First Duathlon

shanye

Doing my first duathlon in 5 weeks time but no sure what clothing to wear,running shorts or bike shorts or running tights.......... 8k run 20k cycling,Advice pls.

Oryx

5 weeks time, you should be ok for shorts, see what the weather is doing. Ive done duathlons in bike shorts, works okay, but I usually use a trisuit with a lighter chamois now because I prefer to run in it. Its a relatively short bike, so no padding would be ok, it really depends on you. If youre going to use run shorts, see how they feel on the bike in training before your race.

ChickenBalls

One tip I recently got was to practice going from bike to run and vice versa but in a different way than I normally would do (cycle 40km and run 5km).

Since this is short enough do something like run 2km cycle 7km run 3km cycle 10km run 4km etc... in one session increasing or decreasing depending on your fitness - you can mix it around. Your body will be well use to the transition on race day then.

Make a check list of everything your going to need as it's easy to forget items on race day! I've done it plus with races I organize there's always someone who forgot something. To give you an idea here a list off the top of my head (some are obvious!):

Bike (Make sure you inspect it as it'll get inspected for brakes at least - also put it in an easy to mid level gear so it's manageable to get going; you don't want it in a high gear!)
Helmet (You wouldn't believe the amount of people that forget! You'll be asked to put it on prior to race so it fits - most races do. If you have Tri bars when you rack your bike put your helmet face up with straps on the outside so it's easier to get it on. Always do this before you take your bike away.)
Cycling Shoes (I usually have these mounted on the bike for a quicker get away - practice mounting/dismounting thou before the race)
Runners (Get Lock laces as it'll speed up your transition)
Shorts (Personally I wouldn't use full padded cycling shorts just normal running shorts if you don't have a tri-suit - skin tight ones. If you don't have any make sure you use vaseline or body glide for obvious reasons )
T-Shirt\Jumper (depending on the weather - try get a Skin tight top that's my preference)

When you rack your bike make a mental note of which area it's in, you don't want to be searching for your bike or runners during transition; also on the 2nd run make sure to remove your helmet after you rack your bike, lots of people forget to remove it(me included) until a marshal tells you to go back as it can waste valuable time.

I think that covers what I know...