[email protected] (Witheld) wrote in message
news:<
[email protected]>...
> Yeah, but that is your *take* on what the sport of triathlon is TODAY. There are folks out there
> who call a 1.5/40/10 triathlon a "mini-triathlon" and ask when you plan to do a "whole-triathlon",
> meaning Ironman Distance... : )
>
> My point is that, if someone wants to stage a phased (transitionless) triathlon, we should
> consider supporting it.
>
> I would be interested to see how many "fast-twitchers" would alter the usual race results. I would
> very interested in measuring myself in what swimmers might call a "drop-dead sprint triathlon"...
>
> 200 meter swim 10K TT Bike 2K Run
>
> It is like track & field (including triathlon). The people who are succesful at this distance, may
> not be as succesful at an Ironman - - but it could be fun(?).
Agreed, depending on the distances, you will get different results. Remember that there isn't one
agreed upon distance for a tri - even in the sprints they vary greatly. Personally, I pick and
choose my main races. I am very strong in swim\bike, and relatively weak in the run, so I try to
find a race with a long swim and short run. Further, there may be another factor differentiating
success in a short race vs an IM distance - training and fitness level. One can be very successful
in a sprint with a lot less training that it would take to do well in an IM. Let's face it - most of
us work for a living, and have a hard time training 15-20 hrs a week (what we'd likely need if we
wanted to do OK in an IM). This likely will have a greater effect than fast twitch\slow twitch...
However, I fail to see how not counting the transition times would matter with race distances, or
make a tri more interesting or competitive. I know many who consider transitions the "fourth leg",
especially in the shorter distances. As it is now, while there are three legs, they make up one
complete race, and the transitions add a great deal of strategy to it. Without them, you really have
three distinct races that would have one overall time. BORING!