By Mike Tarrolly
This weekend I drove down to race the Tri-Shark Sprint in Bloomington, Illinois, but didn’t get to start. One of the guys in the picture below told me he had signed me up, but I wasn’t on the registration list. I went to the race in full gear had a power meeting with the Race Director, but he didn’t let me in because of insurance reasons; and I totally get it. But, there was a lot to learn from watching.
Sprints have this reputation of “being easy” but as soon as I started shooting video on my phone, the first thing I noticed were the expressions on people’s faces. There weren’t many smiles, just deep breathing, eyes half shut, and groans as they came running out of the water. You have to get after it in a Sprint!
And there’s no time for high fives or conversations or resting in transition . . . seconds could lose you the podium.
I was actually doing more short and hard stuff in preparation for this race, but as I watched, I knew that it wasn’t hard enough. It’s a different animal, but it’s a good animal that I think more long-course athletes should tackle.
After doing 10 Ironman, the distance no longer intimidates me and I think I’ve rested on that laurel. What does intimidate me is burning legs and lungs. I need more of that so I can get my ceiling back to a place where I can go faster in Ironman.
When I was racing my best at Ironman, my “easy” run pace was between 8:30-9:00/miles. Over the last few years my easy pace has slipped to around a 10:00/mile, which is what I used to run in the race. Now the race pace has dipped to around a 12:00/mile. Seems logical. I mean, how can I expect to train at a 10:00/mile pace and hope to do that in a race? I can’t.
So, it’s back to taking the interval efforts more seriously. Swimming harder, biking harder, and running more hard hills and “stride-like” work. To me, Ironman is all about making it feel as easy as possible. If I’m comfortable running an 8:30-9:00 pace, that will make 10:00 seem much easier in the race. It’s all relative, but you get the idea.
This all boils down to “what are you doing when nobody is looking?” If I give my athletes intervals or tell them to work hills and strides, that’s on them. Training should make you uncomfortable at times so the race doesn’t sneak up on you. You’ve been there and put yourself in challenging situations. The more you practice “getting through something” the easier it will be on race day.
So, I may just drop into a Sprint or Olympic here and there this summer. No taper, no expectation, just for the feeling and experience of remembering what it’s like to dig deep and go fast. I think they’re much more valuable for a long course athlete than we think.