My Top 10 Beginners Tips for the London Duathlon
1 Arrive early. You’ll need plenty of time to collect your timing chip, rack your bike, warm-up and familiarise yourself with the course and transition. Arrive with 60-90mins to spare before your start time.
2 Know the route. If you can ride the route beforehand then take that opportunity a week or two before the big day. If you can’t then it’s worth familiarising yourself with the route map in your race pack. I personally recommend using Google maps along with the route map to plan your route; this way you can zoom right in on the roundabouts to plan the right line through each. (Remember! As long as you’re not cycling with oncoming runners then you can pass the roundabout to the left against the normal rules of the road)
3 Do your pre-race warm-up run over the first 1k of the run course. By doing this you’ll see the left turn you’ll need to take on the second run. On the first run you’ll go straight on but it’s definitely worth knowing where you’re going beforehand.
4 Familiarise yourself with the transition area on arrival. Transition is where valuable time is gained or lost. Make note of the two entrances and two exits located in each corner of the bike rack area and plan your route. Make sure you physically walk the route in and out of transition before the race so you know exactly where your bike is when you collect it in T1 and exactly where you need to leave it when you collect your running shoes again in T2.
4 Familiarise yourself with the transition area on arrival. Transition is where valuable time is gained or lost. Make note of the two entrances and two exits located in each corner of the bike rack area and plan your route. Make sure you physically walk the route in and out of transition before the race so you know exactly where your bike is when you collect it in T1 and exactly where you need to leave it when you collect your running shoes again in T2.
5 Have a distinctive marker at your bike in transition. We’re all familiar with the tactic of putting a distinctive mark on our luggage so we recognise our bag on the luggage carousel at the airport. The same should be done so you can find your bike in a huge transition area. I have a large colourful flag that I place under my bike. Dependant on what you use you may need to weight it down so it stays put once you’ve taken your bike, that way you can easily find your running shoes again once you’re back in transition after the bike section.
6 Easy gear on the hill. The only major hill on the bike course is Broomfield Hill about 2-3k’s into each lap. I’ve always had to get out of the saddle to get up this hill quickly so it’s pretty steep. Change to an easy gear early before your legs are screaming at you as by that point it’ll be too late! Spin to the top then get back into a harder gear as soon as you can to push over the top.
7 Push it on the long downhill section. The final 3k of each lap on the bike leg is downhill and most people ease off on this section but to get ahead of the crowd get aero, select a big gear and keep pushing it to come through the field and enjoy racing the bike fast!
8 End of each lap. At the end of each bike lap; 200m after the roundabout at the Roehampton Gate, stay left if you have another lap left to go. However, if you’re on your last lap then stay to the right to come in for your second transition. It’s always worth looking to see exactly where the dismount line is before the race.
9 Eat and drink. Although this race is in mid September it has a reputation for being pretty warm so make sure you take on plenty of fluids during the runs as well as a bottle of energy drink and a carb gel on the bike and be sure to trial whatever energy products you plan to use in your training before using them on race day! I always leave 3 hours between eating breakfast and racing and then sip an energy drink in the hours before I start. After the race be sure to replace the lost fluid and eat something within an hour of finishing to help you recover faster and definitely do both of those things before having a celebratory beer!
10 Smile and enjoy it. This is the biggest Duathlon in the world and each and every entrant has made a great achievement in completing the course so it’s worth remembering all that during the race and to actually smile and enjoy the experience.
Good luck!!!!
