Dr. Matt Brick was a legendary duathlete in the 1990’s winning the World Championships (using the old 10km run / 60km cycle / 10km run format) in 1991 & also in 1992. Brick’s Brick was a staple of his training back then. It provided a number of great training stimuli as it developed qwik transitions from run to bike and also bike to run, especially from fast running to solid bike, and solid bike to fast running. Matt Brick would do these sessions based at an athletic track and use his bike trainer. This session is not only great for duathletes but also Sprint and Olympic Distance Triathletes.
Each week I will post Monday’s Brick session that you can do to enhance your triathlon performance. For a full understanding of my Level’s intensity system, please read my previous articles about intensity for cycling and running.
The inspiration for this workout comes from an article about Matt Brick’s training in an old running magazine from 1993 – I’m not sure if it’s an old Runner’s World or New Zealand Runner’s magazine I had just kept this one article from it.
Brick’s Brick
- Bike
- 10min WU Level II;
- Run
- 4x 400m Level V, 20RI;
- Bike
- 20min Level III;
- Run
- 4x 400m Level V, 20RI;
- Bike
- 20min Level III;
- Run
- 4x 400m Level V, 20RI;
- Bike
- 20min Level III;
- Run
- 4x 400m Level V, 20RI;
- Bike
- 10min Level III;
- 10min CD Level II;
- 10min Stretching
Start this Brick session with ten minutes riding at Level II on the bike to Warm Up (WU).
Off the bike and into a set of four, 400m running at Level V. Take a twenty second Rest Interval (RI) between each rep. After the last rep transition onto the bike and ride solidly at Level III for twenty minutes. Repeat this four times.
On the last twenty minute bike ride, spend the first ten minutes at Level III, but for the final ten minutes drop down to Level II for your Cool Down (CD).
Finish with 10 minutes of stretching to assist with the recovery.
Read more about the benefits of brick sessions here:
I am the Head Coach and Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes in achieving their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
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Download the Garmin (.FIT) & Zwift (.ZWO) files for this workout for FREE
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When you cross the finish line of your triathlon, you will have swum, biked and ran faster than you have in previous events.
Designed for busy triathletes targeting an Olympic distance race, the primary goal of this training plan is to prepare you to Swim, Bike and Run faster during YOUR event.
Starting 12 weeks before the YOUR event, this plan progresses through phases to build you to your peak performance. Each week contains three swims. You will build up to 2,900 metres swimming in a single session so you can get the sessions done quickly. Cycling wise you’ll build through to a single 4 hour session in the weekend and a long run mid week of an hour and a half. I recommend using a swim monitor (eg. Garmin Forerunner 735, 920 or 935) to track your sessions in the pool, as well as both running and cycling with power.
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Prior to using this plan, you should be able to:
- Complete a swim of 800 meters or yards continuously, and 2,000 metres or yards total within a workout;
- Ride for 2 hours comfortably; and
- Run 10km or 60 minutes continuously.
Purchase of this plan gives you access to my fortnightly coaching calls where you can ask me any training or racing related questions.
When purchasing, use the discount code “web25” to claim your 25% discount.