YOUR first HIM

There's a different vibe about longer distance races.  I'm not good at rushing through transition so it's nice to be able to take that extra minute to do things properly knowing it (probably) won't matter as much in the overall scheme of things.  Because intensity is lower I found the transition from bike to run easier.  By virtue of the course being longer is was a little lonelier out there than your average Olympic event but I didn't mind that - I train on my own anyway.

I view a HIM similar to a full IM - it's a 10k race.  Everything I do is trying to get me to the 10k start line in good shape and then give it some.  I went under 6 hours in my first which I was really chuffed with but it's proving a bit harder to get under 5.  Maybe next summer!

1. Train as hard as you can. As much volume as you can. Even if you think it's a lot, the HIM is long enough that you'd still benefit from more. 

2 Take the bike EASY!! It should literally feel like it's just brushing up on moderate pace - if you start even huffing, you're going too hard. You will make up all the time you lose on the bike x2 on the run against people who overbike (which is the majority of AGers.) 

3. Nutrition for HIM is not complicated. It's the same stuff you use/train with for your 3hr weekend bike long rides, no different. If you meltdown on race day, it's almost certainly NOT a nutrition issue and almost definitely a training (lack of) issue if you just stick to this.

My first HIM was a complete disaster.  Made a real boneheaded nutritional mistake and decided to ignore basic human physiology and took in WAY too many calories while on the bike.  That led to severe GI distress on the run, which led to a lot of vomiting, which led to severe dehydration, which led to a ride in the ambulance, which led to six IV bags, which led to a hospital stay, which led to, well, you get the picture.

Sums up my feelings pretty well.

My first one, I was seriously under-trained on the bike. I didn't push the pace on longer rides, and I didn't really push it on shorter ones either. Haha.

However, I biked fairly easy (aka SLOW) during the race, then had a great run - passing lots and lots of suffering/walking people.

My next half iron was a 20 min PR, most of that time was taken off my bike split.

So, train HARD, race within the limits of your training (even if it means a terrible bike split), and have FUN!

ETA: don't lose your timing chip in your wetsuit

1) Had a great summer of training, went fro sprint to HIM training

2) ~6 weeks before HIM, DNF in Oly, crashed on the bike and lost a lot of skin. Training was limited to biking and running for 3 weeks once I got back into it.

3) ~2 weeks out the family contacted a nasty respiratory infection.  I had a barking cough, had to sleep sitting up and was on meds.  I recovered in time to get in a a few workouts before race day.

4) Enjoyed every moment of the race, didn't meet my soft goal but that was expected.

My advice is to swim way more than you think you should in training, bike way easier than you think you should during the race, and have fun.

A severe storm rolled in and caused the RD to cancel the race during the run. I was 2 miles away from finishing but was pulled from the course and not allowed to continue.

Not to scare you