Racing a 1/2IM Race ... how does it play out?

Triathlon Forum
1

As I mentioned before, I’m in my first year of training (hence, the lack of triahtlon related posts by me), and I missed out on the sprint races b/c they fill up in 5 minutes. Now, I know. Not many Oly races … 'round here. So, I get to do a 1/2IM as my 1st.

I have some questions about the race, and will ask more questions about training, equipement, essentials, etc later on.

I’m curious as to how the race actually plays out … in terms of “racing the race”, not just “hoping to finish”. I realize I’m not going to win, but my goal is to “keep moving” and make it as much of a race as can.

  1. How does the swim go? Is it a mad dash, fight for position, fast-paced swim, or do folks treat it as a warmup for the other 2 events?

  2. Do folks rest/eat during the transition 1, or is a “change-n-go”?

  3. During the bike, does anyone stop to stretch … or is it a fairly constant “dash”?

  4. Do folks take “walk breaks” during the run. I ask b/c I have read of advantages of walkbreaks, but do not know if 13 miles is “long enough” for alk breaks to be worthwhile. My guess is “no”.

In this regard, I am talking about the average person just looking to finsih witha respectable time. Not talking elite, not talking “finishers are winners”.

I’m trying to get a feel for how the race is run, so I can try and apply my training to it. I’ll be using PC coach with (hopefully soon) a downloadable HRM (likely the 410, maybe the 720). I’ll ask those specific training questions later on.

Thanks in advance for responses.

2

People go against this advice all the time( and you may get differing advice in this thread), so it’s completely up to you. If this is your first year training for triathlon, I would urge you to consider doing some shorter races this year and NOT taking on a 1/2 IM. A 1/2 IM is a big bite and I don’t know whay people take the big jump up to this length of race so soon.

This season get the basics down of the three sports. Learn how to go from swim-to-bike-to-run and treat the three sports as one event. This is best accomplished in Olympic distances races and shorter. For many even an Olympic distance race will be 3+ hours. Save the longer racing for later.

3

Here are links to a couple of great articles on 1/2IM pacing and strategy from Gordo’s website that answer most of your questions:

http://www.byrn.org/gtips/halfpace.htm

http://www.byrn.org/gtips/wyhalf.htm

As far as resting/stretching breaks, I’d say that if you were to execute a race plan and pace yourself properly the goal would be not to stop at all. However, things never go according to plan, so if stopping for 5 minutes to stretch out a cramping leg or absorb some nutrition because your gut is totally jacked up makes the difference between a DNF and a finish, then by all means stop and do whatever you need to do to get going again. Most of all, enjoy the day!

4

well, if you’re in my age group, and its a 1/2 that i’m doing too:

 1: The swim is leisurely, try to find water where you can swim by yourself. You can wait until everyone else has gone if you want to. 

 2: Of course people rest during transitions. If you have a significant other with you, think of getting a nice massage (5-10 min). Also, eat a lot, preferably something that you first have to cook. 

 3: You should stop to stretch every ten miles... off the bike. Pull over, stretch it out, if you have some extra chicken cordon bleu from the T1, finish it off. Wash it down with some wine (we're not barbarians). 

 4: Don't take walk breaks... take run breaks! By this i mean walk as much as possible, and occasionally jog for a few hundred yards.

If you’re not in my age group, the swims gonna be a battle, it might thin out, but it can be pretty violent. Dont waste too much energy though, as far as time’s concerned, its a pretty small part. Transitions are fast, one piece of advice, have a bucket of water to wash the crap off your feet (something i learned during my first triathlon). Have the food and drink, and even “rest” on the bike. On the bike, refuel and get your HR down. If you stretch, do it on the bike, lots of books about tri or bike show you how. Try to run the whole way, keep an even pace so you dont overexert yourself and become forced to walk. But, just like marathons, walking breaks are part of many people’s programs. Even though 13 mi sounds easy, its a whole different story after the bike and swim (a lot of people do bricks and never think about the fatigue of the swim). Other than that, go fast, go even, eat lots, drink lots, dont bonk.Oh yeah, enjoy yourself

5
  1. How does the swim go? Is it a mad dash, fight for position, fast-paced swim, or do folks treat it as a warmup for the other 2 events?

Depends on the type of start and size of the field, mostly. If it’s a mass, beach start, you’ll have the entire field dashing into the water at once. People who are good swimmers should line up closer to the front. Poorer swimmers should seed themselves near the back. Others in the middle. If it’s an in-water mass start, there’ll still be a lot of thrashing. Same seeding rules apply.

If it’s a wave start, then the waves will (obciously) be smaller than the mass start. You’ll have some fishie-types who’ll want to get out in front. I’d recommend similar seeding rules as above. If you’re going to finish in around 30 minutes, move closer to the front. If you’re anticipating being in the water for a while, move toward the back.

  1. Do folks rest/eat during the transition 1, or is a “change-n-go”?

You do whatever you want, but recognize it’ll cost time. The best age-groupers are in and out in under a minute. They do their eating on the go.

  1. During the bike, does anyone stop to stretch … or is it a fairly constant “dash”?

I never stopped to stretch. You can, but it’ll cost you time. I hated having to slow down for the water bottle exchange.

  1. Do folks take “walk breaks” during the run. I ask b/c I have read of advantages of walkbreaks, but do not know if 13 miles is “long enough” for alk breaks to be worthwhile. My guess is “no”.

This is probably a matter of whether or not the run is a limiter for you. Obviously, running is faster than walking. However, you may be able to go faster over the long haul if you adopt a run-walk strategy. Experiment with it in training, and find out what works best for you. Running is a limiter for me. At my first Half, I wanted to (and attempted to) run the whole distance. I ended up being forced to take walking breaks, because I couldn’t keep running. I think this hurt my overall time. I should have swallowed my pride and adopted a run-walk strategy that would have been faster over the 13.1 mile distance.

Finally. A lot of coaches and athletes will recommend that you not attempt a full or half IM your first year. Take it with a grain of salt, and assess what YOU want and what your goals are. If your goal is to qualify for Kona, you probably (pretty much guranteed) won’t make it your first year unless you’re Superman. A friend of mine started tris last year. He’s only done 2, a Half IM and a full IM. Both times were respectable, in my opinion (6:00 for the half, and 13:30 for the full).

If you want to just finish, and have a “respectable” time, then decide what “respectable” means to you, and go from there.

6

TT

I’ve done a bunch of tris, sprint and Olympic-distance, but only one half-ironman, Ralph’s 2003. I’ll try to relay some of the things I was concerned with.

First, a triathlon is NOT three events. It is one event, comprising three disciplines, so when you are working out your pacing schedule, you should bear that in mind.

I approached Ralphs like this. a) I cannot win the event, I’m simply not that good. b) How do I rank my events, best to worst. 1) Bike 2) Swim 3) Run. The run being the last event, and my worst, that is what I worked the hardest at. I also recognised that I needed to save a lot for the run during the race, moreso than during a sprint or O-distance. So my strategy was:

Swim - sprint the first 200 yards, get clear water, then settle in and cruise. (30 mins)

T1 - don’t rush, but don’t lollygag either. All food, drink etc I needed was already in my jersey pockets, which I took the 5 seconds to put on. (but i lost 4 minutes trying to get the wetsuit off. Remember, practice with your equipment)

Bike - steady aerobic pace. remember to drink plenty of fluids and take in sufficient calories (forgot this last bit on race day, never even touched my gels) 2:39

T2 - same as T1, but no worries with the wetsuit :slight_smile:

Run - The plan was for a steady start, build steadily, and finish strong. In reality, lack of calories on the bike caught up, and I struggled home with a 1:51 run. After 6 miles I was on pace for a 1:35ish run, then came the piano.

Total - 5:08. damn, was hoping to break 5 hours, and was well on schedule to go 4:50 or thereabouts I’ve signed up for GCT, but I keep getting injured when I run, so I might need to skip it this year.

Walk breaks are generally not necessary in a half, but don’t be afraid of taking one either. As for stopping on the bike to stretch, forget it. Use the downhills to stretch on the bike, if needed.

Also, know the course. Preride it if you can, or at least study the course maps and profiles. Get a feeling for where the nasty hills are, potential headwinds, etc. so that you can adjust your pacing appropriately. You’ll gain more time by pushing harder on the uphills and then recovering on downhills than by a true steady state effort.

Hope that helps a little. Of course, nothing beats experience and making rookie mistakes for yourself. the trick is in recognising them and adapting in the future. Good luck.

7

Excellent advice…I would only add that you should strive to do the entire race in your wetsuit and it is customary on the bike to stop and change the cogset before and after each climb…don’t worry the tools will fit into a big backpack with room for your floor pump as well to air your tires every 15 miles.

8

As for doing a 1/2 as your first triathlon, why not? My first organized race was a 1/2 and it went fine (a 5:11 finish that I was thrilled with). I had done some race simulation days with a local tri club, and some on my own; I would advise you do the same.

  1. How does the swim go? Is it a mad dash, fight for position, fast-paced swim, or do folks treat it as a warmup for the other 2 events?

The swim starts as a mad dash, but after about 2 minutes, the fast swimmers are gone (from your perspective) and everyone else calms down and it’s a nice cruise. Try your best to follow close behind someone at about the speed you want to go. Just be patient, keep your head down, hold your form and it will eventually end. I merely “tolerate” the swim; by being patient and staying smooth and calm, I am usually pleasantly surprised by my time. Do not “Race” the swim. That would be like racing the first 3 miles of a marathon. Stupid.

  1. Do folks rest/eat during the transition 1, or is a “change-n-go”?

You can rest/eat by soft-pedaling the first 15 minutes on the bike. Make steady progress through transition and get the hell out of there. Down a bottle of whatever fuel you’re drinking in the first 15-20 minutes of the bike. Even if you are going easy, your heart rate will be strangely high those first 15-20 minutes. Don’t let it phase you. Stay calm, finish your race fueling and ease into the ride.

  1. During the bike, does anyone stop to stretch … or is it a fairly constant “dash”?

Don’t “dash” – but don’t stop either. If you hit a tough patch, just pedal easier for a while and eat/drink. I once read a very good “rule” for bike drinking/eating: Anytime something changes, eat and drink. If you feel good and suddenly feel bad, eat/drink. If you feel bad and suddenly feel good, eat/drink. Just keep moving. Slow riding is faster than standing on the side of the road. There is a diminishing return to rest stops. You end up having a much longer day. It takes almost zero energy to keep your bike rolling at 10-12 miles an hour. You can stretch on the bike.

  1. Do folks take “walk breaks” during the run. I ask b/c I have read of advantages of walkbreaks, but do not know if 13 miles is “long enough” for alk breaks to be worthwhile. My guess is “no”.

Yes, I have taken plenty of walk breaks in halfs (I walked every other aid station in my first half IM and still had a 2:02 run). I don’t anymore, but I’ve got two years in my legs now. Try walking every other aid station in the first half of the run and see how it feels; walk them all in the second half (plenty of people do).

You’ll do fine! Just do the miles and be prepared.

9

Ironically, I agree with you. I am not doing a 1/2IM race because I necessarily “want to”. I’m doing one b/c that’s all that’s currently available. I am doing 3 other Oly’s (Hammerfest, Effingham, and Chi), but I want to race more. I’ve been training non-stop since sept, doing nothing but basic endurance and tech drill work. I want to do more than 3 races, but there’s not a whole lot to select from. I’ll be a new father in April, so going out of state is likely not an option.

More thoughts about why i selected to do a 1/2IM …

  1. a sprint has no appeal to me, other than race experience. 500m, 13mi, and 3mi just are not challenging distances. I do 3x that in one training session. Sprints were never my goal, just something to get my feet wet. i don’t know if that sounds arrogant or not … but I always knew I wanted to “go longer” b.c that’s where my strength is.

  2. a sprint race … I’m not fast enough to sprint toward victory, and the race is too short to be challenging. See #1 if that comes across as “arrogant”.

  3. I have done zero speed work, only aerobic endurance work. Going long at a good pace is what I do day after day. I rarely go over 150bpm, and focus on increasing distance for the same time length.

  4. I have no doubt that I can finish a 1/2 IM. Swimming the 1.5mi seems a bit daunting despite swimming being my likely strongsuit. Biking 56 miles is going to be harder on my butt than my legs (I have done 30mi rides before on my LSD day). Running 13mi should be doable.

  5. I figured that a race requiring only aerobic abilities would be more “beginner friendly” than one requiring “speed work, etc”. Seems like a 1/2IM is just a really long “go slow, go long” day.

I’m not one that wants to do an IM, boast I did it, and go find another hobby. I like this tri stuff. I plan on doing them for a long time. I’m trying to find my distance for racing. initially I thought Oly, but that seems to be a “sprint-type” race also. I figured that the 1/2IM would be suitable, maybe not optimal, to my training, since all I do is “go long”.

I’ll continue to read comments and I encourage anyone that thinks I am making a mistake to say so. I certainly don’t want to impede my triathlon training/experience before I even get going.

If my thinking/reasoning is flawed, please point it out.

10
  1. a sprint has no appeal to me, other than race experience. 500m, 13mi, and 3mi just are not challenging distances. I do 3x that in one training session. Sprints were never my goal, just something to get my feet wet. i don’t know if that sounds arrogant or not … but I always knew I wanted to “go longer” b.c that’s where my strength is.

I’m with you. I started in triathlon because of the “epic” nature of long-course racing. Oly’s are fun, but long course is where it’s at for me. If I’m going to go to all the trouble of training and taking weekend days away from my family or even driving 8-9 hours, I want an experience that lasts longer than an hour or two.

11

Other secrets from the “pros”.

To save time in T1, wear your bike helmet and bike shoes (with pedals and cranks attached) in the swim… the time lost due to the increased drag in the water is more than made up by the time savings at T3.

Hope this helps… don’t forget to continue to wear your your helmet for the run, it gets pretty hairy out there.

12

A few more tidbits.

I think that Fleck’s advice is quite prudent. However, if you are set on doing a half, then you’ll need to jack your bike miles up in training. In any tri, but especially for the longer stuff, how well you run is partially determined by the strength of your bike fitness. I would recommend that your weekly long ride be at least 75 miles (but build to that distance gradually). Weekly long run, at least 13 miles.

Sprints are a lot of fun (I like the shorter stuff anyway) since it is closer to a true race and less of a slogfest. Even if you aren’t going for the win, there is the racing aspect, ie can I catch the guy in front of me, can I hold off the gazelle behind, etc. in a half, a bad day is really a long bad day.

The major jump distance wise, as I see it, is from sprint to Oly. Remember, a semi-decent Oly distance time would be around 2:30. That duration requires some serious endurance. The jump to a half is not that bad. Then the next jump is to full ironman, which I’ve never done and have no desire to do.

13

In racing the half ironman, my attitude is identical to Olympic distance. I am racing the whole time, no moments to take it easy. Usually I am breathing hard the whole way and conversations are limited to two word sentences like, “thank you” to the volunteers at the aid stations. While I do Olympic distance at 165-180 bpm, I’ll take the intensity down a notch for a half to the 155-170 range. I’m racing in the sense, that I try to get on to any faster set of toes in the swim, won’t let anyone in my age group try and pass me on the bike and use every cross country running trick in the book to drop the competition on the run. Sometimes it works, sometimes, I slow down on the run or get beaten into the ground on the bike. But its called a race for a reason. The half ironman is the perfect mix of endurance, speed, tactics and nutritional strategy. Blow any one of them and the race is cooked.

That being said, it this is your first season, go for “racing” in shorter distances, and “race” sections of the half Ironman, keeping some “insurance calories” in the tank to ensure you finish strong and don’t bonk.

14

I haven’t read the other posts, so this may be redundant, but I feel inclined to share some thought on 1/2 IM’s for newbies. Being somewhat new myself, the mistakes I made in my first 1/2 are fresh in my mind.

Pre-Race Plan:

Do not under estimate the importance of this. You should have done enough training to know what your comfortable swim pace, bike pace and run pace are. Plan your split times around this, then work backward to build a nutrition plan. Far and away, the biggest mistake I made in my first 1/2 was nutrition - I winged it, and paid for it. The second time around, I was a bit more anal, I set my watch to go off every 10 minutes to remind me to drink, and used the clock on my bike computer to plan when I needed to have a gel or endurolyte or powerbar. As a point of information, I finished my first 1/2 in 6:59:xx, and finished my second one in 5:32:xx - I credit my nutrition plan for this…

The Swim:
Unless you are a great swimmer, you will be best served by going out slow at the back of your wave, find some feet, and try to draft as much as you can - fighting over good feet is worth it. During the second half of the swim, you can concentrate on moving through the people who went out too fast. Because you drafted, and didn’t blow up, you will be relatively fresh when most of the others will be sucking wind.

T1:
Just change and go. Don’t eat or drink or anything like that until you are on the bike, then just follow your plan.

The Bike: Don’t stop. There is really no need to if you have enough long rides under you - by long, I mean 65-70 miles, and by enough I mean five or six. These long training rides are a good time to test your nutrition plan. This is 56 miles, so there is no “dash”, just try to be steady and stay relaxed.

T2: If it’s a hot day, you may want to change your socks, otherwise, make sure you are stocked with enough gels and salt tablets - if necessary - to make it through the run, and get going.

The Run: If you have the fitness, try to run the whole thing - keep a constant pace with an eye on the HRM. Continue your nutrition plan - drink every 10 minutes if you can (I bring my own fluids), and walk through the aid stations if you are starting to drag - I try to make sure I am back running before the garbage cans at the end of the aid station. If the HR is getting too high, drink more. If you have trained right, and your nutrition plan works, then you should feel pretty good by mile 12, and you may even be able to sprint through the finish line.

15

a sprint has no appeal to me, other than race experience. 500m, 13mi, and 3mi just are not challenging distances. I do 3x that in one training session.

16

Triple,

Tips from a newbie -

It is great that you are training at distances that are much longer than the Sprint tri’s ask for, but there is no substitute for experience. You may be able to get in the pool and swim 2000m straight, but that is staring at a black line at the bottom of the pool, getting to do flip turns, being able to stop if you swallow a little water, having lane markers knock down the waves, etc. That is just in the swim!!! Have a friend follow you in a pool and beat you with a blocking dummy. That will help you realize what it can be like.

Bike to run is the most dificult part of the race (for me anyhow). Everytime you ride long distances, get off your bike and run at least 20 minutes. That helped me a ton.

Take your trainer to the pool and practice getting out of the water, transition and get on your trainer and ride. Also helped me out a lot.

Find out what works for nutrition well before race day. I experimented a little on race day and I bonked so hard everyone could hear it. Stick with what is familiar.

Where do you live that you do not have any open Sprints? What about some duathlons? Splash n’ Dashes? Any of those help.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck to you. Most of all, have fun!!!

17

Funny thing how these forums can present a skewed view of what makes a “short” race. A sprint triathlon is roughly the time equivilent of a 10 mile running race or a 40k bike time trial. If you’ve done either, then you know that they aren’t exactly “short”. It’s natural that folks who are more immersed in the triathlon culture comprise an unnatural percentage of participants on these forums, thus the large percentage of Ironman finishers. As such we tend to talk about IM as a “typical” race and 1/2 IM’s as something we do as prep for our “real” races. But when you get out in the real world triathlon community, you’ll find that IM finishers comprise a small percentage of participants. I would venture to guess that 90% of the people involved in triathlon have never done more than a 1/2 IM, and probably a large portion of those have never even gone beyond Oly.

I agree with Fleck, in that I wouldn’t recommend a 1/2 IM as your first tri. However, I also understand that you’re eager to kick off your tri career. I caution you, however, to not underestimate the challenge before you. For someone with no tri experience, you need to be aware that a 1/2 IM is not equal to a 1/2 marathon. It’s more comparable to a full marathon in effort, and much longer in total time - which makes your in-race nutritional requirements more critical.

I’m not trying to talk you out of it or to convince you that you can’t do it. I’ve known more than one person whose first tri was a full IM. So, it can be done. I just think you’re underestimating the effort involved in shorter distances. Someone above stated that 2:30 is a decent OD time, but I would bet that 2:30 would put you in the top 25% of most age groups at most races. The majority of finishers in OD races finish between 2:30 and 3:30 - not an insignificant amount of time to be racing. While the elites and top AG’ers are cranking out OD run times which are just slightly off their standalone 10k times, most of those people in the 3 hr. range are just shuffling to the finish. You ask about walk breaks in a 1/2 IM, but you’ll find quite a few people walking in OD races, particularly in hot weather races.

I wish you luck and hope you make me eat my words, but to do that you will need to really ramp up those training miles while avoiding injury, and nailing down your personal nutritional needs.

Happy trails,

Chris

18

In the pool, I try to minimize any “non swim” things. i.e. no kick turns, push offs, swim with my eyes closed quite often, etc. I sometimes swim during “open swim”. This is hilarious, kids jumping over me, cannonballing around me. I think it’s funny, and the noise will likely help me.

As soon as it warms, I’ll be in the lake. My brother in laws fish (i.e. boat to the center of the lake and get drunk). I’ll do that every weekend.

In the race, I’m not to proud to do a little backstroke if need be.

I appreciate the ideas, and as time nears, I’ll have more and more questions.

I know it’ll be very hard. I want it to be. i got into this sport b/c I thought I’d be pretty good and I wanted make sure there was still fuzz on the kiwis. If it were easy i wouldn’t want to do it.

19

The 1/2 and IM are your targets thus far but I would encourage you not to discount what sprint and oly can do for your 1/2IM preps. Transitions, getting tough-minded, the abiltiy to tolerate pain, getting stronger-faster, and discovering race gears you never thought you had. Good stuff. It’s no small task to learn how to hammer through a sprint and then build to an oly. Taking a dip in a lactic acid bath for 1 to 2.5 hrs is not for the faint of heart. Welcome to the sport.

20

I’m probably only discounting the shorter races as a mental thing to keep from being disappointed that the races are closed due to full admission. It’s January 27th, and the races were closed by the 10th. I had no idea they’d fill up that fast.

In all likelyhood, Oly is where I’ll be racing in the future, (3 races this summer) if for no other reason than the training time factor. This distance seems to be a good mixture of speed and endurance, or at least it’s the one that seems like a good mixture to me.

My main perspective on this was… I wanted, for the first year or 2, to concentrate on just building endurance (the proverbial “wide base”) so that in the future the speed work would be of greater benefit (i.e., the peak of the pyramid would be bigger, bigger base … bigger peak thingy). Here is where the 1/2IM comes in as “doable” in my mind, since it’s basically an “aerobic” race (at least it will be for me).

If I had a choice I would have definately “eased myself into it” … a sprint or 2, a handful of Olys, and then maybe a 1/2IM at the end of the summer or pushed back till next year.

But, with my current choices, it’s 1/2IM or nothing until June. So, I’m trying to psyche myself up and issueing a “machismo challenge” to myself so as to be as prepared as possible.

Though not overtly manly in practice (i.e. real-life), when it comes to myself, I treat myself as more of a beast than man. Beasts have fewer limitations and that’s the mindset I prepare with. Think Rocky IV: No Pain. No Pain.

Believe me, when I started out, “leading with a 1/2IM” was not part of the plan. But, a buddy from the YMCA (parent of a former student) is doing this race), so if nothing else, we’ll have something more to talk about when we run into each other.

I guess, more than anything, I looking for reassurance that doing a 1/2IM is not a “huge mistake than I’m going to regret”.

For tricyclist & Chappy … I edited this part in so I could address your guys comments directly, even though I touched on them above.

At this point, the check is all but sent in for the 1/2IM race. For my training to be what it needs to be, I am one of those that needs a deadline. A goal. I need to know that “on this date I will either fail/succeed”. That’s what I love about competition, the winning and losing (objective and subjective). Some days you’re carried off on shoulders, other days you walk off the field alone, fighting tears that you just let your team down. I love that. So, whether I crash and burn or whether I surprise myself … either way, I’ve had a life experience that I can draw on. I hate failure, but I’m not afraid of it.

As time draws nearer I will be asking more and more specific questions. I know (from reading and listening) that there is more to it than just swimming, riding, and running, so I will be all ears to the replies. I want to be as prepared as I possibly can be.

Thanks again for all the responses.