I remember in college that if you were not sure you could pass Math 101 or English 101, you took a refresher course usually listed a level 90, (ie Math 90, English 90).
Well I thought I would write at least one post on Begining Traithlon or 'Triathlon 90'. I understand that if you are reading this and have completed a triathlon this might be repeatively redundant or very basic, but think back to the month or two months before your first race and remember some of the questions you had about this sport.
Today I want to begin with distances. There are set distances and distances that are not set. .
Ironman is a set distance of 140.6 miles which breaks down into a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and then a 26.2 mile run. The story regarding the beginning of Ironman is mythic and good research for the tri newbie. (You have to learn some things on your own.) Oddly enough Ironman is the one distance that uses Standard measure. Almost all other triathlon distances use the metric system.
ITU Long Distance. Used mostly in Europe, ITU (International Triathlon Union) was formed for the sole purpose of putting triathlon in the Olympics. It does not recognize Ironman distance events. This distance is 4 km (2.5 mile) swim / 120 km (75 mile) bike / 30 km (18.6 mile) run.
70.3. This is a set distance which is half the distance of an Ironman. It used to be called Half-Ironman until the begininng of 2006. This distance is 1.2 mile swim / 56 mile bike / 13.1 mile run. Because this distance is labeled by the exact distance of the event and that distance is Standard measure, its one more win for common sense.
Olympic. This distance is a set format, 1.5 km (0.9 mi) swim / 40 km (24.9 mi) bike / 10 km (6.2 mi) run. It is also called an International but this is a slightly inaccurate nomenclature in the United States at least. This is the distance used at the Olympic Games.
International. In the United States, International distance races are not a set format. The distances vary from 750 to 1500 m (.46 mi to .90 mi) / 20 k to 45k bike (12 mi to 28 mi) / 5k to 8k run (3.1 mi to 4.96 mi)
Sprint. 750 meter swim / 20 km bike / 5 km run The Sprint Distance is the fastest growing triathlon race distance in the United States.
There are other racing formats that you may see.
Super Sprint. This distance is not a set distance but in general involves the same distances as Sprint except the swim is decreased to less than 750 meters. Usually you will see 500, 400 or 300 meter swims.
QuarterMan. This is a set distance which is 1/4 the Ironman distance. This is usually the under card on 70.3 distance events.
UltraMan. The first UltraMan was a three day event held in Hawaii and now there is another one in British Columbia, Canada. The distances are 10 km (6.2 mi) ocean swim / 421 km (261 mi) bike / 84 km (52.4 mile) ultramarathon run, one discipline completed each day.
F-1. This type of triahlon is more prevailant in Europe but they pop up in America fairly often now. I have seen F-1 races as both on-road cycling and running and moutain biking and trail running. The interesting aspect of F-1 is that you swim / bike / run /swim /bike / run. You do all events twice. It really tests transitions as much as any single event. The distances vary based on terrain.
Xterra. Also called Fat Tire, these races are done on mountain bikes and run on trails instead of asphalt. The distances vary greatly and seldom use a nomenclature like road triathlons would. For example you wouldn't normally see Xterra Olympic or Xterra Sprint. You would simply see Xterra and the distance.
'Inside Baseball'. (This term applys to obscure matters that would only be of interest to those that care.) Ironman as a name is owned by the World Triathlon Corporation. So if a race director or sponsor wants to put on a Ironman distance event and its not sanctioned by WTC then its called something else, such as Long Course or Long Distance.
Thats the lesson for today. If your interested in more Triathlon 90 posts please leave comments. I think future lessons could include a glossery of terms, transitions and wetsuit usage /triathlon specific clothing.
Well I thought I would write at least one post on Begining Traithlon or 'Triathlon 90'. I understand that if you are reading this and have completed a triathlon this might be repeatively redundant or very basic, but think back to the month or two months before your first race and remember some of the questions you had about this sport.
Today I want to begin with distances. There are set distances and distances that are not set. .
Ironman is a set distance of 140.6 miles which breaks down into a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and then a 26.2 mile run. The story regarding the beginning of Ironman is mythic and good research for the tri newbie. (You have to learn some things on your own.) Oddly enough Ironman is the one distance that uses Standard measure. Almost all other triathlon distances use the metric system.
ITU Long Distance. Used mostly in Europe, ITU (International Triathlon Union) was formed for the sole purpose of putting triathlon in the Olympics. It does not recognize Ironman distance events. This distance is 4 km (2.5 mile) swim / 120 km (75 mile) bike / 30 km (18.6 mile) run.
70.3. This is a set distance which is half the distance of an Ironman. It used to be called Half-Ironman until the begininng of 2006. This distance is 1.2 mile swim / 56 mile bike / 13.1 mile run. Because this distance is labeled by the exact distance of the event and that distance is Standard measure, its one more win for common sense.
Olympic. This distance is a set format, 1.5 km (0.9 mi) swim / 40 km (24.9 mi) bike / 10 km (6.2 mi) run. It is also called an International but this is a slightly inaccurate nomenclature in the United States at least. This is the distance used at the Olympic Games.
International. In the United States, International distance races are not a set format. The distances vary from 750 to 1500 m (.46 mi to .90 mi) / 20 k to 45k bike (12 mi to 28 mi) / 5k to 8k run (3.1 mi to 4.96 mi)
Sprint. 750 meter swim / 20 km bike / 5 km run The Sprint Distance is the fastest growing triathlon race distance in the United States.
There are other racing formats that you may see.
Super Sprint. This distance is not a set distance but in general involves the same distances as Sprint except the swim is decreased to less than 750 meters. Usually you will see 500, 400 or 300 meter swims.
QuarterMan. This is a set distance which is 1/4 the Ironman distance. This is usually the under card on 70.3 distance events.
UltraMan. The first UltraMan was a three day event held in Hawaii and now there is another one in British Columbia, Canada. The distances are 10 km (6.2 mi) ocean swim / 421 km (261 mi) bike / 84 km (52.4 mile) ultramarathon run, one discipline completed each day.
F-1. This type of triahlon is more prevailant in Europe but they pop up in America fairly often now. I have seen F-1 races as both on-road cycling and running and moutain biking and trail running. The interesting aspect of F-1 is that you swim / bike / run /swim /bike / run. You do all events twice. It really tests transitions as much as any single event. The distances vary based on terrain.
Xterra. Also called Fat Tire, these races are done on mountain bikes and run on trails instead of asphalt. The distances vary greatly and seldom use a nomenclature like road triathlons would. For example you wouldn't normally see Xterra Olympic or Xterra Sprint. You would simply see Xterra and the distance.
'Inside Baseball'. (This term applys to obscure matters that would only be of interest to those that care.) Ironman as a name is owned by the World Triathlon Corporation. So if a race director or sponsor wants to put on a Ironman distance event and its not sanctioned by WTC then its called something else, such as Long Course or Long Distance.
Thats the lesson for today. If your interested in more Triathlon 90 posts please leave comments. I think future lessons could include a glossery of terms, transitions and wetsuit usage /triathlon specific clothing.
3 comments:
Hey Comm,
Thanks for the great post. I'd definitely be interested in more Triathlon 90 posts!
For example, you could write about how the stub on the bottom of your bib is NOT to be removed before the race. Ahem. Not that anyone would actually do that... :)
What's well known to some isn't well known to all. I think lots of folks who are just getting into the sport could find this sort of information very useful.
Yeah, what Jessie said. (blush) (I'd only ever had timing chips before... who knew?)
I found this very interesting, I knew almost all of them but was thrilled to learn the ones I'd never heard of. I was intrigued by your definition of Super Sprint; one of the books I have defined a regular sprint tri as having a 400-500 yard swim. Imagine my dismay when I found my races all had 750m courses! Around here, a Super Sprint is where all three sports are halved, which when you think about it hardly seems worth it (400 yd swim, 10K bike, 2.5K run). You don't see too many of them though, most are sprints.
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