Sam Long fighting fatigue as big season for ‘Big Unit’ reaches climax in ‘triathlon’s richest ever race’

It’s been a huge season for Sam Long and ‘The Big Unit’ admits he is fighting fatigue as he heads into battle at T100 Dubai this weekend.

On Saturday in the desert, the 28-year-old American star will join the fight for more than $4million in prize money, bonus pool payouts and 2025 contracts. But just getting there has been a battle after a long, hard season (no pun intended).

The PTO world number 4 will toe the line for his 12th start of the season, and he admits that hitting the wall for him arrived in the aftermath of his sixth-place finish at T100 Lake Las Vegas last month.

Fatigue crept up on Sam

Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, he said: “It’s kind of crept up on me, in Las Vegas I felt good, felt like I had lots of energy, and came back, did a solid 10 days of training and then suddenly was like ‘Oh my God, I’m tired – and not just tired physically, tired mentally. 

“Dubai T100 is going to be my 11th race of 2024, it’s actually my 12th race this season as I started in Indian Wells last December, so it’ll be 12 races in less than 365 days with nine of those middle-distance and two of those full IRONMAN. 

“It’s been a mix of training, some days I try an put training peaks in the schedule – like ‘okay this is the plan’ in an attempt to get me mentally engaged and motivated – but that wasn’t working as I’d get up and be like ‘I’m too tired’ and ‘I don’t feel like doing this’. 

“Instead, I wake up every day, check in with myself, how do I feel – I still have a template in my mind, I know what days need to be work days and know what days need to be rest days. 

“I’ve got the year under my belt, I have the speed, strength and stamina. I think it’s trying to hold onto all of that but it’s important to keep the mind refreshed and ready to go.”

Long is his own boss when it comes to coaching, and he outlined what he believes is the correct strategy to get himself ready for challenges like this weekend.

“The most important thing is to listen to myself, there is no bulls******g myself, this is where my body is at, this is what my body can handle and this is what my body can’t handle and knowing inside I don’t need to smash every session to be ready for Dubai. Any day currently where I complete my training is a great day.”

When Sam met Lionel

So what does Long believe is achievable in Dubai this weekend as he goes in search of more ranking points, and dollars?

He revealed: “I went and saw Lionel (Sanders) last night and he was like ‘I’m not the same version of myself I was two years ago and I’m weak-minded with not wanting to be on the podium’ – he was telling me that and like holy cow, maybe that’s me, right.  Maybe I’m weak, maybe I’m a big BETA, don’t be a BETA, maybe I’m a BETA, but I want to be an ALPHA.” 

“I’m going in, I’m ranked fifth, we have Marten van Riel with a sizeable lead in the series, we have Magnus (Ditlev) with a slight, but not comfortable cushion, and then we have me, Sam Laidlow and Kyle Smith all within a point.  With the points on the table, everything is up for grabs if someone has a bad race.  My goal is to end the series top three, it would be great.

“Do I think I can win in Dubai, I think it’s possible, do I think I can podium, for sure possible, but I am going in without too many expectations. I’m going in more inwardly focused.”

Water torture for US star

While Long started the year with T100 podiums in Miami and Singapore, he has struggled to maintain that level of performance – and he admits his weakness in the swim has been highlighted over a shorter distance than normal.

“I’ll be honest, this racing has been hard for me this year on the T100 tour. I don’t feel it plays to my strengths like most other races with the smaller fields and higher-calibre swim – it’s like I’m doing a solo time trial and people are doing team time trials. And I own that – that’s my fault for being the level of swimming that I’m at. But it makes the racing incredibly difficult.

“I’ve pulled off a miracle twice, to get second-place and it was still incredible what I did to get sixth place in Las Vegas, and so obviously I have to do something like that again. 

“But I’m focused in this block on how I am bettering myself in all areas, improving on the minor details – transition, bike and run – and the major improvements – swim – so I’m just looking to go and be mentally tough.