What exactly is a Brick session anyway???
We're taking it back to basics today with a triathlon 101 Q&A blog post. What exactly is a Brick session - and why should triathletes do them?
People often say triathletes talk their own language. Brick sessions (or just "bricks") are a great example of that. We know what it means but, to everyone else, it's a confusing term. So, what is a brick session?
Brick sessions are integral to a triathlete's training programme. You already know that our sport consists of three disciplines: swimming, cycling and then running (in that order). It's all very well training each discipline separately, in fact you might end up being very good at two or even all three of them. But then comes race day…
Putting all three of triathlon's disciplines together, with minimal break in between, is what makes the difference between doing three sports and doing one multi-sport. On triathlon race day, you will have to move from swim to bike, and then from bike to run, with as short a break as possible. The time between the disciplines is called transition (there we go again with our own lingo!) and transition can often take as little as 5 or 10 seconds.
Can you imagine how challenging it can be to go from swimming to cycling, then from cycling to running? It can feel very odd, not just to your legs but to your head, heart, lungs and mindset.
Brick sessions help you adapt.
A brick session is a specific training session which allows you to practice the skills, fitness, energy systems and logistics of moving swiftly and smoothly between disciplines. Brick sessions can either be long (as long as the corresponding sections of your goal race), or short (mimicking just the end of one discipline and the first part of the next one).
Swim to bike bricks are trickier, but not impossible. Best practiced after an open-water swim, you will need to set up your bike near the exit of the swim, just like a race-day setting. Have your bike shoes, helmet, sunglasses and other key kit laid out, and practice standing up after the swim, unzipping your wetsuit, running to your bike, getting out of your wetsuit, putting your bike helmet on, mounting and cycling away. The aim of the brick session is to get your body used to switching from the muscle groups, breathing rate and mental focus of the swim, to the spinning action and leg-dominant work of the bike.
Bike to run bricks are much easier to arrange. Simply finish your bike ride at home, or somewhere else where you can leave your bike securely, and practice dismounting, changing into running shoes, removing your bike helmet, and setting off on the run. This is likely to feel very odd at first, as your legs get used to changing from the spinning motion of cycling to the impact of running.
This is exactly why it's so important to schedule plenty of brick sessions into your training programme in the build-up to races. Treat them as a drill or skill session, and don't neglect them!
