Think of backing out of first Half Ironman

A HIM to finish is still doable.  You can take a piece-meal approach to the swim, switching strokes & resting.  The bike section is long, but you have 20 gears to choose from.  You'd be surprised how many folks walk the half marathon, especially if it's hot.  Also, you've already dropped the coin, so you have 5 months of training to decide if you actually want to do the thing.

Sounds like it's the training that is getting you down, so consider re-evaluating the training.  Post up your schedule & what about it isn't working, and see what comes back.

I'd say be kind to yourself and do what you feel good about.

I like what Jobaxas said about giving  yourself permision to decide when you are done.

I've been training religiously for a race next month that I feel was kind of out reach for myself. And if I get to a point in the race where my body feels really bad, I'll call it a day.

But I am going to try. :=)

don't back out....you WILL regret it.  As already said, 5 1/2 months is plenty of time to get ready and actually can lend itself even better to your situation with time. 

Don't worry about getting a blistering fast time or finishing in a certain pack or whatever...just get out there and do it!  Just go out there with the goal of having fun, and enjoying yourself.  I always say that in my long distance races if I do not finish the race with a smile on my face it was not a good race no matter what my time was.

You being a cancer survior, you will find out that a HIM is a cake walk.  You have been through more hell than any race could be...you did not quite there...don't quite the race either.

5 1/2 months is still a long ways away - meaning you have plenty of time to train but also you have plenty of time to decide if you want to drop out (unless you could get your money back now). But why not put off that decision and just see how training goes?

I was already sick twice this year and each time I get sick, I get down in the dumps and since i can't train, talk myself out of my upcoming races. Injuries have this effect as well. As soon as I get back into my routine, I'm excited about my races again. Sometimes I go through phases where i'm "not feeling it" and take a week of easy running and yoga.

Take the pressure off of yourself. Tell yourself if you're 2 weeks out and don't feel like doing it then you won't. Avoid setting time goals. You can even go and do the swim and if you don't feel like biking then don't.

As for your question, you're not lame at all if you back out. We do this for fun, why should anyone judge you? We all have to make a decision as to what is best for us and our families.

My take is that is that triathlon is something we do for fun. 

If you have other things going on in your life right now that are more important, then do them. Triathlon is not going anywhere.

You can do another HIM when you have time to focus on it and fully prepare.  why should you feel pressured to complete something that is supposed to be fun?

Monique, life gets in the way of triathlons.  Or does triathlons get in the way of life?  You really need to go back and find that balance when you started doing this for health and fun.  You better not put your family on the backburner.  You and your family know each other better than the people of Beginner Triathlete.  Talk to them about it.

I say hang in there; however, scale it back.  5.5 months is plenty of time to get ready for HIM.  Compete to complete.  With all you are going\went through, it will make the finish even sweeter.

Good luck!

I did my first HIM last June.  I didn't have the health concerns that you do, but I certainly had the family obligations.  I started training for the race around the first of the year.  My son had just turned 2 and my daughter was 4 months old.  It was a zoo around our house, I wasn't getting very much sleep and I missed a LOT of workouts.  

I went into the race under trained.  I remember walking from my car to transition on race morning thinking "WTF am I doing here?  I'm not ready for this".  But I finished.  

I'm glad I did the race.  In the interest of full disclosure, though, I started working with a coach after that race and he said he would have advised me waiting a year to do a HIM.  You mentioned you have a coach.  What do they think about this?  Remember, you pay them for an objective opinion, you might as well listen to it.

There are many who have replied that you can back out due to life and not feel bad.  This reply is not like those, and it may sting.

Get off your a__, stop whining and start training.  (Sorry, I told you it would sting)

Life is never set up to train for a tri.  You already know that.  You were dealt a crappy hand and you overcame cancer.  That makes you tougher than 90% of the people on this forum.  Now step up and quit looking for people to justify you're dropping the race.  Who do you want to be?  The person that overcame the odds and finished a half?  Or the person that dropped out because life is too busy?  

Skip it.  As mentioned, nothing magical about going long.  Based on what your wrote, there seems to be no upside for you on your current path.  It would be more lame to put your family on the backburner and have them suffer a cranky, stressed out monster.

Congrats on beating cancer.

You have plenty of time to train.  Most HIM training plans are about 20 weeks so you're right at the start of that with 5 1/2 months.  But you do have to be fairly consistent with your training. I would highly suggest getting a morning workout in every day.  It guarantees you that you'll get at least one solid workout in every day.  things happen in the evening, as you alluded to, and it's very easy to let workouts slip away.  If you wake up early enough it's possible to get two workouts in before work.  That's tough, but doable. You'll have to commit to getting in your long bike/long run in on saturday and sunday mornings. I'd also try to get those in early as well freeing up the rest of your day.  

It's more than possible if you really want to do it. Tone is hard to get through the internet, but I took from your message that you may be looking for a way out.  If that's the case than don't do it. You won't enjoy yourself at all. Training is very mentally draining, more so than physically, and if its not something you really want to do, you'll be miserable. 

First thing I'd do is look in the mirror and decide if the HIM is really something you want to do, or are making yourself do because you paid for it and you've already told people and feel they have expectations now.  This is supposed to be about fun for 99% of us, if you're not going to enjoy it then don't.  Try an olympic distance instead and then decide if you want to go for more.   

If you can find 10 hours a week.....4 of them on one of the weekend days, you can easily get yourself ready in 5 1/2 months. 

Still...if you don't want to do it, don't do it.....but do something else.  The only time you screw up is if your quit doing SOMETHING physical.  I'm sure you already know that.

I don't know anything about your family make-up....ages, etc.....but my family is immersed in triathlon/training (except for one kid who is a team sport and horse kid....we don't mind because it gives us someone to ridicule).  If you make it a family experience it will open up all kinds of time for you to train because you'll be together and nobody feels left out or cheated out of anything.

Not at all lame.

If you feel as if you are a "cranky, stressed out monster", odds are you are not really having fun (and it might not be "healthy" either).  You need to find the balance that works for you and your family.  Maybe that includes the HIM.  Maybe not.  There's no reason to feel lame about backing out of something like that, though.  There are plenty of other ways to have fun, stay healthy and challenge yourself while keeping the 'balance' that you need in your life right now.

IF, IF IF, you still want to do it, 5.5 months is a long time and you could do it given your experiences in other events.

BUT, if you want to slow down, have less stress, then perhaps shorter races/less training is right for you. But 5 months is a good length of time to build base and train etc.

good luck!

5-1/2 months is a large amount of training time.  You can certainly get there if you want to.

For you, the questions are:  1.  do you have the time to exercise 7-12 hours a week, and 2.  do you enjoy it, or at least will the goal be worth it to you?

There's no reason to back out yet.  Unless you just don't want to do it.

Wow, that's a lot of incredible insight and advice, and I really appreciate it.

For the record, I do not have a time goal.  My goal is to finish AND still be able to walk on my own afterward.  (That little tidbit became a necessary addition after finishing my first 10k a year ago, then being on crutches for a week, lol.)  And yes, I'd like to actually enjoy the race.

Current fitness level:  I'm very comfortable with swimming - it's probably my strongest of the 3 disciplines.  So the 1.2 mile swim doesn't scare me at all.  No biggie.  Biking is what I'm most worried about.  I've only gotten back on my bike in the last couple of weeks, and have done a couple of 25 mile rides.  The longest ride I've ever done was 45 miles, and my legs were so wobbly afterward!  Plus this HIM course has some rolling hills and one big hill at mile 40.  Yikes.  I'm terrified of hills because I'm not so good at them.  Yes, I know - that means I need to do them more.  As for running, right now I'm comfy with upto about a 7 mile run, but am working on that.  I know that I could run/walk the 13.1 if needed. I've been putting in about 5-8 hours of training per week, and my coach says we'll be increasing that to around 8-13 hours per week.  Again, yikes.

So it's mainly the bike that's a problem.  I need to get back to the point where I like my bike again.  I have a crappy wind trainer that sticks in spots, so it's annoying to ride indoors.  And I'm still figuring out ways not to freeze while riding outdoors.  I'll get there.  And it'll start warming up around here too, which will make all of my training more pleasant.

For now, I think it would be wise of me to give myself the next 3-4 months to train and then see where I'm at before I make a decision.  But I am going to give myself permission to bail on the race if I honestly feel I'm not ready to complete it safely.  My friends and I are actually signed up for an Olympic Race on June 2nd on essentially the same course as the HIM will be.  So that's our practice for the HIM.  Perhaps I'll wait til after that race to make my decision.

Thanks, everyone!!