Is the 1/2 an A race?

3 races in one month is a lot for anyone.

I would do the ~Oly-hybrid race. I, personally, am not willing to spend money to do a sprint race. AFAIC, I can do one of those any day I want. It's not hard to hydrate or to map your own simple course. I've done solo Oly's on my own (also easy to hydrate and map), and I'll do one coming up here again in a coupla weeks, 8/20 (my 1/2IM is a week before yours).

I guess one could do the sprints as a form of a brick workout ... but, in my inexperienced opinion, your time would be better off spent doing a longer bike-run brick.

If they're non-competitive races, just do whichever one seems like it would be the most fun (or is in an area you'd like to visit). Whatever you decide, be sure to have a blast.

---

=======================
-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

Yes, the HIM would be my A race. It's my first season in triathlon and I'm amped for the HIM! I'd like to race every weekend if I could afford it! I did a sprint on a Sunday and an Oly the following Saturday. I tend to recover from those distances very quickly.

---

------------------
My business-eBodyboarding.com

Lots of ways to skin the cat and no perfect answer. My .02 - I would do the sprint on the 20th only, recover, do some race specific training for the 1/2, and do a 10 day to two week taper to try to peak. The longer race might give you better experience for the half but you could risk not being at your peak with the longer (10 mile) run which will take a lot longer to recover from than a sprint/oly.

Thanks for the feedback. The SB Tri is three weeks before my Half Iron, and to me, that's heaps of time to recover. I'd be doing a 4-hour brick that day anyway. That would be my last BIG training weekend anyway, so might as well be racing to practice nutrition/transitions, etc., right? I figure 2 days off after the race, and then back at the training. Did a 4-hour ride/run brick on Sunday and felt 100% by Monday afternoon. It's my first season, so I'm still figuring out what my body can take.

---

------------------
My business-eBodyboarding.com

I would do the sprints. I have never raced well following a half-Ironman within two weeks, no matter what the second distance. I have raced very well at Half-Im when I did shorter, faster races in the weeks that proceeded a Half-IM.

Beside, sprint races are fun. In four year of triathlon I had never tried one until this past spring. It was great. There is an element of intensity that comes when you know the race will only last an hour. You don't have to worry about pacing. You can't bonk unless you were already depleted before the race. Not to mention you just feel fast.

Too often people discount sprint distance because Ironman culture rules in our sport, but racing a sprint is a whole new level of intensity that you never reach in longer events. And they are short enough to recover from fairly easily if you have a good base.

Chad

Go for the longer one. I did my first 1/2 this past Saturday. Two weeks before I did an Oly with a 28 mile bike and 7.5 mile run (I guess it wasn't technically an oly) and I felt great by the 1/2 and did much better than I expected.

Too often people discount sprint distance because Ironman culture rules in our sport, but racing a sprint is a whole new level of intensity that you never reach in longer events.

Intensity can be hard to recover from also. It depends on the individual if the volume of a sprint is low enough for the intensity. I recover better from volume (longer distance) workouts than I do short, intense ones. I would rather pace myself for a 2 hour ride than sprint a one hour ride.

But, that's all part of my individual makeup and preference that goes into selecting what distance I want to race.

Be interesting to see what TBB's preferences and experiences are.

---

=======================
-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

Wow, I'm hearing both sides of the coin. I'm going for the longer race in SB. I think it will be a good practice for nutrition, pacing, etc.

---

------------------
My business-eBodyboarding.com

Have fun.

I did want to point out that I am not de-valueing sprint races. I am only pointing out that due to hydration not being an issue (2 bottles on the bike, 1 on the run is easy to do), that people can do them on their own rather easily. So for that reason (and others) I would not want to pay $40-60 plus travel expenses just for the race experience. I would prefer to do a longer brick or just a solo sprint race on my own for S&G.

Again, in all depends on how one responds and recovers from the stimuli. Regardless, you'll be doing some races, and learning information that you can use. Next year, if everything does not go as well as planned, you can try something else.

---

=======================
-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

I hear you. I like doing all distances right now. Well, I've only done Oly and Sprints, but look forward to longer races. I'm not really fast, but I think my endurance is good, so I'm thinking I could possibly be better-suited to the longer races. We'll see.

---

------------------
My business-eBodyboarding.com

GL

The scenery in Santa Barbara will be good in more ways than one.

I asked myself one question ...

In terms of training, do you want to [1] train to get faster over shorter distances, or [2] train to get faster over long distances?

My enjoyment in training is over longer distances. That settled it. If I don't enjoy the training, it's not worth me doing it.

Honestly, a race just gives me something to prepare for. I really just like the training.

---

=======================
-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

I'm the other way around. I would rather race than train. As mentioned before, if I could afford the entry fees, I'd race every weekend!

---

------------------
My business-eBodyboarding.com