Brick sessions are a great training session to help develop the neuromuscular system to prepare you for future events (as well as future training sessions). Not only that but you will get a great physiological training stimulus. This session is great for enhancing both duathlon and triathlon performance with Ironman/Ironman 70.3 race pace effort.
Each week I will post Monday’s Brick session that you can do to enhance your triathlon performance. For a full understanding of my Level’s intensity system, please read my previous articles about intensity for cycling and running.
The inspiration for this workout comes from a YouTube video from Matt LeGrand titled One Simple Duathlon Workout.
Matt LeGrand’s Simple Duathlon Workout
- Run
- 5km WU Level II;
- Bike
- 60min Level II-III;
- Run
- 5km Level III;
- 10min CD Level II
- 10min Stretching
This workout requires a little bit of preparation and planning a suitable route. You’ll need to plan a 5km run loop from your house if you are doing the bike on your trainer at home. It does not need to be precisely 5km, but an accurate 5km is always beneficial. The Key is that it is repeatable.
Start by running this 5km at a conservative pace. I recommend treating it as your Warm Up (WU) and running at Level II. Matt LeGrand suggests being “super conservative” and use your goal half Ironman pace or slower. Your goal half Ironman pace is likely to stretch into Level III but by staying in Level II you are not over exerting yourself and having an extended Warm Up (WU).
Transition onto the bike and ride for an hour at the top end of Level II or into Level III. Matt LeGrand recommends a conservative effort of 65-75% of Functional Threshold Power (FTP) the first time you do this workout (basically Ironman effort). The second time you complete this workout aim for a slightly higher effort of 70-80% of Functional Threshold Power (FTP) (more aligned with Half Ironman effort).
Transitioning to the final run, which is also 5km but this time aim to run the 5km faster than the initial 5km. My suggestion is to run this at Level III – race pace for an Ironman 70.3.
Complete the session with a minimum of ten minutes running at Level II for your Cool Down (CD).
Finish with 10 minutes of stretching to assist with the recovery.
Read more about the benefits of brick sessions here:
I am the Head Coach and Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes in achieving their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
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Download the Garmin (.FIT) & Zwift (.ZWO) files for this workout for FREE
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