Stacking bricks—Series Part II
Workout ideas
Part I covered expectation setting. You have to prove what you can do in training before you attempt to deliver it in a race. At minimum, that gives you the confidence to show up at the start line and execute instead of guess.
Part II is about application.
We’ll look at example sessions for sprint/Olympic, Half Ironman, and Ironman athletes. Each distance demands a slightly different perspective on managing the bike-run combination.
There are countless ways to improve your run off the bike. These are not magic workouts. They are examples built around one principle:
SAID — Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands.
If you want to run well off the bike, you must train in a way that reflects the demands of your event. That means challenging yourself appropriately and developing both the physical and mental durability to handle race-day stress.
Sprint / Olympic Distance
These races reward controlled aggression. They are short enough to require grit, but long enough to punish recklessness.
Bike (90–120 minutes total)
Warm up as needed
4–6 × 6 minutes at ~90% effort
2 minutes easy recovery between
Think of 90% as something you could manage for a 45–60 minute time trial. A well-paced sprint or Olympic triathlon often feels like a strong swim, a hard but controlled bike time trial, and then a run that requires you to stay engaged.
Run (25 minutes off the bike)
2 miles at race effort
Cool down with remaining time
For a sprint athlete, this may serve as a race simulation. For Olympic distance, those two miles should sting but leave you confident you could continue for another 4+ miles.
Feeling slightly guilty in the first mile? That’s not necessarily a bad sign. It may mean you’re building the mental tolerance required to hold form and pace when the race actually starts to bite.
Half Ironman (70.3)
The key here is restraint and control. The run is long enough to reward patience and punish ego.
Bike (2.5–3 hours)
After a good 30-40 minute warmup…
20 minutes at race effort
10 minutes steady (not easy spinning)
2 × 10 minutes building from race effort to Olympic effort
2–3 minutes easy between
20 minutes at race effort to finish
This structure forces you to understand how small increases above race effort influence what’s left in the tank.
Run (45 minutes off the bike)
20 minutes cruise
15 minutes build to goal race effort
10 minutes settle at that effort
It’s easy to start a 70.3 run with enthusiasm, especially if the bike felt smooth. This progression teaches you what happens when you show restraint early and let the run unfold.
You may be capable of running faster in the first 20 minutes on race day. But the same progressive mindset should apply.
Sometimes training is just that: training, not straining.
Ironman
This is about energy management and durability. You are not forcing the race to be hard. It will become hard on its own.
Bike (4.5 hours)
90 minutes easy
90 minutes as:
30 steady
30 easy
15 steady
15 easy
Final 90 minutes steady on rolling or hilly terrain
Steady = around aerobic threshold, not quite tempo. Ideally, a strong amateur can handle riding at the upper end of your “easy” training for 4.5-5+ hours.
The goal in the final 90 minutes is to avoid power spikes on terrain changes. Every match burned reduces your capacity to run well.
You can burn a few matches. Just don’t burn down the forest.
Run (45 minutes off the bike)
Set up an “aid station” around 30 minutes to practice early fueling.
Pay attention to:
How your legs feel in the first 10–15 minutes
Whether your heart rate stabilizes
Your overall mental state
The Ironman marathon will never feel effortless. But if you feel beaten up in the first 45 minutes, that’s valuable information about:
Bike pacing
Output sustainability
Realistic run expectations
Ideally, you finish this run feeling somewhat composed.
Bonus: How Costly Is Your “Easy” Cycling?
Many athletes underestimate the cumulative cost of their aerobic riding.
Session
90-minute ride
30 easy
60 steady (around aerobic threshold)
30-minute easy run off the bike
Watch heart rate response on the run. If it drifts quickly or feels difficult to control, your “steady” may be too costly.
Consider whether 5–10% less output on the bike would materially improve your ability to run.
This session can scale up to a 3-hour ride depending on your level and training phase.
None of these workouts are revolutionary. They are frameworks.
The point is to learn the total energy cost of your cycling and how it affects your ability to run. That awareness may take several attempts to dial in. No one nails this on the first try.
In Part III, we’ll pull everything together and discuss race-day strategy. Stay tuned.
Do you want to take these workouts a step further?
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