Training For A Triathlon - Brick Training

Last week I had a question from a lady who’d entered her first Half Ironman training programme, the Boskman triathlon at New Forest on June 23rd.

She told me her biggest question was this: “How do I deal with transitions successfully and also how do I build the stamina to keep going at a steady and decent pace?”

Today I will attempt to answer these very good questions.
How do you deal with transitions successfully?

Triathlon has three obvious disciplines – swim, bike and run. It would be a mistake to treat each sport as an individual sport though because a triathlon is a combined effort of all three sports.

If you are a superb runner but can’t run ‘off the bike’ for the last leg of the triathlon it would be a shame because you wouldn’t achieve your best performance.

Even if you consider yourself to be a novice triathlete, just looking to finish in one piece, it will make your whole race easier, more comfortable and enjoyable if you prepare for triathlon specifically, including transition training.

Transition Training Tips - Brick Sessions:

Perform back-to-back, swim-bike and bike-run sessions on a regular basis. It may seem obvious but it is easy to overlook this method of training. By performing these sessions your body will adapt to the specific stresses of multisport.

By swimming before your bike sessions your heart will learn to ‘shunt’ blood from upper to lower limbs, and maintain blood pressure during the transition from horizontal exercise to vertical.

By performing bike to run sessions you will learn to overcome the dead or jelly legged feeling that is common on the first five minutes or so of the run portion of your race.

By taking small quick steps and focusing on technique post-bike you will soon become accustomed to these brick sessions and your triathlon will become faster, more comfortable and more enjoyable.

Build A Triathlon Body:

Build your body and train it to move well. When you are tired your form and movement patterns get sloppy, and effective gym-based exercises are a key to reducing fatigue.

Perform gym-based exercises such as lunges, squats and deadlifts, as well as ‘core’ exercises such as plank, fire hydrants and deadbugs.

By performing these exercises you will be better able to keep your spine in a ‘neutral’ position during the latter stages of your triathlon, and the result will be improved bike and run technique, better efficiency and most importantly reduced back pain or risk of injury.
How to build stamina to maintain your race pace?

I often refer to the SAID principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand) and this is what all your workouts should be based on. Making your workouts specific to your sport will ensure you get the results you want.

Building stamina does not mean you have to ‘plod’ for hours on end. In fact, you will get far superior results if you perform shorter sessions at well above your target race pace.

It was established well back in 1996 by Tabata et al that high intensity interval training stresses all the energy systems of the body, from low-intensity oxidative to high-intensity glycolytic and CP systems.

The tangible fitness results for you are far superior to what you’d get from going long and slow. Building your endurance need not mean hours of training, yet still I see people who think quantity counts more than intensity, which is a shame because it takes a lot of motivation and commitment to train this way for a long period of time.

In a nutshell my advice for you if you want to gain triathlon-specific fitness and endurance is to use the SAID principle to guide your training. And since most of us are extremely busy people, keep your training sessions as short as possible for as long as possible.

This may sound strange or unnatural, and I know it certainly goes against the traditional ‘more is better’ mentality of the endurance athlete but consider this:

Intensity is the easiest factor to adjust in your training. You can make a 1hour session have a completely different outcome by varying intensity. And from a logistics perspective, knowing you only have to plan the same period of time to train weekly makes it easier to be consistent.

This is a win-win for you if you apply this to your training because not only is consistency a very important factor of training for a triathlon, but you will save time too, leaving more time for your family, job, friends and life!

Training for a triathlon needn’t be antisocial with hours on end spent out on your own. Shorter high intensity sessions are far more effective.

So in conclusion, by performing high intensity interval training and shorter quality interval sessions you will build the foundations that will enable you to maintain a target race pace for your triathlon distance.

By training well above your target race pace and stressing all your energy systems you will adapt accordingly and find it much easier to cruise at a moderate race pace.

Don’t fall into the trap of training long and slow and expect to race fast! It won’t happen, so train above your target pace regularly.

In terms of running off the bike, and biking from the swim, it will help you if you perform swim to bike sessions and bike to run sessions with minimal resting time between them.

Try it with your full race kit on, and set up a transition area at home so you can do a race rehearsal. You might want to enter a couple of low-key events to practice before your main target race too.

I hope this answers some of your questions and if you want further guidance please do grab your free triathlon training programme at http://www.triathlon-plan.co.uk

Happy training, Nico.