Tried and Tested Tips for a Great Brick Session
Now is the time of year to put together all the elements from our training for the race season. If you haven’t already, it is very important to practice before you race and one way to do this is by incorporating regular brick sessions into your weekly training and also focus on transitions. Below are a number of tips, which I hope will help you in achieving your training and racing goals.
Protocol
Do multiple or inverse bricks to practice loading your legs. Multiple brick sessions can provide you with that extra load and fatigue that you might be carrying during a long distance triathlon. It is a perfect opportunity to do such an exercise outside of a race situation.
Race Kit
Ideally you should wear your race day kit when doing a brick session. Besides, when you get off the bike you certainly don’t want to be running around in your cycle shorts. Also, you can practice certain conditions, such as cooler weather and having to put on an extra layer or two between runs and rides.
Transitions
Transitions are certainly a learning experience for everyone. Brick sessions are perfect to practice your transitions from bike to run or swim to bike. Set up a transition area with all your kit in it as you would in a race.
Mount/Dismount
Practice your mount and dismount whilst you’re doing your brick session. Again, doing this outside of a race situation provides you with a great opportunity to practice this again and again in such a way where you will be able to perfect these skills. So if it’s scooting, mounting or even a flying mount, you know that you will have practised this before racing.
Cadence and Speed
Try to keep the same cadence of your run as you do on the bike. This will help you to get your blood flow going and get your running close to your expected race pace. After doing this a few times, you’ll settle into this cadence and pace more naturally.
Pacing
You don’t want to start your session out by going full blast. You wouldn’t do that when you’re racing and you will not finish your session, if you don’t control your pace. So depending on what you plan, stick to that and try to remain focused. If you do this, it will make your race day more predictable and your racing goals achievable.
Nutrition
Remember to practice your race day nutrition during your brick session. This is a good chance for you to test out various combinations of nutrition and hydration. You can figure out what works and doesn’t work for you. Make sure that you have your race nutrition handy and set up prior to doing your session.
So in the end, brick sessions are the cornerstone to your training. You can practice a lot of scenarios and leave doubt as a distant memory. Lastly, you get to wear a trisuit for the whole session! Isn’t that awesome? Now grab a friend and practice together.
Why Aloha Tri?
At Aloha Tri, we have decades of experience and the right coaching certifications from Ironman University, British Triathlon (Level 3) and TrainingPeaks. We offer bespoke coached programmes via the Premium TrainingPeaks platform, giving you structure and visibility into your training plan. You can choose from weekly or daily progress reviews, which provides corrective action. We have worked with hundreds of athletes of all ages and abilities and improved their performance, skills and mindset.
What motivates us is the “Aloha spirit”, a powerful way to achieve a desired state of mind and body, which we translate into how we coach you. Contact me (rav@alohatri.com) to maximise your investment in your sport!