Brick-Building

Since triathlons are made up of three different sports disciplines, all happening one right after the other on the same day, it's important to practice doing a couple of those sports in the same workout.  Doing this is called a brick.  Interesting terminology!

I did my first brick yesterday: a bike/run combo.  We biked 10 miles and then ran two miles.  Like the open-water swim clinic last weekend, this training exercise was eye-opening for me.  Although I ride significant distances, my routes are often broken up by stoplights or other activities, like biking to someplace, staying a while, and then biking back.

This workout gave me the chance to ride continuously and then feel what it's like to transition into running.  The change from one sport to the other feels funky, and not just because you're tired when you hop off the bike and start running.  You're using different muscles, and it takes your body a bit of time to adjust.

BeginnerTriathlete.com describes it this way:

When you stop biking and start running the legs feel “strange” and heavy (this is why they call these workouts bricks!) and the heart rate goes up, as our body tries to switch the blood from flowing into the muscles used for biking to those used for running. This feeling is more pronounced at the start of the run and usually the legs get better as time passes - although probably never as fresh as those you have when you run without biking before it (I wonder why?! ). Brick workouts help shorten the time our legs take to start feeling more normal thus allowing us to run better and faster. It is not uncommon to experience cramps when starting to run after biking, especially if you are not used to it. As usual, listen to your body and slow down if you feel a cramp coming. A carbo gel and water will also help if you are experiencing cramps due to the decrease in muscle fuel.

This was another great training experience for me, each of which are gradually easing the nervousness I have for what's to come on race day.  I'm already looking forward to the next one!