I have the Timberman sprint tomorrow. I have dabbled in duathlons, tris and multisport for about three years now and this is my third sprint tri. I placed 11/300 at my first tri so I guess I have potential.
My question is, do you guys hammer the bike full bore if its only 15 miles? Is it any different for you than a time trial would be is my real question? Would you say you hold back a bit or do you keep it red lined the whole way. I was second on the bike and 30th on the run in the last race and find it hard to hold back on the bike.
For a sprint, I’m pretty much within 5-10% of my max HR most of the race, with fairly big dips in HR when I tuck and coast the steeper downhills…that’s a lot of work for very little return when I can coast over 35 mph. If it were a flat course, I’d probably hold back a little more on the bike, more like 10-15% of Max HR. Those little breaks I get going downhill really seem to benefit me a lot. I don’t worry if I’m near 100% max at the top of a long and/or steep uphill, as long as I have a good downhill on the other side. This is very similar to how I race a time trial. I’m no Elite, but, I do OK in my AG. Maybe Elites have a significantly better strategy than I do, but, I think they are simply better than I am.
That seems like good advice as far as the hills are concerned. Timberman has quite a hill mid point as I am told. I too feel that hammering over 35 MPH on a downhill is wasted energy and I like what you say about 100 effort at the top knowing you are going down afterwards.
I was second on the bike and 30th on the run in the last race and find it hard to hold back on the bike.
Thanks
You need to run harder. Did you come near to passing out at the finish? Did you stumble the last few yards? Did you puke all over the timing mat?
No? Then you haven’t thrown down on the run yet. I speak from experience. After any number of sprint races where I was in the top ten on the bike, only to get passed by 15-20 people on the run, I did one where I rode as hard as usual, and then ran much, much harder than I ever had before. I managed to hold onto my placing out of T2 for the first time ever. Come out of T2 like you’re running 400 repeats, and hang on as long as you can.
someimtes im able to DESTROY the bike pacing at 42k/hr
but then die on the run pacing 4:20/k or sometimes It all works out 42k/hr and a 4:00/km run. depends on how i feel
Running is my best event by far, so I usually only go about 90% on the bike so I can take advantage of my speed on the run (usually sub-20 minutes). If biking were my strongest event, I might be inclined to go 95% on the bike, but never 100%. Otherwise the run would be even more painful than it normally is. I might even start crying.
You can run harder than you think off a hard bike. It hurts because you need to find your legs, but just run balls-out out of T2 & you’re legs will come back within the first mile.
I have a few sprints under my belt and have found two things:
some of my best races have come when I threw caution to the wind and jammed the bike
some of my worst runs have come when I threw caution to the wind and jammed the bike.
In practice, you can race roughly an hour at your LT. If you go above it on the bike, the clock starts ticking. These days I ride the redline and go above for a few minutes then ease off and recover slightly, repeat to finish, back off the last mile and mentally prepare to run.
I have to admit, I get nervous just thinking about how it would feel to hammer out of T2. I know I can run harder but between you and me, I dont quite like the pain :)…guess I gotta suck it up and plan on doing just that tomorrow at Timberman. I will report back on Sunday and let you all know if I puked up any intestinal tissue.
While I think Ashburn is one of the smartest guys on the m-boards about cycling - I really do like your protocols Ashburn - I couldn’t disagree more with his take on the run. In sprints, I do fairly well, usually one of the better runs times, medium bike times, solid swim time - and I typically win my AG (35-39) or I am in the top 3 or so. Even though I put the hammer down on the run and it’s my strength by far, I do NOT advise running out at full speed. The best thing, IMHO, is to ease into the run and build from there. Usually I jog easy for 400-800m, and then keep building until the turn around and then I just let it rip and hold on for dear life. You have to be pretty fit to push an entire 5k after 45’ (swim and bike) at LT+++. So - my experience would be take the bike slower for you - not like 20 mph, but 22-23 if you are averaging 25, and then really push the bike. Not sure how you got 10th if you were 30th on the run. In CO, you need a top swim, bike and run to get in the top 10. If you run slower than 6:30 off the bike, you are out the back.
Another thing is that I do race sims all the time when my focus is on sprints. Try hammering out a good 10-15 miles, end at the track and run 2-3 miles all out. Next week come back and do the same workout and easy off a tad on the bike and see if you run better. This has worked for me in the past. Hope this helps.
I find that I ride and run worse if I hammer from the get go. So I build up to speed for the first mile or two, and then hammer the remainder. In reality, though, I end up taking little breaks - back off on downhills for a bit, back off a bit when drinking, back off for corners. So it’s more like extremely short rest intervals
I go very close to TT effort maybe just a bit under. Won the last sprint I did.
Make sure to get a good warm up like 45 min to an hour!
Part of the run is mental so stay positive and chase em down.
You should be puking or close to it at the end or you did not go hard enough.
Have your transition dialed/thought out in advance. A slow transition in a big sprint could be several places. All your stuff should be on the bike so you are stripping the suit, putting on the helmet/glasses and rock n roll.
