Block workouts?

This question is as much theoretical as it is practical.

As I'm nursing a knee injury and want to build/maintain aerobic fitness, as well as increase my weekly mileage, all without overdoing it, I'm interested in incorporating block workouts on my "long" days. Essentially, I'd bike for up to 2.5hr - easy/long effort level - and finish with whatever length of a run adds up to 2.5-3hr. I figure this gives me the "running on tired legs" training without the "running on completely torn up legs" physiology, since cycling is so low-impact.

My question is: would it be better to reverse the order of cycling and running, i.e. run first then ride? Or sandwich it with a run-ride-run? Or just scrap the idea of a block altogether and build my sorta-long run up to a long run while cutting back my long ride to a sorta-long ride?

In the interest of increasing your aerobic fitness, I'd say it would be best to do the block workouts like you layed out. As far as aerobic benefits go, it doesn't really matter what order you do things in, only that you get out and get your HR up for a set period of time.

However, since you said you want to build up your long run, I'd personally go with doing that first. My thinking behind that is that you want to increase your long run as much as you can. Having tired legs increases the chance for injury because the musculature isnt' fresh and doesn't absorb as much impact. Coming off an injury, I'd say get the high impact stuff out of the way when you're fress and you know your knee can handle it. Then go longer for the added aerobic benefit after the running portion is done. My .02


I've been going through something similar with a knee injury from a race back in October. I've take about 2 months off almost completely and have been coming back at things (mileage wise) very conservatively. However, I know I can handle hitting the elliptical at the gym hard with no problems so I'll often do what you just described and its been working out fine for me so far. Good luck!

My tri friends typically do their long rides on Saturday and long runs on Sunday during a base phase. And I'm talking long. The rides are 4-5 hours and then the next day their runs are 2-3 hours.

I think your risk of injury is much higher by trying to incorporate block workouts in too early. The only time I see those guys doing long, block workouts is when they are in a build phase and trying to be very specific (so the last 6-10 weeks before a triathlon).

So I guess what I am suggesting is to abort the idea of doing brick workouts if you have the time to do both. Your chance of injury should be lower by separating the long workouts over two days instead of trying to combine them in to a single brick workout.

I agree with Ben as it relates to tri training, but you aren't training for a triathlon and for your sake, I think you will be well-served to do a standard brick (ride-run) instead of a reverse brick (run-ride). I completely agree with Neil that it makes sense to run on fresh legs when your legs are not tired, but I think it is a better long run simulation to ride first and then finish with the run. Plus, your cumulative impact is not as great with skipping the first couple of hours of the run. I also do not see the need to do a brick run any longer than maybe an hour max (for starters) - especially b/c you don't want to end up hurt again. Maybe play it by ear and add 5-15 minutes to the run and subtract 5-15 minutes from the bike as you get more comfortable and your knee gives you an idea of what it will and won't tolerate.

Just a brief update with the tentative decision: seems like with only 11 weeks to go now, effectively incorporating blocks might be more of a hazard than it's worth. I've decided instead to keep the workouts separate (though possibly incorporating some double recoveries down the road) and replace some of the early long rides with long hike/runs. Kind of like ultra training but a lot more hiking than running. I think powering up some serious hills will help continue to build strength and endurance, get my legs more accustomed to the beating associated with travel by foot, and allow me to run some of the fun parts of the trails I used to frequent around here.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Just a brief update with the tentative decision: seems like with only 11 weeks to go now, effectively incorporating blocks might be more of a hazard than it's worth. I've decided instead to keep the workouts separate (though possibly incorporating some double recoveries down the road) and replace some of the early long rides with long hike/runs. Kind of like ultra training but a lot more hiking than running. I think powering up some serious hills will help continue to build strength and endurance, get my legs more accustomed to the beating associated with travel by foot, and allow me to run some of the fun parts of the trails I used to frequent around here.

Make sure you hammer down some of the trails on your way back in so you're not shredded by mile 20 in Boston.

mul21 wrote:

Mike MacLellan wrote:Just a brief update with the tentative decision: seems like with only 11 weeks to go now, effectively incorporating blocks might be more of a hazard than it's worth. I've decided instead to keep the workouts separate (though possibly incorporating some double recoveries down the road) and replace some of the early long rides with long hike/runs. Kind of like ultra training but a lot more hiking than running. I think powering up some serious hills will help continue to build strength and endurance, get my legs more accustomed to the beating associated with travel by foot, and allow me to run some of the fun parts of the trails I used to frequent around here.

Make sure you hammer down some of the trails on your way back in so you're not shredded by mile 20 in Boston.

Funny you should mention that - my hike this coming Tuesday will include a 4-5mi downhill run.