Just five days after racing his way onto the podium at Challenge Wānaka, pro triathlete Frederic Funk was already back to work — not with a reckless smash session, but with a measured, race-specific brick designed to bridge recovery and readiness ahead of Ironman NZ in Taupō. With only a two-week turnaround between races, every session needed purpose: enough load to maintain sharpness, but controlled enough to respect fatigue. This brick is a great example of how experienced athletes train in the narrow window between major events — using structured intensity, steady endurance, and race-pace running to reinforce form without digging too deep into the recovery tank.
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 Frederic Funk‘s Facebook post. Frederic didn’t describe his Rest Interval (RI) between reps (and his Strava posts for the workouts don’t expand on it), so this is my interpretation of how this session could have been completed.
Frederic Funk Pre-Taupō Ironman Brick
- Bike
- 50min WU Level II;
- 3x 10min Level IV, 10min Level II RI;
- 2x 30min Level III, 10min Level II RI;
- Run
- 45min Level III;
- 15min CD Level II;
- 10min Stretching
Start this brick with a ride. The first 50-minutes is your Warm Up (WU) at Level II. Then increase your effort to Level IV for three, ten-minute reps. Ride for ten-minutes at Level II between reps for your Rest Interval (RI).
Then complete two, 30-minute reps at Level III. Take a ten-minute Rest Interval (RI) at Level II between reps.
After the second rep transition into the run.
Start the run at Level III for 45-minutes.
Then move into a Cool Down (CD) for fifteen minutes at Level II.
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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