« 5 Weeks Till Lake Tahoe | Main | 4 Weeks till Lake Tahoe »
August 13, 2006
BRICK
BRICK
The Random House Dictionary defines a brick as a “Rectangular block of clay, hardened by heat, and used for building or paving, etc�.
When a triathlete refers to a “Brick�, they are talking about a workout involving two or more disciplines at one time. One of the more common Brick workouts is a bike ride, then run. These are done to get their body accustomed to the stress of the bike ride, followed almost immediately by a whole new set of stresses during the run. Ask any triathlete what their first “brick� felt like and they will remember the pain, the cramping in the quads and calves, and feet that felt like lead. Eventually, as you do more and longer bricks, they become increasingly easier as your body is accustomed to the new types and levels of stress.
Today was my biggest brick workout scheduled before my race. I purposely timed it at 5 weeks out, so that any muscle damage would be fully recovered by race day. I attempted to come as close as possible to replicating what race day will experience – but since we are a little short of big hills in Durham I had to improvise. I started from Durham, went into Chico, then up Honey Run Road. From Honey Run, went down to Neal Road, refueled with water, then headed up the Memorial Trail way – to the top of town. From there, I crossed Skyway and went up to the top of Magalia. This was likely about a 2200 foot vertical gain, about 1000 feet less than I will experience in Tahoe – but it was the best I could do while keeping the total mileage down to a reasonable level. From Magalia, it was a quick trip back down the Memorial Trail, then down Neal Road and back to Durham. The trip was a total of 48.8 miles (almost double the race distance), with an average of 15.1 miles per hour, a max speed of 31.3 miles per hour, and a total saddle time of 3 hours and 13 minutes.
Once at my house, I timed myself – took me a total of 51 seconds to get off my bike, remove my helmet, gloves and bike shoes, and then put on my running shoes, earphones, visor and reload with water and a Red Bull – and I was off running. I did my usual 5 mile run route – again no hills like I will see in Tahoe, but I have been working those into my normal weekly runs in Paradise.
Run was fairly uneventful. It was warmer than I would have liked (90 plus degrees) but the run went pretty well overall. My run time was 47 minutes and 32 seconds, which is pretty good for me following a significant bike ride.
Posted by Dennis at August 13, 2006 01:37 PM
Comments
Dennis,
Nice ride and stats! Brick sounds appropriate - it would have been like hitting a brick wall for me! The ride alone would have been enough. Sounds like you'll be plenty prepped for Tahoe. Let me know if you do any other rides and want a tag along. Nice work!
Posted by: Paul at August 17, 2006 08:36 PM