What brick or other workouts are working for you to run better after the bike? Most bricks I have seen in plans are low intensity bikes followed by low intensity runs. that doesn’t seem to prepare me well for race day (let’s say Oly distance), where i never feel good on the run, even after what i consider to be a decent pacing (ie holding back a little) on the bike.
Some camps (endurance nation?) are even doubting the usefulness of bricks. Do people do a lot of race-simulated bricks? other ideas?
I recently completed a olympic tri and did no brick workouts at all because I was recovering from a marathon and ran the 10k in 41 mins. Last year I did the same race and same course and did at least 6 to 8 bricks and was at a similar fitness level and only could run 42 mins. I personally feel that it has more to do with how hard you go on the bike.
The general ST thinking these days are that bricks won’t make you a faster triathlete. I do bricks. I don’t know if they make any faster, but I do know they don’t make me any slower. I need to build up to them, but I like to do tempo oriented runs off of either shorter tempo rides, or long rides. It is pretty easy for me as I have track about 3 minutes from my front door.
Exactly - i’m looking at a 30 second/mi difference, despite the bricks. maybe it’s the bike training (or set up?). what about tempo bike-tempo run bricks – seems more like a race equivalent. ??
I agree with what some have said here about proper bike pacing and not ragging yourself out on the bike that will negatively affect your run.
I tend to do a b/r brick from January until September, no matter how short or long I go on the bike and run. I personally like running off the bike just for variety and to get stretched out after being “cooped up” on the bike (for a long one). I’ve found that it gets me prepared for race day so it becomes completely natural. The first time I did it, my legs felt like lead. Now, I don’t have that feeling, even when I go a bit hard on the bike. The key has been having a sufficient recovery before doing another brick like that later in the week (I do short b/r bricks when I bike to work for 15 min, then immediately go for a 30 min run before heading to the office).
Not necessarily true. It depends on your muscle recruitment for the run and how the bike position effects that (did you destroy the muscles you will need most?).
I tend to run off the bike a lot. I may just head out and do a short 1 mile loop in the hood, but I make sure that my body is used to the transition from the beginning of training up to race day. I may not run off my longest bike ride, but I will always run after a tempo ride. I’ve even added short, hard rides before long runs just to make things as realistic as possible and because I like doing the ride-run combo.
No matter how good your run fitness is, no matter if you can kick sub-6.00 miles once you settle into your race pace for a 10K, your run split won’t be it’s best if you come off the bike and you legs go into full revolt and you struggle to a finish your first mile and a half in 13.00.
Ultimately you need to know your body as a triathlete. It is among the most important things that you accomplish with your training. Try different things and see what works for you. In general improving your fitness on both the bike and run will benefit your run speed, and making that first 2K as natural and painless as possible will help immensely.
That’s about it, if you don’t rag yourself out on the bike, you’ll run better.
I’m tending to lean this way myself. My best 5k split in a sprint last season was following one of my slowest bike averages. It also helped that it was a early season race, I was still getting back into cycling form and was carrying less leg muscle and was leaner.
I still like to do bricks just to get a feel for pacing off the bike and it allows me to do a fast bike and fast run on the same day.
What does that mean? IF you want to run fast off the bike, lose some weight. Nothing improves your running more than being lean.
Bricks may help with overall triathlon related endurance but ultimately it’s what others have said. Riding within your true cycling abilities and having good run speed/fitness to fall back on is the key. If you blow your load on the bike you will never run well regardless of run fitness especially in long course. You can get away with it in short course when you are at your best.
I do bricks for my head. I ride a hard 20 or 30k TT then head straight for the track; about 10+ minutes from the end point of the TT. Then I do “stuff” at the track w/minimal w/u (max 800m). Stuff = 400’s (not typical) usually 600’s to 2k’s (hard). Not necessarily very many. Max distance of all hard efforts (not counting jog/'rest" between intervals) is around 5k.
Very little is for the legs or cardio system, though they do get worked. It’s to know that off the bike in a race this is what it feels like and I’m gonna be fine and fast in a few minutes.
I do these bricks a little less than I used to. During the season maybe once every ten days.
To be fair, I always complain to myself how “slow” my run times are in races, but, I don’t hold back (OLY dist.) on the bike. Relatively speaking (given my lack of talent) they aren’t slow, but, I wish they were faster. Who doesn’t?
How far and how often do you run in training? A lot of Oly plans only have you run 6-7 miles as your long run. If you want to run well off the bike during an Oly, then 6-7 should be your medium runs and 9-12 miles should be your long run. Same with the bike. Your medium days should be 40K and at least 80k on long rides. Forget the bricks unless you have time constraints.
36:46 pb off bike. It’s about proper pacing and technique. Very rarely do any structured brick workouts. Pacing has been discussed before here. Technique is very undervalued for a good off the bike run, especially when your body is already so fatigued. Ge a running coach to have a look at your form. Things to think about are collarbone lean, mid foot strike. Looking 30m in front of you, being tall through the hips. Cadence above 90. Relaxed shoulders etc etc. there’s a good video on YouTube comparing crowies and Lietos run from at kona 09, you’ll see why technique is important when you look at that.
Bricks will not help you run faster off the bike. Proper bike pacing and run training will.
For sure proper pacing is key, but I will have to disagree with the bricks not helping portion of the statement. For years I resigned myself to struggling getting going after T2. My form seemed technically awful (blocky, not smooth) and s-l-o-w. The longer the race, the longer it took to find my rhythm. I know I was loosing time. I resolved to change this. I started following most training rides by a short run (ten minutes is plenty), especially as the season approached. As a result I am definitely able to acquire my running form faster and therefore lose less time.
If you bike cadence is too low, it fatigues your leg muscles so much, it makes running off the bike more difficult than it should be. Go back and look at previous rides’ cadence and see what they are. A cadence of 90+ keeps the legs happy so you can run faster off of the bike.
Who doesn’t?