Half Iron Prep/Half Marathon

I would not do a 1/2 Mary the same month as my first HIM.

You need to train and taper and racing a long running race will cut into your training for your HIM even with a little taper and some recovery.

Two totally different events a HIM and 1/2 Mary. Run portion of a HIM even though same length will quite different than a stand alone 1/2 Marathon.

i've done 7 halfs and never done a stand along half mary

I have run a marathon and a number of half marathons, and as of this past Saturday one HIM, so I'm only barely qualified (if at all!) to respond to this.

I found that the 13.1 miles of the HIM was a VASTLY different experience than a "dry" half marathon. They are seriously barely recognizable as being the same distance. While I'm glad that I had my marathon and 1/2 mary experience in my back pocket, it's only because I am glad I had that much running experience and endurance in my legs.

Doing both in the same month wouldn't be a great idea, in my opinion, unless: 1) the 1/2 mary was at the VERY beginning of the month and could act as your last long run before the HIM, and 2) you used the 1/2 mary as a long run and not run it as a race. That said, why pay for a race when you can do a long run for free? If you have a solid plan and stick to it, it'll get your long run up to where it needs to be to complete the HIM distance without having run a 1/2 mary race beforehand.

Probably because you hate the bike.

for what its worth,

MOST people that have a bad run, hate the run, have it hurt more than it should, etc, in a HIM, is due to poor bike pacing/training, and not their running.

your run training sets you up to run whatever pace you can,
your bike training and pacing sets you up to run as close to that open time as you can.

the more/better your bike training, and hte better you pace the bike, the more fun you will have on that run.



if you have a decent run volume you should be fine doing the HIM, although i would not do it and hte half mary in the same month.

LOL....and you're totally right Bear!   It wasn't really the run itself.  It was just that I was totally underprepared for the bike distance leaving my legs little to nothing for the run.

I think that if you wanted to run a half before a half IM than you should do it as a training run and at a pace that is consistent with what you may experience during the race. Most people come off the bike and charge out into the run resulting in a slow and painful finish.

It takes a lot of discipline to begin at your goal pace. About 4 weeks before my last HIM, I ran 13 miles at my post-biking pace and simulated walking the aid stations as this was my race stategy. I kept having to back off repeatedly. I executed my practice run to perfection but I got all jazzed during the race and hit my first three miles 2 minutes/mile below target pace. I paid dearly for not sticking to the plan.

Just my own experience, I've run 2 half mary's so far in preparation for HIM, I'll let you know how it goes LOL

I'm three weeks away from my first HIM.  I have run a HM stand-alone, but  I have also hit the mileage in several of my training runs.  If you follow a good plan (I'm using the silver 20-week plan), you will be ready for the run with or without another race.

Hey Kellie I am doing the silver plan for the HIM as well but I am 14 weeks away from my HIM. I am doing a Half mary next weekend 4 July.

Please put up a post after your HIM so we can know how the training prepared you for the HIM

I'm doing both those races. I want the experience of having completed the Half-marathon before I do the HIM because running is my weakest event and I want to be able to tell myself during the HIM "you know you can do this, you've already done it." 

I did a 5k before my first Sprint Tri for exactly the same reason. It worked too.

I've worked out my HIM training plan so I finish it right before RnR so everything after that is taper/race/recovery until Big Kahuna is over.

If it's dumb and doesn't work, I'll let you know in Nov. Heh.

Edited by MacMadame 2009-06-25 1:33 AM

As has been pointed out, an HIM run isn't the same as a standalone half mary.  (My 2:17 run at Wildflower four months after a 1:36 open HM is evidence enough of that.)

That doesn't mean you can't/shouldn't do a half mary if you think it will build confidence and you allow for recovery.  I think it's important to consider carefully what popsracer says above, though.  It is really tempting to go out in your HIM at your standalone HM race pace which is a recipe for potential failure.

Having said that, however, my first HIM run was only about 5 seconds slower than an open HM run about 5 weeks later.  They may not be the same, but they aren't necessarily completely different experiences.

man i wish i could come off the bike feeling like i need to hold back and not run a min or two per mile faster than race pace in a HIM, that is a feeling i have never had.





totally agree with others, although i have never run a stand along HM, i have done plently of training runs in the past that long, and they are NOTHING like the run in a HIM. the 2nd half of the HIM run puts you in a world of hurt leg wise, but for me at least its not the chest exploding feeling of a hard running pace, but rather the leg buring from running 13 miles on tired legs.

totally diff animals