Jason Digman leading the discussion. Photo: Steve Stenzel.
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Coach Jason Digman and Duathlete Kevin O'Connor each shared their favorite duathlon specific workout.
Kevin's Killer Duathlon Workout:
Set up your bike on a trainer at the track (or in your garage with a 1 mile route mapped out). Bring along a clock with a second hand and set it in front of the bike. Set up a transition to the run directly off the bike. Start with a 10 minute warm-up on the bike with a few pick-ups. Then transition to running and run 1 mile at 90% effort. (That's your warm-up.) Get back on the bike, and do 10 intervals of 30 seconds all out, 30 seconds recover. Skip the 10th "off" and immediately transition to the run. Run 1 mile at 5K pace. Repeat the bike / run twice more.
Notes: Your transitions should be QUICK; more than 10 seconds is too much. Your "on" time on the bike should be pretty killer; you should be wiped out doing this workout. Your "off" time on the bike should still be at a decent cadence. Kevin kept noting that "you should question whether you will be able to finish the workout." So make it hurt. (And it sounds like it would!)
Jason's Run / Bike Session:
Run for 45:00. The first 15-20 should be a warm-up. The last 15:00 should be at your goal race pace, and roughly 2/3 to 3/4 of your duathlon run length. Then, immediately transition to a 1 hour bike ride. Ride the first 30:00 to 40:00 at your ideal duathlon race pace. Then use the last 20-30 minutes to cool down.
Notes: Again, here your transition should be QUICK. Jason emphasized having really quick transitions in training and racing. He kept saying something like "it's a race; you don't need much." This workout will get you used to running hard, then immediately hopping on the bike and biking hard.
What it all came down to in the end for Jason was "know yourself as an athlete." And Kevin urged us to "spend wisely," saying "You only have a certain amount of fitness - learn how to spend that fitness at the race."
Stop by and visit Kevin at Gear West Bike, and check out Jason's coaching services. Thanks for the clinic you two!!
Happy training! See you at the races!
(And check out the slideshow at the bottom of the page.)
To get my reaction to some of these thoughts, along with a little more info on the day, click here to be taken to my blog post about this clinic.
Follow Steve on Twitter (http://twitter.com/SteveinaSpeedo) or on his blog.
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