1st HIM: novice division?
436
Member
690 days
azstinger11 posted 1 year ago.
Personally I find no shame in admitting I'm new to something, especially something as hard as a HIM. I mean you would join probably like 1% of the current world population in completing it, so is it so bad your first one you get marked up as a new guy? It also depends on how competitive you are, if you want hardware then you probably do have the greatest chance in that devision, looking at the HIM race im doing ( Hawaii 70.3 @ Honu) for me to place in my AG (20-24) I need to do a sub 5 hour HIM which is going to be very hard.
-----------------------------------------------
Base 1 (Week 2, 16.5hrs)
Check out my blog!
255
Member
1256 days
Noel posted 1 year ago.
Hey man,
good on ya for making an effort and going for a half ironman. If you want to win/podium place then Novice is the way to go. But trust me, go age-group and you'll learn and experience more when you go head to head with those guys. It'll be tougher and you'll finish less high (probably), but you can say you rose to the challenge. You'll feel more pride and you're going to go to age-group pretty soon. Might as well get to it.
I can hold my own in a 70.3 race but a hilly bike course is not what I'm used to. So I race both, actually I raced two hilly and one flat course, just to get my @$$ kicked and get better.
You'll learn, you'll get better. Aim high(er) and remember: you'll only get better if you race better athletes.
Noel.
www.noelbrand.blogspot.com
It ain't much, if it ain't Dutch!!
27
Member
802 days
SlowE30 posted 1 year ago.
thanks for the advice guys.
so you're saying they're going to mark my calf as a newb? that's probably my deciding factor at this point, since i'm on the fence.
255
Member
1256 days
Noel posted 1 year ago.
SlowE30;77698 wrote:
thanks for the advice guys.so you're saying they're going to mark my calf as a newb? that's probably my deciding factor at this point, since i'm on the fence.
No man that's not what I'm saying at all. Who cares if there's an N on your calf or a $. It's about stepping up and choosing opponents that will elevate your race level. Go for the challenge and read my post again.
Noel.
www.noelbrand.blogspot.com
It ain't much, if it ain't Dutch!!
27
Member
802 days
SlowE30 posted 1 year ago.
Noel;77710 wrote:
No man that's not what I'm saying at all. Who cares if there's an N on your calf or a $. It's about stepping up and choosing opponents that will elevate your race level. Go for the challenge and read my post again.Noel.
Oh, sorry, I was referring to azstinger's post because he made it sound like they would mark me as a novice. I get what you mean about going for the challenge and learning experience - I'm going to try to switch my entry from N to AG.
1716
Member
1039 days
1127
Member
934 days
UFTriGator posted 1 year ago.
You know....most of the people in the 20-24 AG will be doing their first HIM, too. I think you'll find plenty of good people to settle in with in the race in the AG division.
______________________________________________
-Matt
Not fast enough.
27
Member
802 days
SlowE30 posted 1 year ago.
UPDATE:
I opted out of the novice division and stayed in my 20-24 age group. Those guys were tough! I came in 12 out of 15 guys in my AG. If I had gone novice I would have gotten 4th and still not brought home hardware, so now I'm really happy with the decision.
I finished in 5:52, which was better than my goal of 6 hours. The bike absolutely killed me - if I do another I'll definitely get a real tri bike... or at least a real road bike, and train that event a lot more. It was indeed humbling to get smoked on the bike by a 15 year old girl and a 67 year old man.
It's been a long winding way since my first sprint tri last august, to my first half marathon last october, to my first marathon in february, to my first HIM this past sunday. I'm definitely not burning up the pavement in any of those events, but I sure am glad I've done them. Thanks for the help along the way, trifuelers.
526
Member
434 days
TryScott posted 1 year ago.
Way to go on beating your time goal! Sounds like Santa needs to bring you a tri bike this year. Maybe you'll get lucky and find someone selling a good used road or tri bike in the off season.
427
Member
388 days
Sully800 posted 1 year ago.
Buy that Trek Yframe in the classifieds! It's a little old, but beam bikes look sexy as hell. And that will get you the tri geometry, built in aerbars and disc/HED3!
EDIT: Or maybe I should just stop talking about what I want to do but can't afford ;)
Congrats by the way on finishing... Keep up the good attitude and keep pushing yourself!
622
Member
514 days
Iron Dan posted 1 year ago.
Sounds like you had a good race and congrats on beating your time goal. Now is the time to start looking for a bike if you are able to get one. The new model year bikes are coming in so this current year’s bikes will be discounted for the next few months. Keep you eyes open and you could get a steal.
179
Member
528 days
FlashRedGLS1.8T posted 48 weeks ago.
SlowE30;81518 wrote:
It was indeed humbling to get smoked on the bike by a 15 year old girl and a 67 year old man.
Funniest thing I've read on here EVER. :D
Thanks for the smile. Glad you did well, congrats!
3349
Member
1362 days
RV posted 48 weeks ago.
Nice job beating your time goal!
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
834
Member
1321 days
JamieM posted 48 weeks ago.
FlashRedGLS1.8T;84989 wrote:
Funniest thing I've read on here EVER. :D
You must be new here. ;)
Stick around, the characters on Trifuel will not disappoint.
And Slow, congrats on the race!
48
Member
332 days
tri2achieve posted 47 weeks ago.
Slow,
Congrats on a great time.
I'm new here but am thinking about doing SC 1/2 IM next year.
How did you like the course in Greenwood ? Hilly ? for SC How was the temperature ?
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.- Paul
I just registered for my first Half Ironman (south carolina half) coming up in about a month. I paid so I have to do it now... good motivation.
Anyway, I was/am torn about signing up for AG or novice division:
On one hand, I AM a novice, and i ride a POS roadbike that is way too big for me. Plus I'd probably have a much better chance of bringing home a trophy/metal if I stay in Novice. My only tri experience is a single sprint tri over a year ago. I did do a marathon this Feb, though. I anticipate my weaknesses being my swim and bike. I've never swam over 1500 yards (and that was in a pool!), or biked over 25 miles! I'm a broke college student so I won't be in a wetsuit.
On the other hand, the novice group starts LAST wave. That means less good people to swim draft. AND if I have troubles on the swim or bike I'd be more likely to get booted from the race for time cut-offs. Plus I feel like it's sort of cheap for me to be in novice, for some reason.
What do ya'll (that's right, i'm from SC) think I should do? Stay in Novice or try to switch to AG (I'm 22).
One more question: for vanity's sake: If I have to put an "N" on my calf instead of my age, that would probably be enough to keep me out of novice division. Do you know what they do about that?
Thanks for the advice!