London Duathlon 2005

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Comments

  • Mike - what time do you expect to be in the park... ie what time shall I aim to be there for the entertainment?!? So what bike did you get in the end? I might be getting a bianchi as a guy at my club is thinking of selling his... hmmm lovely colours!
  • SusieBeeSusieBee ✭✭✭
    Hi, Spans. I had water on the knee following a cycling accident 5 weeks ago, which meant no running for 3 weeks, although I could swim (but no breaststroke) and cycle after a week's RICE. It was a tough decision to pull out, but I felt I'd lost lost too much training time to have a serious crack at Berlin and I didn't want to do it just to get round). I'll still be going out there to support, as my b/f is going for sub 2:30 and a friend is aiming for a sub 2:40 Scottish Commonwealth Games qualifying time.

    I've increased my training on the bike and it's improving rapidly, so it'll probably soon be better than my running...Good to hear you've bought one. You'll be an awesome duathlete if your cycling gets to be as good as your running!
  • that a shame susie, but the right decision, as you say there is no point in just turning up when you have been training for a time...

    am a little worried about the duathlon thingy as running and swimming are my strengths... but if it rains on the day I might stand half a chance!!

    see you on the 17th if not before
  • SusieBeeSusieBee ✭✭✭
    Thanks, Spans, Definitely, and be safe on that bike! ;-)
  • susie - hopefully I will be fine as long as there is no wind / sails or boards involved!!

    <touches all wood in vicinity>
  • Spans - i'm picking up the bike at around 9.30am (got a Trek 1200. couldn't get a Specialised as i'm too short!) from Evans Wandsworth. do my final fitting there, probably fall off a couple of times before heading up to the park. Maybe around 11.30am-ish. Just look for the cyclist with a blue top, hobbling around with a black bike...:-)
  • Oy, Spansy!! And what's wrong with the colour Bianchis???
  • no I lurve Bianchis because of their colour... which is why I am v excited about it!!
  • right, got new bike with spds. crashed at least 3 times already :-( Even had fellow cyclists around richmond pk enquiring about my well-being! How long do i have to get this right? 5 weeks??
  • GodzillaGodzilla ✭✭✭
    He he - I still fall off

    and i've gone from shimanos to looks... so I'm learning all over again
  • Jsut read back a couple of pages and found that I had said that I was going to stay away from clipless pedals!!! Oops!! Must have slipped my mind when I bought some!! :o)

    Going to see how many times I fall off on Thursday!!! Should be fun!
  • finally got on the bike on saturday... did about 10miles which wasn't too bad, but need to do more this week... including braving the hills of Richmond Park... wibble!

  • Lucky bike!!

    Any takers for Ballbuster?

    www.humanrace.co.uk/buster

  • Anyone else noticed that they've got course maps up on the website now?

    It looks like the harder direction for the 10k run lap, and then the easier direction for the bike lap (or laps), as the first 2km of the run will be a long slow uphill, but the last 2km of the bike on each lap will be a fairly quick downhill (at least 50kph if you push it)!. Though the bike will have the steep climb at Broomfield hill.

    It also looks like it might be a short 5km lap....though maybe the map isn't to scale?
  • Leo - I disagree, the direction they have chosen for the run route is the much easier way round the park.

    Also there is a nasty long hill in the 5km section (which does look fairly actuate to me)

    At least I now know which way to practice going round the park!
  • I just like the fact that running the other way gives a nice 2km downhill to end the first leg on, and I don't like the killer uphill just after the Kingston Gate.

    I guess it's probably more a case of what you're used to though, most of my training runs are done in the bike direction.....and lets face it, it's not going to be "easy" in either direction!
  • I would rather run the short uphill from Kingston Gate than up Broomfield Hill and then the very long drag up from Ham Gate to Richmond Gate... (it nearly killed me the year they ran the Nike 10k in that direction!)

    But yes you are right, it is not easy in either direction...
  • SusieBeeSusieBee ✭✭✭
    I have to agree about that hill. I did 30k Tuesday pm and climbed it three times - it's a killer. I couldn't believe the vast number of cyclists also doing the same route. Not sure whether that is normal or whether everyone was in training for the event...
  • So how steep is it? I live in Wales so have hills to train on but would like some idea of the gradient so I can get some reasonable practice in so it doesn't kill me!!
  • GodzillaGodzilla ✭✭✭
    Rio - they are being soft - it's tough but not "Welsh"

    Short uphill gets to about 15% at one point but is only about 400m long and 150-200m is above 10%.

    and the long drag is - 6-10% i reckon but longer and tougher at the top
  • Thanks for that Godzilla. I should be able to cope with that we have plenty of that type of hill here and at least I have a few more weeks to get out there!!

    Still looking forward to it anyway!
    Happy training all
  • I'm heading to Oz that weekend for the World Duathlon champs so won't be there. I can however provide some tips on training though. If you have access to a gym I would do a brick session bike straight to run, I do at least one of these a week usually a spin (rpm)class straight afterwards hop on the treadmill and run your 5km at race pace or slightly slower. This way you will get the feel for how your legs are coming off the bike leg. I don't worry as much as going from the run to bike. Other options include going for a 15-20km ride then heading straight out for a run afterwards. If you are fortunate enough to be near a track and have a turbo trainer and they allow you to set your bike up next to the track, then I would do sets of 5-10 minutes hard on the bike followed by 1km time trial repeated three times. Hope this helps
  • Thanks for that BB
    I am going out on the bike tonight and going to do an hour then head to the gym for a 5k tready session then I will have to cycle home. got plenty of hills to incorporate into my sessions.

    Have done some transitions from static bike to treadmill so know what it does to me but will be trying out my new pedals and shoes

    I am aiming just to finish it and have some fun as I have no idea how long it will take me
  • I might enter. Thinking abut it today.

    If I do I'll be riding my fixed gear around the track as I only have the one bike

    What are teh distances? 5km run, ??km bike ride, 5km run?
  • Oh wait! I just thought, will I be allowed to compete on a fixed? I have a front brake but no rear as I can use legs for braking
  • GodzillaGodzilla ✭✭✭
    10/20/5 or 5/10/5

    Ask the organisers ixus - going to be a lot of bike numpties though, so you may want some more advanced braking..
  • bike numpties like me then zil? :-)

  • Just about to fire off an email to the BTA & TheLondonDuathlon :)

    The fact they are touting it as the largest duathlon in the UK is a bit worying congestion wise. I had horrible experiences at the London 10k in '04 which was basically an human obstical course for the first 4 miles.

    I'm hoping the initial 10k run will split up the field a bit. I'm no athlete but hopefully the people at my sort of level wont be first timers or the fun runners. God, I sound like such a snob :/
  • Oh there you are ixus. What gear do you have on the fixie ? You may want to change it if you're going to use it in a race - or you'll find your leg speed too high and the second run will be hard work.

    That's what I found anyway on my fixie - 42*17 I think it was.
  • Well Ixus I will try not to get in your way as I am a first timer!! Dont know whether I would call myself a "fun runner" I mean you dont put yourself through that for "fun"

    But I intend to keep to the back so I dont impede anyone!!
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