"Just a sprint"

vtate75

Ok Iron Men and Iron Ladies, I would like to ask you to remove the phrase "Just a sprint" from your vocabulary. When a person is BEGINNING, I would assume that most begin with "just a sprint." I have found that the more people I talk about this with, the more often I hear, "OH, well for just a sprint you don't need _____________." (Insert thing that makes them a real athlete and me a baby). While I have been told that triathletes are a tight knit community, I will say that I never heard this phrase in other sports. When I started running, I never heard anyone say, "Oh, that's just a 5K. You barely need to train." ....or whatever other stupid thing I keep hearing. Starting new things is hard! You can't become faster, you can't go longer, and you can't do better unless you START. So....no more "just a sprint."

There...vent complete.

Cgirlish

Lol I completed an ironman in 2001 now a sprint would be tough :-)
Stay strong

sonyachan

As someone who will do her first sprint in September, I am guilty of this as well. Need to recognize my greatness and stop saying "it's just a sprint."

scott091501

I get where you're coming from as it was less than 2 years ago I started training for my first sprint. That said "Just a sprint" doesn't come from a hurtful place for most of us. There are a lot of things one has to take into consideration for long course racing that you just don't for sprints. If you project your finish time under 90 minutes you don't have to take on course nutrition into consideration in a sprint. You should see the nutrition plans for IMs. Same goes for regulating your power/HR output for experienced triathletes in sprints. It's just not a concern. In an IM you spend 6-8 hours as a slave to your power meter on a bike.

So if I were to say my race on Sunday is just a sprint it's no slight to anyone's training or the difficulty level they perceive the race to be. It's more of the fact that it will take me 10 minutes max to set up my transistion area, 10 minutes to get warmed up, and less on my mind in regards to race strategy as opposed to having to check your bike in the day before, preparing different bags for different transition areas, etc.

vtate75

I get where you're coming from as it was less than 2 years ago I started training for my first sprint. That said "Just a sprint" doesn't come from a hurtful place for most of us. There are a lot of things one has to take into consideration for long course racing that you just don't for sprints. If you project your finish time under 90 minutes you don't have to take on course nutrition into consideration in a sprint. You should see the nutrition plans for IMs. Same goes for regulating your power/HR output for experienced triathletes in sprints. It's just not a concern. In an IM you spend 6-8 hours as a slave to your power meter on a bike.

So if I were to say my race on Sunday is just a sprint it's no slight to anyone's training or the difficulty level they perceive the race to be. It's more of the fact that it will take me 10 minutes max to set up my transistion area, 10 minutes to get warmed up, and less on my mind in regards to race strategy as opposed to having to check your bike in the day before, preparing different bags for different transition areas, etc.

Good points. I never mind when people say things like, "It probably doesn't matter what you eat the night before a sprint." Those comments are not the problem. It's more about the attitude that implies it is no big deal. I don't think an Ironman is in my future....or probably even a 1/2, but I would like to do an Olympic in the fall, which I know will involve some different strategies, though not too many. I will need that advice, so I'm not saying the distance isn't a factor, I'm just saying that it is all in how you say things and the context (not you...but people).

ironholgs

I'm probably guilty of saying this when I do a sprint triathlon. I've certainly never said it in regards to other people and their efforts / aspirations. I've had dozens of people contact me this year talking about their first sprint, oly etc.....after reading something I wrote. I encourage each and every one of them because I remember how terrified I was standing on the banks of that water at my first sprint triathlon.

I've just finished 2 ironman races in the past 6 weeks and they hurt HOWEVER sprint triathlons also hurt, but in a different way. Sometimes it's a lot harder to go shorter and faster than it is is to go longer and slower.

And I agree with Scott about the prep etc...

Fairplay to anyone that does a triathlon regardless of their finishing tme or the distance.

bstamps12

I have heard it in a lot of other sports. In cycling, "it's only a 35 miler!" In swimming, "it's only a 50m!" I have to admit I think that way about running now, I don't really think twice about "just a 5K." I just do it, the same way Ironmen/women could bust out a sprint tri in their sleep. I agree it can be condescending when looked at from our point of view (like you, I've only done sprint tri's) but when I compare it to even my half marathons, I can see where a sprint becomes such a small distance and concern to people who do HIM and IM all the time. I am getting to the point also where I can literally sprint a sprint distance triathlon, meaning I know I've trained hard and long enough that I can go all out on each leg of the tri whereas even in a half marathon I must be very conscious of my pace, HR, core body temp (in hot races), etc.

Also, most of the HIM and IM's are destination races, as my half marathons have been. After going through the headache as Scott mentioned of everything involved with traveling to a race (I can't imagine the hassle of flying with a bike!!!), even the logistics of a sprint tri (usually near home) are infinitely easier in "just a sprint."

I'm trying to see the other side but I agree that it's all in context. They have no right to look down on us just because we've only done sprint tris, which still take considerable training, even if it's not the 30 hrs per week their IM takes.

trijoe

I think there's a sense in the triathlon world that until you go long, you're still just a newbie. I'm not saying I agree with it because I don't. But I see this all the time. One of the most talented and formidable triathlon beasts that I've ever met only does sprints and oly's. That's it, end of story. She's a professional coach, and doesn't just win her AG, she wins RACES. The whole enchilada. She Crushes people. But she never has any desire to go long, and I hear people talking about this, as if something's "wrong" with her, every so often. And it's being said by people that she beats at the shorter distances!

So, I'm not surprised that you might see this.

If you ask me, I'll tell you how great I think it is that people are racing at all. Long, short, sprints, marathons, HIMs, 5k's, you name it, I love them all. I love it when people challenge themselves. When they do their first race regardless of the length. Or when they bump up to a longer distance. Or even when they simply choose harder, more challenging races. Like racing something really hilly for the first time. There's a power, a strength in that challenge. And I groove on it. So, in my eyes, when people are challenging themselves, I'm lining up to watch and cheer, with my metaphorical cowbell just clanging away.

With that said, I'm a little confused. Have people told you directly that what YOU'RE racing is "just a sprint"? Or that what THEY'RE racing is just a sprint? Because there's a huge difference. For a lot people, a sprint race really is "just a sprint", if only to them. It may be your Mount Everest, but not to them. It all comes down to individual perspective. It's the same thing with times, really. Where I may be perfectly happy with a certain time, you may cringe in terror at it.

I'm hoping nobody has told you that YOUR race was only a sprint. That's pretty rotten. I hope you've able to get past a few peoples' attitudes and remember just how freakin' fun this sport is, regardless of distance or time or athleticism, or who's pissing off whom. Oh my goodness, it really is so amazingly fun.

I hope this helps.

vtate75

Ha! I didn't realize that this thread has traction again. I originally posted it before the first sprint, and I guess I was tired of the "just a sprint" phrase when I would ask people I know for training advice. I had someone say to me, "You really don't even need to train. It's just a sprint." Well, now that I have done two, I can say that it is total BS to say that you don't need to train. TOTAL BS! That being said, it is a different type of difficult than other things I have done. After my sprints I was fine to go about my day. I wasn't wiped out or dead or anything, but I was trying to figure out how to go FASTER next time. I did begin to obsess more. Most importantly, I changed my goals. I used to want to do sprints and olympics, but now I want to do a half iron man by next summer. I don't think I'll ever aim for Iron Man, but you never know.

I have noticed that triathletes say "just a sprint" a lot. I think most do it so as not to look like they are bragging. I don't know....

What I do know is this.... I have run a lot of races, but there is nothing like a triathlon. Though I can run a half marathon, it doesn't make me feel powerful like a triathlon. Triathlons are addictive...they are hard...they take over your life....and there is nothing JUST about any of them. I think IRON MEN and WOMEN are amazing, but I am a triathlete too.

(NEXT Sprint is July 29)

ironholgs

Good luck for your sprint at the end of the month.

scott091501

Ha! I didn't realize that this thread has traction again. I originally posted it before the first sprint, and I guess I was tired of the "just a sprint" phrase when I would ask people I know for training advice. I had someone say to me, "You really don't even need to train. It's just a sprint." Well, now that I have done two, I can say that it is total BS to say that you don't need to train. TOTAL BS! That being said, it is a different type of difficult than other things I have done. After my sprints I was fine to go about my day. I wasn't wiped out or dead or anything, but I was trying to figure out how to go FASTER next time. I did begin to obsess more. Most importantly, I changed my goals. I used to want to do sprints and olympics, but now I want to do a half iron man by next summer. I don't think I'll ever aim for Iron Man, but you never know.

I have noticed that triathletes say "just a sprint" a lot. I think most do it so as not to look like they are bragging. I don't know....

What I do know is this.... I have run a lot of races, but there is nothing like a triathlon. Though I can run a half marathon, it doesn't make me feel powerful like a triathlon. Triathlons are addictive...they are hard...they take over your life....and there is nothing JUST about any of them. I think IRON MEN and WOMEN are amazing, but I am a triathlete too.

(NEXT Sprint is July 29)

LOL. I feel like I've hear this before. Oh right this was me in December of 2010. "Maybe I'll do the 70.3 in Austin next year, but that's it." And then you make friends with people that do full distance races. And then you go out to cheer them on and you see the spectacle that is that race and the insane amount of emotion that comes over the competitors as they finish and you're hooked. Welcome to the vicious cycle.