Brick workouts: the most important session of your tri week.
A brick workout — a bike followed immediately by a run — is the single highest-transfer session in triathlon training. It's where the legs learn to run off the bike, where you find the right fueling, and where the race-day plan becomes muscle memory.
- →Bricks build neuromuscular transfer. The first 5 minutes of the run is what you're training.
- →Run distance scales with race distance. The bike is always the longer half.
- →Race-pace bricks belong in the final 6 weeks of a build. Earlier bricks can stay aerobic.
- →Practice nutrition on every brick — it's the only place to rehearse race fueling in real conditions.
Why bricks work.
Coming off the bike, the legs are saturated with cycling-specific firing patterns. The first kilometer of running feels wooden, top-heavy, and slow. Brick workouts shorten that adjustment window. Athletes who do bricks consistently transition to run pace within 3–5 minutes; athletes who don't can spend 15–20 minutes 'finding their legs' on race day — a window most race plans can't afford.
Brick prescriptions by distance.
Sprint: 45–75 min bike + 10–15 min run. Olympic: 75–120 min bike + 15–30 min run. 70.3: 2.5–4 hr bike + 20–45 min run. IRONMAN: 4–6 hr bike + 30–60 min run. Always at the goal race intensity for that discipline in the final 6 weeks before race day.
The transition itself.
T2 should be 60–90 seconds at most. Rehearse it: bike rack → helmet off → cycling shoes off (or run with shoes still clipped, depending on your setup) → run shoes on → hat + race belt → go. The first 200m off the bike: short, quick steps. Don't fight the wooden legs — let cadence pull you into rhythm.
Sample race-prep brick sessions.
70.3 build week: 3 hr bike with 2 × 30 min @ IF 0.82, then 30 min run with first 10 min at marathon pace effort, last 20 min at half-marathon pace effort. IRONMAN peak week: 5.5 hr bike with race-pace blocks across the back half, then 45 min run at IRONMAN goal pace with full race nutrition. Sprint sharpening: 60 min bike with 4 × 5 min @ FTP, then 15 min run at 5K race pace effort.
Nutrition rehearsal.
Every brick uses the exact products, bottles, and timing you'll use on race day. If you're running a flask of gel on race day, you carry it on the brick. If you're using BASE Performance bottles on the bike, you mix the same concentration in training. Race day is not the day to find out the gel makes you nauseous at km 80.
FAQ
How often should I do brick workouts?
Once per week in build phase, twice in peak weeks for IRONMAN athletes. Sprint and Olympic athletes need only 1 brick per week — the run after the bike is short enough that overall fatigue load matters more than brick frequency.
How long should a brick run be?
10–45 minutes depending on the race distance. Sprint: 10–15 min off the bike. Olympic: 15–30 min. 70.3: 20–45 min. IRONMAN: 30–60 min. The first 5 minutes always feel wooden — that's the entire point of the workout.
Should I do bricks at race pace?
Late-phase bricks should rehearse race intensity: bike at race IF (0.78–0.82 for IRONMAN/70.3), run at race pace effort. Early-phase bricks can be done at aerobic effort just to teach the muscular transfer.
Want a coach to program your bricks?
Every athlete on my roster gets a brick built for their race, their power, and their schedule. Apply for 1:1 triathlon coaching.
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