I have done four half IM’s, and I see an awful lot of people on the course walking the run – myself included. My most recent race was June 13 in Macon, GA. I ran more of that race that I’ve ever ran, and managed a 2:23 “run,” just barely under an 11:00 per mile pace. My goal is to work on the half IM distance until I can “run the run.” Out of idle curiosity, how many people are in the same boat as me when it comes to walking the run? How 'bout in an IM? What percentage of participants in a typical IM race can actually run the full marathon?
I’m a short course guy and I walk with horrifying regularity. But then I am out of shape and have never been much of a runner. Some day I’ll be a real triathlete.
My best 1/2 IM run split was 1:24 and change. That’s pretty much running in my book, but far off my 1:16:30 pr for 1/2 marathon. Oh, and it was several years ago, as well.
Of course, I have yet to run 100% of the IM run. Even my PR IM included just short of 2 miles of total walking. I really want to crack that beast. Until I do, I’ll not break 10:00 for the race.
I am not a great runner but am getting much better. I ran Eagleman at a 9:30 pace for my first half. Not fast but I never stopped except for walking 5 sec to get a drink at the aid stations. Most of the people there were running the whole thing, most of them faster than me. I am working on getting faster and it’s comming along slowly but surly. I know what I can do and pace myself.
my first HIM i had to walk a bit because i went out way too hard on the bike and fried my legs. I think i did a 1:55 run/walk. my second HIM just recently at eagleman i did a much better job at pacing the bike. I went really conservative as my only pre-race goal was to run the run and maybe even negative split. i did a 1:40 run, no walk, and felt quite good. i had a lot more training hours in my legs + race experience at shorter distances when i did eagleman (about a year after my first HIM) so not a perfect comparison, but I’d say if you build so that your training long run is 90-120min at whatever your long run pace is, then you should be able to run the HIM run leg at that pace or better if you pace yourself right on the bike, have adequate bike endurance, and execute a good nutrition plan. as far as what others are doing? You see tons of walkers towards the end of every HIM or IM event (except for the last 100m of course). Some just recovering energy; others completely beat. But the battle is all personal no matter how long it takes!
I run the run. At Eagleman (and most races) I walked some of the water stops - I just can’t drink while I’m running. My pace was about 8:15. I hope to improve that pace a lot.
Interestingly, I was in a 5 mile race on Friday night, and also ran an 8:15 pace. That’s about 1:15 off my usual pace for a 5 mile run, but it was HOT, HUMID and HILLY. About 90 degrees and 95% humidity. It was a sweat-fest. Yuck. I guess I was also still a little tired from Eagleman on Sunday.
In any event, the 5 mile race on Friday felt a whole lot longer and harder than the half marathon on Sunday.
"hell, that’s why I haven’t gone long yet, biking and swimming don’t scare me. "
That makes two of us. It’s the run that is daunting to us non-runners. A marathon seems like an entirely different world to someone who used to race the 100/200m sprints. Wouldn’t even mind if they made the swim and bike longer on an IM on condition they shortenned the run.
I always try to “run the run”. Since I’m such a poor swimmer and an average biker, the run is where I can make up quite a bit of time. For example, in the recent Carlsbad Sprint, I passed 75 people on the three mile run. Unfortunatey, that wasn’t enough to make up for the 24 minute swim
I’ve done two IM races. In IMC’97, I completed the marathon in 3:28, making two stops (one at the porta-potty and the other at the slight incline around mile 22). In IMUSA’99 I miscalculated my nutrition requirements and ended up run-walking in just over 4 hours.
When I was a newbie I recall one of the older guys giving me this little gem, “Son, even if you run slow, you’ll pass everyone that walks”. Being young and dumb I didn’t really pay attention. In hindsight I can say that my fastest times in 1/2 and full Ironman distance races have occurred when I didn’t leave it all on the bike and I actually “ran” the run…albeit slow. My first Ironman (IMCAL '00)marathon was great…for the first 18 miles. That last 10K was an absolute death-march limp for me and my run split was 4:35. Fast forward 18 months for a chance at redemption and even though I ran slow, I passed many people that appeared to be much more fit than I for they were walking. I reduced my run split by 30 minutes from my previous IM marathon and finished respectably in the top 15% of the field.
The longer the race, the more important the run becomes for any avg speed increase on the bike is negated rather quickly when you pencil yourself in for a 3:45 marathon only to crash and burn. Walking it in at a 16:00/mile pace and getting passed by big, fat (no offense to the Clysdesdales…I have much love for my hermanos gorditos) guys is humbling…I know 'cuz I’ve been there and done that.
Michael - El Tri Vato and a skinny little runner guy
Run like hell in short races, run steady in half IM’s (unless it’s Buffalo Springs Lake, then I walk up those damn hills with everyone else). Walk the aid stations in the full IM…and more if needed.
I’ve run every 1/2 but my first which involved a bad enough bonk to teach me that I wouldn’t do another one till I was fit enough and smart enough to handle the distance.
Finally got my 1/2 split into the 7’s at Ralph’s this year…was pretty happy about that. But even at Lake Pleasant last year when I was 3rd OA with a 9+ pace, I stopped at the aid stations to drink because I refused to walk.
Hoping to be able to run it in Kona, but it’s uncharted territory for me so who knows…
I’m a short course triathlete as well and there’s nothing really wrong about walking in a 5 K or 10 K run.
I’ve seen some world class athetes walking in a 10 K run. They walk for some seconds so that they can recover faster and proceed with a 3:10-3:15 per Km pace.
I’ve never walked in a 5-10 K run but there will came a day… well… hope not :o)
(that’s why i’m not thinking of going long for some years…)
I run for a 1/2IM but my last full IM I walked every aid station. Finished the marathon in 4:29 (2:09/2:19 were my splits). This year at Placid I hope to run the whole thing, with several exception to eat and drink at several aid stations.
If you’re not running the run, that means you’re biking the bike too hard.
For the guys that are fit and ready, that is true. However, I did my first two half IMs when I barely had the fitness to run an entire standalone half marathon – but I was in great bike shape. I walked about 2 miles in each one, after not biking very hard at all. A 5+ hour race is a long day, and sometimes we’re just not ready to run the last 2+ hours.
Some folks that achieve good open run times have a sort of “fragile” run fitness that falls all apart under the stress of having ridden a bike first, no matter how easily they have ridden. Good triathlon runners have a toughness that allows them to keep a good steady pace even when they’re buggered with fatigue.
I think that we have to be patient. The fitness to “race” a half IM or longer doesn’t come quickly to some of us. Now in my third year in the sport, I can confidently hold a pretty strong effort for a 1/2 IM run leg (walking only briefly to drink). This is just a straightforward matter of allowing my fitness to catch up to my ambitions. I have logged a year and a half of 35-45 miles per week running, and it took that long before I could face the T2 exit with confidence.
Patience, Robert! Consistent training and time will get you running the whole thing. There’s no secret formula*.
*Although if I had to suggest a secret formula, it’s dozens and dozens of 90-120 minute runs in the hills. I do them twice a week when I’m in a serious buildup period.
If it was swim-bike-hike i´d turn pro and kick everybodys butt I can walk pretty fast…
Seriously… i have found out that at a certain point it is smarter to walk realy (realy, realy) fast for a short time and recover physically and mentally to a point where i can run again. If i keep forcing myself to not walk beyond a point then i might still have to walk later, too…but then it´s a mere stumble and that´s where the time is lost.
Even at my PB Ironman-Marathon (3:08) i walked a little bit. I have raced 18 Ironman so far and have walked in many of them… ran all the way through only in a handful of occasions.
If you look at the middle of the pack male, a typical half-IM run is about 1:45-1:55 and and IM run is about 4:30-5hrs. But once you decide you feel like going top 10 percent, then the runs for half-IM’s look at 1:35 and under, where the runs for IM are 3:45 and under.
If you think you are a strong runner, you make sure that you have enough energy left to actually run and not blow it out on the bike. It is when you are worried about your run fitness that you go harder on the bike to try and “make up some time” for your slow run.
