Add a HIM six weeks after lake Placid?

[Deleted User]

R&P,

Lake Placid 2011 will be my first Ironman ever, and I am doing Quassy leading up to it.  There is a new HIM in Lake George on Labor Day weekend.  My original plan was to take it very easy in August and recover mentally, physically, etc.  Now I am toying with the idea of doing the Lake George HIM.  Questions:

• It is 6 weeks after Lake Placid.  You think this would be too soon to do a HIM after my first IM?
• In a nutshell, what could I expect to do for resting/training/tapering in this short window?

Thanks!

Jim

Coach Rich

Jim, this will give you a good idea of what to expect:

Recovery and Transition Post Ironman / 70.3

[Deleted User]

Thanks Rich, good info. I think I will take it easy after Placid. 2012 will be the year of the HIMs

Coach Patrick

Others can give their personal insight, but basically racing after an IM is really touch and go. Sometimes it works, most often it doesn't...it's just "a day"...not really worth it in my opinion unless you think you are the exception!

Chris G

Jim,

I raced the Olympic at Lake George [back when it was on Labor Day] a couple times after racing LP.  Like most others, in both IM years and off years I have a great desire to do a long race of some sort in the late summer/fall.  By August, not so much.  The 2 years I raced LP I lost all enthusiasm for training after it was over.  I showed up in Lake George having only ridden a couple times and not having swam farther than from my dock to the rock in front of it since race day.  You can take left over fitness from IM and fake your way through an Olympic without much trouble.  Doing that for a half, especially one on the course they are considering, would be hard and will likely suck.  

All that said, as I sit here right now I have every intention of racing both the olympic and the half on Labor day weekend next year as part of a stupidity challenge against some friends.  I also know that it is NOT a good idea and will likely be very little fun until it is over.  I also know that I plan to beat them all and then drink more than them after.

I think the takeaway is that there really is no reason not to, if you want to, knowing that you might not feel like it at the time.  I mean whats the worst thing that can happen, it's only a half ironman :-)

Coach Rich

What Chris said. Generally, all bets are off for how you'll feel about racing after an Ironman. My recommendation is to not register, if possible, until after the race, so you're not committing dollars to something you may find yourself no longer interested in doing.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the info guys. I had pretty much settled on not registering until after LP. If it does not fill, and things pan out, maybe I'll sign up at the last minute. It's only an hour north or where I live, so if I don't race it maybe I will try to be there to watch some guys try to do both races Labor Day weekend!