- An Ironman is different to an Olympic distance triathlon,
for the obvious reason of the distance,
but how do the athletes actually differ?
In this video, we're going to be looking at a comparison
between a top level ITU athlete
and a top level Ironman athlete.
(robotic gear sounds)
Admittedly, I have done things a little bit backwards
'cause last year I did my first Ironman race,
and this year I've done my first sprint distance race.
And right now, I'm here in Glasgow,
at the European Sprint Distance Triathlon Championships,
and it has got me thinking, how does ITU racing
differ from Ironman racing?
Well, we're gonna be breaking it down
and comparing attributes needed, discipline by discipline.
Let's start with the swim and what ITU athletes
need to be prepared for.
Obviously, it is shorter so it's going to be faster,
and there's a serious emphasis for speed,
especially at the start of the race
'cause staying in a pack is so important,
especially when it comes down to the bike,
but we'll come on to that in a moment.
And also, you are more likely to see
an Australian style exit in ITU racing.
That's when the swimmers have to come back out onto the land
or onto the pontoon and dive back in again.
So it just really requires that mindset of staying focused
and being able to adapt to the situation.
Ironman, on the other hand, is much longer,
but it's not just there that the differences end.
There's no team aspect to Ironman,
so you're not going to have a domestique role
that might be helping you in this way.
You've got to pace it in this individual effort.
And having said that though, the swim percentage
is much smaller, so it makes less of an impact on the race,
and there's more time to catch up on the bike and the run.
So you'll find some of the swimmers
that don't come from ITU racing,
might be weaker in this discipline.
Moving into transition and nailing T1
as an ITU athlete, is essential.
All they have time to do is grab helmets and their bike,
and then pretty much everybody will be doing a flying mount.
There's no time for stopping getting onto your bike
because the pack will have gone,
whereas long-distance triathlon on the other hand,
is a bit more methodical.
Sometimes athletes will be having to put a race belt on
for the bike, and you'll even see some putting on
aero socks over their shoes,
because in the grand scheme of things,
it's a 112 mile or 180 K of biking, so a few second in T1
don't make such a difference.
Earlier I mentioned the importance of being in a pack
when it comes to the swim and that is because of the bike.
So, in pro racing, it's draft-legal,
which means athletes can get benefit from being behind
the others and in a group,
so error becomes less important.
And you'll see some teams even enter a domestique role
and their job is to basically help their teammate
to cycle faster for less effort,
and we'll see surges and potential break aways.
So these athletes have got to be able to react to that
and change their pace and their tempo as a result.
But sometimes, we can see more crashes just naturally
coming from group cycling, but on the flip side,
if the strong runners controlling the cycle group,
you can actually see the cycle quite slow
and there ends up being a running race.
It's actually on the bike that we see the biggest difference
in the races and the types of athletes
when it comes to the comparison of ITU and Ironman,
partly because the bike is so much longer,
but also it is non-drafting,
so the bike becomes more of a focus.
You'll see athletes spending a lot of time
working on their aerodynamics, and ultimately,
it's an individual effort, so they'll be riding to watts,
which requires a lot of discipline, but it means
that you're reacting less to the athletes around you
and it's very much about the athlete
staying to their own numbers.
And with this, nutrition becomes vitally important as well,
and you'll see athletes even stopping
to use their own special needs on course, and of course,
it is pacing because you've got a marathon yet to come.
Back into transition, and T2 isn't quite as vital as T1
for the Olympic distance athletes,
but still, no hanging around.
Essentially rack, bike, helmet off, shoes on,
and out onto the run, whereas Ironman athletes
have a bit more time to regroup after that long bike ride,
so they'll change their socks.
Quite often you'll see some athletes even putting shorts on,
they're trying to grab any nutrition, put a visor on,
basically make sure you're comfortable
because there is still a marathon to go.
Onto the run, and for sprinter Olympic distance,
it is less that 20 or 40 minutes of racing to go,
and it's tactical.
There's gonna be team coaches out on the course,
telling athletes the time gap to the ones in front,
or the chasing group, and there's gonna be crowds
lining the course, so plenty of atmosphere for the athletes
to feed off, and these athletes really need
to have the ability to change pace
'cause so often we see a sprint finish.
Whereas the long-distance racing, it's about being patient,
sticking to your game plan, staying on top of your nutrition
and importantly, not getting carried away
if you feel good early on 'cause it's going to be moments
where there's nobody else around,
it's lonely on the marathon and this is where endurance
of mind and body really will start to show.
You might think you're not having a good day,
and things can certainly change in an Ironman.
It's a marathon at the end of the day,
and it's not over 'til you get to that finish line.
Well, that's my thought, but I thought it's probably time
that I actually spoke to a professional.
So, Faser Cartmell has kindly agreed to join me.
Now Fraser, you obviously started with ITU
and now you race Ironman.
What was your favourite part of ITU racing?
- I came from a swim background, so I guess by default,
that was favourite to begin with.
I was always happy riding a bike, rode a bike quite well
when I raced short course.
So yeah, swim-bike was definitely my background
and favourite two legs.
Running was just something that I always kinda got through.
- And when you changed to Ironman,
what was it that you enjoyed?
Do you like going longer and less intensity,
or what part of Ironman did you prefer
compared to ITU racing?
- Yeah, I mean it certainly suited my strength at the time,
to be on a bike for a longer length of time.
I was quite strong relatively at the time
and in an ITU race, the bike leg could be said
to not be as important, I mean, it certainly is important
because you don't want to be slow and weak
when you get off for running fast, but ya know,
that helped me 'cause I could ride quite strong.
As I said, had swam quite well as a kid,
so that meant that the swim seemed quite easy relatively,
compared to the short course.
- And coming from ITU to Ironman, for you personally,
what did you have to change, other than the obvious,
your training's longer, what did you actually have to change
in your sort of emphasis on your training?
- So you drop the number of swims you do in a week.
So, let's say you'd swim daily, six, seven times a week
when you're doing ITU stuff,
that doesn't need to be done anymore for Ironman.
It certainly helps to have a really good swim,
and it sets you up well, but nothing like it does in swim,
sorry, Olympic, where it's crucial.
So yeah, you drop the number of swims down per week,
and sure, just focus more aerobic bike riding
versus the short, sharp intense stuff
that you really need to do for the Olympic distance.
- Cool.
It is a natural progression for athletes
to move from ITU to Ironman, just like Fraser did.
And I think we're gonna see more of it,
as it basically means triathletes
can prolong their career in the sport.
But, at the end of the day, what is the biggest achievement?
Is it being crowned Olympic World Champion in triathlon,
or is it becoming the king or queen of Kona
in the Ironman World Championships?
I really don't know.
I want to know what you think,
so do let me know in the comments section below,
which you think is the biggest achievement.
And if you've enjoyed this
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And if you want to learn how to do a flying mount
so you can hone that transition in,
there's a video on that, just here.