I’ve run a couple of marathons so I know about pacing. But what about a sprint tri? My tri coaches, both elite triathletes say go full out aggro with guns blazing. The problem is that I am not elite like they are so wouldn’t I go out far more conservatively? I don’t want to crash and burn for my first triathlon, however, I don’t want to finish mid-pack or slower.
Here is my anticipated breakdown of effort for each transition:
Swim–110% to start, settle into an easy 95%
Bike–98%
Run–100%
If you want to do well, get in and out of the transitions fast!
I’ve never done a sprint, but i’ve done many Olympic distances, and those, IMHO, are just as hard and sometimes harder than HIM and IM’s. I race the Oly distances pretty much with the above formula though…
If you finish the race and don’t at least feel like vomitting, you left too much on the course…
The flip answer is “swim like there is no bike, bike like there is no run, and run like someone is chasing you.”
The realistic answer is for you to know your abilities well enough to determine what speed you can maintain at the level of discomfort you are willing to endure. “Elites” are no different than you, except they are faster.
Do remember that a sprint triathlon lasts nearly as long as a ten mile run, or thereabouts.
Swim–110% to start, settle into an easy 95%
Bike–98%
Run–100%
If you want to do well, get in and out of the transitions fast!
I’ve never done a sprint, but i’ve done many Olympic distances, and those, IMHO, are just as hard and sometimes harder than HIM and IM’s. I race the Oly distances pretty much with the above formula though…
If you finish the race and don’t at least feel like vomitting, you left too much on the course…
He has multiple coaches, and he’s asking us?
As a sprint triathlon “specialist”, I’ll amend your vomiting criterion to this: if you don’t feel like quitting several times during the bike and run, you haven’t been going hard enough.
Ha! You guys are funny. Yeah, I actually train with a tri group and have about 4 total elite tri coaches, but mainly the two who gave me the “go full out” advice. Remember, I’m a rookie so I ask dumb questions.
I get it. No holds barred all the way through. I like that. To be honest, I would imagine that the competitiveness at the start would prevent most people from holding back even the slightest.
I was hoping for a “relaxing” first tri experience.
“If you can’t taste it, you’re not going hard enough.”
Really, if you’ve done events like marathons and half marathons, you should have a pretty good idea what perceived exertion level you can maintain for your given projected race duration. Go with that.
I’d advise keeping your bike effort a bit under lactate/functional threshold for your first sprint tri, especially if the distances are 30k/4.5m, that will make the run a bit more manageable.
Small tweaks - I’d bump your bike effort to 90% and notch down the first 3 miles of the run to 95%. Even in a 5k race you shouldn’t go 100% from the start. I always hold myself back to 90% of how I feel for the first mile. It compensates for the adrenalin which makes you feel artificially good for about a mile in a running race. I guarantee you won’t feel artificially good at any point in the run after you get off the bike. Good luck.
