Going From OLY to HIM, What Did You Learn?

My first HIM I was so excited to leave in the morning I left my goggles on the counter. Now I have a list of things I need for each transition and get everything packed and ready in one bag the night before. That way I don't have to worry about anything.

Have you been practicing your nutrition needs on long rides/runs previously? If your race is on Sunday doesn't leave a lot of time in your taper to nail down your nutrition.

My first HIM I forgot to not ride too hard  

I didn't give enough thought and planning to my race pacing.

main thing is not to put the "whole" race in your head, its a long day and no need to blow your mind from the start...each segment is your pet project..the swim..the bike..and run.

pace yourself..remember that's a 13miler on the end, and 56 miles on the bike isn't a ride in the park.

remember to eat and drink at regular intervals during the bike and run, especially the bike. mistakes on the bike come back to haunt you on the run.

have a great race!

I've focused a lot on the pre-swim nutrition and bike nutrition.  I've done my biking in 95+ degree temps so I had four water bottles: front, downtube and two off the back seat.  Only two had nutrition in them, the other two were just water for pouring over my body.  Now with temps in mid-70's, I need to really think how much of those fluids I need.  

The run nutrition has more flexibility because aid-stations are easier to handle.  My biggest concern is getting hungry.  I've got gels and salttabs that haven't caused GI issues. On my long bike rides I've eaten a Hammer Bar and Powerbar on separate occasions with no GI issues.  

I have a nice race day checklist that I will be using to make sure I forget nothing.  knock on wood.  I'm dropping bike off day before.   

Great advice and why I focused so much on the bike.  The biking is my strength and it's hard to tame the aggressive mountain bike racer in me.  But I've given myself a maximum pace of 21 MPH.  I may drop that too 20MPH (avg). I've preppred a little cheat sheet on my bike and will program my garmin to remind me when to take stuff.    

I never really went from a OLY to a HIM since my first tri was a HIM... That being said I made a number of typical newbie mistakes that I am sure you will have well sorted.  Mostly transition stuff and listening to volunteers when they say slow down.  It was a long exhausting day but I just kind of jumped in the lake when they told me to and kept cranking away.  Only thing that really surprised me was how much the swim impacted the first 10 miles or so of the bike and how much the bike impacted the first 3-4 miles of the run.  Took me quite a bit to get the legs working right when switching disciplines. 

Pretty simple really. Start at the beach go at a quick but reasonable pace and don't stop until you cross the finish.  The rest is just details.

I learned that a HIM takes more patience, flexibility, and decision making.  In a sprint or Oly, you sort of just toe the line and go hard...you don't really think about anything.  Not so much in a HIM.  You're going to spend a lot of time racing in a "comfort zone" where you're constantly debating with yourself if you should go harder, slow down, etc.  How you manage yourself, how well you stick to your plan, and what adjustments you make if something unexpected happens becomes much more of a factor in longer races.

I learned that I really like the HIM distance!  Much like going from a 10-K to HM, going from OLY to HIM involves more strategy, which I enjoy.  Sounds like you got a handle on your nutrition plan, which is probably one of the biggest changes from OLY to HIM.

One oops moment for me was my first bottle handoff.  I got the bottle OK, but when I shoved it into my profile design aero bottle to fill it up, the rubber top of the profile design fell into the water.  I rode for 25 miles with water sloshing all over me.  I had never practiced it but I learned quickly to be gentle with the refill!

I should state my race experience if that matters:

2012 I've done 3 mountain bike races, 2 running races (10k, 5k) and three triathlons (xterra, sprint, OLY). 

2011 I did a bunch of mountain bike races and triathlons: 2 xterra's, 1 OLY and 2 sprints.

The trend of 2011 is consistent in 2009 and 2010. 

gsmacleod - 2012-08-13 4:28 PM That I really like short course racing Shane

lol. I had a friend say that after he did his first HIM this year.  Crossed the finish line and said never again.  

I learned in my first HIM, that this longer distance really is all about the bike.....pacing and conditioning

Also, for me I ate more on the run....was taking in 200cals or so in gel/gatorade but I complimneted it with a banana and power bar and I really think it helped me comparing my first HIM to the second

GODD LUCK!!

Come to think of it, I've never practiced that either.  Hmm.  I have the smaller PD bottle and was thinking of buying the 32 oz one.  I have a B12 bike and my understanding, via the guru's on ST, that the B12 benefits from having the aero bottle on front (unlike some other super bikes where the bottle messes up the airflow).  

How many water bottles have some of you carried?  

Decide whether you want to go to a fast bike race and limp through a half marathon, or if you want to go on a leisurely bike ride before a half marathon race. An Oly does not really prepare you for a HIM. You can fake a Oly, you can't fake a HIM. And all those long rides and runs mean pretty much squat when it comes to putting them all together in a S/B/R HIM race.

Just swim your swim. You will not loose or gain big chunks of time either way killing it, or dogging it compared to what you can comfortably do.

Recover from the swim on the bike. Take in plenty of nutrition... but don't over do it. You want to be set up for a half marathon like you would stand alone.. hydrated and toped off on sugar...  but the harder you go on the bike, the less you will digest, and you will hit the run cooked and bloated with a full stomach. Stay in Z3, if it is driving you crazy with all the people passing you and you are beginning to question your manhood, you are in the right place. You better know what your Z3 HR is.

Go run your run. Have fun. Stay hydrated. Enjoy the pain. I have a couple of links to pacing if you want them.

Good advice, thanks, as I'm approaching my first HIM in less than a month.

For what it's worth, my 'zone 3' is pretty hard! I know it's accurate through testing, but it's definitely not a relaxed leisurely pace for me. When I started training at the beginning of the season, my zone 2 HR was pretty slow, but now that the legs have really built the endurance, the upper end of my zone2 feels like faster than what I plan on holding on average for race day, and is definitely not an easy effort even if the HR is low. I'm actually going to try and avoid zone3 until I hit the run,but we'll see how that works out with the realities of a race situation.

I'm planning to use one bottle - a water bottle cage that's zip tied between my aerobars as a lot of folks on Slowtwitch have been using. Have been using it on 60 mile rides in training (with 2nd bottle in rear jersey pocket which won't be there on race day), and it's been great - no sloshing or ejection problems and it's really easy to access. It's also really easy to install - just make sure you get long zip ties, and you're good to go.

It's just Gatorade. "Perform" is in their squirt/squeeze bottles... you know, not the closed cap twist off kind. So it is just gatorade. And the vollunteers take off everything for you... they hand you an open bottle ready to drink from. I uses everything off the course. You get plenty. And I don't even think I finished 4 full bottles and was plenty hydrated and had to pee twice.... but obviously that is a personal thing.

Anything special I want to "eat" I take. They have gels too, but you never know flavor, or type, or caffeine. So I will always take an emergency gel or two...  I ate a power bar on the bike because I like some sort of "sponge" in my stomach instead of just fluid. But for fluid... I keep it simple and take what is on the course.

WORD!