Brick sessions and IM training

[Deleted User]

Just starting to think about a training plan for next year. At what stage should a novice start doing brick sessions?

how many a week?
what sort of duration?
should i already be doing them?

Bouncing Barlist

I think the sooner you can get used to running off the bike the better, that said you dont want to do any hard/killer sessions now (or even later).

Brick sessions are about aclimitising your legs to the feeling of going from spinning to running.

Id say start by incorporating a 5-10 min very easy run after one of your weekly bike rides, commence this as soon as you like.

Later in the year perhaps from April increase the length of the run to about 30 minutes, no more than 60 minutes and to to be honest anything more than 30 isnt a lot of value.

So thats:

how many a week? 1 (maybe 2 in the summer)
what sort of duration? 10 mins (building to longer in the summer)
should i already be doing them? Not necessarily but the more you practice something the better you get.


*Remember keep your brick session runs slow and at an easy pace, they are not there to improve your general running just to get used to the transitional effect.

Ignore anyone that advocates killer sessions like 100mile bike/10 mile run.. the only thing you'll gain is an injury.

[Deleted User]

OMG I think I agree with Barlist's advice...he must have been listening last year. Personally I wouldn't do them until the late Spring. You could try running off the turbo for some run sessions...

Oh it also depends upon your goals, Cartman puts a good case fwd for the biggies but I used to do 2hr cycle 1 hr run bricks but those were just good mid-week sessions more for fitness. Hammer the bike, balls out then a nice hour run at the end.

Actually one of my fav sessions as the run was short and the bike was hard.

fat buddha

as Barlist says.......but I don't think you need to them after every bike......just every so often so you get used to the feeling............

and no longer than 30 mins is a good idea........any longer and you won't get any benefit...........

BUT - I would still say you should try at least one long bike/long run just for the sheer hell of it to see how it feels to do it (but at no great pace to prevent injury)..........you will get an impression of how your body will feel during an IM.........

this year I did one 4hr ride/2 hr run.......so a constant 6 hrs exercise.....felt fine if a tad knackered and no after effects

[Deleted User]

A middle distance tri is very good for this funnily enough......

Cartman

bricks are pretty horrible, in fact of all the IM training, bricks were the worst..

sounds like a lot of hard work for this time year...

Doubly Bionic Ironwolf

well that's a first! I agree with all of the above!

Just one thing to add - sounds silly and sort of obvious, but it does add to your overall confidence. Practice transitions too once in a while, lay out your gear how you think you want, and try out how it actually works. Every little thing helps.

Bouncing Barlist

I yes, thanks for reminding me IW, I must schedule in some mentee stripping sessions.

fat buddha

"lay out your gear how you think you want"

and don't forget the plastic bag!! a few peeps got caught out at Vitruvian with wet kit in transition when it peed down.......

Bouncing Barlist

Mine was in a 8 inch deep puddle.

Iron Rose

the bike cover you all got in IMCH should be standard tri transition kit now, I still have mine from 2003 which I use to cover my kit in transition. Vitruvian was a bit of a different story, most of my kit was dry but that was because the towel I had put under everything soaked up the water flowing freely downhill towards my kit !!

Doubly Bionic Ironwolf

rosey! where ya bin?