Brick..how long do you run for

[ray]

so if you do a 60 min ride, how long would you run for after

[bluepoolshark]

Run, after a bike ride

[andys]

Many school's of thought on this one. Some say to run for no more than a mile or so, just to get used to changing over, some say to put in a decent run of 5 miles, others say not to bother doing bricks until much closer to the main race (and then you might as well do a couple of sprints and have some fun with it). Take your pick.

I don't bother doing them as I quite like to lay on the floor after a turbo session, not go running around the place.

Ray, did I tell you I had my VO2max tested yesterday? My main aim was to beat 45. ;D

[ray]

what did you get...do you know mine?

[cobbie]

ray said:

so if you do a 60 min ride, how long would you run for after

What Andy says is true, people vary in their opinions on brick sessions. Personally, I like them and they are a good way of managing limited time.

After a 60 minute ride, I'd say you should run for 5-10K.

[belaqua]

I have it down to run about 10 -30 mins but no more.

[ray]

belaqua said:

I have it down to run about 10 -30 mins but no more.

i have 15 min....but it just seems a little short...i was looking at about 20/25 min

[andys]

Depends what you want to get from the run, if it's just to change over from cycling to running (which isn't that important in Ironman, you can just sit in T2 for a couple of minutes) then a short run is OK. If you want to break your muscles down then a longer run is needed.

[flipper]

Does the cement between bricks stick it together or keep them spaced apart?

[etruscantim]

andys said:

Depends what you want to get from the run, if it's just to change over from cycling to running (which isn't that important in Ironman, you can just sit in T2 for a couple of minutes) then a short run is OK. If you want to break your muscles down then a longer run is needed.

It also depends on the risk of injury, ie: the length and speed of the ride, the speed of the run, the training load at the time, whether it is an important or just a maintainence session.

Whatever you do, don't do more than you need to to stimulate the needed adaptation.

[ray]

looking more at making running from the bike easier and improving endurance

[andys]

"ray" (or whatever your name is), it's 38 weeks to go, don't worry about it just yet. You'd build your run muscular endurance from regular long runs (up to what you can handle but 14-16 miles is good (2-2.5 hours)) and you can adapt to running off the bike fairly quickly so can leave that until closer to the time.

[ray]

andys said:

"ray" (or whatever your name is), it's 38 weeks to go, don't worry about it just yet. You'd build your run muscular endurance from regular long runs (up to what you can handle but 14-16 miles is good (2-2.5 hours)) and you can adapt to running off the bike fairly quickly so can leave that until closer to the time.

this confuses me... i am in amy pre build phase so my build build if you wish......so i should be looking at building endurance............so surley i should also be loking at building this part as well

[andys]

IMO: I'm not starting any sort of specific IM training until after New Year at the earliest. At the moment I'm just farting around doing whatever I like. But after NY I'll build up to a weekly long run of about 16 miles at an easy pace to build run muscular endurance. That'll ensure I can keep running throughout the run and not give up after about 5 miles as I did this year. Regular long runs will build very strong muscles that will withstand the distance of a marathon. Running off the bike doesn't really matter, it's only a concern for shorter distance races where you need to be up to speed ASAP. In an Ironman you can afford to take the first few miles easy and just settle yourself. Or even do what Duncan did and just sit in T2 for a few minutes and let your legs recover from the bike ride before setting off on the run. In the end it’ll not cost you much time whatever you do in the race, it’s more about keeping going and not slowing down than wasting the odd minute here and there.

Some people at IM distance do brick sessions to break their muscles down further so they can rebuild stronger, it's a way of deliberately damaging your legs to bring on muscular endurance. You’d need to do a longer run to achieve this and you run the risk of injury such as I did in 04 when I had a minor tare of my Achilles from these kind of sessions.

But, it's all up to you and how you feel you'll be in the race. If you feel you'd struggle badly running off the bike then by all means do some brick sessions but keep the runs short for the time being to avoid injury problems.

[ray]

cheers that sounds a bit better

[duncan74]

Never less than 26 miles...