I signed up for a HIM for October 2nd, but picked up a running injury on day -1 of the 13 week training plan (calf heart attack/ inflamed achilles/ inflamed soleus/ unclear/ but something went wrong). After a couple of false starts I was able to start run training again 3 weeks ago, and have edged my way up to running 30 mins 3 times last week at 8min pace.
I have an Oly this w/e, which will be the furthest I have run since the injury. So assuming the Oly goes OK, is it realistic to think that I can edge the run training up enough to finish a HIM in October? The swim and bike shouldn’t be an issue, as I have been able to get plenty of hours in there, so it is all going to come down to whether I can manage the run.
I didn’t run *at all *starting 7 weeks out from a full IM due to calf problem. Did extra bike and swim and some elliptical, run once 2 days before race for a couple of miles just to see if I could (it hurt). Managed a 4ish hour run time. After the race I felt fine and haven’t had any issues since (about a year).
So far I have just switched the running for more riding or swimming. Water running isn’t really an option at my pool, but I could do some elliptical if it would help. So far I haven’t though, as I didn’t think it would be any better than just riding more.
I think you are giving yourself a greatly increased risk of injury, either during your rapid mileage ramp up or the race itself. That said, it’s the end of the season and a goal race, so I’d go for it anyway.
It’s possible. I injured both Achilles 4 months into my HIM training. Did some water running but wasn’t a lot. Trained harder for swimming and biking. Race day jogged 3 miles and power walked the last 10 since things started to hurt again. Figure, you do the swim under 40min, bike around 3hrs, that should leave you with enough time to finish.
It is only 13 miles. With conservative bike pacing you should be able to run 13 miles with VERY little running. Being competitive is something entirely different. Just finishing a half ironman is not very hard.
I ran a half marathon a couple days ago on 4 miles of running (period, ran four miles on friday, signed up for the race saturday and raced sunday, put down my second fastest half marathon… so it is possible, but I wouldn’t recommend that approach if you can avoid it. I didn’t have an injury, I just hadn’t been running to focus more on bike racing, rock climbing swimming and mountain biking (maybe focus is the wrong word here).
Might not set a PR but I imagine you’d be ok for the race provided your taking care of your achilles/calf sufficiently, I’ve found eccentric calf raises pretty useful for that (stand on the edge of a step, raise up with both feet then lower down on one foot (the bad one) and repeat. ART worked pretty well also.
Many pros have used intense water running to great effect, both triathletes and pro runners when injured. If water running is not possible, elliptical is a very good second-best. I have used both and have been competitive at triathlon races longer than Olympic distance (off road) on minimal run training. Getting in a few good bricks where you ride long and then do 45-90 min on the elliptical will prepare you pretty well for a Half IM when running only is not an option. Another possibility is to alternate between doing short periods on the elliptical and short periods on the treadmill to activate the muscles used in running. I think this will serve you better than only riding longer.