Any Duathlon (Middle Distance) Tips

Brick workouts are your friend.

Forget elastic laces and all that crap for your first outing, but do at least practise the transitions - you can set your stuff out in your garage/shed/kitchen, then make sure you have all the kit in the right places.

Get a tri belt, bento box etc.

Are you going to be wearing a tri suit? They dry a lot faster than normal cyling shorts, but of course have a much thinner chamois. For that distance I'd say it's worth getting one.

Practice the transitions, a lot. Like, lots more than you think you need to. Then practice again.

Not because speed, but because you want to get them right, and you'll need to do them on autopilot when you're in the event proper.

Cheers Mogrim. I've done a couple of brick workouts but not as many as I should have to be honest. I've done enough to know that the last run leg is going to feel like running through treacle.

I won't be in a tri-suit but have ordered some tri-specific shorts with a thin chamois and a cheap DHB "Tri-top" (which seems just be a cycling jersey with one less pocket than normal).

I also bought a race belt as whilst I don't usually bother with nutrition even on long runs I figure a couple of gels might not do any harm and I can also quickly spin my race number around when I swap from bike/run.

The event I entered is open to all but also doubles up as the European 2023 Duathlon Championship Qualifier (or something) so I'm beginning to have anxiety dreams about there being 40 professional athletes on the starting line....and then me.

As above (and you pointed out) the last run leg will be the worst. It seems that most people going from bike to running just confuses all the muscles😁
If just going at your pace to finish don't get stressed by the racing snakes sprinting the away or the next wave passing you (Gits the lot of them).
The beer at the end will be the best tasting ever, you'll feel knackered swear never to do one again and be booking another in the car before setting off home.

Hmm I really need to get back to being able to run

Enjoy it. Middle distance is my favourite distance - long enough that you feel like you're actually getting into the run / ride rather than the sprint which it's over way too quickly.

Elastic laces are great and you know that you've not tied your laces too tight - I've even put them on my slobbing about trainers.

Your legs do go like jelly on the second run, try not to set off on either of the runs too fast.

I remember from doing a tri that the advice was to spin (higher cadence) more the last few miles on the bike to get your legs going again.

I also bought a race belt as whilst I don’t usually bother with nutrition even on long runs I figure a couple of gels might not do any harm and I can also quickly spin my race number around when I swap from bike/run.

Before the race I'd definitely practise eating at least one gel while running - just to make sure they don't have any explosive side-effects... And on the bike make sure you get enough food down. You should be able to handle somewhere between 60-90g of carbs every hour, so aim for that. I'd advise a mix of gels, fruit bars, chews, whatever, rather than just sticking to gels which IME can get pretty grim after a couple of hours! I've got an alarm on my Garmin that goes off every 30min to remind me to eat, and every 20min to remind me to drink.

I did the box hill ballbuster a few years back.

8m run, 24m bike, 8m run. That total of 16 miles running was my longest ever run. (a few half marathons completed too).

Yours seems more swayed towards the bike based on distance which is good. If you are on here I'm guessing that is your stronger discipline?

I struggled with the concept of pacing myself for the second run - because I'm on a bike, in a race, and there are lots of people on bikes in front of me.
If they were as good at bikes as they were at running, then I would never see them again.
But those who were run-biased, are now in front of me and are a weaker cyclist. So there is lots of feel good overtaking to be done (uphill and down, my cx/road bike made short work of many terrified tri-bikes on the wet back road descents). And I took it too far and burnt out.

Final run I knew I was already wrecked. decided to pace myself with 5 min run, and 1 min power walk as a reward. By the final climb I was doing 1 min run, 5 min walk. Oh, and people were winning, as I was still on the bike.

The free hoodie was cool though, still wear it.

Cheers All! Yeah that is a good point on the gels- I know what works on the bike but running definitely has an effect on bowel movements in my experience so I'll try and eat some gels and run this week to see how it goes. Deffo no caffiene gels for me.

Yeah I think the cycling will be my stronger leg but tbh potentially not by a massive amount. I do think I'm going have to reign myself in a fair bit on the cycle leg just to make it through the last run.

Good idea on spinning the last few KMs on the bike- I was goosed when I practised a 13k run after a 70k ride but I was pushing quite hard on the bike so I'm hoping if I ease off on the bike a little I can make the last 10.5k run leg on the day.

Are you going for a time or is your aim solely to complete?

Assuming the latter, don't get hung up on transitions or using too many gels! I'd eat something at transition and try to limit gels en-route. Your moving time will be >4 hours, so spending 5 - 10 mins total in each transition isn't really a big deal. Eat, drink, have a sit and a stretch.

Yep just aiming to finish so happy to take my time at transition and eat there- I didn't know if this is something I can do but if I can have flapjack or a banana or something when transitioning I think I'll do that.

First aim is to finish, second aim is not to walk any of it and third I guess would be to put in an effort in the last run leg if I'm feeling OK (hugely unlikely).

The venue is a really nice kind of castle/stately home and I have seen the bike leg gpx today which looks like it takes in some scenic areas so if the weather's good hopefully it'll be a good day out.

My wife now has to work in London so I'll have to pat myself on the back if/when I cross the line. Hopefully not on a stretcher.

I didn’t know if this is something I can do but if I can have flapjack or a banana or something when transitioning I think I’ll do that.

In all the races I've done you can have pretty much whatever you like in your transition area - within reason of course! You'll certainly be able to leave a banana and some flapjack there.

One other thing: triathlon federations are quite picky about their rules and regulations, so for example you'll probably need ID to get into boxes, and you'll have to wear your helmet even when you're wheeling the bike in. There will probably be judges whizzing around on mopeds making sure you're not drafting on the bike, etc. Nothing particularly complicated, but it's worth reading up a bit about the main rules you'res supposed to follow.

Go really gently on the bike. You'll think 'oh yeah I can push on here' and then regret it on the second run...

UPDATE: I did it! Managed to complete the whole thing including the final run leg without walking, though the last run was very slow. I managed to pick a few people off there still though.

The last bit of the bike leg was super lonely- I had 2 laps to do rather than 1 like people doing the standard distance so by the 2nd one the fast guys had disappeared and loads of others had finished their 1 lap so I was just battling a really warm head wind by myself along a never ending B road for what seemed like an eternity.

Also weirdly at that point my SPD shoes were killing me- felt like really hot, painful pressure points on my feet. I’ve cycled miles in them and never had any problems so wonder if my feel expanded on the first run leg and/or I did my SPDs up too tight in the heat of the moment.

All in all was good fun though and a great atmosphere. Was the Castle Race series and very well organised.