Running – especially in short course racing and on the ITU circuit –
is without doubt the most critical component of triathlon. As the final
leg of the race, the run is where it’s all decided, a test of every
athlete’s mettle when it matters most.
Plenty of triathletes can run a quick 5km or 10km with fresh legs, but add a swim
and a bike leg into the equation and they crumble. The reason? While
many triathletes have good run speed, they lack the running strength to
see them over the finish line.
The main reason running feels so hard coming out of the water and off
the bike is that your body is calling on different muscle groups to
perform. Riding forces you to use your quads and glutes and is a
non-weight bearing exercise. Running, on the other hand, is full
weight-bearing and predominantly uses the hamstring and calf muscles to
power you forward. Couple this with the demands on blood flow between
the different muscle groups to keep our bodies moving and the result is
that all-too-familiar feeling of heavy legs we dread when running off
the bike.
It is a common misconception that to improve your running
for triathlon you just need to run more. But while volume helps to some
extent, it also increases the risk of injury. The key to improvement is
to be more specific with your training in order to replicate the heavy
legs effect, to physically and mentally prepare the body for what you
will experience on race day.
Incorporating a run off your harder bike session, even if it is just
1km or 2km, is one of the easiest – and most effective – ways to get
race-fit, as well as run-fit. One of the most common training methods
employed by triathlon coaches is a wind trainer session incorporating
hard bike efforts, immediately followed by a series of 1km run repeats
straight off the bike. Yes, ‘brick’ sessions hurt, but they’re one of
the best ways to improve running strength.
Another key tip for race day is to increase your cadence for the
final few kilometres on the bike to loosen up your legs and increase
blood flow. In addition, your legs will get used to the higher cadence
required for running and you should find it easier to hit your running
stride out of T2.
Like anything, practice makes perfect and the more running you do off
the bike the better. Top athletes all around the world use brick
sessions to improve their running strength and, in turn, post a top
result come race day.
Until next time, happy racing and training - recover fast with compression socks.
Until next time, happy racing and training - recover fast with compression socks.
