The last post I made (which was a week ago – my bad), focused on the role of rest and recovery, and how this made you rapid – the 3 R’s. Of course, there’s a big determining factor about how rapid you become when you rest, and that’s the quality of recovery. Because I live at home, and don’t earn enough to pay rent, I earn my keep by doing jobs (mainly crappy gardening which I hate – just let nature do its thing and take over) – anyway, I usually have to do these jobs after training, which is why I’m somewhat glad to be back at work, since it’s a much better recovery time than doing shredding or weeding, or other stuff that mum has in store.

What has this got to do with the pro-cycling scene? Let me explain. For those of you who know, Duathlon is not a massive sport, not like it’s big brother Triathlon, who’s most famous for the notorious Ironman. Triathlon is a lot more popular than Duathlon, therefore, a lot more money is ploughed into it, the same with cycling – there is loads of money in cycling, just look at Team Sky (now Ineos). But this doesn’t mean that Duathlon can’t benefit from what the Triathlon and cycling scene have to offer, in fact, there are a lot of things that we, as amateur athletes, can do to give us a competitive edge.

Recovery is very important, just as important as training itself – in fact, it is training, and the quality of recovery will determine the quality of your next training session; and this was one of foundations of Team Sky’s success. Team Sky was formed in 2010, headed by Sir Dave Brailsford, whose goal was to win the Tour de France, no British cyclist had ever done this. The closest cyclist was Tommy Simpson, who tragically died on the 13th July 1967 during a stage on Mont Ventoux (during those days, cyclists raided bars for drinks – he drank neat brandy on the hottest day of that year’s Tour while climbing Mont Ventoux). Brailsford’s background was track cycling, and he was under the assumption that you could take cyclists from the track, and plonk them in the pro peloton, and they’d do alright. That didn’t work. In fact, it backfired majorly.

After a disastrous inaugural year for Team Sky, the training refocused to pure road racing, and Brailsford identified that there were tiny gaps in the cycling scene, that, if filled in, could amount to big gains over their competitors, he termed this, marginal gains. One of these gains, which Sky were ridiculed for, was supplying their athletes with their own mattresses to take during stage races. Since Sky were new to the otherwise pretentious and conservative scene of pro-cycling, the idea of athletes taking their own mattresses to hotels during the Tour seemed pointless and stupid. Things soon changed when they won the Tour in 2012, and got 2 podium positions in the 2011 Vuelta a Espana.

Brailsford identified that recovery between stages was everything, and the main time when you recover is during sleep, and the all important time immediately after the race. I don’t know about you, but I hate sleeping in hotels, the mattresses, duvets, pillows, it’s all the same generic cr*p, hence why I use Airbnb when I travel to races. Brailsford thought the same, but obviously, each hotel was different, and if you had athletes sleeping on a mattress that wasn’t comfortable, their sleep would be impeded, and thus, their performance for the next stage would diminish – and the feedback loop starts. Therefore, he introduced special portable mattresses to all athletes, thus, they all effectively slept on the same bed every night – and the domination of the Tour began, since their rest and recovery was optimised.

Now, I’m not saying that all Duathletes should go and buy expensive mattresses, but there are things you can do to help sleep and aid recovery between races, and when travelling to different places of accommodation. Bring in the wisdom of my mother! She likes her sleep, but does have restless nights. During lockdown, she researched something called a “Slumber Blanket” (weighted blanket). The scientifically researched idea behind it was that a weighted blanket tricked your body into thinking you’re being hugged – I know when my girlfriend hugs me, I don’t want her to let go. It releases endorphins which help relaxation. Myself and dad were sceptical at first, but I was still intrigued, and tried using it on the sofa one evening…my word, what trickery is this! The thing worked, and dad even tried it himself…now we all have one!

The weight of the blanket is determined by your body weight (10%). For me, I have a 6.8kg blanket. My body weight fluctuates between 68-70kg – it’s recommended you buy the lightest option. Since purchasing the blanket, my sleeps have been unimpeded, and of high quality – I feel fresher the next day, and the quality of my training has increased, thus, strength and fitness increased dramatically. A small change, making a big difference. We all go out and buy things to make us go faster (new shoes, new wheels), but why not buy things that help us go faster the next day, and the next, and the next. Therefore, once racing begins, I will be taking my slumber blanket with me, to aid my sleep prior to race day – I’ll let you know how I get on.

This is just one of the things that Duathlon can learn from pro-cycling, the dark art of marginal gains. I think that sleep and recovery is something overlooked, and ensuring you get the best recovery is paramount to aid your next race and training session – especially if it’s a Brick, or you’re going to do a Brick.