Training: Run Better Off Your Bike

Written by: Lance Watson, CTS Multisport Head Coach

Lead feet. Dead legs. Tree trunks rooted to the road. If you use these types of words to describe the way your legs feel when you run off the bike - the general idea is that they feel heavy! The good news is that you can train to help make them seem lighter. There are some basic training techniques and tips that will help you run faster off the bike. The biggest tip of all is that running fast in a triathlon is as much about the bike as it is about the run.

The ability to run quickly off the bike, ironically, begins on the bike. Given two equal runners, the person who is more efficient on the bike will run faster every time. There have been many incredibly talented roadrunners that have been unable to replicate their fantastic runs during a triathlon. More often than not, the limiting factor is the amount of energy spent on the bike. Runners who do not have a background in riding are usually inefficient on the bike and consume valuable energy that could be otherwise used on the run. The emergence of crossover athletes like Steve Larsen shows the opposite is true as well. Larsen is extremely efficient on the bike and as a result, he has more energy left for the run portion of the race. He compensates for his lack of running experience with his ability to ride quickly and, more importantly in triathlon, efficiently. So, if you are looking to improve your run, don’t solely focus on running farther or faster, but also look at your riding efficiency. Improving your efficiency on the bike will allow you the opportunity to lay it all out on the run, rather than struggling to survive.

During a race, many people try to grind it out on the bike. People get in the mindset they need to push a big gear to go fast. In reality, keeping a cadence of 90rpm or slightly higher is more efficient than trying to muscle a gear at a slower cadence of around 80 rpm. There are a couple of reasons for keeping your cadence around 90 rpm on the bike. First off, a proper cadence for running is about 90 steps per minute per leg. This means that you right leg will touch the ground 90 times each minute. This is important to know because if you are riding for and hour and a half at a cadence of 80 rpm, you can’t expect your legs to turnover 90 steps/minute when you start running. More than likely your legs will still turnover 80 steps/minute, resulting in a lethargic feeling and a slower run time. If you want to run 90 steps/minute then you had better be riding at 90+ rpm. Secondly, you are draining strength from your legs by pushing a big gear. The constant struggle to move your pedals will result in improper positioning on the bike, which will lead to tense back and leg muscles when starting the run. This is bad for running because now you are not only dealing with legs that are moving at 80 steps/minute, but you also have to deal with cramping muscles.

Another way to get rid of the heavy legs is to use brick workouts in your training to get them used to the switch in sports. Brick workouts involve training one discipline right after another. The most common brick workout is the bike/run. Brick workouts should be done later in your training schedule, probably about 2 months out from the beginning of your race season. Doing one brick each week allows your body to become accustomed to the feeling of running right after getting off a bike. Brick workouts come in many shapes and sizes, but the two most effective for my athletes are: the short-and-fast, or the long-and-slow.

With the short-and-fast, you should do a proper warm up and then be prepared to work hard. You will do multiple sets of the bike/run. Depending on your fitness, and the timing within your season, these workouts should be no more than 30 minutes riding followed by 15 minutes running (1-3 repeats), but no less than 10 minutes riding followed by 5 minutes running (3-6 repeats). The intensity should be close to race pace. You are training yourself to move quickly coming off the bike, so do that in the workout.

The long and slow is just that. A long base ride followed by a slow base run. In this workout you are training muscle memory and strength rather than speed, so there is no need to be speedy off the bike. There are no repeats of this workout, just a long ride followed by a long run. You should make sure that your base fitness is adequate to handle this before attempting it. And with both of these workouts you should try to keep the transition time to a minimum.

With these tips and strategies you should be able to change those dead legs into fresh speed machines in no time!

CTS Multisport Head Coach Lance Watson is the personal coach of triathlon stars Simon Whitfield, Lisa Bentley, Greg Bennett, and Laura Reback, to name a few

Visit Carmichael Training Systems at: TrainRight.com.