Race Previews

Doing Them Because They are Hard...

Saturday, 19 July 2014 00:10

FYI - Matthew Payne WON the USAT Duathlon National Chamionship this morning!

By Matthew Payne (for usatriathlon.org - blogs)

Duathlon and I have a bit of a love/hate relationship. On the one hand, I’ve managed to get fairly good at it, and it’s always fun to do things you’re good at. Also, as someone who lives in a cold weather climate and likes to race frequently, duathlon is great in that it extends our local multisport race season about one month each direction, allowing me to squeeze in a few more races each year without the expense and hassle of airline travel. Another great thing about duathlon is that without the swim, you can of course leave the wetsuit, goggles and any other swimming gear at home. It’s always nice to have to have less junk to lug around and keep track of....

But on the other hand … duathlons are HARD. Really, really ridiculously hard. Way harder than a triathlon of equivalent duration. I know there are those who disagree with me. I hear them talking in the transition area before every race. The consensus seems to be that not having to swim makes the race easier. READ MORE