I finished IMAZ last Sunday, my first IM. I have limited triathlon experience, doing just two sprints & an HIM before this.
I'm a 47 y/o male, definitely MOP at best, although my swim pace is really good, bike pace is average, and run pace is slow.
I had a calf injury which limited my run training, and actually developed a right-foot stress fracture at mile 10 on Sunday, so my run
(walk
) time was slow. I can't compare run times, but all of my training logs show that my pace doesn't vary much no matter what the distance is. I suspect that I would find similar results for the run.
My swim time was 1:07:39, with a pace of 1:45 min / 100 m.
At my HIM last year, I was at 34:10, pace of 1:46 min / 100 m.
As if that wasn't close, my bike times were as follows:
IM: 6:05:36, pace 18.38 MPH
HIM: 3:02:48, pace 18.38 MPH.
In fact, the time for the IM was exactly
(to the second
) double the time of the HIM.
I couldn't done that if I had tried to.
I guess that I have two speeds, stop & go.
I guess this backs up what my answer has been when friends have asked how hard an HIM is compared to a sprint. I always answer that they're all hard, it's just that the HIM seems longer.
And Sunday
(aside from the foot injury
), the IM just seemed longer than the HIM & the sprints, but not more difficult
(except that is definitely more difficult to go for close to 14 hrs instead of 6 or 1-1/2
).