So, I’m doing my first half ironman ever in about 1 1/2 weeks. I think it would be really cool to break 5 hours for my first one. Based on my Oly race results this year (right around 2:20) I think I have a legitimate shot–course is supposed to be flat and fast although potentially hot (up to mid 90s). I’ve finally started paying attention to hydration & nutrition and think I have a pretty good strategy which will hopefully hold up in hot weather, and training has been going well with some big volume in the last few weeks.
The big change I’m thinking about for this race is on the swim. In my races so far this year I’ve felt afterward like I haven’t pushed too hard on the swim and end up losing a couple of minutes to the top masters guys. On the bike I’m generally very close to the fastest (masters) guys, and lose a bit of time or hold my own on the run. It’s been frustrating because I feel like if I didn’t give away as much on the swim I could still be in the running, but as things are my chances of placing (except for carefully selected races that usually involve long drives) have generally slipped away by the time I get on my bike.
It seems that swimming is less like biking than biking is like running, and therefore I might be able to push a little harder on the swim and not pay as much later. So, I’m thinking about going for it a bit more on the swim this time.
Does that make any sense at all? And, does anybody have any other advice/lessons learned on how to approach a first half? thanks in advance!
Good luck and have fun but I suspect you will have a difficult time breaking 5. Your oly distance time though respetfull …does not translate well into goal race pace. I hope I am wrong and you crush it.
I think would be better served at swimming at the same precieved effort as your usual Oly effort and focus on a steady tempo effort on the bike. Can you hold your 10k pace for 21.2k?
This is where you will make the most gains.
I would cruise the swim. How much will you gain by going harder, 1-2 minutes at most? How much will you lose on the run by blowing up–as much to 5+ minutes per mile if you end up doing extensive walking?
I do think a 2:20 guy can go 5 hrs, but it will require a good steady bike and a relatively strong run. Also hydrate well and eat on the bike.
The longer the race, the more critical the run is and the less important the swim. Think about–the difference in the swim length between the swims is 25% longer for the HIM, but the bike/run is over 100% longer.
that’s a really good point. It should have been obvious, but I think I never actually realized that the swim is relatively a whole lot shorter for a half. I’m going to try to not do anything silly and cruise it.
I blew my first 1/2 this year, basically I didn’t leave enough for the run.
There seems to be a fine line between proper bike pacing/nutrition and burning out and shuffling the run…looking back if I cruised the bike about 5-10 minutes slower i would have been able to hold a good run pace instead of struggling.
On a hot day it can be hard, hopefully you can put it all together and go sub 5hrs!
FWIW (some perspective for you), my first HIM time was 4:45…this was a flat, fast course in hot conditions, if a little breezy on the bike. My Oly PR at the time was 2:21 (set three weeks earlier, my second tri ever, course was a little long tho). Sound familiar?
I say do it. Go hard from the gun. It’s a race. Trust your preparation. It sounds like you’ve given this some thought and applied yourself well in training…why start doubting now? Cos people say you can’t? How the fuck do they know what you’re capable of? If you finish with a 5:01 you’ll kick yourself for not trying harder.