I am going to participate in a duathlon relay this saturday. I am going to do the bike portion and my wife is going to do the two runs. It is a 5K 13.5 M 5 K duathlon. Since my wife doesn’t have the mileage in her legs to race the 5K’s, she is just going to go easy to finish them and get some good endurance training in her legs, so I expect her to finish somewhere between 27:00 - 30:00. My question is how do I stay warmed-up for the bike segment? I presume I will have to have my bike racked before the first run.
I really want to use it as a guage for my early season bike fitness, so I’m looking to go hard from start to finish, which makes the warm-up pretty important.
jackattack,
Take second bike and training stand. Set up outside transition area and start warming up about25-30 minutes before your wife starts her run. Hope your warm up set up is there when you get back. Sounds like a lot of trouble doesn’t it?
If your wife is just taking it easy, why are you so wrapped up in the ultimate bike performance? Chill out and have some fun. Push yourself, but consider it a training experience under race conditions.
I think you’re from the area as I remember you were involved in the Detroit radio DJ’s scandal, are you going to be out at Grosse Ile this weekend?
I guess I might be a little overzealous about it. I’m a bit wrapped up in it since I know the course extremely well (I ride there everyday), and I really want to see where my early season fitness is on the bike. It’s just a good chance to push myself since I’m coming off a rest week, I know the course, and there will be other people out there to push me. It will give me a nice benchmark. There used to be a time trial in early May at Willow Metro park, but that wasn’t held this year. Also, I won’t be racing that much this year since I’m trying to get over a running injury (no tris, so the bike is all I’ve got), so I look for every opportunity I have to quell that thirst. Really, my wife is just doing the run so I have a chance to get out there for the race, something I’ve been looking forward to doing since it was announced last winter (before I knew I wouldn’t be running) that it was coming back.
The second bike idea is a good one. I don’t even need to bring a trainer as I know the area well and can stay off the course and still keep the muscles warm. Thanks
jackattack,
One of my best friends and cycling buddies will be at Grosse Isle, but I will not. He’s hooked on duathlons and bicycle racing. I am hooked on time trialing. I will be participating in our cycling club’s monthly Personal Achievement Time Trial or PATT.
We did ride to Grosse Isle one weekend a short time ago and it was a great time. There was a bit of a south wind and flying north on the east side of Grosse Isle along the river was a blast! We stopped at the bed and breakfast but they were not open yet. End of April was too early. We stopped at the Big Boy restaurant on Jefferson for a bite to eat on the way home. The only down side was the section of Outer Drive south of M 39 that had been ground down for road repair. It felt like Paris Roubaix.
Arrrgh! When I read your first post and you mentioned the 13.5 mile bike, I figured you weren’t talking about Grosse Ile, since I was hoping it was going to be a 30k bike like Nankin. If the bike is going to be that short, the run should only be about 2.5 miles.
Well, if it makes you feel any better I rode what I think is the exact course the other day, and my computer had it come out closer to 13.75 ;). There’s really not much more room on the Island for anything longer from where they are starting it. The route south back to transition is going to be a bit treacherous also. Lucky for you, you’ll be in the front, but just keep your eyes up since there are major potholes to the right at regular junctures heading south, and several of them extend a good portion into the middle of the lane. It looked like they had most of them marked, but it would be pretty harsh hitting those suckers at over 26 mph.
Thanks for the heads up, since I doubt I’ll get a chance to check out the course before the race. Cheryl will be happy with the shorter bike, I’ll just have to make due.