Ok newbie question time. I just did my first brick work out this year. Last year I was on a road bike several sizes too large. This year on a well fitted Cervelo. Last year running off the bike my calves would cramp, this year running off the bike it is my quads cramping. Is this the difference between road geometry and tri geometry? Or am I just not as bike fit as I hoped this year?
Forward position bikes use your quads more than a shallow position, that’s why your quads feel horrible. Make sure you’re not over-striding off the bike (that makes it much, much worse). You’ll get used to it. Give it a couple weeks of doing short runs (10-20 minutes) off the bike each time you ride.
My wife can hop off any angle bike right into the run with no problems. For me it’s tight hamstrings, less coming off a steep angle but still there for a km or so. Best thing to do is practise T2’s.
Thanks jhendric, I had worked earlier this year on lengthing my stride preparing for a marathon. So I took off on my run leg with this long stride, man that hurt, I was forced to shorten up the stride for about a mile and a half, then I was able to lengthen out again. Thanks
Yep either tri or road geometry I just take shorter strides and wait for the quads to loosen up. I have been doing a lot of bricks however, and finding coming off the bike feels easy now and only seems to take maybe 1/4 to 1/2 mile for me to hit my running stride.
Just a word of advice about running biomechanics. Never consciously think about lenghtening your stride, NEVER! Just think about “go fast” or “go slow”, stride lenght will take care of itself. Otherwise you will be overstriding and landing (too much) on your heel. And you don’t want that.
Things to focus when running:
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stride rate around 90/min.
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minimum support time.
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landing point below the body.
Hope this helps
Paulo