Login required to started new threads

Login required to post replies

Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective)
Quote | Reply
I know this topic has been done before - but thought with the current readership of ST, if it is any different. Here is the setup.

  • In a typical year, how many triathlons would you do?
  • In a typical year, how many duathlons would you do?
  • Why do you prefer triathlon over duathlon? Or...
  • Why do you prefer duathlon over triathlon?

Go for it!

http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
My swim/bike talents far exceed my running ability.
Go aquabike!

Team Zoot So Cal
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
5-6 Triathlons per year, I'd probably do more pool sprints if they were available. Then I do about 6 road races a year.

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
2-4 triathlons in year. One or two sprints and one or two 70.3.

I prefer tri over duathlons; however, I have completed two sprint duathlons in my home
Gym this year.
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
1. 8-12 triathlons a year
2. 0 duathlons a year. There used to be a cool one near me (the Dooby Duo) but it when it was taken over by new owners they changed the format.
3. Much better swimmer than runner. (but that's not saying much)
4. NA
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Depends on the year. 1-2 Triathlons, and 4-6 Duathlons per year.

I prefer Du to Tri, because I come from a running and cycling background, still getting my swim to the point where I am not having to chase a huge gap. Duathlons are much harder, running off the bike with a run already in the legs is such a different challenge, and the folks at the pointy end of the field tend all to be super talented without weaknesses...

I also tend to struggle more in the high heat, so I prefer racing early and late in the season when the temps are more reasonable, so that tends to lend itself better to Duathlons than triathlons (since the water temps here are frigid in the shoulder season, and I am a wuss in the cold water).

I find I tend to do an early block of racing off of base fitness, and then try to put in a mid-season block to build speed and set me up for some later season A races.

That said, everytime in a Tri that I hop off the bike and my legs feel so fresh compared to a do, I ask myself why don't I race more of these...
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Trauma] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I am a roadie. I do RR, TT, cyclocross. I run for a little cross train and jolt to the bones.

Saying that, if there were a timed DU every other weekend ā€˜in seasonā€™, I would likely DU them all if the entry were like $30 and the distance like 5k 40k 5k max. Even more preferable if like 2.5k 20k 2.5k.

I look at DU as a chance at a TT with the mild annoyance of a run. Even if not caring for my OA placing and getting smoked by 5min/mi runners. At least make them sweat a bit when I am top 3 into T2.

I find swim a really silly ask on my time allotment for fun stuff from the family to do triathlon.

I keep enough run volume as a cyclist I could DU anytime. Today is either a run day or brick in fact.
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I would always race duathlon over tri because I despise swimming (training more than the actual open-water swim). In SoCal you used to be able to keep yourself reasonably busy in the spring by racing the Desert Duathlon in Phoenix, then the OC duathlon and the Camp Pendleton Devil Dog Du and then I raced duathlon nationals for three years. Now in SoCal, duathlon is extinct (they started disappearing when things were economically rough around 2008) and I find that I hardly race anymore now. Every time I think about multi-sport, I ponder having to do swim training and then I go back to looking for gravel cycling races to do.

I can compete for the win in duathlon whereas in tri I never did better than fourth overall because my swim was so bad. In the end, swim training is work and running and cycling are just fun.
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [cdw] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
i am better at DU, but do tri instead because i dont like shooting fish in a barrel. low turn out during tri events - and not many du events. I would prefer just bike/run, instead of run/bike/run - which doesnt seem real world practical.
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
the only time i was one away from podium was when the swim was cancelled due to unfavorable seas and it was turned into a duathlon. that made me reeeeeally question why the hell i was getting into the water at any race at all.

80/20 Endurance Ambassador
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
At least make them sweat a bit when I am top 3 into T2.


I laughed when I read that. Early on before my cycling caught up to my running, I used to look at the calves of the guys who passed. If he had huge cyclist calves, I was not worried--I would run them down easily. If they had skinny poultry legs then I was in trouble.
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I do tri because Ironman honestly. Iā€™ll usually do two OLY tris, two 70.3s, and one IM every 2-3 years, with a few road running races as wel (5K-13.1). When I was less experienced, I felt like the OLY tris Really helped prepare me for the 70.3, to shake off the cob webs of the off season. Now that Iā€™m experienced enough, I just do them for fun.

Iā€™ve considered doing DUs in the past couple years, but what always turned me off was the fields for most local races were so small, like 1/10th the size of the concurrent tri.

I did my first ever DU against myself last month. It was awesome! Significantly harder than a tri. It made me kind of want to do more.

But the problem remains, 1) Iā€™ll still train for the swim because of IM so I figure I may as well swim in racing, 2) I also legitimately love swimming and think itā€™s a great way to build fitness with lower injury risk, and 3) the swim is my best leg (top 5% swimmer, bike 2nd quartile, run maybe top quartile), so Iā€™d likely place better in tris vs DU.

I think we might expand the family next fall/winter. So I am thinking with two young kids I might drop the swimming down to like 1x every 1-2 weeks and focus on DU. It certainly would be logistically easier to have only 2 sports to worry about. It might also give me
more time to improve as a cyclist. Do that for a few years. DU is pretty awesome. I just wish the fields were bigger.
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I typically have between 5 and 12 races in a calendar year. Only one of them is a scheduled du (Fly By Nite baby!). All other duathlons are begrudgedly forced upon me by the lack of willingness of race directors to take allow the risk when the swim is shy of just perfect. This seems to be happening more and more.

I hate du's because my untrained swim leg is typically better than my trained running, as compared to the field. Plus, my desire to run a 2nd time goes way down. I already ran. Don't tell me I have to do it again.






Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Availablity and competitive fields favor Tris in my area.

But I prefer the Du's and find them harder. We have one large field Du within reasonable distance and its always super hard and competitive.
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
As many as I can realistically schedule for both.

Prefer Tri if the water is good and its HOT out.

Prefer Du when its cool or cold.

Run used to be my strength, then bike/run were equal, now bike is my strength and run is slowing. Swimming is slowly getting better, but still not good.
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Im a duathlete at heart, been racing since the 80's. Triathlon never "spoke" to me the way duathlon did.
I've dabbled in tri a few times with reasonable success but I never enjoyed swimming.
The logistical ease of training from home either running or cycling is the main draw for me.
Id do a DU every weekend if I could but realistically I do about 10 per year.
Last edited by: Dudaddy: Sep 21, 20 7:12
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Prior to The Great Recession of 2008 - 2010, there used to be a local sprint du almost every other weekend starting with an April Fools race and finishing up with an Oktoberfest event. They would add a sprint tri around Motherā€™s Day thru Labor Day. Cost for the Du without a shirt was $25 if I recall. Swimming is my slowest/weakest event. If there was a local duathlon with in 20 minutes of my house like ā€œthe good olā€™ daysā€ I would be all over it. I am tentatively eyeing some of the Why Racing events in the Portland/Vancouver area, which is about a two hour drive for me.

"Du or Du not-there is no Tri" - Yoda
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Karl] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Quote:
My swim/bike talents far exceed my running ability.
Go aquabike!

Woot! Woot! Right there with ya!
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
  • In a typical year, how many triathlons would you do? (5 or 6)
  • In a typical year, how many duathlons would you do? (1 or 2)
  • Why do you prefer duathlon over triathlon? (Because, even after 30 years in triathlon and lots of time with master's groups I still am giving away too much time in the water. For the most part, I participate in triathlon. I compete in duathlon.)
  • Where I live (Fraser Valley, BC), I never experienced a "Golden Age" of duathlon, but with the rise of gravel & Covid-complications, I am hoping that we see a few stand-alone duathlons in the shoulder season. For me, cyclo-cross is even more of a participation sport than triathlon. I think to get good at that sport you need to really practice the skills or have some talent.


http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
In a typical year, how many triathlons would you do?

We have 4 local tris, and I do them all, plus I try to travel to one big IM event a year. If our local area offered more, I would do them all.

In a typical year, how many duathlons would you do?

I do zero, because there are zero (stand alones) offered in our area. However, our local tris do offer du, and aqua bike options. They are more like afterthoughts, and get very low participation. If our area offered stand alone duā€™s, I would do them all. We used to have several back in the multi sport heyday of the 80ā€™s. But not anymore.

Why do you prefer triathlon over duathlon?

Iā€™m a decent swimmer, and thatā€™s my favorite discipline. Thatā€™s why Iā€™ve never chose the du option, at our local races.

Why do you prefer duathlon over triathlon?

I donā€™t, but they do make a nice clean hassle free event, for cooler months. Iā€™d much rather do a du, than the handful of pure running races that I do.

Athlinks / Strava
Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
  • In a typical year, how many triathlons would you do?

    • 5-7
  • In a typical year, how many duathlons would you do?

    • 0-1
  • Why do you prefer triathlon over duathlon? Or...

    • I prefer the level of competition at triathlons and the field depth, even locally. My swim is my weakest link. I'm more competitive over 70.3 than Olympic because of the disproportionately short swim in a 70.3. I am generally in the hunt for a top 5-10 in my ag in an mdot race, but I get spanked pretty good in the OA in shorter local races because I can't swim to the level I need to. I won OA at the only DU I've entered... it hurt so good and was a blast. I would consider USAT AG DU NATS next year-- the quality there would humble me pretty quickly, I think.

  • Why do you prefer duathlon over triathlon?

    • If I never had to swim again, that would be great. But until there is even 1/10th as much depth or diversity of racing options in DU, i'll keep swimming and seek out the competition.

Quote Reply
Re: Why don't you DU it? (a 2020 perspective) [Hydrosloth] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
  • zero Tris
  • 2-5 dus - I try to race in most of the races in New England
  • I prefer dus cause I can't swim and am not learning. Runner first and foremost. Cyclist a distant second (after 10+ years racing, I finally bought a tri bike this spring)

Quote Reply