So it struck me the other day, maybe it was missing out on the Kona lottery or maybe it was lack of sleep, that there is only 1 race I really care about. Surprisingly it wasn’t Kona or any other IM but was the local sprint near my house.
This was my first race five years ago, and the only race I make sure I sign up for every year. Since that first race, I raced every distance from sprint to IM, but always seem to measure myself by how well I do at this little race even though I always tailored my training for longer races.
No more. I’m going short. But then I realized, how does one train for such a short race? Most sprint race plans are for newbies. I’ve done some speed workouts on the track (8 x 200’s) but that’s about it.
So, before I ask the allknowing of this site how best to train for such an event, let me give you a brief description:
.6 mile swim
9 mile bike
5k run
The bike, while short, has an 1/3 mile 11% grade hill 3 miles in followed by some rollers while the first half of the run is completely uphill.
My best time is 1:05 but the swim was on the short side.
Not everyone can reach the conclusion that Ironman is not the end-all and be-all of triathlon. Last week I raced my first sprint tri in four years of competing and think I grasp a little better why people go long.
Sprint distance races are painful.
There is no point in a sprint triathlon where you should not be telling yourself that “this really hurts”. I was anaerobic within two minutes on the swim, by halfway through the ride I was dying and the run felt like the last three miles of a 10K when you are really starting to hurt.
In any case, you will find that all the long aerobic training you have done will be to your benefit, even at shorter distances. At an hour long, a sprint triathlon is still about 90 percent aerobic and 10 percent anaerobic, so aerobic training should still make up the large percentage of your miles. I do very little speedwork except a few weeks out from my important races.
Using Arthur Lydiard as a reference, he recommend no more than 4-8 weeks of hard interval work leading up to your A-race. More than that was counterproductive in his opinion. He recommend about 15 minutes total of some time of speed, i.e. 12x400, 3x1 mile or something similar, two or three times a week. For a triatlete that is excessive and I have found one run interval session per week is enough. He proceed that phase with about 4 weeks of running hills to strengthen the legs before the hard work and also said you should do strides (5-6x 120-200 meters of fast running) year round to prepare your legs for faster work.
On the bike, you need to develop power, probably via some low rpm, big gear work. Search this forum for good advice there.
I didn’t mention swimming, but me giving any advice about swimming would be silly.
You can hold pretty much your max LT effort for close to an hour, more or less.
Break down your splits for each of the legs out of that 1:00 time. What are they?
Those are the paces/intensity time efforts that you need to focus on.
Overall and generally speaking, I find that these feel close to max efforts.
Great stuff. Done right it can take your IM fitness to a higher level. Short racing, is often overlooked by many IM triathletes. They are missing a great training opportunities.
I have sworn off Iron distance racing as it makes me one thing and that is slow! Last season I had mixed results at shorter stuff and for me personally, I do not have enough training time to win at Iron distance. I spent most of my last season preparing to go long. So this winter I shifted gears, speed work and cadence became my emphasis. I varied the distances and workouts to keep it fun. I do no rides over 35 miles or runs over 10K. The results, I have won my age group in 4 Du’s this winter and spring and got third in my age group, 9th overall, and a major PR ( 9 Min) at Galveston International Tri this month. I am having way more fun than I used to. The other post was right, you do border on going anerobic most of the time, but that is how I seem too be wired. Why should our sport be any different than my running background. I was always a strong 5K runner and an average at best marathon guy. I seem to think that folks that think that short course is for beginners tend to not be competetive at either distance and its an ego thing. I tend to pick one race a month, train for it and then go real hard. Triathlon stays real fun for me this way.
I guess the point in such a brief race is to go like crazy. My runner friend said intervals of 30 sec. above LT and 4-5 min. just below or at LT are the most efficent. Some article he read but it corresponds with much of what we have read … In running, 8-16 200s 3X a month and 4-6 800s 3X a month ought to do the trick. Obviously silky smooth transitions are required … And train those hills a bunch of course! Good luck! -TB