As I'm quickly approaching the beginning of duathlon season I've been thinking about a new training program to transition out of marathon training and into duathlon training and racing. I'd like to build on my current running fitness, and experience from last year to have a great year of racing this year. As I was floundering a bit to get a hold on what I would like to do for a new plan I got a message from a friend on SparkPeople. She is considering her first duathlon, and wanting some advice on her first race. This works out great for me. I think it would be helpful for me to take a look back, review what I did last year and decide what the next stage is going to be. So, thank you Barb for helping me move to the next stage and I hope this will be helpful for you.
Now, that is out of the way let's get down to business. Barb, I think you have some very reasonable goals for your first race, and I think you will surprise yourself and exceed those goals. You definitely have a good fitness base from all the cycling, so working in some running shouldn't be a big problem as long as you don't have any problems that might cause you pain from running.
This is the "program" (I use the term program very loosely here) that I used last year adjusted by what I've learned over the course of the year. It worked very well for my first year of racing even though I wasn't always able to stick to my workouts like I would have preferred. It sounds like you have a good handle on how much running you want to do by what you wrote to me, so I'll just give you the focus of the runs. You'll find you improve a lot faster with some well defined focus for each run. Time is always an issue, so the key is to stay flexible, and if you can pull off some "two a days" like you mentioned in your message to me it will be helpful.
Keep up with the cycling and add 3 to 4 runs per week if you can fit them in.
The 1st run is a tempo run to get you used to running the speeds you want to achieve. If you want to alternate walk and run that is great. It sounds like you are already close to running the whole thing which is good. My suggestion would be to run 1K then walk approx. 400m and run another 1K until you reach your distance goal of 5K or longer. Phase out the walks a little at a time each week.
The 2nd run is intervals to increase your speed. For a 5k distance 400 meter intervals will work well. Start with 4x 400 meter intervals with an equal time of a walk or slow jog in between. So, if you run a 2 minute 400, slow down for 2 minutes breaks. Add 1 additional each week up to the week before your race.
The 3rd run is brick day. You said you've been doing a few bricks already, so keep it up. It doesn't have to be a long run after the ride. It's just to get your legs used to that feeling of getting off the bike and going straight to a run. I approached these days with a race distance bike ride followed by a 2 mile run straight off the bike. This is important to get used to, because if you don't you'll get a nasty surprise on race day in the form of leg cramps.
The 4th run is long run. If you can only fit in three runs alternate this with your tempo run. Run 8K to 10K at a slow pace. Keep your pace 1 to 2 minutes slower per kilometer than your race pace. You should be able to carry on a conversation during these runs as a point of reference. The long run will help build endurance.
Hopefully this will give you a good starting point on which to build a plan leading up to your race. To address your question: "How much harder is it to do 2 5km runs with the bike in between?" I'm not sure how to answer this question. Thinking back to the very first duathlon that I did I would say that it was very hard, but I think I wasn't very well prepared. I doubt that I did any brick workouts before hand. The hardest part is the first kilometer of the second run. After a hard effort on the run and bike your legs will probably be very stiff. If you're feeling stiff off the bike walk it out and work into the run slowly.
Like I said before, I hope this is helpful Barb. Now that you've got me thinking about this I'll also take a look at transitions and fueling/nutrition before and during races. Transitioning back and forth between the bike and run can be a tricky business when the bikes are packed in close together and you're dealing with people coming in and out of the transition area. Nutrition is also key for many reasons, including warding off those pesky cramps.
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