I’m training for an Ironman later this year. Did a Sprint this past weekend. During the race I felt as though I could not have gone any faster. My heart Rate and Perceived Exertion were both maxed out. I was not able to put in a finishing kick of any kind.
However, within 1 minute of crossing the line, I could have done the whole thing again…and just as fast. I did not have that “cold cough” or “race throat”. I did not have any lactic acid build up. I was not tight or sore anywhere. My cool down run was probably faster than my race pace.
WTF???
I’ve had the same effect several times previously. Always after sprint events rather than longer races. Can you please explain to me why this is?
I’ve noticed this with a workout partner… we’ll do a high intensity spinervals, or a sprint race, and he’ll be ready to do the whole thing over again!!!
It’s like he has a mental block that makes him unable to kick it into a higher gear.
This is a good question as this happened to me this past weekend as well. The final 4k of my duathlon I was letting it all hang out (at least that is how it felt), and about 20 seconds after crossing the finish line I felt fine and had already caught my breath. I think some of it had to do with the humidity and I wasn’t able to get full breaths of air in, but I would be interested to hear other theories as well.
Training for IM, you’re doing (or should be) a lot of long steady stuff in lower heart zones. Your body is now used to that, so it won’t go near your old red line. After a few weeks of hard bike and run intervals, you might find yourself way faster, but if you do well at short course racing, you’ll likely be off your game for long course.
So by doing a sprint or Oly at less than your full on speed, you don’t generate a lot of lactic acid or local muscular fatigue (or damage) so you’re ready to go again in a remarkably short period of time.
Same here, I just did an olympic a week ago and within a few moments of finishing I actually felt refreshed and ready to go back out.
I didn’t have anyone near me on the run, they were eaither a few hundred yards in front of or behind me, so I didn’t have to try to kick it up to a max sprint, but I honestly don’t know if I could have.
I am in agreement that all my long steady training for IMWI has set my body up to function differently than last year when I did sprints.
I’m like that after every sprint. Its called being in good shape, you recover quicker.
good job =)
So you mean the 2,000 miles on the bike, 700 miles ran and 200,000 yards swam in the last few months are why I feel better after a 2:12 minute olympic than last year’s first ever sprint tri done on 4-5 spinning classes and a few 30 minute treadmill runs?
Here I thought it was the race wheels, aero helmet, new LG shark tri-clothing and shaved legs that made me faster all along! Just don’t tell my wife I ddin’t need all that crap!
Seriously though, it was an awesome feeling to clean up my transition area a few minutes after the race feeling like I just got back from a 20 minute jog and looking at all the people, who finished both ahead and behind me, that looked like they were about to ralph up a lung.
I’ll second (or is it third, or fourth by now) the comments regarding IM training.
When I first started racing IM’s (1996, my first year in tri actually) I would often do an olympic distance race followed by 80-90 miles on the bike. I like racing, partly as a good speed workout, but also to get used to open water swimming and transitions, but I couldn’t miss the long bike on the weekend and still hope to complete an IM. So post race I would spend about 45 minutes re-hydrating and collecting my stuff, then head out to ride.
I often tried to get some others to come out with me for the bike, and they all looked at me like I was from Mars.
I’ve seen Bryan Rhodes do a 220 or so km hammerfest bike session with Kieran Doe (averaging around 36kph or something?) around the twin lakes in Taupo (ie go round the lake then go up over the saddle towards Ruapehu I think? there is a lake there…) straight after he did an oly distance race (kieran didn’t do the race).
Seriously? Doesn’t it sound more like a case of didn’t get close enough to their threshold?
If your “hour-race pace” doesn’t leave you wiped out, then don’t you have a speed-skill problem (i.e. couldn’t turn the legs fast enough to reach a reasonable threshold %), or you were just sand-bagging?
i think it is a simple case of being more aerobically fit and even when asked to “push” to the high end of the aerobic system the athlete feels recovered quickly. i dont remember, did the OP ask “why did I not race faster” or just “why did I feel so good after”?
This is the part that throws me off: “I did not have any lactic acid build up” combined with “within 1 minute of crossing the line, I could have done the whole thing again…and just as fast”.
That seems to me, whether he said it or not, that he didn’t push hard enough.
Isn’t that like saying you can hold your FTP for 2 hours? If you can hold it for 2 hours, then it isn’t your FTP, is it?