The ‘brick’ — training two triathlon disciplines back-to-back, usually bike-then-run — is the single most important workout for preparing your body for the weird, jelly-legged reality of race day. The guide: why bricks matter, how to do them and the programming-and-progression to get race-ready.

The Brick-Workout Case

Why bricks are essential: the the-what-it-is (the a-brick = two-disciplines back-to-back (usually-bike-then-run) from the triathlon-training-plan-sprint chapter — the the-what; the the-back-to-back; the the-bike-then-run), the the-jelly-legs-reality (the the-weird jelly-legged feeling of-running-off-the-bike — the the-jelly-legs; the the-weird-feeling; the the-race-day-reality), the the-most-important-workout (the the-brick being crucial for-race-prep from the triathlon-training-plan-sprint chapter — the the-crucial; the the-most-important; the the-key-workout), the the-prepares-your-body (the bricks preparing-the-body for-the-transition — the the-prepares; the the-adaptation; the the-body-learns-it), the the-and-your-mind (the mental-prep-too (know-the-feeling) — the the-mental; the the-know-what-to-expect), and the reframe (the brick-workout as the key-training for the jelly-legged race-day reality — the do-bricks; the the-race-ready).

The How-to-Do-Bricks Breakdown

How to do brick workouts: the the-bike-then-run-immediately (the bike, then-run-immediately (minimal-transition) — the the-bike-then-run; the the-immediately; the the-the-point), the the-practice-the-transition (the practice-the-transition (T2) from the triathlon-transition-practice chapter — the the-transition; the the-t2; the the-practice-it), the the-run-feels-weird-first (the the-run-feeling weird-and-heavy first (normal) — the the-weird-run; the the-heavy-legs; the the-normal; the the-it-eases), the the-start-with-short-bricks (the start with short-run-off-the-bike — the the-short; the the-start-small; the the-build-up), the the-progress-the-brick-length (the progress the-run-length gradually — the the-progression; the the-longer-runs), the the-swim-bike-bricks-too (the swim-to-bike bricks-too (less-common) — the the-swim-bike; the the-other-brick), the the-race-pace-practice (the practice at-race-effort — the the-race-pace; the the-effort), and the the-gear-and-transition-setup (the practice-with race-gear-and-setup from the triathlon-transition-practice chapter — the the-gear; the the-setup; the the-rehearse).

The Programming-and-Progression Notes

Programming and progressing bricks: the the-include-in-your-plan (the include bricks in-your-training-plan from the triathlon-training-plan-sprint chapter — the the-include; the the-in-the-plan), the the-once-a-week-ish (the a-brick roughly-weekly (not-every-session) — the the-frequency; the the-weekly-ish; the the-not-too-often), the the-progress-length-and-intensity (the progress brick-length-and-intensity — the the-progression; the the-build-up), the the-recovery (the recovery (bricks-are-demanding) from the recovery logic — the the-recovery; the the-demanding), the the-practice-transitions (the transition-practice from the triathlon-transition-practice chapter — the the-transitions; the the-practice-t1-t2), the the-race-simulation (the a-race-simulation brick before-race-day — the the-simulation; the the-rehearsal), the the-first-triathlon-prep (the first-triathlon prep from the first-triathlon-guide chapter — the the-first-tri; the the-prep), and the frame (triathlon bricks through the brick-workout-case, the how-to-do-bricks and programming-and-progression — the bike-then-run bricks that prepare-you-for the jelly-legged race-day, programmed-and-progressed; the triathlon, brick-trained). The ‘brick’ — training two triathlon disciplines back-to-back, usually bike-then-run — is the single most important workout for preparing your body for the weird, jelly-legged reality of running off the bike on race day. Do it: bike then run immediately (minimal transition), practice the transition (T2), and expect the run to feel weird and heavy at first (normal — it eases). Start with short runs off the bike, progress the length gradually, and practice at race effort with your race gear. Program a brick roughly weekly, progress it, recover well, and do a race-simulation brick before race day. The key training that gets you race-ready.

The ‘brick’ — training two triathlon disciplines back-to-back, usually bike-then-run — is the single most important workout for preparing your body for the weird, jelly-legged reality of running off the bike on race day. Do it: bike then run immediately (minimal transition), practice the transition (T2), and expect the run to feel weird and heavy at first (normal — it eases). Start with short runs off the bike, progress the length gradually, and practice at race effort with your race gear. Program a brick roughly weekly (not every session), progress it, recover well, and do a race-simulation brick before race day. The key training that gets you race-ready.