First Sprint Duathlon - Who said runners can't ride?
My first Duathlon was for the most part a massive success; I achieved 12th overall and 5th in my age category (20-24). The race provided race experience that I otherwise wouldn't have had moving forward for next season. Having never raced on a bike before, it was a compleatly new experience. From training rides at tempo and brick sessions I had an approximate idea of what I thought I would achieve time wise, but knew I had a challenge ahead of me. The race start was 9am, but I knew I needed to get there for around 07:30 to get my race number and warm up. I awoke at 06:15 to hydrate, eat a calorie counted breakfast and consume a performance enhancing dose of caffeine in the form of espresso. The race location was a short 2 mile ride from my apartment, so after some time on the turbo trainer and some mobility exercises, I set off for the race. I didn't feel nervous about the event until I looked along the transition area and saw TT bike after TT bike. This surprised me, being a local event. I own an impressive road bike, but it' not a TT bike. I'm very aware of the performance advantages, but I tried not to let this phase me.
After collecting my race kit I set off to continue my warm up which covered parts of the course for the run section. The race brief was at 08:30 and we set off at 09:00. The race began with a hilly 4km run that included paths, trails and grass sections. I set off and settled somewhere around 3:20 min/km pace. The course soon increased in gradient and we were ascending a horrible grass hill. My year of training in the Peaks payed off and I kept a great rhythm and came off the top with second place in my sights. Over the next 2km I gradually caught up, pulling along with me a few other guys. I knew first place was around 30 seconds ahead, but my goal was to stick with the chasing group, saving a much energy as possible. I entered T1 with the chasing group and I felt really good. The running sections I knew were my strength and I had been able to save a lot of energy for the cycle following the first run. I had never performed a transition before and it showed. I clocked a very slow time for T1, frustrating me. I did however have a gel pre-opened ready to drink as I was putting on my shoes which I found worked well. Eventually I left the transition, bike in hand. It was only a few corners later I was taking on the first climb. Having done this climb a few times I knew the secret was to get out the saddle and attack it at the bottom, you then need to sit down and maintain a high cadence. I dropped the guys that had caught me in the transition area and started to feel my confidence come back to me. This confidence was short lived, two guys blitzed passed me on their TT bikes. One of which I would eventually almost catch in the last run. I didn't let this phase me, I even cracked a joke to one of the guys I was trying to overtake who was on a TT bike. He smiled, we remained level for a bit, but he eventually pulled away.
Participating on a road bike definitely put me at a disadvantage on the bike stage. Had the bike section been longer than the 14km, this disadvantage would have been extended. On the climbs I had no issue keeping up with the guys, even putting some distance on them. Once we were on the flats and downhills it was a whole different situation. Guys passed me at ease on the flats, which was frustrating. The race winner was 4 minutes faster on the bike than myself, but the guys who finished just in front of me were within this, so I felt had I been on a TT bike I would have been right with them for the last run. It wasn't long before I was approaching the transition area for T2 and the final 2km run. I find it considerably harder to run hard off the bike than to cycle hard following a hard run. It was an out and back route, with the return 1km pretty much all up hill. I averaged 3:54 min/km for the final run, but had no one around me to run with. In the last 1km I could see a guy ahead in the distance and I worked to close him down, attempting to time my sprint finish to catch him. I got it slightly wrong and finished 0.01 behind him. This has never happened to me in a running race, anyone around me I beat. Looking at the times my second run was amongst the fastest at the event though.
It wasn't until after I had finished did I realise how close I was to achieving under 55 minutes which was my initial aim. My end time was 55:02, giving me 12th place overall, 5th in the 20-24 age category. Reflecting on the race and looking at the results I would expect if I achieved transition times of the guys who came ahead of me and was on a TT bike to be right with the front guys in 52 minutes. Moving forward I can now begin winter training and start preparing for the 2016 season.
Here are some tips for your first Duathlon:
If your wanting to perform seriously your need to run and ride the route. This is definitely worth the investment of time.
Practice transitions! Don't underestimate the value of a fast transition.
Racing on a road bike, may not be the difference between winning and coming 12th, but it is definitely enough of a difference to put you at a disadvantage of competitors of a similar ability. As of 2016 sprint duathlons will be draft leagal and TT bikes will be banned, putting more of an enthasis on the runs.
I'm massivly looking forward to racing next seasons duathlons. I'll also be running a couple of half marathons.
