Going From OLY to HIM, What Did You Learn? (Page 3)

As several others have correctly stated: keep your heart rate down.  But how do you do that?  For me it is in T1 & T2.  In T1, I relax for about 15-20 seconds before I start putting on cycling clothes.  Then after changing, I calmly walk my bike to the mount line.  Yes, I loose about 45-60 seconds, but when I start the bike, my heart rate is where I want it.

Same thing in T2.  I don't rush the transition, I stretch and start out walking for about 30 seconds.  Overall, I do loose about 2 minutes but I feel that I make that up 10x over by keeping my heart rate under control.  Keep in mind that we are supposed to be enjoying this!!

Have fun and great question!!

That's good advice that I've totally noticed in my training. I find that if I stop and start to relax too much, my body wants to go out of racing mode and into 'recovery fueling' mode by eating and drinking so much food that I feel totally bloated. I've since learned to not overdo the fluid and calories on the bike - if the stomach is feeling queasy after intaking a lot, it's def time to slow down the intake.

Bookmarking this thread for my HIM in Oct. Thanks OP. Having a hard time with nutrition. I just don't really feel the benefits. I carry either a clif bar or powerbar for the bike and take salt sticks for run/rides of an hour+ but could do without and just the average Gatorade bottle/water bottle combo does it.

Anybody have any experience with Infinitnutrition? I'm setting up a consultation with them. Seem to have a pretty solid following and I hate gels and blocks they're all so hard to consume when exercising.

Since Steelhead is a WTC branded event, know the rule before hand. My first HIM was a WTC race and I was surprised by the level of enforcement by the race marshals around littering rules.  Just chucking a bottle or trash anywhere may get you a penalty.  There are pre-defined trash drop zone around the bike aid stations where you can discard your trash.  Therefore, it is important to figure out what you need and don't need pretty quickly.

To echo the others, HIM is about racing smart.  Leave a lot more in the tank for the run than you think you need.

I'm doing a HIM in about 4 weeks. I was not feeling good coming off the bike after longer training rides so I figured nutrition was the root cause and ordered Infinit thru their website. It's worked out really well for me. Now if I could just do something about the heat / humidity...

I printed out the athlete guide and that has all the rules.  It did mention the 'trash zone' so I'll definitely make sure I put it in the right spot.

I asked about the size of the water bottle because the bottle between my arms (on aerobards) is pointed toward me (the top).  Most people have the bottle pointed forward. I have S-Bend bars so it's a little tricky to get it out pointed forward.  Much much easier backwards.  But, if the water bottle they hand out is smaller, it could have a hard time staying in place. 

Lots of great points here! Thanks everyone!  My first HIM is still several months out so I have plenty of time to incorporate these suggestions.

You can easily sweat off that much liquid on a hot day- but that's more liquid than most people can absorb.  I predict a pee-fest.  But- better to be hydrated and pee, than to get dehydrated. 

Infinit was great for my first HIM last fall: they modified my normal mix by adding some extra protein (and changing some other stuff).  They told me to make up a 3x concentrate (6 scoops in 20 oz insulated bottle instead of normal 2 scoops) for the bike portion, alternate between a drink of the mix and a drink of water.    Worked great, no GI issues.

On the run, best to learn to live off the course, so find out what they'll have and try out beforehand. 

Other than that, pacing like everyone said, take it one step at a time (physically and mentally), and enjoy the day.

I haven't compared it to my water bottle consumption while training.  It just sucks because during training it was 95+ degrees so some water went over my body not in my mouth.  Right now I'm leaning toward a 24 bottle with nutrition and my aerobottle which is 21 Oz.  I'll have another 24 oz bottle off the saddle with just water.  This equates to 45 oz's of nutrition in my projected time of 2 hours and 45 minutes (based on avg speed). I'll have water bottle off the seat/aid stations if I need more.  

I recently ordered from Infinit and are loving working with them so far. My first batch has some protein in it, and it's causing me some GI issues after 1.5 hrs on the bike (which doesn't surprise me all that much). I just changed it to take out the protein all together and they upped my calories a little as well. They suggested I start with the no protein mix, do an hour with that, do an hour with protein, and do my next hour without protein. My body just doesn't flush it out fast enough. I've really enjoyed working with them so far.

Big thanks to everyone for their advice. It helped A LOT.  

Race went great.  Time was 5:54.  The swim was about 4-6 minutes slower than training. I came in at 39 minutes.  The bike was 20.5 mph avg, which is a lot slower than normal.  The roads were god awful. Needed ice for my nads after the bike.  I probable could have squeaked more out of the bike, but I did have an awesome run (for me).  So, as somebody else said, I may have paced the bike perfectly.  

I ended up with a water bottle between the arms filled with water. I had two smaller water bottles behind the seat and my aero bottle on seat tube.  Those three had my nutrition.  I grabbed one banana at aid station, other than that never stopped.  

You guys weren't lying about the running stations being a buffet.  I was going to bring my fuel belt but decided against it in transition.  Great decision.  

The only nutrition issue was getting very very hungry.  My breakfast could have been slightly bigger and I should have brought an energy bar during first mile or two of the bike and run.  

I consumed 1 salt tab and 1 gel every 45 minutes. Worked great.  Also helped two fellow athletes on the run with nutrition.  These guys were hurting so they were happy to get the salt tab and caffeine it contained.  My GARMIN was programmed to beep every 15 minutes to remind me to drink and take nutrition.

First tri that had coke at aid stations. That was beautiful.  So were the pretzels.  They had GU chews, but it was almost impossible to open them with sweaty hands.  Ended up throwing one away because of that.  

Again thanks to all.  Next year will be my first IM.  

That "run" is really a 5 letter word with the word "walk" buried somewhere in the middle.

I had my best swim ever, biked right where I planned, and then died on the run.  Almost 45 minutes slower than my stand alone HM time.  

What happened on run?  Bonk?  Did you not get enough nutrition on the bike?  

I struggle with 'lap' runs. Nothing is more mentally defeating then passing the 4mile sign with the 9mile sign right next to it.  But my head really stayed in the game.  I just plugged away at it.  Could have done without the monster hill after Whirlpool, but at least it was short.  

I got a serious education in nutrition and pacing.  

Thanks for that pacing guide.  I read it multiple times and it really helped.  Also the advice with the Garmin.  Programming really took the 'thought' out of nutrition.  Thanks again.

Guppie, question, it looks like you did a 2 week taper.  Was that perfect for you?  

Looking forward to reading your race report.  We did our 1st HIM the same day, just different parts of the country.

This thread is one of my favorites that I have participated in.