The date is approaching fast and while I feel just about ready to complete the course, I don't feel any confidence at all to be able to 'race' this distance. None of my long rides have gone particularly well. I usually am completely out of energy past 3 hours of riding and I have never quite been able to complete the planned long ride times on my schedule.
The half Ironman distance demands more respect than other races I have participated in. I will probably be on the course for about 6 hours so I better take it seriously and have a good plan to handle the rigors of the race.
It is quite challenging because I have no experience racing for that long especially not in a triathlon.
This race is my B-race. I signed up for it to gain experience for my Ironman distance race in September.
I have been thinking about this race for a couple of weeks now and the more I try to think about the details of the race, the more questions I have. What pace should I go for on the bike? Should I go really easy to make sure I can run afterwards? In any case what does easy mean on a relatively flat course? Should I use heart rate zones exclusively to pace myself? How fast will I be able to run? My experience running sub 1:30 half marathons may not be relevant here and I probably need to adjust my expectations. But by how much? How should I pace the different parts of the run? How about nutrition??
Just thinking about it does not help without a method.
With all these questions in mind, I decided to learn by reading on line blogs, forum posts and articles.
With all that information, I created a detailed racing plan from the pre-race stages to the end of the race (below).
The main concern for me is proper pacing. I am worried to pace too slow because I know I will be disappointed with an average time, especially if I don't push myself hard.
I have to try to remain realistic though. I AM a beginner triathlete and this is my very first half Ironman. This is a B-race which main purpose is to learn.
This means that everything considered, the result is not that important but it also means that I can allow myself to find the upper limit of my ability on this distance without too much fear of bonking.
With all these ideas I designed a plan for a sub 5-hour target finish time. I think for my ability, this would be a best case scenario time, but right now, from the comfort of my armchair, it does not seem completely impossible to achieve...
The half Ironman distance demands more respect than other races I have participated in. I will probably be on the course for about 6 hours so I better take it seriously and have a good plan to handle the rigors of the race.
It is quite challenging because I have no experience racing for that long especially not in a triathlon.
This race is my B-race. I signed up for it to gain experience for my Ironman distance race in September.
I have been thinking about this race for a couple of weeks now and the more I try to think about the details of the race, the more questions I have. What pace should I go for on the bike? Should I go really easy to make sure I can run afterwards? In any case what does easy mean on a relatively flat course? Should I use heart rate zones exclusively to pace myself? How fast will I be able to run? My experience running sub 1:30 half marathons may not be relevant here and I probably need to adjust my expectations. But by how much? How should I pace the different parts of the run? How about nutrition??
Just thinking about it does not help without a method.
With all these questions in mind, I decided to learn by reading on line blogs, forum posts and articles.
With all that information, I created a detailed racing plan from the pre-race stages to the end of the race (below).
The main concern for me is proper pacing. I am worried to pace too slow because I know I will be disappointed with an average time, especially if I don't push myself hard.
I have to try to remain realistic though. I AM a beginner triathlete and this is my very first half Ironman. This is a B-race which main purpose is to learn.
This means that everything considered, the result is not that important but it also means that I can allow myself to find the upper limit of my ability on this distance without too much fear of bonking.
With all these ideas I designed a plan for a sub 5-hour target finish time. I think for my ability, this would be a best case scenario time, but right now, from the comfort of my armchair, it does not seem completely impossible to achieve...
