Home General Training Discussions

When is Bike + Run not a BRICK

Saturday's November OS plan calls for  bike and run, with the latter done either as a BRICK for 20 mins or stand-alone for 40 mins.  Was recommended to raise this in a separate forum for visibility, i.e. how much time do you reocmmend leaving between bike and run for the run to be considered non-BRICK and being able to run for 40 vs. 20 minutes (some of use REALLY need that extra run time...)?  Personally, I like to knock out all my workouts in the AM and be done.  Also bear in mind that sunday would be a long-ish run, so recovery is important.  Thanks!

Comments

  • While I am not certain of the answer, I am with you in that I prefer to get everything done in the AM and be done. So... I will be doing tomorrow's workout as a "brick" with the run immediately following the bike.

    I know I didn't help any - but I am trying to break into the 'mojo' leaderboard over there on the dashboard! image
  • Last year, Rich was actually advocating running first and then biking afterward. If you really want to run 40 minutes, you might try that. Also, I occasionally flip the Saturday and Sunday workouts so that I do the quality run on Saturday.
  • If it is during the same session its a brick...so if you break your days into training sessions/times  like.  AM 6-8 / Lunch 11-1/ Afternoon Evening 4-6ish...I would consider it a brick if you do both during the same session....If you bike in the am and run at any other time...ie. lunch or evfternoon evening...then its not a brick.  IMHO

     

    ....and I hate running first....again just IMHO

  • If I had probably greater than an hour I'd call it a non brick.  I typcially have a lot more time than that inbetween workouts although I typically brick this workout to get it in for time efficiency and to allow 24 hours between the Saturday and Sunday workout. 

    Don't think that you need extra time running.  The non-brick is to allow for a better quality workout in the run.  Remember the OS has no volume goals hit the zones and times even doing bricks you will see improvement. 

    Gordon

  • copying my reply from the other thread, basically what Michael said:

    Run first! This was Coach R's suggestion as to how to handle this time-efficiently. Running before the Saturday bike seems to work well for him, he treats it as the opportunity to add the volume of a stand-alone run, while gaining the time efficienty of a brick, without the dead feeling of running after biking.

  • A different opinion (which reflects merely a difference in personal preferences, not a disagreement with any of the previous posts). Last OS, I found any bike I 'bricked' after a run was a lessor quality bike than I wanted. It may come down with how challenging you find your assigned paces in your runs and how the runs leave your legs. I find my assigned zones pretty challenging in anything but an EP run, so I definitely need space around even the easiest run. If I do succeed in getting two workouts in on Saturdays, it's always a very early bike (~0500-0600) and a noon-ish run. That allows me to get the highest quality bike workout in and then hopefully get into my assigned zones for the run.

    YMMV and different strokes work for different folks. Find out what works for you and get after it!
  • I enjoy nailing the bike then transitioning quick into the run one workout then the next doing my bike in the morning then late afternoon doing the run. Just a fun way to keep the OS shook up. Amazing how our body's adjust and feel.
  • I'm like Carl (even lived in Iowa)--I like to get off the bike and start running. It gives me the rush of a real race. Boy, I've really digressed the thread;-)
  • If all your running is outside in the winter, I prefer to run first and then bike. I find it really cold getting off a hard bike and being very sweaty and then going outside to run. I can never get warm.

    But regards to your question, if the run is not directly off the bike (within 15-30min) I would not consider a brick. I think that if you want to get the most out of the run, you would do one workout in the morning and one in the early afternoon.
  •  Thanks for all the feedback.  I must have gone back and forth a gazillion times on this yesterday... In the end, I chose to do bike first because a) it says so on the plan; and b) it takes me a while to wake up in the morning and going outside for a run ( as opposed to treadmill on week days) first thing when it's cold and dark-ish is not my favorite thing.  I did end up separating bike and run by about 30 mins and ultimately, I think that was the right call:  I was able to nail the bike workouts (not sure that would have happened w/ run first - at a minium it would have been much harder), and the 30 min break allowed me to refuel, bring down HR, dry off, get changes, stretch a bit and reset the head.  I had a bit of trouble staying within the prescribed time limites for the run, mostly I was running too fast, but I ascribe that more to a) crappy vdot test this week; and b) I'm not really good at pacing myself on the run anyway.  I'll have to work on that.  I guess I won't know for sure whether I ran too long (40 mins) today until tomorrow's long run.  I suspect I will be trying to juggle this the entire OS. But for now: time to rest and recover for tomorrow!

  • Very helpful discussion ... I just did today's workout and was wondering if doing the 40min run one hour after ending my ride was too soon or not. Your responses were all insightful and ultimately, just doing the workout and being flexible with the run (i.e. I told myself that I would do my best to keep the assigned pace but no worry if I could not) was my decision. Felt good but I'm happy it's over now image
Sign In or Register to comment.