Duathlon

bruno_12345

need some advice on duathlons. i'm thinking of competing in one as soon as i'm fit. 10k run 20k cycle & 5k run maybe. never done one before & my running only average. anyone with a bit of advice. where do i start. any newbies out there that are in my shoes thanks

Andrewf20

Ive done 2 in total, this year so im a newbie (sort of).

- Get there with plenty of time, say an hour before you are due to kick off ideally. You may have to queue to register & pick up you race number, set up your bike and transition area, get dressed, get fed, warmed up etc. Best to do it at a relaxed pace.

-Make a mental note of where you bike is before you start. Even placing it near something like a signpost or a tree for example means it should be real easy to spot. With hundreds of bikes it can be harder to see your bike after the 1st run than you may think, delaying you even more

- Avoid going hell for leather, go at a nice cruising pace at the start. Dont worry about loads of people overtaking you at the start. Some will burn out or slow later. Its then a great feeling to catch loads of people in the closing stages.

- I found that taking it easing in the last 300 - 500m of the cycle is important as the transition onto the run can be hell. You legs can feel like jelly.
- Watch out for drafting (tucking in behind other cyclists to get better speed). I nearly forgot about this on my first event. The Marshalls may penalise your time.

- For the distances you mention in your post, I reckon some gel shots would be needed + water on the bike or at transition.

christeb

Do you have any Duaths in particular in mind?

I completed 2 of the Dublin City ones this year and throughly enjoyed them.
1 was 2.5/12/2.5 and the other 5/20/2.5 in terms of distances.

Hints?? Well, one is just to think about the actual transition and work it out in your head. Get your cycling shoes on first (if necessary) then helmet and then get out on the bike. The buzz in the transitions is fun but you still need to think a bit about what you are doing. Concentrate on running in your cycling shoes for a bit and compose yourself at the start of the cycle, in relation to shoes in the pedals.

Also think about what area you are strongest in. I'm prob a slightly better cyclist at the mo, so I try to make up more time here and save myself a bit on the first run. Set yourself goals and think about a realistic finishing time, and train and strive to achieve it. Although it is a race, its important as a newbie to have confidence in your training and realise that its only a run/cycle/run and that you're well able for it, this should make you more confident appraoching the event and more likely to succeed in a good time.

Good luck!

Sniipe

are there any other duathlons left in the year?

911sc

Going by this calendar, there seems to be 2 duathlons left this year : 27th Sep & 04th October

Arion Online

Hi All,

We are doing a Charity Duathlon in the morning for Special Olympics Ireland. I know that it is too late for that one but if you send on you e-mail address to me at info@arion.ie I will keep you posted as to the ones next year