Subject: RE: Half-IM after first marathon? My beginner perspective - I was a marathoner until 2010 when I started doing tris. I did my first HIM in September '10. I found the HIM training to be very bike-heavy. I was doing 50 to 60 mile bike rides every weekend for at least 2 months. My interpretation was that the goal was to make the bike relatively easy so you have something left for the run. Most weeks I did my long run on Sat and long ride on Sun. Every once in awhile I had to switch them around, and I found the long run after a long ride MUCH harder. But then I had just started cycling that spring. Honestly, I went into the HIM feeling undertrained on the bike. I still managed to do it in 3 hours, and eked out a 2 hr run, but I could have run faster had I trained more on the bike. My point? Yes, you'll be in great shape from marathon training, but I'm not sure 4 weeks is enough to get ready on the bike. And you should take at least a week to recover from your marathon (since it's your first, you'll have to just see how you feel - you may even need longer ). You'll have to do some long rides during your marathon training. I was cycling 4x a week with my plan. That will be difficult when you're putting in the serious mileage in the last few months of your marathon training. I also tried doing a marathon 2 months after my HIM - but I ended up bumping up the mileage too quickly and ended up injured. |