep hitting the pavement. If you are good there is nothing wrong with your stomach. If you aren’t as meticulous in your preparation or just having a bad day then your stomach backs up or the opposite problem and you have to deal with that too.
It’s just different. One thing- Ironman is longer so the suffering is longer. But then again, a 5K and a 10K rarely stand out in your mind as an epic day. A tough day at Ironman when you make it across the finish line stays with you for a long, long time.
Agree with your description-- I guess most folks would prefer to avoid the dentist pain (perfect analogy). So my thought is the “tougher athlete” is the one who choses to accept that pain and push through it… The elderly complain about the “everything hurts” kind of pain-if you have a fall you know what the everything hurts kind of pain is.— I suspect few have gone into the186 bpm red zone and kept on the gas for another half mile in an effort to set a PR in the 5k. Perhaps your right it is a bit of apples and oranges except that the general public views the ironman as a special kind of athlete…
the last twenty minutes on the bike is the killer for me in tris, probably cause it’s my strenght and I over do
I don’t run a lot of shorter running races but I know what you’re saying
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For a really good 5K you are at your limit the entire time. That’s tough. It’s 17-22 minutes or more of pretty intense pain. Dentist pain. It’s acute. The only relief is the finish, and getting there as quickly as possible is the key.
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Nice! There really needs to be a memorable quotes sticky/forum.
…because they are apples and oranges.
My girlfriend -an accomplished competitive marathoner- was shocked at how almost nobody was limping or moving stiffly the day after the 2010 IM Lanzarote. Some months later we did the Marine Corps Marathon, and I too noticed the difference: you see a lot more wreckage at shorter distance events. Almost nobody can maintain the discomfort of an open 5k, 10k, marathon, etc. for the duration of an IM. From a physiological point of view, it is not possible.
With the pain of Ironman fresh in my mind and legs (IMNZ 4 days ago) I can definitely say that it was more painful than a 5km race for sure.
It is a different type of pain through. My 5km PB is 17.50 and when I did that I felt like my intestines were going to burst out of my body and my legs burnt but I was able to keep pushing without the overwhelming urge to stop.
At Ironman there was pain on a different scale - not the bursting intestine/stomach pain, but such a deep muscle pain which made lifting my legs everytime took a step make me want to stop and walk or lie on the ground in the fetal position. The pain of ironman wears you down mentally as well.
I think the pain of a 5km/10km race is maybe more intense but you know it will be over soon which makes it more manageable and when you stop the pain will be more or less gone. Whereas the pain of ironman is neverending from about 6hrs into the race and once you are allowed to stop the pain continues for a long time…
If you’re pushing yourself to the limit for that distance and not just trying to finish, all distances hurt. But as others mentioned in different ways. I can;t speak for a IM. But a HIM, hurt pretty bad, but so did every 5k I did in HS X-country as I suffered at the threshold. My fastest mile time ever was the first leg of a 5k trying to keep up with the pack.
Actually I find the 5k at the end of a sprint tri a little easier in some ways because I cannot sustain the same intensity when I’m 40 minutes into a race vs. at the start of a race.
I just did 4 days ago an open marathon and it hurt like hell (3:42), way more painful that IM AZ 3 months ago (12:08), but I agree that it’s a different class of pain. The intensity is very different too, anyway the 2 races were very rewarding.
definitely IM. the length of it is what kills me.
5km is over so quickly, and what’s a bit of heavy breathing?
for me the absolute hardest and most painful is a short, steep hill climb time trial. although having said that i’d still pick it over an IM. at least it’s over in a couple minutes.
With the pain of Ironman fresh in my mind and legs (IMNZ 4 days ago)
On the heels of a marathon this weekend, I’m reminded that a stand alone marathon run at a challenging pace is way more destructive on the legs than an Ironman. The intensity has to be the key here. The DOMS I’m feeling today (~48 hrs post-race) is rough. I had trouble sleeping last night because every time I moved it woke me up. This is why I’ve only run a handful of stand alone marathons. Maybe doing marathons more frequently would decrease the level of discomfort but I’m not willing to be a subject in that experiment.
Ironmans are fun…5Ks scare me.
Honestly, an Ironman is just moderate pain spread out over a long time. My 70.3s have been more physically challenging than my one IM was (as well as a half marathon), but the IM was a much bigger mental challenge.
A 5K/10K feels like I’m stuck in Pain Purgatory, as soon as the gun goes off my heart and legs explode and plead for me to stop. It just requires a different mentality and pain tolerance to race properly.
Its the same reason that Sprint tri’s intimidate me, its not that they’re short, I just have a healthy respect for the effort required to race them at full effort.