Actually only added about 50 miles more per week. I just get to do a good portion of my riding to and from work instead of just after work.I can see your point. Also my running is done on hills, instead of the flat coronado strand, that helps too. Besides, I am more consitent with the "brick" because of the commute to work.

Don't try pretending you are that stupid.

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK

 
Well then... there is nothing wrong with running on pre-tired muscles, is there?

I live in New Paltz and have had the pleasure of joining Rebbeca and her twin sister Laurel (2008 Elite Rookie of the Year) on some training days. One day in particular we did a 3 hour quality ride with a 45 min transition run @ aprox. 6:45 pace. These two are so humble and down to earth you'd never know they are crazy fast.

Actually, we did a trainer workout a few days before the race and she looked ready to go. Hope she can carry that to Korea.

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Follow me at http://www.justinjharris.wordpress.com

This might be sacrilege, but some of the slowtwich intelligencia are occasionally incorrect. There have been multiple threads in this forum about shaping ones training from general base to specificity as you move through the season and toward primary races, hard bricks are logical extension of this concept. For an olympic or iron distance race you are running after multiple hours of hard exercise, that physiology can't be replicated in typical running workouts. Running fast on tired legs is not easy, but it can be trained. I utilize my brick workout as a tempo run and I find it pays high returns.

Not at all...the recent 'worst advice from ST' thread comes to mind...
there IS a lot of BS here, I read for entertainment not to get real advice, though I find it interesting to see what others do and what works for them....but PROS are not the average AGrouper and you can't expect what applies to them applies to everyone else.

They hurt, but I can see improvement:

Sunday: 60min bike/ 60 min run... 3hours later, 20 x 3 min hill repeats, odds were 3 min up on bike, coast; evens, 3 min runs up...jog

Wednesday/Thursday: Wednesday 5:45pm. Bike TT. Thursday, 5am track work. Longer recovery than Sunday, but can feel the improvement. will say... OUCH!

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Tiger for Life -- War Eagle!

i dont understand the physiology of training a brick. training faster both on the bike and run while rested has observable benefits.

i guess i dont believe that much in volume either, thats why i have a hard time accepting a brick. i think its all about, how many intense workouts can i fit into a week without getting burned out or injured.

Which is exactly where a brick like 5*(5k-800m) comes into play.

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK

So, are bricks more "old school"? It appears this lack of acceptance comes primarily from the "new age" generation.

when you put it that way, then its not much of a risk.

This is not about risk-reducing but maximizing training. As said before, this type of bricks allows a hard bike and run in one session which leaves more time for recovery.
Granted, this method trains slightly less top end 'speed' but that is only an issue for OD Pros (we're talking sub 31' 10k level). Also, it is not meant to replace all other intensity, single discipline session.

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK

dunno about "not beneficial", but if that was where she was weak, then of course it would be of benefit to her..... that's just common sense. Find your weak point, and exploit it in training till it no longer exists ..........

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persequetur vestra metas furiose

stillrollin, you misunderstood. Rebeccah used to do her hard runs *on* the bike; now she does them *off* the bike. I'm sure we can all agree that trying to run on the bike, unless you have superb balance, is just asking for trouble.

As Fleck would say, people overcomplicate things.

If you are doing a race involving swim-bike-run, then practice some swim to bike sessions and practice some bike to run sessions. Do some at race intensity, but not for race duration (save it for race day). If you are racing often, you're already practicing bricks frequently.

One can't expect to perform in racing if we don't try doing each element in training...that means swimming hard some days, biking hard some days, running hard some days....doing long stuff in each sport to get ready for race duration and of course, actually practicing the transitions. Put it all together on race day (go long, and hard and do transitions). What is so difficult about this to grasp? Just don't do race duration and intensity efforts daily....only do a subset daily :-)

Dev

Uh, that logic would perhaps also make long runs/long bike rides unnecessary - since you can run faster if you just run for 30 minutes than if you run for 2 hrs?
Today, a splendid session of 3 h bike slightly below aerobic threshold, with the last hour slightly above aerobic threshold. then 1 h run at aerobic threshold. I felt splendid running, it turned out to be a very decent aerobic run. And the bike was great, just when it started getting a little monotonic and sloppy I made a clear rhytm change and increased my speed. This type of workouts have really worked well for me, I feel a lot stronger towards the end of long races/workouts. I can recommend.

Agree. My club arranges a sprint triathlon every tuesday during summer. Sometimes you do it all out with the aim of improving your PB, sometimes you´re just revving up for next weekend´s race, sometimes you just do the swim hard, and sometimes you´re just socializing when you´re recovering from a race. Besides being huge PR for the sport and a window for bringing in new guys, the´re great training and - fun. Besides those, I always do at least a longer brick a week if I´m not racing. And almost always I do at least a short run after a bike workout, if for nothing else then for variaton and stretching my legs. That´s my philosophy. Triathlon is not a decathlon with three disciplines.

I think the key is specificity with anything. When on earth do you not off a bike in a triathlon. I think it is very beneficial to teach your muscles to run fast when they feel the same why they will feel in a race. I think pros can run at closer to open pace off the bike because they do more races than most agers, so they have more practice in race situations. Your stride is very different when running off the bike, so teaching yourself to run fast with that shortened stride due to the tightening up of the legs muscles from the bike becomes very important