how do HIM transitions work? (Page 2)

Its all relative but in my book you are very fast.

You might want to go check previous year's results for the race.  I have not looked, but would be extremely surprised if there are a lot of people >23mph on the bike.  Yes, the guys on the podium probably will be, but that is darn fast over 56 miles.

As far as the comparison between AG'ers and pro's... it's apples to oranges.  Completely different worlds.

Are you trying to equate bike aver to run pace? That's a bit difficult at best. Very least, would want to know the course too.

And also consider what performances you have to base your effort off of.

just saying on an independent average basis for each leg.  yes the course would be very dependent.  i would think if you finished the run leg of a HIM with a 720 pace it would be more "respectable" than a 20mph avg on the bike.

Sorry... I didn't actually answer your question in my previous post.

I would go with either tri top/shorts or one piece trisuit.  As previous posters said, if you're shooting for a fast time you want to minimize transition time.  In my experience, you don't notice an uncomfortable saddle as much on race day anyhow.

Also- the two IM 70.3's I have done had large transition areas, and long runs from the water.  Plan on longer T times than a small race.

I just used an online calculator to see how fast 23mph is over 56 miles. 2:25. 

That's FAST! If you can pull that off you may have the fastest bike split in your AG!

Also, Lieto has many many years of endurance training under his belt. 

For a N=1 sample, I went out 15 watts too hard on my last HIM and it cost me 10+ minutes on the run.  So I would caution chasing something arbitrary like MPH.  That's the first metric that I make my athletes get rid of. 

That 15 watts was about 3 minutes or .5 mph. 

*Unsolicited Advice*
Let your training, not your pride or desire for a time, determine your race pace/strategy.
*End Unsolicited Advice*

I used a 2 piece tri suit for my first HIM. I did my long training rides and bricks in the same shorts I planned on racing in. I actually prefer tri shorts over bike shorts though (I got enough natural padding )

To mimic everyone else,  be careful striving for goal times. From experience, it can lead to a horrible run. Just out of curiosity, do you train with power, HR, or RPE?

Let's be realistic here.  Odds are that you're not going to gain over 2 mph (in similar conditions) and then run a 7:30/mile half-mary by April.

It's good to have "one of these days I can do that" goals but you need a heavy dose of short term and realistic goals to keep yourself in check.

Paul, you're setting yourself up for a disappointing race.

Follow Dan A.'s advice.  Let your training dictate your pacing and strategy.  Do a race rehearsal about three week out from the NOLA race and that will tell you where you should be.

Chasing a MPH number is foolish at best.  Be very careful.  As the saying goes... race the race you should not the one you could.

for transition times take a look at the pointy end of the field and see where they average.. I will say from experience that Muncie, Augusta, FL, Knoxville all had LONG runs to T1.. You have to consider travel time as well as "change" time.. Stick with a tri suit, simplifies things... Best of luck, 4:45 is stout in anyone's book so you've got to be cookin with gas on all 3 disciplines and have the endurance/depth to pull those paces out and not have one negatively affect the other in a significant manner..