How many of you can honestly say, you left 100% of all you had on the course. You could not have swum, biked and ran any faster than you did?
I would say I have yet to have a race like that and keep wondering why.
Mark
When you are angry at someone, I think you should be a man and take it out on the course.
So the secret is to get really pissed at someone right before the race? Just random folks or someone specifically? 
How many of you can honestly say, you left 100% of all you had on the course. You could not have swum, biked and ran any faster than you did?
I would say I have yet to have a race like that and keep wondering why.
Mark
I honestly think it’s impossible to do a race like this and swim, bike and run as fast s you possibly could. I think one would be hard pressed to finish if one raced like that. I do think you can leave 100% on the course, but that is just the total effort for the race as a whole.
I think very few people do this except for the run. When your swimming you are thinking I still have to bike and run. When you are biking you are thinking I still have to run. On top of that I don’t think that very many triathletes actually race the swim portion, it servers more as a short warmup for the bike and run…
Ok, let me add a caveat. If not being able to go any faster means swimming, running and biking fast for all three, not hammering on the swim and bike and then slogging through the run.
The only time I have ever questioned whether I gave everything was at a race once where I let a guy run away after I saw he was not in my age group. I doubt I would have done it had he been the same age group and always look back at that race feeling like it was not a 100 percent effort. One place overall is one place overall and I gave it up without a fight.
All of my recent races felt like I was teetering on the edge the entire time while I tried to chase someone just in front of me or stay ahead of someone just behind. Those are far more mentally and physically draining than races where you go hard but are not really in touch with your competition.
As a corollary to that thought, I almost always second guess myself at a race, wondering if I had done something differently I might have gone faster. I think that is just human nature.
Chad
I disagree, sometimes the swim is a long warm up.
Great question… I’ve yet to feel like I really left it all on the course… When I ran Cross Country I felt like it was all gone after mile 2 but now with tri’s I can’t figure out how to do it… I guess I’ll have to drop the hammer with a few miles to go and see what happens…
I believe I have a mental block that prevents me from seeing just how “fast” I can go. There is that little tiny voice deep inside that says “slow down lest you blow up.” “Careful now”…crap like that.
I feel like I finally did about a week and a half ago. In past years, my endurance sucked, and I was just trying to survive. I raced an OLY, and was thinking I might just blow up on the run. Kept pushing, figuring its better to blow up than wonder “what if?”. It was a good feeling; plus, I can really see that its my swim thats massively holding me back. 2:10 seems feasible now, rather than just some impossible time.
That’s what sprint races are for. Ever notice how many people projectile vomit as they cross the finish line at a sprint. I guess that’s not leaving it all on the course, some of it gets left on the volunteers who are not quick enough to get out of the way.
the only way to fix that is enter a race (assumed name, different state, ect. ect…) and go until you blow up. Then you’ll know how close you can get.
For each discipline I tend to push to a level of suffering I am willing to maintain for the distance, which is a slower pace than I am capable of maintaining. This always leads to being able to finish strong on the run.
I’m certain I’m leaving some on the course, because I’ve never suffered as much in a tri as I have at an all-out run race. I’m also convinced that when you run a race in this manner, you’re not leaving too much on the course (a few min in a HIM?) and I also recover from races extremely quickly.
I do this for fun and pushing my body to its limits really isn’t fun or rewarding.
There have been races where I gave 100% of what I had that day but, unfortunately, was not yet at the finish line.
As far as getting it perfect – draining the last tiny bit from the tank exactly as I hit the finish line, no, I don’t think I’ve done that yet.
So the secret is to get really pissed at someone right before the race? Just random folks or someone specifically?
My freshman year of college I was about to get into a fight with another freshman teammate (I doubt we would have taken any swings) while we were stretching before our conference cross country championship. One of my best friends (now) was our captain at the time and was instructed to give us a pep talk before the race. His pep-talk involved keeping us two from killing each other.
Us two freshman finished 2nd and 3rd for the team that day and helped bring us our highest conference finish in a decade.
When I cramped 40 miles into the bike of my first IM and then finally DNF’d at mile 22 of the marathon, not by choice. Yes I trained, poor nutrition and blistering temps. I have never gone through more mental, physical and emotional torture in my life.
So the only race I gave 100% was a DNF. Nice.
I often cross the line and could not take another step. My wife says to stop going so hard it makes me look so bad for finish pictures. Now this is usually in sprints. I try to go as hard as possible
Its hard for me gauge it, but since I’ve gotten better at the sport, my ability to push red line gets longer and longer. I have not completely blown up for quite a while. Recent example,
Spirit of Racine 2007 effort = 95%
Swim = 85%
Bike = 85%
Run = 85 up 99% effort
I admire those that push 95% + for an entire Half Ironman distances, like racing at Lactate Threshold for the whole thing. Simply amazing that they can do that.
bingo.
there is something nearly magical surrounding the feeling of throwing it against the wall on a short course to see if there’s anything left to drip.