Half Iron during Iron Season

absmom

So, doing some vacation planning with the family here.  This is my first FULL iron season with EN.  What's the feeling out there about doing a half-iron before your full iron versus doing epic weekends? 

mgraffeo

Dana,

I'm sure there's a link to a blog entry/podcast/old thread that I should remember, but where to look is a bit fuzzy at the moment.  The general guideline is two-fold:

1. in the last 12 weeks of the plan, there's just too much of an opportunity cost (ie. missed training due to taper before race, recovery afterwards), and a HIM should be avoided.
2. At another time, it's not a big deal, but also not necessary as part of an IM buildup.  HIM is raced much 'hotter' than an IM, so there's really very little to learn from the race to apply to the IM.  Much better lessons from the 2 x race rehearsals in the training plan (which are also free!)

So, if it's for fun, and more than 12 weeks out, probably no biggie. 

Mike

Coach Rich

Hi Dana,

Please also go here, to the Train Map and download this:

Team EN Self-Coaching Manual

This is us talking about to modify your training plan for races, the opportunity cost stuff above, etc. Good stuff!

Rich