About to do my first traithlon in May. I'm a swimmer at my college (distance) and I run with the cross country team. The triathlon I'm doing is way short (300m, 12mile, 3.1mile)....really short. I suppose they don't call them sprint traithlons for nothing, right? So that's my question, should I really sprint the whole thing? And just as a side question while I'm on the topic, for a longer triathlon, how hard to people go out on them?

Welcome to the world of triathlons! The approach you take, I think, varies by your strengths and weaknesses. You being a strong swimmer can sprint the swim and run. How are your biking skills?

My approach for longer races (I'm preparing for a half Ironman in June), based upon the reading I've done, will be: Swim - start slow and build to steady pace and hold it. Bike - ride it as fast as I can without going over my anaerobic threshold. This, in theory, should give me a little extra in the gas tank for the run. Run - I will be doing a run/walk combination to get me through it. As my running fitness improves and I am able to run the entire distance I plan to use negative splits (finish 2nd half of run faster than 1st half).

Hopefully one of the Ironman veterans will chime in on what works for them on long races.

Sprint are probably like a 10k effort or slightly less. You can always pick it up on the run if you have some extra left in the tank.

Go down a notch for each distance you move up. IM rookies shouldn't consider racing until mile 80 on the bike. For most, it is a matter of not slowing down at this point.

I'm an ironman distance triathlete. I'm very good on the bike and run. My swimming is middle of the pack. For sprint races I will get my HB above my Lactic Threshold. I've developed this ability with my cycling background. I would suggest keeping your HB about 5 beats below LT for sprints. You still need your legs for the run. On the run you can keep it at LT +- 3 beats. Do lots of brick workouts after you've developed your aerobic engine.

Start any bike leg slower than your expected average then build up to your goal. Too many triathletes get over zealous and go out too fast. For cycling time trails I have the time to warmup, which starts the lactic clearing process. For triathlons you typically need to start this process during the event, so build slowly. Once your legs have adapted to the lactic clearing process you can push your HB closer to or above LT.

For 1/2 Ironman distances I will keep my HB 10 beats below on average on the bike. For Ironman distances I will shot for 10-15 beats below.

Heck, for these distances, I'd go as hard as I could from the beginning. Negative splits aren't always what you need to strive for.

I take it you are using this race as a apringboard and not as something you want to post your PR in.

Tyson

Is this the Benbrook Tri? If so I'll see you there. It'll be my first too!!

I'm a swimmer at uni as well. If there's drafting in the bike portion, go balls out (my 400fr is 4:15, I'd go 4:30, 4:35 pace) and hang off the tail of the fast riders. Or at least that's what I'd do, but I haven't had much experience with the tri's. But I'm sure you want to do 300m with no deceleration.

If men go balls out, do women go overies out? I've always wondered about that one....

Thanks to everyone who responded. The thoughts are all helpful. Ran a 5k today and learned my lesson about going out too fast . My first mile was 5:46, but my avg. mile according to runfar was 6:21, so that tells you something. Anyways, it was helpful to get a small run in to see what my pace felt like. Take care.