Thoughts on training and racing my first HIM

So, I just finished my first HIM a week ago (Musselman 7/19).  My time was 6:07:21, well under my goal of 7 hours.  I had a great time, and am already looking forward to my next HIM.  For about the last month of my training I've been thinking of writing this post, partly to work out my thoughts on HIM training and racing, and partly to help others who are looking at the different HIM training plans on this site.

I chose the silver 20-week HIM plan.  When I was deciding it was between this and the 20-week beginner plan.  My initial thought was the beginner plan looked a little light on the bike, and the silver plan looked a bit heavy all the way around for my abilities.  I decided to go with the silver, but allowed myself to not feel guilty if there were particularly long workouts I didn't think I could finish. (I also have 2 small boys, 6 and 3, so I had time constraints as well.) 

During the 5 months of training overall I completed 94% of the training plan.  The first 8 weeks I was closer to 88%, but after that I was between 95-100% completion of the workouts.  I skimped the most in the swim part of the training, completing just 88%,  more because of time than anything.  I was most diligent on the run completing 97% of the workouts throughout the 20 weeks.  For the bike, I completed 92% of the plan.

Coming into my race, I felt confident that I would finish.  I put a lot of work into my nutrition and really felt like I had it nailed down.  The only thing that made me nervous was the unknown of never having done a HIM.

During the race, the swim felt great.  The bike felt long, but the second half was easier than the first.  The run was hard, harder than I had expected.  I had to run slower than I thought I would to keep my heart rate in check for the first half.  I walked more than I expected I would (mainly through aid stations and up 2 big hills.) It was definitely harder both mentally and physically than I expected.

I do not regret any decisions I made during the race. The only thing I would have done differently in training is try to get in a  couple of longer bricks.  I think my longest run off the bike was 30 minutes.  Next time I will definitely take this to at least an hour running off the bike.  I think it is good to work on running off the bike, so you have correct expectations of pace. I would also try to push a little harder on the bike during training.  My tendency is to go easy, and I think I never really found how hard was too hard during training.

I would definitely recommend the 20-week silver plan to anyone considering their first HIM.  You certainly need a pretty good base coming into it, but it by all means will get you to the finish line in good time if it is followed well.

BT is such a great resource for everything triathlon...especially training.  Thanks BT!!