From sprint to HIM

Don't do so many sprints and do an Olympic. No sprint is going to prepare you for a HIM, especially not seven. unless they are a series you are trying to win save the money.

I didn't do a sprint or an Olympic before my HIM so it can definitely be done. I had run marathons however which certainly helped

I should have said, but it is a series that I enetered.

It's definitely doable. I know people who have done HIM as their first. Just do the training and have reasonable expectations of pace.

Bike a lot. That's where the real gains will come, especially for an experienced runner. The swim of a HIM isn't much longer than an Olympic.

I think it's fine.

You will have plenty of time to train for the HIM, and you will have good tri experience with all of the sprints.

bear in mind the swim is almost a mile, so can be a game changer for some.

you are no stranger to the run, but I don't know about your bike...

follow a decent HIM plan and I'm sure you'll be ready to rock it.

I find the 910 garmin to be my best training tool.

I did two sprints as preparation for my HIM. What you want to practise is transition and the sprints taught me a lot, especially as the first transition was terrible :p

Everything else should be practised during training: nutrition, long runs etc etc

All I had done prior to my first HIM this year were sprints and short-course X-Terras. I don't feel that not having done an olympic hindered me in any way, and I was really happy with how I did. As someone else mentioned, make sure you've got the time and km's in on the bike.

I did my first oly a couple weeks ago and actually found it more strenuous than the HIM, I guess because of the tendency to go harder on short course. And I was drained for a couple days after this, whereas I was ready to rock after a day of rest following the HIM.

Whatever you decide, have fun!

It is certainly not a problem, as long as your training is preparing you for the distance of the HIM.

I had only done three sprints before I did a full IM and I don't think doing longer distance races would have benefited much, if at all. The main thing is that you get to test out equipment that you may not use every single training session, practice transitions and get used to the atmosphere at a race. Sprints will prepare you just as well for these things as an Olympic distance would.

Get the Garmin, use it to track your mileage in training for the HIM

FWIW me personally, I did a total of 6 sprint, then a HIM, then an IM 7 weeks after the HIM. Putting in the training distance is more important than doing a certain race distance. I didn't even do my first olympic until almost a year after my IM

If the question is olympic or garmin, definitely the race. Either you love this or you don't, and race memories beat gear hands down if you do.

Unless the races are within 2 weeks of each other, I can't see how one would impact the other, so long as you're training for the HIM and not the Oly. A sprint and a HIM have little in common, IMO. One is about managing the red line effort the whole time, the other is about staying in the yellow and not tapping the red until the last 3 miles. To race (as opposed to complete) both requires training, but there's less discipline involved in a sprint, you just GO. The Oly - that's to your ability. Last year I couldn't race an Oly, this year I can.

I went from sprints to my first HIM with no issues

Get the Garmin 910

I agree with the above. It is the training that matters more than the racing for a HIM.
I went from sprint to IM - though not on purpose - the Oly I entered was turned to a duathlon because of bad weather. But the point is it didn't hinder me - the training is the thing that was most important