Bob Dopolina 

I actually read this entire thread. THAT qualifies as an endurance event, and I did it in under 10 hours. I ROCK!

OK, 'nuff fun.

I think that there are more differences between the two disciplines then there are similarities. Someone brought up the point that running, swimming and tri are, for the most part, individual sports. Bike racing is clearly a team sport above the beginner levels. Although there are tactics in the individual sports, the level of complexity simply doesn't compare. This is clearly a difference.

Each sport also has it's own jargon, traditions and unique challenges. Road racers never have to deal with the issue of transition. There are a whole series of strategies aimed specifically at this small, but important detail that is unique to mulitisports.

Mutilsport athletes can set there own limits and ride within themselves for the most part. I'm sure there are times, when riders or runners want to close a gap, or open one, that they push themselves above their LT but this is the exception whereas, with bike racing, you can't always dictate the pace and surges, attacks or other events force you to go anearobic even when you don't want to. If you don't, your race may be over. This is a significant difference.

There has been talk of swimming being the only discipline that has specific drills and being studied in minutia in terms of body position and efficiency. Sound like wind tunnel testing to you? As far as specific drills goes, well, there are intervals and cycling does have some drills but I think swimming probably has quite a few more.

Learning to climb out of the saddle as a kid doesn't mean you do it well as an athlete. I learned to run as a kid, too. Does this make me a runner? I agree with another post, I have met many multisport athletes who come from running and there was an overwhelming lack of respect for cycling. Many of these people felt that you could just buy speed. This isn't helped by the magazines. Look at one. Every article or advertisment about product makes a flat out statement about how much time it will save you as if it were a fact. Buy me = buy speed. Although there is certainly some of that in cycling, my feeling is that most people will agree that speed comes from the rider, not the bike.

Finally, there is the atmosphere of the events themselves. I have raced for years (and years and years) and I have draft marshaled at a few tris. After a bike race, most people get in their respective cars and leave. At the tris I worked, people hung around and it seemed far more social, far more relaxed in general. Plus, there were way more hot babes at the tris then I EVER saw hanging around a bike race. AND most of them were actually competing which, in my mind, is a HUGE bonus.

An so ends my summation.

I do have a few questions. What kind of caloric expenditure is there for an IM or HIM. I'm trying to look at the actual amount of work done. I think that might be an interesting comparison. I am speculating, but it would seem to me, that wattage data wouldn't be something multisport athletes used much. Am I wrong here? This could also be something interesting to look at.

To answer the OP, I think the different dynamics of the disciplines is the reason why bike racers don't flock to tris. The compatibility of running, swimming and multisports, in terms of them being individual sports and ones where you can compete against yourself, if you wish, as opposed to the much more aggressive, pack dynamics of a bike race, simply appeal to people who want to recreate or compete in different ways.

GatorFL

I don't know an average number or anything, but I know what I do. For a HIM, I'll go a good bit under 5 hrs and burn about 4000 cal. I've never done an IM (too young...I'll wait til I'm old and slow to do that mess). I definitely average a higher HR in bike racing (duh) and experience more intense pain (duh, again). I don't think tris are easier or harder, just different.....the pain is spread out. And running off the bike blows the chiba (although it seems most people on here hate running a lot more than I do )

waterrockets 

I know some triathletes who swear by their power meters and wouldn't compete without them. Once you know your FTP, you have a number to watch while you ride. It really helps with efficiency. Analyzing training data may also show you that you occasionally spike to 500w up a climb, when your target average for 112 miles is 250w. This may not be so bad (it would actually feel good to my muscles), but some triathletes like to keep a very steady effort, and finding these spikes teaches them a lot about how they ride.

baj32161

I would say that this pretty much sums it up for me as well, that and the fact that I am a slow tub (actually I love swimming though).

dogpound

I would say you're looking at about 10k calories for an IM. Eating is a huge factor and most of it is done on the bike where it is a lot easier to eat than on the run, esp in an IM where by the time you get to the run you really just want to get through it and you're body is starting to freak out a bit.
This is just from my own personal IM experience.

KendallF

Exactly. Reference the marathon ongoing posts on slowtwitch for more on this. I like to use my PT as a "stupid-o-meter" in tris to keep me from going too hard, and to make sure I keep the wattage under my cap number up climbs. In road racing or crits, it's basically only there for post-ride analysis; I'm lucky if I even get to look at speed once in a while.

Flak

True, but how can you say that there is no mental game in a long distance tri? Hell, 50% of the race is fought in your head. As far as strategy goes, there is some. Plans are followed, then thrown out and reformed after something goes wrong. Contingencies for situations are worked out and applied. Granted it's not as technical as a crit, but there is strategy. I won't even bother going into energy conservation....ofcourse there is.

The definitions of mental, strategy, and conservation extend beyond bicycle races.

buddy

Transitions kill me; I just can't get my shoes on fast enough!

Even Lance got smart and stop doing tri's.

dogpound

he didn't stop.
he does them still from time to time.

climbin5414

So I can't believe I read all of this but now its my turn...

First thing I noticed.. Normann Staddler's time at Kona last year, it was a record for that race, it was also done with climbs and some of the worst wind you will ever experience in a race. He averaged over 26mph for 112 miles and did that without drafting. He did it without drafting because drafting is not legal in an Ironman race. The ITU which allows drafting does not recognize the Ironman race... or anything else beyond the Olympic length race they formed around to enter Triathlons into the olympics.

I will give credit to Cycling as a team sport which really makes it hard to compare to the individual Triathlon sport. As a team sport it does require more strategy.

Another thing I think should be addressed... not sure how fast your groups go but the roadie group I ride with I can blow out of the water if needed... short or long distance. Maybe thats what happens when you learn to ride on your own. I don't mean I can ride ahead of them for a few mintues, I mean when I get tired of their 20mph pace, I'll kick it up a few notches for those last 20 miles and never see them again.

If you think running is easier then riding I would like to point to Lance Armstrong's quote after being paced to a sub 3 hour marathon, Armstrong called the race “the hardest physical thing I have ever done." I don't think I have to point out his other accomplishments that he is comparing this to.

I have seen nothing that suggests road racing is more of a challenge physically then completing an Ironman. The in the moment stategy of road racing is there but the mental challenge of pushing your own body to its limit can not be matched. It you want to see mentally tough go to utube and search for Julie Moss. Or maybe just read about what happens just past the finish line at an Ironman.. where the adrennaline in finishing wears off and you collapse under your own weight... if you didn't already do that forcing you to crawl across the finish.

I will also note that many triathletes do not run that distance of a race, but even in for an Olympic distance race the training time required to be good is between 10-20 hours a week, often doing 2 events back to back. In a recent article about Triathelte Desiree Ficker she notes her training hours at 35/week. For those of you who say that only results in injury.. maybe you should stick to the easier sport.

Bantam

It was closer to 38-39 minutes. I did, however, run a 43 with my arm in a sling.
Trust me, I know the mental game is there in a non-draft tri, but it is pushing through the pain. You do not have to worry about your position in the peloton, attacking on hills, breakaways, leadouts, knowing when and when not to pull.

On a given course, particularly a longer 1/2 IM or IM, a Triathlete will have a time window. This is little room to move this window during the season. Given proper rest but little time to train the Triathlete will do the course in a similar time on the second attempt. I could go and do a road race and average 23mph one week, race the same course the next week with the same competitors and average 26mph and have vastly different results because a bike race doesn't take time into account (excluding tours), just finishing position.

Bantam

LA did not train properly for the marathon. Training is the key, teaching your body to acclimate to different stressors is what makes an event difficult or painful.
Put a Kenyan on a bike and see how long it takes to spit them off the back.

waterrockets 

He was undertrained for the marathon and his legs were dead.

dogpound

no lance did not train properly, though he had 2 of the best pacers in the world.

Julie moss:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=tRB1p89k7_I

I remember watching that and I can honestly say, and I know I am not alone in this, she is the reason I am a triathlete and and ironman.

GatorFL

Actually, the wind at Kona last year wasn't that bad, which is the reason why Stadler set the record. He's still blazingly fast, but the wind wasn't as much of an issue as it usually is.

20 mph isn't fast. I usually train alone because I do triathlons, but when I ride with a group, it's not uncommon to average 26 mph with long stretches over 30. If I (or lots of other people...mostly roadies) rode with your group, they would "blow them out of the water", too. And I know that there are lots of people who are much faster than I am (mostly roadies).

Actually, you're not allowed to do that anymore.

I've done road racing and triathlons (and didn't suck) and saying that one is harder than the other is stupid. They're different sports that require different training to meet different goals. Interestingly enough, it seems that most of the roadies on the forum are saying the same, while the triathletes are saying that road racing is easy. They're both hard if you make them hard (which you have to do if you want to not suck).

Flak

The tri guys aren't saying road racing is easy, it's not no matter how you cut it.

It's just that many of us feel that long distance tris are overall more physically demanding despite the supposed steady pace, even if it's not as technical.

umd

There are long hard road races too

waterrockets 

I can't imagine any roadie claiming that three consecutive time trials with shoe changes in between wouldn't be tough.

dogpound

I thought you could still crawl in an IM, just not the other distance, but I might be wrong.

Smoothie104

Whats the Hardest part about being a Triathlete?





Telling your Parents that you're gay.

dogpound

I had no problem telling my parents I'm gay.

Flak

29,035 feet of climbing. That's gotta hurt!

Bantam

No roadie is saying that a Tri is easy. Time Trials hurt, 3 in a row hurt a lot. Most of us just really enjoy playing chess at high speeds.

Brian

So tell us, how did they react?

Duane

I don't know much about tri's, but it seems most of the tri-geeks I know are racing themselves. It's all about their finishing time or personal best and not so much about the placing. Bike racers are racing other riders, even in a TT. You're either in at the winning time or plus it. The time itself never seems to matter (other than a TT).