Duathlon: understand and prepare for the event

The duathlon chains running → cycling → running. Without swimming, it's an ideal gateway to multisport for runners and cyclists, and a demanding discipline in its own right (often in winter, outside triathlon season).

Common distances

• Sprint format: ~5 km run / 20 km bike / 2.5 km run.
• Standard format: ~10 km run / 40 km bike / 5 km run.
• Shorter discovery formats exist for beginners.

The specific difficulty: the first running segment

Unlike triathlon, the duathlon starts with running, cold and often too fast under the effect of adrenaline. Starting too hard on the 1st run ruins everything else. Discipline and pace management are essential.

The double transition

The bike → final run transition uses the legs more than you think. As in triathlon, training in bricks (chaining disciplines) is the key to getting your body used to it — also see mastering your transitions.

How to train

• A solid base of running and cycling.
• Interval sessions in running and quality cycling workouts (threshold).
• 1 brick session/week in specific phase (e.g. 20' bike + 10' run at target pace).

A balanced multisport plan

Sports Coach AI manages the disciplines you practice and balances running and cycling based on your goal and your data, with bricks placed at the right time in your preparation.