Subject: RE: Half Ironman or full marathon - which is harder?I'm a strong runner, and have done at least ten marathons, but would have to agree that a marathon feels harder for me. Of course, I've only done one HIM, but I did pretty much leave it all out there, and even so, I felt that the HIM training was easier on my body, and recovery (at least the length of time when one really feels like crap ) was considerably shorter. As for the race itself, probably equally as tired in the last few miles, but it was more of an overall fatigue better distributed among different muscle groups. owing to the different demands of swim/bike/run. Caveat being that I have a very good sense of pacing for long events--I've rarely started too fast in a marathon, never overcooked the bike in a tri, and have almost always had strong finishes for my ability. I think a HIM run could easily become a death march if one biked much too hard, or started the run too ambitiously for one's fitness. In that case it might be a hard as, or worse, than a marathon. |