The reverse brick workout… 

For those of you who don’t know triathlon, the concept of a brick workout may be new to you.  A brick workout, is one where you combine two of triathlon’s disciplines, into a single workout.  By far the most common brick session is a bike ride, followed immediately by a run.  

This bike and then run combination is the most common for several reasons.  Firstly it is common because combining a swim with another discipline is difficult from the perspective of logistics; it’s just harder to quickly leave a pool and  immediately go ride or run.  Secondly, the bike and then run brick, combines two disciplines in the same order as they occur in a race, which would seem a logical way to combine things.  The final reason this combination is common, is that it allows athletes to get used to the unusual feeling of running off the bike.  It really does feel weird to run immediately after cycling; you legs don’t feel like they normally do when running.

So what about this reverse brick workout, I mentioned.  Well, it is exactly what it sounds like… the reverse of a traditional brick.  It involves running first and then getting onto the bike for a ride.  It actually gives you same adaptive benefit of a traditional brick. It allows you however, to do the whole run with your standard running form; not the awkward form, that you have for a good few minutes when running off the bike.

My combination today was a 25 minute easy run with a 75 minute easy bike session.  Combined, I got almost two hours of work in and it felt really good.  This sets me nicely for an easy run tomorrow and another brutal session on the bike on Wednesday.