Fancy giving a duathlon a go or simply want to improve your skills from last season? Then follow these simple but effective tips designed to make you a master of the run, bike, run…
01 GO LONG TO GO SHORT
Going over the race distance in your training can really help to make the race day feel like a short workout. Including lower-intensity, endurance-focused sessions that are 30-40% longer than race distance are perfect for this. These workouts can form the basis of your longer weekend routines and, where possible, try to simulate the terrain and elevation you expect on race day.
02MIX UP YOUR RUN SESSIONS
There’s no getting away from it that duathlon requires you to be run fit in order to race well, but this should be seen as an opportunity to work on any weaknesses in your running fitness or form. Your weekly running schedule should include a variety of styles of run workouts, including long steady aerobic runs; tempo runs that take you up towards race pace for extended periods of 1-3km; and then finally some threshold/speed work that is faster than current race pace and really stresses you physically. Variety is key to success.
03 FINE-TUNE YOUR FUELLING STRATEGY
Use key training sessions to trial and fine-tune your nutrition strategy. The off-season is a great time to experiment. The first run is possible to get through on just hydration but the bike is a chance to practise taking on energy gels or even a bar. Use the final 10mins of the bike to fuel ready for the run; if the final run is 5km or shorter then taking onboard a gel in the final 10mins of the bike is adequate for the rest of the race. And topping up with a drink in transition may be enough to see you to the finish line.
04 JUST USE RUN SHOES
If the race distances are very short, and if you’re newer to the sport and still experimenting with cycling shoes, then why not try doing the whole race in your run shoes? If the bike section is 10-15km then using a set of good quality toe clips could allow you to still cycle effectively but save you anxious minutes in transition wrestling with a changeover of shoes. The actual mount and dismount will also be quicker in running shoes.
05 DO THIS BRICK SESSION: 6KM R/20KM B/3KM R
RUN 1: Attempt to hold a sustainably hard pace and feel in control working at RPE 8. Do not slow down.
BIKE: This should be a hard ride of 20km with 4-5 efforts working very hard for 2km each, really trying to increase speed and power while remaining in control. You’ll already be warmed up from the run and so can go straight
