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Sprint Duathlon Pacing

Chris DavisChris Davis
in General Training Discussions
Our local sprint tri may have the swim cancelled this weekend. If that happens, they plan to do a 1 mile run, 15 mile bike and 2 mile run duathlon. I have NO idea on how to approach that first run.

Specifically, I'm worried about how crowded the mount line and early bike portion will be after only a 1 mile run. They have an age group starting every 5 minutes, so I dont expect to see too much congestion from the previous age group at the mount line, but we will start to run into them early in the bike.

Should I push that first run a bit above my 5k pace and try to avoid some congestion? Or should I hold back to something closer to my half marathon pace, and then try to make up for getting slowed down by congestion on the bike, later in the run?

Comments

  • Brenda RossBrenda Ross
    Chris, 8 year duathlete here. Switched to triathlon 6 years ago b/c they are easier. I was coached for those 8 years and the advice I got was that your opening run should be almost the same pace as your closing run because you want to leave something for the bike, unlike a swim where your legs get a break. I usually did Olympic distance, where I would run 10km/bike 40km and then run 5km (sorry Canadian).

    So, if I wanted to run my 5km at a 5:15min km, I would run my 10km at a 5:30min km. So I would suggest you go with 10-15sec faster than your 5km pace on the opening run and then see if you can run your 5km pace in the end run. Do not expect to feel good at all during this race. It is all push, no glide and duathlons are HARD as SHIT! Have fun.
  • Chris DavisChris Davis
    Awesome advice Brenda! Thank you. Is it strange that your last 3 sentences actually made me MORE excited about this?
  • Juan VergaraJuan Vergara
    Brenda,
    If I may hijack Chris' .... I'm racing my fist ever Duathlon this coming Saturday. 10-40-5 distance.
    Clear on the run 1 - run 2 pacing.
    How did you (would you) pace the bike for that distance and run strategy??
    Tks for the input.
  • Brenda RossBrenda Ross
    Hi Juan. When I raced that distance I raced it Low - Mid Z4 wattage i.e. If my Z4 was 180-188 I would race it between 180-184 or so. Just like Chris your legs and lungs are going to feel like they are going to explode. Welcome to Duathlon. Good luck and let me know how it goes.
  • Juan VergaraJuan Vergara
    Tks for sharing your experience Brenda!!! It helped a lot yesterday .... and yes, Duathlons are tough!!!
  • Chris DavisChris Davis
    Congratulations Juan! Sounds like we've got some sound advice here. Thank you Brenda.

    My race got cancelled all together, so a few buddies and I are going to go out and do a similar, but informal, race this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes.
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