RUNNING AFTER BIKE IN TRIATHLON

Several questions about this topic came up on our forum. How to perform a transition run and how to continue efficient running after the bike leg in triathlon? Certainly these are very important questions from the aspect of skill development and should be discussed as a special matter.

As we know, running in triathlon is convoluted by a swim and bike leg, both of which contribute in increasing fatigue, reduced muscle freshness, loss in coordination, mental focus, etc. So when we get to the run, we have to be ready to face all the complications mentioned above and know how to deal with them.

Several separate issues arise owning to necessity of changing neuro-muscular patterns from the bike to the run. In order to do this transition less painfully, it is necessary to have many elements of running in the bike leg.

The end of the bike leg in this case should be done with a cadence close to the running cadence, which is a good base for the neuro-muscular transition. For example, if our running cadence will be around 180-190 steps per minute (for two legs), then pedaling cadence in cycling should be around these numbers 90-95 rpm for one leg. Besides this, pedaling should be done on the easier gears, which provide reduced muscle tension just before the run.

Running after the bike should be made with a strong focus on the major elements of running technique. It is not about running speed yet - but getting into a proper movement pattern.

The first focus is getting into the Pose with landing or keeping the body weight on the balls of the feet. For this matter it is better to keep shorter stride length and slower speed. The second is to concentrate on pulling the foot from the ground to achieve high cadence. When these elements are established, we can move to the next step - increasing the lean in order to increase speed. It takes usually about 1k to 1 mile to settle all parts together and get into a desirable rhythm of running.

In order to train these elements, we need to replicate race conditions in a short version of triathlon, which could be called transition training. Transitions could be of different length. Sprinting: 1k, 1mile reps on a bike and then 400m run, 5k bike and 1k run. Longer course: 20k bike and 2-3k run with the same aims of maintaining running technique as the main objective. To check your technique it makes sense to video tape transition running and then analyze running technique elements.

Dr.Romanov