"It's Just a Sprint"

BTDT.  Doesn't matter what shape you are in, beginner to IM pro.  A sprint is, or very near, an all out effort for 1+ hours that puts a hurt'n on you!

Valid points. I think a lot of it comes from the significant bias (real or perceived) shown toward long course. Those are the "sexy" races, with that cool moniker, Ironman, and tattoos, etc. 

I originally had a long term goal of doing a 70.3 (zero interest in 140.6). Now, I'm thinking I don't want to do one. I really like the sprint distance, if for no reason other than they're shorter, and the training is easier to fit into my schedule. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg to do one. The standard distance is also quite nice for the same reasons, albeit with more of an endurance component.

I'm not sure why (many) people seem to think there's some prestige in racing the longer distances than there is in racing the shorter distances.  A sub-hour sprint is not something one "just" does.....same with something like a 15 minute 5k.  Why do (some) people think this is any less of an accomplishment than an Ironman or a marathon?  I don't get it at all!

In fact, I find sprints harder to race than HIM's.....I'm the kind of person who's built to go for a long time at a slow burn, so when you ask me to redline from the very start, it hurts in a whole different way!  I have a lot of respect for people who race these short races....and also for those who train for and race the longer races.

hijack got it right......if you want to see the athletes go watch a fast sprint race......I'm talking 750M swim/20K bike/5K run...when the top 10-20 racers are hitting 53-58 minutes. (and the 55-58 minute guys aren't even in the race)  They're animals.

My last race was a 5K for the 4th of July.  I had completed an Olympic triathlon 3 weeks before that and had not done much training since that time.  I did a warm up run with a few other guys I had seen at other races and they all wanted to know if I was going to school them again.  I told then I had only been running 2-3 times a week for the last couple of weeks with my long run at 4 miles so I know I was not in my peak running condition (far from it).  It was also the first hot race of the summer and not of us were acclimatized to the heat so that was going to make the race more difficult.  I was feeling the least prepared that I have been fore a 5K race in about 4-5 years but when I compared the challenge of running a 5K under trained and in the heat to doing an Olympic Triathlon in the best condition possible and in peak fitness I know that the 5K would still be easier so I told the guys on my warm up run it is just a 5K.  That was my way of telling myself that despite not being in the best shape or conditions that this ace was not going to break me. It didn't.  I was almost a minute slower than the 5K race I have done in February and 30 seconds slower that the first race in the heat last year.  So...it was not my best race time but because I knew that I had done much harder things I was able to keep myself together and still run a respectable race.  

So why the qualifier???  Because some days you are in your peak fitness and and are race for a PR in a Sprint and other days your sprint is not your A race but you do it anyways because you know you can.  If you are doing it just because you know you can then it is a big difference that doing because you are going to go harder and faster than you ever have before.

Note:  Most Road races that I do have a 5K and a 10K option.  I always choose the 5K option.  I was the overall winner of a 5K race two years ago and at the finish line the guy that got 2nd place commented that when he say me increasing the gap he didn't stick with me because he figured I would be doing the 10K.  Some people feel that if they can do the 10K they should and the 5K is just for people that aren't up to the 10K yet.  I have been doing 5K's for decades and will continue to do them until I can't win them any more.  :-)

I was a mile specialist in Track and Field.  That was my race and I knew it and didn't want to run anything else.  I had coaches that wanted me to do the 800m and the 3200m.  They made me do them in lots of meets but I always felt it was pointless.  I could put all my eggs in one basket and either come up big or go home empty handed or I could spread myself thin over multiple events and never come up big in anything.

So choose your race and own it.  Don't let others choose your race (i.e. tell you are too fast to be running the 5K and should have been in the 10k, or that if you are a good mile running that you need to develop yourself into a 800M and 3200M runner too, etc.

The only people who say that are the ones who don't have enough experience yet to know that for anyone who has trained well a sprint is much more of a suffer fest than a HIM or IM.  A HIM is a walk in the park compared to the pain of racing a sprint.

I think the "just a sprint" mentality comes from the public perception of triathlon, which began with the 1982 broadcast of the Ironman.  People who don't do triathlons immediately think of the all-day, marathon slogs that were (and still are...) on that show.

Different distances, different hurt.  I did a super sprint a couple of years ago (300y/8mile/5K) that about killed me - I was totally redlined the whole time.  Contrast against my last Oly @ 2:30ish, that's more death by a thousand cuts and I didn't redline until the last maybe 400 M of the run.

Originally posted by Trine Why do you have to be redlining it before it's great and hard? There are plenty of us who are newbies, who've never been runners, bikers or swimmers, who've turned their lives around and lost lots of weight. For some of us, sub 2 hours is great. Or even just finishing. I'm always amazed by the fast athletes. The ones who get out of the swim before my wave even starts. And I'm definitely in awe of how fast they can finish the race - it will never be me. But, what truly inspires me are the people who don't look like super athletes. The last swimmer out of the water, the last biker in, and the last runner. The people who really are athletes, even if society tells us that they don't look like one. Those are the people who inspired me to try - those are the people I get all teary-eyed about and I think they're really, truly amazing people. That's why I fell in love with this sport so fast: there's room for everyone. What really matters is just doing it. And in my firm (100 people) I can think of about two other people who might be able to do all three legs of a tri right now. That's it. Also, when I've gotten the "that's not so bad" comment about the distance, my typical response is: yeah, you should come and do one with me! Said with a smile and enthusiasm. I haven't gotten any takers thus far

For the sake of your question.....and I'll tell you up front that your points are almost all good ones and well taken.  I'm not from the "everybody gets a trophy mindset".....so I ask you, is the guy or gal who shows up for a 5k and walks the distance an "athlete"?  They are finishers for sure, and I give them all the props that any other person who gets off their arse and into the game gets.....but I wouldn't call them an athlete.  I kind of have that same idea about triathlon......no matter what the distance is.  Some of the folks doing triathlon are athletes, and some aren't. 

I've played some softball in my advancing age, but I'm not a ballplayer.  I can get down a mountain, but I'm not a skier (although I've probably also left a few people teary eyed.....and doubled over in laughter).

I'm in no way being derogatory toward anyone who does a triathlon of any distance, but you asked the question so there is my answer.