Sprint Triathlon Tips: Conquer the Finish Line

Kona appears to be the phrase that most people choose to describe their ultimate aim when they first start triathlon. For many triathletes, getting to and participating in the Ironman World Championships is something they’d love to do.

For runners, an Ironman-distance race is like finishing a marathon. For bikers, it’s like biking for 100 miles. It’s claimed that you have to walk before you can run. Now let’s discuss about sprint triathlons.

What is a Sprint Style Triathlon?

A sprint style triathlon is made up of a 750 m swim, a 20 k cycle ride, and a 5 k run. If you explore around your area, you’ll see that many races offer different “sprint” triathlon distances.

These distances can be anything from a 300-meter swim in a pool to a 30-kilometer cycle ride or a mile run. To put it simply, sprint lengths are cousins to the legendary “Ironman” distance but are significantly shorter and faster.

Why Choose the Sprint Distance?

You’ve just started your investigation into triathlon and what you need in order to compete. When you do your first look, you can feel like, “I need what?!?” Let’s break down what you actually need:

Cost-Benefit

Triathlon is not a cheap sport. Depending upon your level of commitment, passion, and level of racing, the expenditures pile up rapidly, and that’s just in equipment alone.

Once you begin to throw in coaching or training plan costs, race registration charges, and travel, it is enough to make your head spin. For example, a normal Half-Ironman event registration fee is roughly $300, whereas a full Ironman might be upwards of $650 based upon location. While it surely is a bucket list item for many, not everybody can realistically put out those sums. This is where sprint triathlons shine.

Almost every city/town provides sprint triathlons during the summer and early fall season. This offers participants the opportunity to race locally, not break the bank when it comes to registration fees, and be able to race often.

Speaking of costs, below we will break down what you will need to compete in and complete a sprint triathlon.

Equipment

Swim:

• Goggles
• Swimsuit or triathlon race suit
• Cap (most likely provided by the race organising commitee )

For training and for race day, all you need are the three items mentioned above. You’ll be able to finish all of your training requirements without having to worry about additional cost.

There are other swim equipment items you could get down the road to aid develop strength, stroke efficiency, and power, but to get started, keep to less is more!

Bike:

• Bike
• Bike Computer
• Helmet
• Cycling shoes
• Sneakers

Depending upon what you use for pedals (whether clipless or flat pedals), this will decide if you need to buy in cycling shoes or utilise your running sneakers.

Whether you are utilising a mountain bike, road bike, or triathlon bike, all bikes are going to function for your sprint race. While other rivals may turn up with the latest and best biking gear, don’t sweat it. Just like anything in life, there is plenty of time to make investments if you wind up acquiring the triathlon bug.

Run:

• Running Shoes

Simple as that! A nice pair of running shoes goes a long way. If you are riding in your run shoes, then there are less things in your transition zones that can assist make T2 the fastest yet! If you’re searching for a watch to handle all of your info in one location, the Wahoo RIVAL is unrivalled.

Seamlessly integrating into your triathlon training and race, this watch can capture swim, cycle, and run facts all in one. Less fuss, more focus.

Time Efficient

Sprint races offer you a great chance to complete a triathlon without the anxiety of wondering if you can physically finish a distance like an Ironman, etc. Using a sprint race for a first triathlon is a great way to improve your training time for the race distance.

Racing in sprint triathlons can be both enjoyable and demanding, but it does not have to dominate your life with enormous amounts of training time, thus for the time-crunched triathlete…these distances can be for you!

Practice Makes Perfect

Using sprint events as a stepping stone for training is also a wonderful method to climb the ladder in triathlon race distances. Sprint distance racing is obviously not a distance that is “just for beginners.” Many elite triathletes still finish sprint-distance racing on the world series level.

These small durations demand excellent execution and allow little space for mistakes. The short time of the event offers some of the fastest racing you’ll witness, requiring massive quantities of both aerobic and anaerobic power from athletes.

Sprint distance races also allow you to race frequently since the recuperation period is less than that of an Ironman distance race. How does this benefit you?

• Become more comfortable with racing.
• Focusing on new skills in each race.
• Creating confidence through repetition.
• Discovering areas of improvement.
• Ability to work on weaknesses more often.

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Training Plan

There are many different ways to train for a sprint race triathlon, and while one plan may work for some, it may not work for all. You will need to locate something that works not only with your body but also with your goal.

Ensuring that you have time to fit in training, work, family duties, etc., is vital for not only time management but your health as well. (That includes your mental health!)

Some recommendations to remember while you are training:

• Ensure you are able to finish at least twice the distance of the race length.
  For example, if the race distance swim is 750 metres, make sure to practice at least for 1500 metres. This will assist build up your cardiovascular fitness as well as swim-specific power! If you are new to swimming, knowing you can accomplish double the needed race distance can also assist to improve your confidence coming into race day.

This same notion applies to the bike and run segments. If the race is a 20k bike, try to put in several 40k training distance rides. For the run: if the race is a 5k, on the weekends attempt to make your long run upwards of 10k!

The beauty of this is that if you wish to jump up in race distance…you’ll be ready to confront an Olympic Distance triathlon in no time!

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Swim

Depending upon your past and experience, the swim might be one of the more scary sections of the triathlon. If feasible, try to acquire as much practice swimming in open water as you can.

This can help not only create confidence but also helps in growing swim-specific strength since there are no barriers to stop on like in a pool.

If you can’t gain access to open water, don’t sweat it! Plenty of triathletes don’t have open water access. Some recommendations for practicing open water swimming in the pool:

• Head-Up Freestyle: practice swimming freestyle with your head up and out of the water. This is a standard drill for lifeguards that is also applicable to open water.
• Sighting: Every few strokes pick your head up out of the water and practise your “sighting.” (Pretend there is a large buoy in the pool!)
• Open Water Turns: when practising, make a few of your sessions include flip turning before the wall, which means do not touch the wall! Use your strength in your upper body and a solid kick to get movement going again!

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Bike

Typically the bike seems to be many athletes’ best portion of the triathlon! Developing strength on the bike will not only aid enhance your riding leg but, in fact, helps your run leg too! The stronger your legs are for cycling, the less weariness they will have when you begin the run. Some ideas for your training:

• Race Pace Efforts: Be sure to include some race-specific efforts in your preparation. This can involve a workout of 5×5 minutes at threshold intensity. 5-minute rest in between. This can help you dial in your RPE (rate of perceived exertion).
• Above Race speed Efforts: While it is crucial to dial in what your race effort should feel like, be sure to throw in efforts that are well above race speed. This involves going into more anaerobic or VO₂ max types of tasks. These types of workouts will help you raise your aerobic ceiling! Can also help to make race pace feel much more manageable.
• Keep Your Easy Days Easy: It can be tempting to set out on a ride and keep pressing harder into the pedals since more is more…right? Wrong! Be sure that not every ride you do (or swim/run) is hard! There are times to push hard (your exercise), and there are times to go lightly. Recovery is when the genuine exercise gains are made!
• Cadence Drills: Focus on form and cadence drills to improve with your pedalling efficacy. Keeping a high speed on the bike can help transfer to fresher legs for the run!

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Run

Running and running off the bike are two completely different skill sets. If you have never run off of a hard cycle, this is your time to practice. Running off the bike, or as dubbed in triathlon “brick” exercises, is an important activity in any training plan. Developing the sense for running on fatigued legs and the stamina for keeping speed is a fundamental ability in triathlon.

Tips for run training:

• Brick Sessions : Plan a major session when you execute a hard bike exercise into a run off the bike. The run itself does not need to be at pace. First get acclimated to running easily off of fatigued legs, then begin to develop some short intensity.
• Run Specific workout: Don’t forget to still incorporate a run-specific session in your triathlon preparation. Though you are running off the bike in the race, not every training run session needs to be off the bike. It is crucial to do fantastic run work on fresh legs!
• Keep the Cadence Up: Running with a quick turnover rate (strides per minute) is an excellent technique to improve on. When dismounting from the bike, your legs will be acclimated to cycling at a faster cadence, which can assist the legs feel a bit fresher for the run! Continue keeping the pace up as you move out onto the run. Cadence for running isn’t just driven by moving your legs faster…don’t forget your arm swing is a significant component!

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Transitions

Transitions are a vital component of any triathlon, particularly notably sprint distance competition. Since these events are brief and fast, this is a fantastic moment to work on making your changes as smooth and fast as possible! Tips:

• Set-Up Practice Simulations: Find a site where you can work on replicating both T1 (transition from swim to bike) and T2 (bike to run).
• Bike Mounts: If you’re seeking to work on a jump mount (jumping onto your bike with your riding shoes already clipped in), make sure to practise previously. While some of you may be naturals, others will take a few tries to learn the perfect land!

Looking for some more suggestions on transitions? Check out Triathlon Transition Perfected for additional information! Not sure where to begin when it comes to an exercise plan? Check out Wahoo’s SYSTM Training Plans, where they offer coaching and training for all distances in triathlons.

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Race Day Planning

When it comes time for race day, be sure to know the “lay of the land.” If you are going the day before to pick up your race day packet, use this time to understand where each event is taking place.

Look to see where the transition is, and where the organizers have chalked out the swim in, cycle in/exit, and the run exit. Becoming familiar with where everything is will help to considerably lessen race day anxieties, as this leaves little opportunity for guesswork.

It is also vital to leave plenty of time in the morning for your transition setup and warm-up. Most races begin early in the morning; this requires a very early wake-up time. Don’t wait until the last minute to be on-site and be in a panic to set up your transfer area.

This is where mistakes can be made, and you won’t realise that until you are mid-race hunting for your run shoes! Give yourself extra time to get to the race venue, set up your transition zone, get in a decent warm-up, and then head to the start line.

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Conclusion

Sprint distance triathlons give a tremendous chance for triathletes of any experience to compete. The sprint course is not only for first-time triathletes; it is for experienced too. The shorter course allows lots of possibilities for young athletes and veterans alike to show their talents and enjoy the enjoyment of racing. See you on the start line!

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