First tri a HIM (Page 2)

He'll be fine. It will probably be a long day for him but a half for your first tri is not crazy. My first tri was Switzerland 70.3. Getting beat up in the swim was a big eye opener. The bike was good but the run was way slower than what I was used to. I learned alot and have now done several tris of different lengths. Just give him the pointers about transistions and getting all his gear set up and cheer him on.

I understand your skeptism. I was introduced to a young woman this spring who had run 3 marathons and then signed up for an ironman. She didn't even own a bike, hadn't ridden a bike since jr high, needless to say she had never raced a tri. I was very concerned also, thinking she just doesn't understand. You don't just wake up one morning and ride for 112 miles! Not to mention the swim, she is not a swimmer. She was swimming with her head out of the water until we convinced her to come to swim class and get some tips from our coach. Swimming in an extremely short fitness club pool does not translate to a 2.5 mile ows. Anyway, we did convince her to do a couple of races. She did a sprint in May and a 1/2 IM in June (in the scorching heat and humidity when lots of other people DNF'd). She has been putting the time in on the bike, the race is coming up in August. I heard from a friend that she did say she just didn't think the bike would be this hard, all the nutrition etc. I think she's going to be fine, but yes I was very worried for a while.
I've just chalked it up to people being wired differently. I'm the kind of person that has to do things in baby steps, other people like to jump head first.

Can it be done?  Absolutely!

Is it a good idea?  Not for most people.

You can't make decisions for people.  Some people need to learn the hard way.

My first tri ever was Boise 70.3 this year in the bloody wind.  I have run 5 marathons, teach spinning classes several times a week and am comfortable with the run and on my bike.  But I had to learn to swim.  I chose the HIM because, from a fitness perspective, I had done enough endurance training that I knew I could go the distance and I wasn't worried about my time.  Plus, the swim, which was by far my worst discipline, isn't significantly shorter with an Oly.  For me, if I had to spend the time training anyway, I might as well go big.  I followed the training program to a "t" and finished 50 minutes faster than I thought I would when I started my training 5 months before the event.  Not more than 5 minutes after I finished, I told my family that I was definitely doing it again.

Can it be done?  Absolutely.  Depends on the training and the person.  If your friend wants it bad enough, it will happen.  Will your friend finish FOP?  Probably not.  But my guess is that isn't particularly important to your friend.  Or at least I hope not. 

Laurier- I agree completely, congrats on your first HIM, we both took the same route.

My first was a HIM. Why do people need to do a shorter race first? The race format is the same for all - swim, bike then run. If you can do each distance in training you should have no problem finishing if you pace yourself.

I really don't understand why people think it is necessary to do shorter distances first.  Many people do marathons and no other race ever - before or after.  Sure it isn't the way most of us would go about things but IF you do the training, there is absolutely no reason why a half couldn't be your first race.  Transitions are probably less important in a race of this distance (especially for the AGers who have no chance of medaling).  Having said that, it sounds like the OP's friend isn't planning to train seriously for this race so in this instance, yes, it is a stupid idea, IMHO.

I picked a sprint for my first tri (which I haven't actually done yet) for a few reasons.

First, I decided I wanted to do a triathlon about a week into June.  That didn't leave me a lot of time to train for a triathlon this summer, and I didn't want to wait until "next year" because too often "next year" never comes.

Second, I had just quit smoking after five years, and hadn't done any significant swimming, biking, or running for about as long.  I'm not saying I didn't do any in that period, but I had pretty much zippo for aerobic base.

Third, I was tempted to try for an Oly, but feared not making the cutoff time.  I am not fast.  At anything.  If I was told to get off the course I'd probably burst into tears, which I would never ever live down, and I'd have to commit seppuku.


So yeah, if you have the time to train for an HIM and have some background in something (swim, bike or run), I don't think it's crazy.  But if you're like me, essentially doing the couch-to-tri in ten weeks, then you're probably getting a DNF.  Even if I could make all those distances, which I'm not sure about, there's no way I could do it fast enough to make the cutoff times.  That would be my biggest concern for anyone doing a HIM for their first tri.

Okay, this is definitely sound advice.

I completed my first race ever today, and it was an Olympic. I was chatting with people in my wave while we treaded before the start, and when one caught wind of my "first-timer" status, she broadcast it! I wasn't really nervous. My training in the past five months has been a bare minimum (during crazy work/school weeks) of 12 hours/week. Since May, I've regularly trained at least 18-20 hours per week. I wasn't worried about endurance. I wasn't worried about time--I just wanted to finish strong without ever walking (including stopping or walking during transitions), and I did. I must have done at least 15 or 20 bricks--not easy ones, either...thirty miles of biking on hills followed by a fast but hilly 4 mile run.

In short, I trained hard for all three sports, read ahead, listened and learned, and it probably didn't matter much in the end. My time was respectable, but at least 50 minutes slower than I could do all three separately, and 20 minutes slower than I thought I'd be, period. For example, I'd bike 20 very hilly miles to the Y, where I'd swim 3000 yards in an hour and bike 20 hilly miles home. Or I'd do a hilly 16 mile loop and run 7 hilly miles immediately after to simulate the bike-run transition.

But nothing other than racing for my first time could have prepared me for that bizarre and intense physiological response I had to getting out of the water and running to grab my bike. The course was FLAT, but it didn't matter--even with the fast transition and flying mount I practiced, I was SLOW for the first two miles. I had 95% down pat. But that 5% that I didn't prepare for really slowed me down overall!

Coming from someone who is slow but strong and never walked, not even through the transition, I can tell you this: nothing prepares you fully for your first tri, other than doing it. I've run a full marathon on my own just for the hell of it, but mile 4 during my first Olympic tri may as well have been mile 45 on some ultra-distance race. I was as prepared as I could be, and it felt loooooong.

Not religious, but God bless anyone who attempts a half as a first triathlon! All I thought during the run was, "seriously? mile 4????"

Well, I was pleasantly surprised because all the new guys finished the Augusta 70.3.

My first was HIM NOLA. I trained for four solid months and had great results. You have to put the time in. That's all it boils down to.

A HIM is definitely doable for the right athlete, and likewise might not be the best idea for some.  I can speak from experience as I like to challenge myself and made a HIM my first triathlon, and a full IM (November) will be my second race.  For me it boiled down to both wanting to challenge myself and not having many available weekends in which to do smaller races.  I managed to finish my HIM in 5:01, felt great, had a blast during the race, and was back to full training within a day or two.  So while a lot of people will suggest doing smaller races first, you would hope that the individual has an idea of what they are capable of and spends the time training appropriately for the distance.

Having said that I really look forward to doing some sprint/oly races next year (when I can get a weekend or two off), as I think they will be really fun distances to compete at.

 

Both my friends finished as well. One really struggled on the swim, but he made good time on the bike and run. The other struggled some on the bike and it affected his run, but they both crossed the finish line. I was very happy and proud for them.

I am not sure how common it is but it is possible.  My first triathlon was a HIM.  I had no experience in swimming, hadn't ridden a bike for over ten years and only ran for recreation, never having competed in any race.  I began my training in late August for my first HIM race nine months later at the beginning of June the following year.  I did not break any records, but I only missed my goal time of  6:00 by 35 seconds. 

If your friend is truly dedicated to completing an HIM for the first race it is more than possible.  Looking back it was not a pleasant experience, but I would not do it any differently if I had the chance.

Consider him an experiment.

An experiment in how much suffering one goes through when they do not train properly for a HIM. Or he could rock it in 5 hrs and blow your mind. Ha!

Know of some people that have done a HIM first time out... depends on if you put in the required work and on some level natural abilities.  Tough to answer... conventional wisdom says its sort of crazy, I'm of the mind to wish them a great race.  

I would be curious to know what the finish times were.