The evolution of my bike/run brick

April 16, 2010

I wanted to share with you how we have changed our bike/run power interval brick for the better.

There are plenty of different types of bike/run bricks, all with different objectives. I wanted to share with you 2 very different ways of approaching the same training goal.

The goals for the bike

To recruit more muscle fibres
To make me stronger and better able to push bigger gears for longer

The goals for the run

To teach me to run fast on tired legs at a high stride rate
Increase aerobic capacity

The first brick I used at the end of 2007 to prepare for Ironman Western Australia.
The second brick I used at the end of 2008 also to prepare for Ironman Western Australia.

So the results are slightly comparable…

The 2007 Brick

15 mins warm up- spinning the legs

3 sets of

20 mins low cadence big gear, pushing at a moderate effort. I was given a HR zone to be in.

7 x 800ms on 3mins 10 seconds. Easy Jog 200m. (1st set 3:10, 2nd set 3:00, 3rd set sub 3:00s)

10 min spin warm down.

Total duration 3 hours.

The 2008 Brick

15 mins warm up spinning the legs

2 sets of

10 x 1 min, cadence of 40rpm, push as hard as you can, max effort. 1 min easy spin no effort.

2 x 2km max sustainable run. High cadence. 1 min recovery- (reduced as session repeated each week.)

10 min warm down spin.

Total duration, 2 hours.

My Brick comparison 2007/2008

	Pros	Cons
2007	Mentally Strong after session completion	Mentally destroyed if session poorly executed
	Stonger on the bike and able to hold pace for longer	Took too much out of me and too long to recover from
	Greatly improved aerobic capacity	Would dread the session before hand- trouble sleeping
	Excellent race result at IMWA in 2007- 1st in 9:00	Needed caffeine to get through the session, then unable to sleep post session
		High oxidative stress
		Session took too long to complete
		Ultimately left me feeling burnt out

	Pros	Cons
2008	Mentally Strong after session completion	None
	Session always manageable even with progressions
	Able to repeat session year round
	Quick to recover from
	Shorter session with same results
	Able to back up with another session the same day
	Greatly improved aerobic capacity
	Stronger on bike and able to hold pace for longer
	Excellent race result in IMWA in 2008- 2nd in 9:06

I think the 2 results I achieved are pretty similar. I actually put the 6 minutes down to lack of rest in race week and poor pacing on the run. Kristian’s race times for those 2 years were 8:57 and 8:58!

Perhaps more significant is the fact that less than a month post IMWA in 07 I became sick, I was totally run down and on empty- and looking back now I think I was pretty burnt out. It took more than 6 months to get healthy again. The training got me the result, but it wasn’t a sustainable approach.

Post IMWA in 08, I took December off as usual, then was able to resume training and race IMNZ placing 3rd on March 7th, and then feel good enough to back up and race IM China in April and win…The training was sustainable.

The 2 brick sessions I chose as examples indicative of the entire training approach from one year to the next. Likewise the impact of the sessions- the pros and cons are also indicative of the entire training approach and not just these sessions in isolation. 2007 was much higher volume with intensity. 2008 was a much lower volume approach with intensity.

I think too many athletes believe that they have to complete large volumes to race well at Ironman and it just isn’t true. There is glory and chest beating from completing mind-bending sessions. I admit they were addictive in that sense. There is a time and place for challenging sessions, but it isn’t year round. There are too many excellent short course athletes killing it at long course racing to prove that the volume approach just isn’t necessary, efficient or effective.

These brick sessions were a part of the puzzle- not the entire puzzle. There are many other important factors, to name a few; the timing of the session within each week, within each block, the rest of your training plan, sleep, nutrition, stresses, circumstance…etc. etc.

I just wanted to demonstrate that the same goals can be achieved by training more efficiently, with better long term consequences. None of us want to be out there training longer than we need to- we want to spend time with our families!

To read more about my training approach now, please click here.