I view that innocent enough question as the product of an unfortunate mentality that pervades endurance sports\u2014the idea that longer is better, the assumption that “stepping up” to the Ironman or marathon is every triathlete’s or runner’s ultimate aspiration, and that shorter distances are merely stepping stones along the way. I argue that the fixation on long distance events is misguided and counterproductive for many athletes.<\/p>\n Most of us are drawn to endurance sports for a challenge. While it may seem obvious, it bears repeating that going farther is only one way to challenge yourself. Focusing on improving your speed over shorter distances is also a worthy challenge, albeit the less popular choice these days.<\/p>\n Endurance veterans tend to scoff at shorter distances or fail to take them seriously. The general sentiment is something along the lines of, “It’s just a 5k\/10k\/Sprint. Hardly worth getting out of bed.” Even the common practice of referring to Ironman as the “full distance” implies that shorter races are somehow incomplete or inferior.<\/p>\n Many beginner triathletes and runners rush headlong towards the Ironman and marathon, missing out on valuable development experience in shorter distance racing. Due to genetics, available training time and other factors, we aren’t all ideally suited for the longest events, yet they have become the default goal.<\/p>\n As athletes flock to longer races, completing the distance has become the most important, if not the only, indicator of success for many. How hard athletes trained and raced, how they struggled and persevered, what they learned about themselves, and the results they achieved are devalued. These stories can’t be told merely in miles or medals.<\/p>\n In this reality, how can a short distance race\u2014no matter how fulfilling and successful\u2014ever match the prestige and sense of accomplishment of bagging your first Ironman, or even notching your tenth? When completion is all that really matters, the race distance becomes the only measure of success.<\/p>\n To me, the sole fact that someone locomoted 140.6 or 26.2 miles below some arbitrary time cutoff is unremarkable. The numbers are meaningless; it’s their story that intrigues me. What were their goals? Did they prepare as best they could? Did they race their heart out? In these questions lies the distinction between completing <\/i>the distance\u00a0and racing<\/i>\u00a0the distance.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-JHDjEQE5Uvg\/Uqsch429IfI\/AAAAAAAABB4\/wGSZJAuD-Qw\/s1600\/First+triathlon.jpg\")
Racing: The long and the short of it<\/b><\/h2>\n