Duathlon

dreamer12151

I know I can't do a Triathlon. No, really, I can't. I have a fear or deep water, and I can't swim - especially in "live water" (things LIVE in that water!) - , so a tri is out for me. I was poking around, and I happened on a duathalon and now that has been knocking about in my head as an alternative.

For those who - like me until yesterday! - don't know what it is, it is a run, bike, run. Like a Tri, there are differing lengths for each. The one I seemed to have settled on (August 2 - to "celebrate" my 1 year of being fit!) is at a tri event will be a 1 mile run, 12.4 mile bike,3.1 run.

I run now, (just did 2 5K's over this last weekend), and I do ride my mountain bike several times a week as a cross train thing, but I know I'm not an "athlete" by any means, and while this looks like a challenge & dare I say fun? part of me wonders if I'm up for it?

Does anyone here do duathalons? How much hard work do I have ahead of me? Is this attainable? Am I crazy? (last one is rhetorical...lol)

ccather

DUs are a great way to get into multisport events without having to deal with the water part of it all. We have women's sprint DU in my area that I've done the past two years as well as one that I did in Bethany Beach, DE. Both are really great events. When I signed up for the first one (the women's sprint. 2 miles run, 13 miles bike, 2 miles run) I was like..."I can run 2 miles and I can bike 13 miles, how hard can this be?!" Then early in the second run, I was all..."oh! I get why this is hard! lol!" Still, lots of fun and a great feeling of accomplishment.

I would recommend some "brick" training time. Go ride your bike for a bit then hop off and run a couple miles (or whatever you can do that first time.) Invest some time in getting out there and riding just like you are running. Even better if you can get a ride in on the bike course to know what you're up against.

It is completely DUable! that sprint distance is a great way to start. I also started out as a runner. I used my mountain bike with road tires on it for my first DU to test the waters and see if I liked Multisport. After the second DU I was hooked and have since upgraded my bike to a road bike.

Finally, "Athlete" is subjective. People would not guess to look at me that I am a half-marathoner and triathlete, but there it is, none the less. My favorite inspirational quote is by John Bingham..."Believe that you can run farther or faster. Believe that you're young enough, old enough, strong enough, and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. **Don't let worn-out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself.**" Lose that bit about not being an athlete from your head and get out there and get it!!

numsquat

We have a team dualthon here every 4th of July. The town is built around a lake and the race goes around the lake. Each team has three contestants: 2 humans and 1 bike (and yes the bike gets a number). Each team starts with a runner and cyclist (all the cyclist start first) and the cyclist goes, drops the bike off at a point (there are many designated points) then runs. The other runner runs up to the bike and then rides to another point (ahead of the other runner though that has not always happened). You can switch cyclists as often as you want but the original cyclist has to be running at the finish line and vise-versa. Your time stops when both humans and the bike (with the correct numbers) have crossed. The total race is around 12 miles, goes on highways, residential streets and paths through the parks around the lake. It's pretty fun. When you're going through the residential parts homeowners with have their own water stations and hoses to spray you down if you want, cheering everyone on. On a side note about the cyclist passing the runner earlier, if you don't get past them and both end up running at the finish line, the original runner has to run back reversing the course to get the bike to ride it to the finish (actually happened to a friend who had a new teammate that never did the race before). Pretty funny but everyone was there at the finish to cheer them on when they finally were able to finish. The transitions were the worse, getting your legs adjusted. My wife had a harder time going from bike to running, I had a more difficult time running to bike as we had to use her bike since she's a foot shorter than I am.

Bella0531

I just signed up for my first Duathlon this Summer. Since it is still cold where I live, I've been training by running/jogging on the treadmill then switching to a bike for a while at the gym (I'll get my road bike out of storage in the next few weeks). I've only been really training for about two weeks.

Feel free to add me - we can do this together!

scorpio516

I've done a number of them. I've won my age group in a couple. I've never done a brick workout...

Run a lot.
Bike a lot.

Your going to have to train a lot more than for each standalone races, because you're going to be racing for at least an hour even if its a pair of 5ks with some biking sandwich.
Your run fitness will dictate how good you are at the beginning of the bike leg.
Your bike fitness will dictate how much the final run sucks. You could be in great running shape, but if you neglect riding the bike, it will totally suck and you'll want to die with every step!

dbmata

There's a triathlon/duathlon group on mfp. Join us.

Also, qft:

Your bike fitness will dictate how much the final run sucks. You could be in great running shape, but if you neglect riding the bike, it will totally suck and you'll want to die with every step!

dreamer12151

Thanks for the advice and inspiration. I'm still 'formulating' in my head, but I'm thinking this will be my next goal to start working for when i come back from my cruise. (April 20 - 27! Whoo hoo!) That leave 12-13 weeks from my return to the event.

My thing is, I'm doing this all on my own. I don't belong to a gym, don't have a personal trainer, don't have friends here that I work out with. I know my motivation will have to come from me, like it has been, and I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. But after reading your replies...I think I can I think I can I think I can...

And what I meant about being an "athlete'.... I call myself a runner. Have no problem with that now. Took a little while, and when I did my 1st 5K back in October, I crossed the finish line, ran beyong that to a quiet place by myself & burst into tears, because for me, someone who spent her whole life avoiding anything athletic, I finally set a physical goal, trained for it, and accomplished it at 44 years of age. Slow as all get out, not pretty at all, but an accomplishment. (and yes, i was there solo. Husband & kids were home sleeping.)

But when I look at a multi sport like this, and a tri, and marathons, and a half, I see and understand the dedication and hard work and focus and the mind set that goes with it. The training both physically and mentally. The work outs, the strict diets,....that to me is an "athlete" I just don't think i'm there yet. Definitely working towards it. Desire to be it. But just not quite "there" yet. Maybe once I do a DU (oh, i like that!) i'll feel like i can call myself that & join the club.

DuDot

Duathlons are a lot of fun and a little easier when you don't have to worry about 3 sports.
I'm looking for people new to the sport to interview for my not yet released duathlon podcast. One of the primary goals of my podcast is to help people just like - brand new to the sport with a lot of questions. If you have any interest in doing a Skype interview please let me know. While doing it I'll be able to answer a lot of your questions. I raced for most of my life, I'm a coach, and also the former National Champion.

If you're looking for a training plan check out my training plans at:
http://duathlon.com/duathlon-training-plans/

If anyone reading this who is new to the sport would like to do an interview please let me know.
Contact me at Eric.Boulder //// at /// gmail

Platform_Heels

I just started training for a duathlon that is mid-May last week. It's a 5k run, 26k bike, 5k run. My training program consists of running and biking a certain amount of times a week for a certain amount of minutes. Every week I have bricks: either a bike/run brick or a run/bike brick. If you don't have a training program already I HIGHLY suggest you get one and I HIGHLY suggest you do bricks. This week I had my first bike/run brick - 30 min. bike/15 min run - and let me tell you that was the longest 15 minute run I have ever done. EVER. So while they suck royally, bricks are a good thing.

Also if you can't get outside to do your training and you already have a road bike get a bike trainer to do your biking. Yes, you can train on a stationary bike but with the trainer you're training on YOUR bike and you'll be able to figure out the nuances of your bike etc. etc. (also you'll be able to practice clipping and unclipping your shoes).

12-13 weeks is plenty of time to get ready for a duathlon, again if you have good training program (you can inbox me and I can give you the one that I'm doing now.)

Oh, and another thing: invest in tri-shorts.