Just another brick in the plan

I know this is going to sound repetitive, but I really knew very little when I started running and DUing...so....around about this time last year, I had no idea what a brick was. Now I'm even doing them in the winter...go figure.

So what is a brick, or more appropriately a brick workout?

Here’s one definition from an article on BeginnerTriathlete.com:

Bricks are a very important part of triathlon (and duathlon) training and they are sometimes overlooked. Bricks refer to training on two disciplines during the same workout, one after the other with minimal or no interruption in between; just as you would do in a race (I am sure you knew this). Usually when people talk about bricks they refer to a bike/run workout, but bricks could also refer to a swim/bike workout or to a run/bike workout (if you are training for a duathlon). These last two are often overlooked but still important to fit here and there in your training plan.

So why would a multi-sport athlete do a brick?

Once again according to the same article from BeginnerTriathlete.com:

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

I first experienced the effects of not training using brick workouts when I did a Winter Triathlon (Skate-XC Ski-Run) and let me tell you, transitioning to the run…was NOT pleasant. My legs and hips did not cooperate for the first km into the run, won’t be skipping that the next time.

If you want another take on it, just ask my buddy Tim who competed in a Canoe-Triathlon Relay with me and some friends, Tim was doing the bike portion, but what was not mentioned in the race information was that Tim would have to run about 200m to and from the mount/dismount line to the transition zone…running to the mount line no problem…running to the transition zone after dismounting from a 20K ride…”hey legs, what the heck are you doing?”

So what does a brick workout have to do with running and why is it on this newbie’s running blog…’cause it’s part of my training plan to make sure I keep some of the progress I made over the last summer and I plan to DU again later this summer, besides it’s my blog and I’ll mix it up with pretty much whatever crosses my mind on the day that I decide to post…lol

That’s all for today folks, but stay tuned for my BIG announcement in the very near future.