Confession: I did not run a single mile after a single long ride heading into IMCDA. I think I did just fine...
Confession #2: This is not much of a confession because I have been quite verbal about it at times. I think bricks are more for mental "comfort" than anything else. I already know the first 1-2 miles I run after I ride are going to suck. Why do I need to practice that suckage over and over again?
I do think bricks are a good way of getting 2-for-1 out of your workouts, thus saving time, etc. And I do think some people benefit more than others by doing the brick workouts. A weekday brick is still on my weekly schedule, so all this does not mean I flat out do not do them, but I do not necessarily think the actual brick workouts help me race any better than had I done a bike ride in the morning and a ride in the afternoon on the brick days. On top of that, it also just means I do not feel very guilty after a long ride when other people go out to run and I go eat instead...most of the time I am just finishing my ride by the time they finish their run anyway.
IMCDA was obviously a good indicator for me that the training route I decided to take worked. I still probably have room to run even faster, but I do not think running 20-30 minutes after every long ride would have done anything to help take time off that marathon. Last weekend was another good indicator for me though that so far, at least, I am okay running off the bike without many specific brick workouts leading up to that race. My run was not blazing fast by any means, but was very evenly paced with each mile split being almost identical. Had I had trouble at the start of the run or if things just seemed to get exponentially worse as the run went on, then I might think differently, but so far the race just seemed to further confirm my thoughts on the whole brick thing.
Also I will have one "monster" brick before IMFL, as I did before IMCDA...in the form of a half ironman race. Running 13 miles after a ride there gives me "credit" for not running after at least 3-4 long rides, right?
After all that rambling, here is the "music to my ears" I am talking about (Dan Empfeld is the creater of www.slowtwitch.com):
the only bricks i ever hear coaches who i trust reference are "t-runs," short for 'transition runs,' which might be a 60, 100, whatever, mile bike ride followed by a run as short as 3 miles. this, just to get you ready for what it feels like to run off the bike. but i think most ironman athletes know how that feels and doing t-runs isn't going to make that sensation ever be any different. it's like sticking your finger down your throat, to know what upchucking feels like. you made yourself throw up. good. now you know. but it's never going to feel any different with practice.
what does matter to me is that the ride, or run, be of a good quality. i'd much rather have an athlete ride 100 or 120 miles, or run 15 or 18 miles, than run 80 miles followed by a 5-mile t-run. what i want is for the athlete to know what a 120 mile ride feels like, so that when he/she is 90 miles into an ironman ride, that's territory well covered in training. also, a 120 mile ride is going to prepare you for the marathon better than a 90 mile ride followed by an 8 mile run is going to prepare you for it.
what i want is for an athlete to always build into his or her race. you should always feel the race coming to you, instead of sliding away from you. so, you ride for 70 or 80 miles, then you start racing. build into your race through taking the swim as an exercise in positioning and executing, not racing. ride 70 or 80 miles as an exercise in conserving and executing, not racing. if you start the race at 75 miles, you have 47 miles worth of a race in front of you. that's a long race, and for you to have that kind of fitness, you ought to be very familiar with these miles that occur between 100 and 125. then you can conceive of a 25, 30, or 40 mile final segment of the bike ride where you're starting to race, that is, when you're building into your race during the bike ride rather than tiring near the end of your bike ride.
most folks, pros included, just don't have enough energy to ride a half dozen 100, 115, 125 mile rides, and do the requisite 15, 18, 20 mile runs, and sift in appropriate recovering time, and do it all in the confines of a manageably short ironman campaign, and do bricks. something has to go. i'd rather jettison the bricks, so that my athlete can take that energy and invest it in long rides and long runs.
Dan Empfield aka Slowman
Confession #2: This is not much of a confession because I have been quite verbal about it at times. I think bricks are more for mental "comfort" than anything else. I already know the first 1-2 miles I run after I ride are going to suck. Why do I need to practice that suckage over and over again?
I do think bricks are a good way of getting 2-for-1 out of your workouts, thus saving time, etc. And I do think some people benefit more than others by doing the brick workouts. A weekday brick is still on my weekly schedule, so all this does not mean I flat out do not do them, but I do not necessarily think the actual brick workouts help me race any better than had I done a bike ride in the morning and a ride in the afternoon on the brick days. On top of that, it also just means I do not feel very guilty after a long ride when other people go out to run and I go eat instead...most of the time I am just finishing my ride by the time they finish their run anyway.
IMCDA was obviously a good indicator for me that the training route I decided to take worked. I still probably have room to run even faster, but I do not think running 20-30 minutes after every long ride would have done anything to help take time off that marathon. Last weekend was another good indicator for me though that so far, at least, I am okay running off the bike without many specific brick workouts leading up to that race. My run was not blazing fast by any means, but was very evenly paced with each mile split being almost identical. Had I had trouble at the start of the run or if things just seemed to get exponentially worse as the run went on, then I might think differently, but so far the race just seemed to further confirm my thoughts on the whole brick thing.
Also I will have one "monster" brick before IMFL, as I did before IMCDA...in the form of a half ironman race. Running 13 miles after a ride there gives me "credit" for not running after at least 3-4 long rides, right?
After all that rambling, here is the "music to my ears" I am talking about (Dan Empfeld is the creater of www.slowtwitch.com):
the only bricks i ever hear coaches who i trust reference are "t-runs," short for 'transition runs,' which might be a 60, 100, whatever, mile bike ride followed by a run as short as 3 miles. this, just to get you ready for what it feels like to run off the bike. but i think most ironman athletes know how that feels and doing t-runs isn't going to make that sensation ever be any different. it's like sticking your finger down your throat, to know what upchucking feels like. you made yourself throw up. good. now you know. but it's never going to feel any different with practice.
what does matter to me is that the ride, or run, be of a good quality. i'd much rather have an athlete ride 100 or 120 miles, or run 15 or 18 miles, than run 80 miles followed by a 5-mile t-run. what i want is for the athlete to know what a 120 mile ride feels like, so that when he/she is 90 miles into an ironman ride, that's territory well covered in training. also, a 120 mile ride is going to prepare you for the marathon better than a 90 mile ride followed by an 8 mile run is going to prepare you for it.
what i want is for an athlete to always build into his or her race. you should always feel the race coming to you, instead of sliding away from you. so, you ride for 70 or 80 miles, then you start racing. build into your race through taking the swim as an exercise in positioning and executing, not racing. ride 70 or 80 miles as an exercise in conserving and executing, not racing. if you start the race at 75 miles, you have 47 miles worth of a race in front of you. that's a long race, and for you to have that kind of fitness, you ought to be very familiar with these miles that occur between 100 and 125. then you can conceive of a 25, 30, or 40 mile final segment of the bike ride where you're starting to race, that is, when you're building into your race during the bike ride rather than tiring near the end of your bike ride.
most folks, pros included, just don't have enough energy to ride a half dozen 100, 115, 125 mile rides, and do the requisite 15, 18, 20 mile runs, and sift in appropriate recovering time, and do it all in the confines of a manageably short ironman campaign, and do bricks. something has to go. i'd rather jettison the bricks, so that my athlete can take that energy and invest it in long rides and long runs.
Dan Empfield aka Slowman
Comments
Peace.
Steph
Keep up the good training!