1/2 Iron Man - What Did You Learn

I learned the hard way that nutrition and hydration are critical in the longer races. I mismanaged mine and completely blew up on the run.
While it was a huge disappointment at the time, it turned out to be the best learning experience I've had.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=81087

Oh, where to start?

I've done 3 HIM races, and I learned the most from the most recent. It wasn't my worst time... (i.e. CLOCK TIME) but it was my WORST TIME like "this is no party".

Primarily, I got caught up in racing against the clock. I raced Racine last year, and made it my goal to do much better there this year. I have not been running as much as I was running last year, due to knee surgery...

I have been biking alot, and riding lots of hills, and I am a much stronger cyclist than I was this time last year.

So, I set this rather lofty time goal for myself, thinking... I can do it, no problem... I've done a HIM twice before, I've had some hard training, and I think it won't be a problem. I can eeeeeek it out, no matter what.

Turns out the swim was longer than it was last year, so my time, exiting the water, was equivalent to last year's. When I saw that, I panicked at the thought of ALREADY being behind my "goal" time. So I made it my business to hammer the bike as hard as I could. I had an awesome bike split, enjoyed every last moment of it, but fell waaaaaaay off my nutrition and hydration plan. I actually threw one of my Gatorade bottles away at an aid station, and took water instead. I was short electrolytes, calories, and generalized hydration....I knew it wasn't smart, but I was trying to make up time on the bike, where I knew I was strongest. I think I realized my nutrition was lacking, but I thought I'd just drink at every aid station on the run.

My bike turned out to be 11 minutes faster than last year. But my run... with no fuel stored up, and in a generally dehydrated state... with much less run training than last year... was misery incarnated. It was a run/walk, averaging 13 min/mile and it was very very painful. I wanted to keel over around mile 9. I lost all the time I gained on the bike... and then some.

So, after that long dissertation, my advice to you:

• Don't get all wound up against the clock. Have fun. My Racine experience this year wasn't fun... aside from all the friends and family that we had there.... the race itself was a horrifying experience!
  
• Save something for the run. Don't go hammer the bike. Hold a little something back so you can run a bit. (Like 13 miles, let's say!)
  
• Don't throw your nutrition plan out the window. Make sure you devise a plan, know what works and then stick to it. We have a tendency to make some really strange decisions whilst racing. Stick to the plan.
• Have fun. Even though I had fun on the bike... I felt like I was desperate to make up time, so I wasn't having as much fun as I might have under ordinary circumstances.
• Of course... train. It's a long race. Don't think you can get through it with half A$$ed training. It's going to take consistency.
  
• Respect the distance. It's short enough where you may think you can be "fast" but long enough to really cause some pacing/nutrition problems.
  

Thanks slow&steady.  What a great idea.  Also thanks to everyone that contributes.

I did a 50 miler yesterday and my nutrition wasn't as good as it needs to be.  I didn't bonk, but I might have if the ride would've been much longer.

Did my first HIM-distance tri this year.

I learned that one should not hold back on the swim as much as one would in an Ironman. After all, the swim distance in a HIM is only a bit more than in an Oly. I was too conservative on the swim. Next time, I'll swim as if I were racing an oly.

Also, you can never start a HIM run too slowly, but you can definitely start out too fast (and risk fading later in the run).

I  like SwissTri's reponses!  Especially #6.

I just finished my first 1/2 Iron and I would also agree with:

2.5) Build in some redundancies in your nutrition plan just in case you drop your banana.
It didn't happen to me but BOY did I see lots of salt tablets, water bottles and other food on the road.  Our road was very bumpy and I think it bounced a lot of folks' stuff out of their pockets/bikes etc.

I learned EAT soon after - I know to do this, but I didn't like any of the after race food so I didn't eat....about 2 hours later I felt very nauseous

I also had a race plan....didn't really think about times until the last couple of miles when I looked at my watch and saw I could make 7:30...(yea, I am slow, but I finish! ) and I pushed...and made 7:24 - so HAVE A PLAN.

MOST OF try to have fun....this is a choice right?!?

enjoy -

Ann

1) if you do the training, you'll finish with a huge smile on your face.

2) train like you'll race; IOW, practice pacing, practice nutrition and practice execution

To be flexible, even on race day.  I wanted to break 6 hours at the Patriot HIM in MA this July.  Come race day they changed the course so that all three events ran long ( an extra 200 on the swim, 4 miles on the bike and .5 miles on the run).  Throughout the race I was bummed becaue I realized I wouldn't make my goal, but I still set a PR (even on the long course) and had a great time. 

Dennis thanks for posting this thread.  I literaly just signed up for my first 1/2 in Vancouver in Sept. after only starting this tri thing in March.  Way ahead of schedule. I have my 1st OLY on the 18th I think I am ready for but the 1/2 will be a good test to see where my training is.  Thanks for all the tips everyone, they are all great bits of advice, glad to see there is nothing confussing or contradicting!

Chris

1. Don't go into it with unrealistic expectations

2. Don't skip workouts

3. Hydaration and Nutrition are more imprortant than you may realize while on the course

4. LONG rides/bricks are, IMO, one of the most important deciding factors of how your body will handle the race.  I only did a 62/6.2, and found myself really wishing that I had run, if even for a short distance, after EVERY long bike.  Because it was really hard to run with legs that were that tired

5. It hurts, but in a good way!