How much self discipline do you have not to "race" the Half? I have discovered through trial and much error that even though I say I am going to go slow and treat it as a training day, I end up going all out because it is a race. If the Olympic is truly your A race, you may be pushing it with a Half effort. But then again, you could be in fabulous shape and your body may recover really well.

Great Question!

It took me about 3 weeks after Wildflower before I started feeling 100%... It might be a stretch. I probably wouldn't schedule one that close to your A race.

Matt West- Mwestracing.com

I think the other way around could work well, i.e., OD race two weeks before a half...Lots depends on your history, how well you recover from hard training/racing, etc. I'm finding as I age that I just don't recover quite as well from hard efforts; you might be different and as already posted, if you treat the half as a nice long training bout you could be okay.

Personally, I did a sprint 6 days before my very first Half Iron and went about 90% in the sprint. Didn't hurt me Half Iron effort at all. After my Half Iron, I felt fully recovered within 48 hours. Just depends on your ability to recover. I think two weeks is PLENTY of time to be ready for the Oly.
It's sorta like when you're playing baseball and you put all those weights on the bat while you're on deck to make it harder to swing, and then when you get up to bat and take the weights of swinging the bat is super-easy.

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My business-eBodyboarding.com

It's sorta like when you're playing baseball and you put all those weights on the bat while you're on deck to make it harder to swing, and then when you get up to bat and take the weights of swinging the bat is super-easy.

Yeah it's just like that, except swing that bat for 5 hours and then go and try to swing it for 2 more hours a couple weeks later ;-)

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Portside Athletics Blog

Ha, ha. Okay, point taken, but if he recovers quickly from a long race, then when he does the Oly two weeks later, it will feel like nothing. I did an Oly 3 weeks after my Half (and two of those three weeks were spent running about 12 miles/week with no swimming or cycling) and had a great Oly race. It's just going to vary from person to person.

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My business-eBodyboarding.com

Sprint race before a half is a good idea. It is like a speed-work workout. The inverse, if that sprint was your "A" race, would not be such a good idea. If you (the original poster) is serious about the Olympic as an A race, then the 1/2IM will be too much.

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