I’m racing a duathlon in Glastonbury, CT on May 23. Have not really done many duathlons. For the run, I’m a 21 min/5k guy on the run, but on the bike I’m not sure how to attack the course. It has 1500ft ish of climbing mainly on the first half and rollers. 2nd half of the course has lots of straightaways and rollers. I finally qot my Quarc Cinqo hooked up and want to use power/watts as the metric instead of mph or HR like I normally do. I did a FT test last week 20mins all out/2 min rest/ 20 mins all out and averaged 291 watts. What percentage of my FT would be ideal for a 16.5mile race? Going to give power a shot and hope to use it/learn from it for IMLP this summer. I don’t want to blow up on the bike but do want to hammer it since I’m average on the run. I have no hopes of podium, nor tops in my AG but I do want to do the best I can do. Just not sure how to attack this course. Any advice is definitely appreciated.
B@lls to the wall for as long as you can hold it. Then hold it some more until you are done. 
Just like I race every duathlon of that short a distance. Go about 20s slower than all out on the first run, hammer the bike as hard as I possibly can until about the last little stretch or so where I spin a little higher and try to get my legs ready to run, and then give everything I have for the last 5k. Your strategy might differ though if you’re not yet able to keep a decent run pace up after trashing your legs on the bike. Still though, I’d think it’d be overall beneficial to hammer the bike even if you have to walk for a few seconds on the run to get your legs to recover. It’s only a 5k, and I’m betting you make up more time by getting up those hills on the bike fast. Also, if you really bonk hard, you’ll at least have a better idea of where your limits are.
The best pace is suicide pace, and May 23 is a good day to die.
I would do 90-95% FTP in the flats, 105% FTP for climbs ~2 minutes or less, FTP for all other climbs. First 5K I would do at open 5K pace without pushing into the finish. 2nd 5K you go as hard as you can and learn a lot about yourself.
In a race that short you’re going to want to push it pretty hard the entire way. I’d say that first run you might want to run pretty close to your open 5K…20 seconds per mile is good but think about 10. On the bike go hard…hammer it. However that last mile or two start to kind of soft pedal a little on any downhills and ease up the pace just a tad to let your legs recover a little. Then that second run make it hurt. A lot of folks drop off 10 to 30 seconds per mile over the first run so expect that if it happens. If it’s not hurting you weren’t going hard enough of the first run and bike. But, most of all…have fun!!! Good luck.
All out!
Run like there is no ride.
Ride like there is no run.
Run like your (…insert your best wish here…) is waiting for you on the finish line!
I did just that this past weekend in a little longer race (3/21/3). However, it was my first race at altitude and I learned a lot about myself on the 2nd run. What started out awful, ended up being only a minute slower than the first run. I think that was the optimal way to race. It hurt, but it was a good hurt. Fifteen minutes of dry-heaving afterwards wasn’t fun, though. I wish there was oxygen in Denver.
Run like there is no ride.
You might want to back off slightly in the first run. The run-to-bike transition, is much harder than people think. It’s not something that we typically practice a lot.
Run like there is no ride.
You might want to back off slightly in the first run. The run-to-bike transition, is much harder than people think. It’s not something that we typically practice a lot.
i would think a lot of married men with kids would be practicing that a lot.
“Honey, I am going for a 5 hour bike ride”
“You better not leave me alone with these kids for 5 hours…”
“sorry honey what was that?” and then run your ass off out of the house.
I have to say, all these people going “all out” for a 1.5 hour race are impressive. Personally, I can only go all out for 30-45 seconds.
Good question, as I have my first DU (Toga, Congers, NY) on Sunday. Same distance. I asked Dave Roche the same thing and as some said here, he advises taking it a little easier on the first run (easier said than done, I think).
Interstingly, during IM training I did quite a few “bike sandwiches” in lieu of long runs, something like 6mi/25mi/6mi. Somehow I think this is going to hurt a lot more!
Good luck!
Couple of points on du pacing I like to make:
- You’re not racing a 5K, you’re running a duathlon with 10K of running. Yes I realize you don’t do the runs together but shooting for too close to open 5K time is a recipe for a poor second run and a poor bike.
- Power numbers on the bike are very likely to look low. And feel hard. It takes a reasonable amount of run to bike training to get the watts values up to where you think they should be, i.e. where they would be in a tri. If you’re holding much over 90% of threshold on the bike, and pacing things as you should. I’d say that’s pretty good.
I went as hard as I could for each distance - I think most mean this. So, I ran my 5K pace for the first run. The bike, I literally pushed as hard as I could, which unfortunately isn’t hard enough. The last 5K, I ran as hard as I could for 22 minutes. Sure it’s not sprint speed (<1’), but it’s as hard as I could go.
red line that sucker!
Personally, I can only go all out for 30-45 seconds.
that’s what she said…
bah dum bump…I’ll be here all week folks…tip your waitress.
Im doing my first true duathlon this weekend (Steelhead 2008 doesn’t count!!), I have a question on transitions? What is the best way? Im usually a swim to bike without socks, shoes clipped in…but I cannot run without socks. Keep socks on for the first run, change into cycling shoes in T1? OR keep socks on, run out with only socks and keep shoes clipped in?
Same distance, 5k, 20k, 5k. Any transition suggestions would help! Going to be on wet grass.
I must say that I forgot to ask or comment that I was referring to draft legal Du.
If you don’t run like an open 5k race, most likely end up in the “wrong” group.
Trust me we have some fast Du guys here in Portugal…in most of the local races, anything above 16min will get you on the second or even third pack…
Then it means extra work on the bike…
Personally never back off in the first run, If I have to back off I prefer to do it in the bike, after being comfortably in the pack.
Even though this is a short event you have to be careful. Most Duathlons feature really good runners so the pace is going to be really hot. Some will be legitimately fast, many people will go out way too fast on the first run. Don’t be one of them. I like to ease up a bit prior to each transition so I’m not fumbling with my shoes and helmet. Since the hills are early in the bike you can hit it pretty hard but don’t forget that you have to run again. Practice your transitions, they can make a big difference in shorter events.