Information on Duathlons?

Question

I've been a long distance runner for 3 years now. But last year my father gave me a trek road bike for my birthday. And I love biking. I bike a lot. However the most I've biked so far is 40 miles at once. I have slipped into the routine of biking to my favorite running place (8 miles from my house) and then going for a run and riding back. I love running and I love biking, so I wanted to do a duathlon. But I don't have much experience biking. I don't know any techniques or anything. Can anyone explain the duathlon and the skills I would need to complete one. How should I train for the running and biking parts? Quick speed workouts, long endurance bikes/runs?

Answer 1

Duathlons are an interesting event.  Even the most seasoned runners and cyclists recieve a shock to their collective system the first time they do a duathlon.  It is a combination of run-bike and then run again. The shorter ones are as little as 2 mile run, 10 mile bike, 2 mile run all the way up to 10k run-40 mile bike and then another 10k run.  The muscles used for cycling on a road bike have a tendency to make the second run agonizing which is why many turn to a time trial bike a/k/a a triathlon bike which has slightly angled seatpost known as a 78 (because it is angled at 78 degrees as opposed to the traditional road bike which is closer to 90.  The slanted seatpost allows your quads to recieve some much needed relief before the second run.  For your cycling fitness, I would say build up to flat metric century (60 miles) distance and work on several intervals of time trialing...get in the drops and smoothly maintain a constant speed for as long as you can.  You also need to incorporate "bricks" into your training.  This is where you either run for a set distance, and then immediately transition to bike...like the transition during the race.  Learning to train your body for the changes is key.  Hope this helps.