I’ve been training for olympics and perhaps a half to finish the season. During my training, I have been racing in sprints for speed work and I love it. Last weekend I did an olympic tri. When I got to the run, I just wanted it to be over. It wasn’t because of fatigue or anything like that. I think I just wasn’t in the moment and got bored. I have another sprint this weekend and I can’t wait. I’ve been excited all week. I view the sprint as an all out attack race and that excites me. I also have 3 children so the training for a sprint really helps with family time. It seems sprints are an ideal fit for me. I like the short-intense speed of the sprint and I’m more motivated to train for sprints only. I would much rather go out train my butt off for an hour, then stroll along for 2-3.
The problem…my ego. It seems you’re not a “real” triathlete unless you go long. You hear the words “it’s only a sprint” or beginners should race sprints and it kind of cheapens the accomplishment. Does anyone else feel this way? From an athletic stand point I find it more impressive to finish a sprint in a hour the to take 10 to finish a half, but it doesn’t seem to be viewed that way.
The problem…my ego. It seems you’re not a “real” triathlete unless you go long. You hear the words “it’s only a sprint” or beginners should race sprints and it kind of cheapens the accomplishment. Does anyone else feel this way? From an athletic stand point I find it more impressive to finish a sprint in a hour the to take 10 to finish a half, but it doesn’t seem to be viewed that way.
Well said.
Something has happened in the sport over the last 10 - 15 years and it’s been turned up-side down. The great news is that new people continue to flock to the sport of triathlon. The interesting data point is that many of these people start out almost immediately focusing on 1/2 and full IM distance racing. Nothing is wrong with that, but it’s a bit backwards, and if optimal performance at those longer races was a goal, then sticking to shorter races for some time to start, would be advised.
Again, people can do whatever they want to do, but your approach, in my view, and the view many of the top coaches out there, is the “better” one - focus on “Sprints” and max-out your performance in those events before moving onto anything longer. Calling it a “sprint” is a bit miss-leading. Yes in the grand scheme of things in the world of triathlon at an hour or so these races are fairly short, but from a physiological perspective it’s almost all the same, as anything longer than a few minutes in length, is close to 100% aerobic in nature. You need to have great aerobic fitness for a 10 minute event or a 10 hour event!
Dude, I’m in the same boat here. I’ve been doing Triathlons for 15 years. Never done anything longer than an Olympic distance. So, I set out this year with the intention of doing a 1/2 IM distance in September. Even started a training program for it 4 weeks ago. I have to admit, I really don’t like all the training. 12 hours a week is about all I can muster. It takes too much time. Plus, with the heat wave here in the East Coast, it kinda put a damper on it for me. I’m not going into a 5 hour race unprepared.
I really like the Sprint and Olympic distances. I can race an Olympic pretty much at the same intensity as a Sprint, I like to go fast all the way. Plus, I’m not too keen on doing a race I have to actually eat to get through. Maybe next year, but, I’ve abandend the idea for this year.
I was talking to someone this past weekend who does only 1/2 and IM races. The used the following analogy: A long course race is like having a sprained wrist…A Sprint/Olympic is like holding your hand right in the fire! Seemed fitting.
I think anyone who says you’re not a real triathlete until you go long is an idiot. I have mucho respect for these local guys that just kill the short course stuff. There’s a guy in the Houston area that pretty much always gets the OA win at the local sprint and olys. He posts some ridiculous sub-1 hour sprints and sub-2 hour olympics. I don’t think he’s ever done anything longer. I’m hardly a more real triathlete than him because I have a few IM and HIM races on my resume. He beats my ass by 30 minutes in an oly race.
I’ve raced all four distances. In preferential order for me it’s HIM, Oly, IM, Sprint. The issue for me with sprints is the travel time required. There’s one sprint race I do each each year because it’s 5 minutes from my house. The other sprint races around the Houston area take an hour to drive. I’m not going to wake up at 4 am, drive for an hour, race for little over an hour and then drive back home another hour. I’m not going to spend more time commuting to a sprint race than it takes to do the race.
Frankly, just do YOUR thing and do not worry about the perception of others.
Never had a desire to go long, and while things can always change, I suspect never will. I’ve done standalone marathons and a 1/2IM, but I’ve got no interest in the time commitment that a full IM requires.
Sprints are the best! if you love racing you can knock one out most weekends. I find i can do 3 weekends of racing in a row then I need a week a two break till my next race. When you can really race a sprint putting it all on the line nothing is better
Sprints all the way here (but an occasional Oly). Busting it for an hour is a different kind of suffering than slogging through a longer triathlon, and the training parallels that experience.
For me, it seems like a sprint is “racing,” while a half or full ironman is “enduring.”
And you can do stuff like a swim/bike/run/swim/bike/run or run/bike/swim race, too!
“The problem…my ego. It seems you’re not a “real” triathlete unless you go long.”
I’ve got good news for you–it turns out Long Course triathletes are full of shit. Go check out the Lake Placid results- only 23% of racers went without wetsuits, which means that 77% of “competitors” (who will henceforth be called ‘participants’) decided to REMOVE THEMSELVES from the competitive results.
I bet if you polled all Lake Placid registrants before Sunday and the question was "Is Ironman a “race” you’d get way more than 23% of respondents saying “yes.”
You know why I went long? Because I was slow. And the longer you go, the better your “slow” gets. It didn’t make me insecure enough to say that “you’re not a real triathlete unless you go long” because I knew long ago that that was bullshit. Real racing is done at the Sprint/Olympic level. 70.3 and 140.6 is just about who has the more impressive Zone 2. And now we know that roughly 75% of participants are only doing it to knock it off their bucket list, or more likely, so they talk about it.
I love sprints. I’ve done every distance but the full IM, and sprints (750m/20k/5k) are my favourite format by far. It’s long enough to require fitness, but short and intense enough that it doesn’t get boring. Also if something goes wrong (flat/GI distress/bad training), things are only going wrong for about 30 minutes and you’re done (and you can just try again a week later). Plus there are tons within a 1-hour drive of me every year, compared to 2-3 olympics and 1 HIM.
To summarize:
-Intense
-Cheap
-Entertaining for spectators and participants the whole way through
-Numerous (at least in my area)
-Variable (different leg lengths from tri to tri)
It requires just as much skill, talent, and training to do a really good sprint as it does to do a really good IM. In many sports, the glamour distances that draw the high ratings are the short ones: 50/100/200m in swimming, 100m in running.
I’m 25, so maybe I’m just partial to the faster-twitch distances while I’m still young.
so far ive done two olys and four sprints this season. two olys and two sprints to go. i really really love sprints. at one of these sprints i´ve been laying on the ground in the finish area for about 15min before even thinking about getting up. i was completely spent.
i have done half distance races, but dont like the nutritional part of it, and the “dont go too fast”. never thought about IM. i am 25, still plenty of time before moving up.
The lack of respect accorded to short course athletes bothers me.
My background is in running and I see the same thing. People ask when I’m moving up to the marathon, as if it is the ultimate goal for all runners. Shorter races should not be viewed as a stepping stone to the marathon. The same is true of triathlon. Performing at a high level in short races is a far greater accomplishment than completing a slow marathon, HM, HIM or IM.
Given the limited training hours of most AGs, many would be better served pursuing short course excellence rather than long distance mediocrity.
All I do is sprints and olys. I like the intensity and speed (albeit diminishing as I get older). I’ve done several standalone marathons and found them boring, compared to 5Ks and 10Ks–which are all out races. No desire to go longer than oly in triathlon. I would rather use my 10-12 hours of training a week to go faster. And you get to race more often.
I’m a Sprint and Olympic guy. I have two young boys and training for the shorter races make sense to me. I have the time to train shorter. I would like to do a 1/2 one day but I’m not in a rush. Plus, if I do a 1/2 I’m not willing to just be a participant. I want to be prepared. But like I said the Sprints are so much fun.
I love the all out of the Sprint. I’m working on getting it under an hour. That’s the goal (I can’t swim, no really - but that’s another story). Another thing is that I’m 46 and started training endurance sports two years ago. It’s taking me some time to go faster.
Funny thing is that although I’m 46 I’m still getting faster…
I only pick up on traces of this sentiment and only in this forum to be honest. If you can’t shake that feeling, focus more on your training and less on the elitists. I’m in a tri club where the vast majority of athletes race only sprints and the occasional oly. I have a great deal of respect for any athletes dedicating time and energy to getting stronger, faster and enduring–5k to Ultraman.
Yes – both by choice and by circumstance. Can’t run too much this year, but I can still race sprints – while having fun and placing reasonably well.
I still train for swim/bike like I’m prepping for an Olympic-distance race, and I love to feel like I’m fit enough to jump into a 1/2 on a whim…if somebody else were to pay my entry fee
But sprints will always take the cake in my book:
Over in an hourEasy(/ier) on the walletMore social, less pressureThe day that I don’t feel ready for a sprint is the day somebody needs to tell me to get my life together
I don’t only do sprints, but they’re my favorite, and given the option (like at the Boulder Sunrise/ Sunset), I’ll take it over Olympic. I did do one Olympic in Texas when I was there for work (no sprint option), and it was fun, but it did confirm that I prefer sprints. I also signed up for a non-WTC half-iron in September because it was an empty weekend and that was the only option out there, but I’m going to be one of the hated “participants” at that. Like you, I like the fact that the shorter distances don’t require eating or port-a-potties (or peeing on your bike), and yes, the notion that HIM/IM are the only worthwhile distances is frustrating. Just keep doing sprints and getting faster.
Someone who doesn’t respect the sprint tri obviously hasn’t raced a sprint tri. And when I write race I mean moving at a pace much faster than your normal training pace.
Would anyone tell an Olympian at a race distance that takes less than an hour that their events are just for beginners or aren’t long enough to take seriously? I would think that would be quite embarrassing.
