The plan that I follow for triathlon training includes a bike workout immediately followed by a run on Wednesdays. Triathletes call this type of workout a “brick,” which basically means two workouts stacked together, or the way your legs feel when you get off the bike and attempt to run on them. It’s a tough workout, but by the end of the plan, you will be in a much better position to run well without the heavy legs you experienced initially.
The plan doesn’t say to go hard, but I always tend to let it rip. I will push hard on the bike, quickly transition to running gear, and then head out for the short run. It’s a good way to measure fitness and readiness for racing sprints. Today was the first brick workout I have done in quite a while, and I really shouldn’t have pushed very hard, but old habits die hard with me. I went hard on the bike for 12.6 miles, averaging 16.6 mph. That average pace is a little slow when you factor in the many slowdowns and stops for road crossings on the local bike trail. It’s probably more like 17-17.5 mph effort-wise.
The run was definitely a surprise. After struggling with a 5-mile run on Tuesday and feeling sore, I began the 2-mile planned brick run just hoping to not ruin myself. It started out as I expected with heavy legs and the overwhelming feeling that my calf muscles could go to Charley Horse mode at any time. But I slowly moved along until I felt like I was out of danger. The first-mile split showed a surprising 8:15 pace! The route I took was a little downhill and I struggled a little more with the second mile running back home. Again to my surprise, I ran an 8:11 min/mile. Yesterday I was lucky to average a 9:30 pace.
Post-workout I felt pretty good, without any soreness at all. Doing bricks and pushing pace is not something that I want to do more than occasionally, but I’m glad to see where I stand with my fitness, as I will do similar distances in the upcoming Forge off-road triathlon race next month. Back to my regularly scheduled training!
an amazing run 