I say do it....nothing like letting a race kick you in the ass to get you in gear for your A race later in the year.

Why not just use it as a full dress rehearsel traing day. Cannot hurt you.

---

__________________________________________________
Official Polar Ambassador
http://www.google.com/...P7RiWyEVwpunlsc2JtQQ

Race yourself into shape

Better under than over.

Do it.

---

<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?

Cool-As long as you have the self control to not race, even in the face of feeling unexpectedly good (or being passed by your wife's ex-boyfriend), and that if you face up to any potential injury situations with the courage to just stop and say it's not your day, then I'd give it a cautious try.

Perhaps if you emphasize a perfect swim start, super fast transitions, meticulous pre-race preparation, etc., it will be a good learning experience.

---

John H. Post, III, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Charlottesville, VA

Do it. Worst case, you get to do a death slog for part of the run, and you take longer to recover.

My first HIM last year was off minimal running (coming off injury) with one 12m run as my only long run for the entire "build" prior to racing.

Getting smacked in the face by your lack of fitness can be an excellent wakeup call. I had just that happen to me this time last year, and what originally started off as a season of me pretty much mailing it in, became perhaps my most successful year to date, by the end of it.

---

float , hammer , and jog

Why would you pay all that money for what amounts to a training session? You can do all that by yourself.

what, the 300 other people in the water, on the bike course, and on the run don't count?

He's training to RACE, not training to train. He may learn a thing or two that he wouldn't have on a normal training day.

---

Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

My thought too; but racing with a whole bunch of people is more fun than doing a training day all alone (we do those alllllll the time, after all).

I guess if you've got the money, go for it. I wouldn't call it "foolish" nor "wise" though, I'd call it a day's entertainment.

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Do it, It will help you gauge how under trained you really are. Which is probably less than you think.

I'm doing this exact same thing. First HIM this weekend, A race is the end of August. I've got some winter volume and spring rides, but not sure where my fitness is and thought that a half could be a good practice run of nutrition, pacing, and other stuff. I'm most likely going to get my butt kicked. Yea, it's an expensive training day, but I doubt my ability to do the race distances on my own with no clock behind me. Not to mention post-race bbq :)
So I say do the race. Find out how rewarding your winter workouts were.

Do it! Lots of people are not that well trained in the early season, especially if they are from an area with bad winter weather. It's all relative after all, lots of you competitors probably would like more training in the early season as well. Don't give up the early season faces, just be ready to dial it back if you feel like you might injure yourself.

And have fun!

My point exactly. He is training to RACE. So if he has the attitude ahead of time where he says

"but I'm planning to take it easy, watch my heart rate, race within my limits, and just enjoy the event (for change)"

then what is the point?

[Edit] To be fair, I should note: I've done this myself for much-shorter, running-only races so in a sense I'm playing devil's advocate. But they were much shorter, (not to mention cheaper) running-only races. I've done two half-irons undertrained. Never again.

I think it's easy to tell yourself you're going to do this but then, when race day shows up, hope for a miracle and go out too hard and suffer

Do it unless you are really under trained. I had fun doing a half this past weekend. I was not ready and did my longest bike ride of the year 6 days before the race and one of my longest runs of the year 4 days for the race. No ready and no taper which is why I was 40 mins slower, but I felt good at the end and kept HR low. My aveage HR was 145 for the bike and run. I can carry on a normal conservation with a HR of 155 - 160. So I think I took it too easy, but I px. nutrition and enjoyed the day.

---

________________________________
Lisa Walser-Anderson, ATC,CSCS

I just did a HIM Last week-end undertrained. Overall glad I did it. I had to check my ego but glad I did it. Like others have said stay within yourself especially on the bike so the run does not turn into a death march. I would not taper for the race since it is not your A race and there fore should not cost you any training volumes. I focused on executing a solid race strategy and was pleased with the results despit it being far from a PR.

Good Luck,
RF

I did a HIM last weekend on the worst fitness I've ever had for a race. My training totals for the year would be considered decent totals for 2-3 weeks. I didn't even get wet during the month of April. I adjusted my expectations accordingly and went out and had a great day. I love race morning and everything about the whole race atmosphere. I completely enjoyed myself and am glad I did it. And it did serve as motivation to get back to real training. If you can do it without hurting yourself, and your registration is already paid (or you can afford to pay it with no worries) then I say go for it and have a great day. Training's great, but racing (even when it's not really racing), is a blast.

im doing the same thing. under trained and racing a hard half end of this month. figured it would be good to start the season like this, so everything else will seem easier!!

HIM is a great training day, have fun!

---

---

Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

selfish and unpatriotic thinking! :^)

(if everyone was as cheap as me the economy would crumble...wait, that already happened)

---

------------------------------------------------------------
some days you're the windshield some days the bug

Ive done it many times. Do it, if only to help with your race mindset.

depends on your base level of training. do you have several years of training under your belt and just now are undertrained then go for it. If you don't have that base it is more questionable. Quitting a race midpoint is not a good thing psycholically

ha funny you should post this. I had a discussion with Tigerchick about this very subject. Go for it! I've got a half next weekend as well. Good luck and enjoy yourself

Do it. I did that for the New Orleans 70.3. It was fun.

---

The best pace is a suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die.-Pre