Sprint one week before TimberMan?

Triathlon Forum
1

Hey guys - I am doing TimberMan, tentatively my last A race for the year (I say tentatively because depending on how I finish it may lead to another race somewhere in between Georgia and Cuba that will remain unnamed so that I don’t jinx myself). There is a really fun local sprint tri 1 week before - would it be a bad idea to do?

For that weekend my training plan calls for a 2:30 bike and 1 hour run
on Saturday, then a 2,000M swim and a 45-minute run on Sunday. This will be
coming off of a peak bike of 4:30 and a peak run of 2:15, and my peak
week (3 weeks out from the race) will be around 18-hours. The sprint tri will actually be significantly less than what my
taper calls for in terms of volume, but there are other factors like
the higher intensity and overall mental exhaustion brought on by nerves
surrounding any race. Thoughts?

2

I say go for it. There is no better training for triathlon than… triathlon. I’ve had some great races at longer distances doing exactly what you’re planning. I think a sprint race can be one of the best tapers you can do.